for June 1, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the AGS

Library, 162, 14315 - 118 Avenue NW,

Edmonton AB.

“At Home in Russia, at Home on the

Prairie” a video Come and view this video.

Afterwards, discuss if there is a unified sense of

what constitutes what is German as well as

differences that developed in the regions of Europe

where they settled and why these differences

developed.

“Networking and Socializing Time”

“Ancestry.com etc. New Perspectives and

Discoveries, continued” by John Althouse

While ancestry.com does have its limitations, it also

can yield some interesting family information

related to German roots. In this presentation, I will

examine both the limitations and possibilities of this

site to show you how to maximize what you gain

from it and show you some documents that you may

not be aware of on the site.

Meeting Dates for 2016: August 3 an Open

Library and Work Night, October 5,

and December 7.

We need people to chair and make presentations

or direct activities for these meeting. We also can

use articles written by members and others for

future editions of this newsletter. Please sign up!

Editorial: The Makings of the Great Detective

1

Breaking the Code of the Records for the Czech Republic (Bohemia)

3

Czech Resources Bohemia 9 German Church Records 10 Romanian German Records 15 Become a Webmeister Village Finder

21

What Is Moravian? 25 New Resources 27 News in German Genealogy 29 Jo Nuthack Receives AGS Award 31 A Book Review 32 Overcoming Brick Walls 33

Cover photo: This is a photograph of

Edmonton Branch and German SIG

member Jo Nuthack receiving the AGS

President’s Award (see p.31 for the

details).

Photograph by George Cathcart.

I spent part of an afternoon touring “THE INTERNATIONAL

EXHIBITION OF SHERLOCK HOLMES” at the Telus World of Science.

Now, you’re probably saying. “That’s nice, but what does Sherlock Holmes

have to do with German