German American genealogy
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This document provides information and resources for researching German ancestry. It outlines key details needed about German immigrant ancestors like names, locations, dates and occupations. It recommends starting by recording known information and researching records in the US and Germany. Key German records include church and civil records. The document lists German immigration waves and best websites to search, including ancestry.com and familysearch.org. It provides guidance on deciphering old German documents and accessing resources like census, church and family history books.
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German American genealogy
- 1. German-American Genealogy Researching your German Immigrant Ancestors Elaine Jones Hayes ehayes@lclsonline.org Laramie County Library System October 2014
- 3. I know I have a German Immigrant Ancestor. Now What? • You need to know a name (full birth name if possible). • Date of an event that happened in Germany. Usually a birth/baptism or marriage. • Location of the event in a certain area in Germany. • Religion of your ancestor. • Occupation if possible.
- 4. How do I start? • Record what you already know. • Begin your research at home and talk to relatives. • Look for published information in books and computer databases. • Research the history of the places they lived. • Look for records in the US: – Census Records – Vital Records – Obituaries – Social Security Death Index – Land and Probate Records – Military Records – Church Records • Then look for your ancestors in Germany.
- 5. Best sites to start any genealogy search on the web. Ancestry.com or Ancestry Library Edition Heritage Quest (access through laramiecountylibrary.org) FamilySearch familysearch.org FindaGrave www.findagrave.com RootsWeb www.rootsweb.ancestry.com USGenWeb usgenweb.org Cyndi’s List www.cyndislist.com/germany U.S. National Archives www.archives.gov Google.com www.google.com
- 6. German Immigration Waves • Several Germans among Jamestown settlers in 1607-8. • Amish & Mennonites (and others) to Pennsylvania – (1681 to early 1700s) • Palatines (from the Pfalz) in the early 1800s. • Family chain migration (for economic/political reasons) in the mid to late 1800s. Mostly Lutherans or Catholics. – From 1820 to 1915 six million Germans immigrated to the U.S. – This group includes the Volga Germans (Germans from Russia) who settled heavily in the high plains.
- 8. Who were the Palatines?
- 11. Germany Today
- 12. Good German Immigration Websites • Ellis Island – New York 1892-1954 – libertyellisfoundation.org/passenger • Castle Garden – New York 1820-1890 – www.castlegarden.org • Online German Emigration/Immigration – www.germanroots.com/emigration.html • Immigrant Ship Transcriber Guild – www.immigrantships.net
- 14. Case Study: the Search for Great- Grandpa Haug • August Wilhelm Haug born August 1850 in Germany. • Immigrated to the U.S. as a young man (~1865- 1872). Family legend says he was 21. Traveled with his brother. Settled in Kansas as a farmer. • Married Katherine Selbach in Kansas in 1872. • Catholic
- 28. Problems you might have finding YOUR ancestors birthplace: • You don’t read German. • You can’t decipher German Gothic script. • The place name you found does not match any place that now exists. • The place name you found matches more than one location in Germany.
- 29. Deciphering Old German Documents English German birth Geburten, Geburtsregister, Geborene, geboren burial Beerdigungen, begraben, Begräbnisse, bestattet, beerdigt Catholic katholisch child Kind, Kinder christening Taufe, Taufen, Getaufte confirmations Konfirmationen, Firmungen civil registry Standesamt death Tote, Tod, sterben, starb, verstorben, gestorben, Sterbefall father Vater husband Mann, Ehemann, Gatte index Verzeichnis, Register Jewish jüdisch, Jude(n), israelitisch marriage banns Proklamationen, Aufgebote, Verkündigungen marriage Heiraten, Trauungen, Getraute, Ehe, Kopulation, kopulieren, verheiratet, Verehelichungen, Eheschliessungen month Monat mother Mutter name, given Vorname, Name name, surname Zuname, Familienname, Geschlechtsname, Name parents Eltern parish Pfarrei, Kirchspiel, Gemeinde Protestant evangelisch, lutherisch, Protestant Reformed reformiert wife Frau, Ehegattin, Weib, Ehefrau, Hausfrau, Gattin year Jahr
- 30. Meyers Gazetteer of the German Empire • On Ancestry.com and Ancestry Library Edition in German Gothic Script. • On the shelf in the genealogy collection at LCLS, GEN 929.343 WRIG Buchold, a village in Bayern (Bavaria) in the middle of the government district of Lower Franconia; railway station located in Karlstadt; bus station in Arnstein; Wurzburg is the military district headquarters; 693 inhabitants; the railway station and post office, birth registry office, ranger station, civil register, Catholic parish church, and the government distillery are in Arnstein (6 kms east); nearby town is Sachserhof which is 8 kms east and has 76 inhabitants.
- 31. Heritage Books: Ortssippenbuch or Ortsfamilienbuch • An Ortssippenbuch (town lineage book) or Ortsfamilienbuch (town family book) includes birth, marriage, and death data for all persons found in the local records during a specified time period, compiled into families. Sources may include the local parish registers, civil registration records, court and land records, and sometimes published material.
- 32. Online Ortsfamilienbucher • www.online-ofb.de or • wiki-de.genealogy.net/Kategorie:Ortsfamilienbuch • To translate: translate.google.com
- 36. Germany: Census Records • Mecklenburg-Schwerin Census 1819 – Available at www.akvz.de and Ancestry.com and Ancestry Library Edition. • Schleswig-Holstein Census 1769-1860 (a German speaking area which was part of Denmark until 1860) includes- Lubeck, Hamburg, Oldenburg – Available at www.akvz.de and Ancestry.com and Ancestry Library Edition (at least in part). • 1938-39 Census for Minorities – www.ushmm.org
- 37. Other Good German Genealogy Websites American Historical Society of Germans from Russia www.ahsgr.org Foundation of Eastern European Family History Societies feefhs.org/links/germany.html German Culture & Genealogy www.germanculture.com.ua/library/links/genealogy.htm The German Genealogy Group germangenealogygroup.com Germanic Genealogy Society www.ggsmn.org German Roots www.germanroots.com Palatines (rootsweb) www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ote/palatines Palatines to America Genealogy Society www.palam.org Pennsylvania German Society www.pgs.org
- 41. Archives in Germany Lists of Government and Church Archives in Germany: home.bawue.de/~hanacek/info/earchive.htm familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Germany_Archives_and _Libraries www.genealoger.com/german/german_genealogy.htm
- 42. Poznan Project (Poland – formerly in Prussia) poznan-project.psnc.pl
- 43. Bohemian Germans? Try www.cgsi.org:
- 44. Where Can I Learn More? • German Genealogy Society websites (see handouts). • FamilySearch.org • Ancestry.com (subscription database) and Ancestry Library Edition (in the library) • CyndisList.com • Get a good German history and/or Genealogy book. • See bibliography/webography handouts. • Come to our Special Collections room at LCLS and get some help from our Genealogy Volunteers.
- 48. Happy Searching! • Consider: – Researching in the LCLS Genealogy Collection • In books, microforms and Ancestry Library Edition • Ask a Genealogy Volunteer or LCLS Reference Staff for assistance – Checking out a Genealogy How-To Book • Dewey Decimal Call Number 929 – Searching Heritage Quest online through the LCLS website at laramiecountylibrary.org. You’ll need your library card number and your PIN; the default PIN is wyld.
Editor's Notes
- Introduce yourself. Tell me if you can’t hear me, ask questions, should be done by 8:30ish.
- I assume you are here because you know you have an ancestor that immigrated from Germany. There are various ways you may have found that out (family stories, obituary mention, printed family history, etc.) but one way you may have found that out is through the U.S. Census in the years where they asked where a person was born country or state (particularily in the years 1910, 20 and 30 because those years specifically ask about immigration and naturalization information). This is the 1920 census for Nemaha County, Kansas and August Haug (age 69) is my great-grandfather. He says he immigrated in 1869 that he’s naturalized and the naturalization in 1890. Census taker wrote down Wuerttemberg, and crossed it out and wrote ‘Germany’. We’ll get back to this.
- So, however you found out, you now know you have a German ancestor and you want to learn more. These are the things you want to find out. The first three things are musts (at least to find records ‘in’ Germany), the last two are optional but will really help you if you know this.
- I’m assuming/hoping that you already know the basics of genealogy research. Record what you already know: start with yourself and work backward in time one generation at a time verifying relationships. Record them on pedigree charts or in a genealogy computer program like FamilyTree Maker, Legacy, etc. If you know what you already know you can see what you need to find out and keep track of all those ‘clues’ you’ll accumulate. Make sure you’ve gathered together all your home sources and talk to your relatives about what they know, not just the dates and places but the stories. Look for published sources, don’t reinvent the wheel if the info is already out there. Do your background research, very important with Germanic ancestors because the history of the area is so complex. Look for records in the U.S. first, this is where you’ll find the clues to find your family back in Germany.
- Here are some good places to start. (Go through these and say what they’re good for.) Show Cyndi’s list (Fraktur, Geburts, and Taufscheins) US GenWeb Pennsylvannia. Do a quick advanced google search.
- Some background information about Germany helps.
- I had a family story that my mother’s mother’s people were Pennsylvania Dutch and I didn’t know what that meant. Here is what Pennsylvania Dutch means.
- From the Palatinate (or Pfaltz) region of Germany.
- The map at the top tells you where people who said they were born in Germany lived at the time of 1900 census. The chart below has immigration from 1820-1988, with German immigration divided out. Large groups immigrated in the 1870-1900. Lots of anti-German sentiment during this time period. Very strict quotas after 1910 and anti-German immigration laws.
- Germany’s borders changed a lot over time and for most of history was a group of German speaking Principalities rather than a unified Germany. This is what the German Empire looked like in the time when most of our ancestors immigrated (or at least when they answered the birth, immigration questions in the U.S. census). If this is not the time period you’re looking at, find a map that reflects the time period. Stretched from Belgium and the Netherlands to Prussia is all the colored states. Present borders of Germany. All the other places that speak German; Austria, Switzerland, parts of France and Italy.
- Ellis Island and Castle Garden are for New York immigrants but immigrants could come through any port (or airport later). Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans and Boston also so lots of German immigrants. Why New Orleans? What’s the difference between Emigration with an “e” and immigration with an “I”?
- This is what I knew initially about Great-Grandpa Haug. This is my mother’s, father’s father. So I have a full name and date of an event that happened in Germany. I also know his religion. Think back to slide 5 about what you need to know. I have those top two criteria so I’m in business. I don’t know where in Germany but I can figure that out with these other clues and by searching U.S. records.
- Back to that 1920 census we saw before. This is the summary page in Ancestry Library Edition for that page. Notice the stuff off to the side “these records may also be relevant…”. I recommend that you look at all of these things. If you are on Ancestry.com at home these may all come at as shaking leaves. Make sure you consider each record individually and not just blindly add them. We are going to look at these now to help find out more about August.
- Here it is again. Look at it in more detail. Right name, right place, right time, right wife’s name and some of the kids names and ages fit but there is some discrepancy with the kids (first name, common name, nickname differences). This is 1920 and he says he’s 69 which means he was born in 1849-1851 which fits. It says he immigrated in 1869 (which would have made him 19 not 21), says he’s naturalized and that happened in 1890. The census taker is supposed to write down country or state only, He writes Wuerttemberg and marks it out and wrote Germany. He speaks German at home. Notice all the Germans living nearby. Browse the whole area to look for family also you may find that some of these people were neighbors back in Germany too. Other clues kids birth places, wife’s birthplace.
- 1910 census – note that they are at the bottom of the page, check the next page, yes the rest of the family is on the next page. Note the 15/14 on Katherine’s line and the 39 by both of them. Immigration date still says 1869.
- 1900 census. This one tells you the month and year of birth, he says August 1850. 27 years of marriage. This time he says that he immigrated in 1870. Pa equals pending.
- Another resource in ancestry is the Wuerttemberg Emigration Index. Where do these indexes come from, they were published as books first. Note that “emigration” is spelled with an “e” so that you know that is talking about leaving Germany. They needed to apply to the government to be able to leave legally. You had to prove that you weren’t leaving to avoid paying debt, or serving in the military or serving a prison sentence, etc. So this is information from Germany. See that the birth place in Wurmligen and an exact date of birth is shown. But that’s all – it’s an index to original records, note that the number is obscured. This is actually a film number at the FHL in SLC.
- We have the Wuerttemberg Emigration Index in the LCLS library. Here’s the shelf they are on. Here is the page where I find August Haug. I see birth date of 17 August 1850. Application date of February 1869 and the full fill number is there so I can (and did) order the film from the LDS FHL. Also note that further down the page is Reinhard Haug, same place, same date, same film number. Is this the brother? Other people with the birthplace of Wurmlingen but none with the same date and film number.
- New York Passenger Lists – does this fit? Date of passage and birthdate does. Also note the Passenger Ships and Images database because we are going to click on that in a minute to see the Westphalia. But first lets look at the actual Passenger List. Note that this is a New York Passenger List approximately 23 years before Ellis Island Opened in 1892 so they are not as detailed as the Immigration Ship Passenger Lists you’ll see at Ellis Island.
- Middle of the page, Reinhard Haug age 22 with August right below him (age 19). Name age, sex, occupation (smith and cartwright) from Germany, going to the United States. Where on ship: Between decks is steerage.
- How many funnels do you see? How many masts? So this is a picture of the older version, the one on which August and Reinhard traveled.
- This is the Wikipedia entry for Wurmlingen with a picture added that I found elsewhere. Where is Wurmlingen? Baden-Wuerttemburg, Admin. Region = Freiburg, District Tutlingen I want to go here, walk through a church yard, go the public records office and churches and just flip open the phone books to count the Haug’s (or Von Haug’s).
- German Gothic Script was used regularly until after WWII.
- These are some of your handouts I gave you. Just so you German Gothic Type and Script.
- This is one resource to help find the location of a town that no longer exists under that name. It is in German, written in 1912 in German Gothic Type. Also uses German grammar and sentence structure and some very unique abbreviations. But can be deciphered. This took me more than an hour.
- This is a good resource to online German Heritage Books or Family Books. Notice the list by location. Go down to Baden-Wuerttemberg and pick a location near Wurmlingen.
- Down at the bottom of the page is Baden-Wuerttemberg. I clicked on that and then searched for the Haug family in Gerlingen.
- Note that here all I had to do was click on the British flag to have it translated into English. I clicked on Johannes Haug.
- This is what we have for Johannes Haug. I was actually looking for Josef or Peter Haug and didn’t find them so I’ll have to search in another location. I actually do have a Johannes Haug who was born in 1784 so that’s not him and there are lots and lots of Johannes Haugs so I’m looking for the more uncommon Josef and Peters.
- These are some good sites to start searching for genealogy information online. Mention and click on AHSGR, GGS and the Pennsylvania German Society.
- This one is very good but focused on the New York/New Jersey area.
- Palatines to America society does have some searchable databases, books to purchase, and lots of educational information.
- Open these.
- There were/are German speaking people (ethnic Germans) in Poland. So your search may also take you to Poland.
- Bohemia is now in the Czech Republic (former Czechoslovakia) but was part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire until the end of WWI. So there are German speaking Germans from Czechoslovakia also.
- Show how you get to this information.
- Go to Cyndi’s List and show this. Click on a few items.
- Use our Special Collections room fully by taking advantage of the computer database access (Ancestry Library Edition and more!), our book collection (non-circulating), our microforms, AND the expertise of our volunteers.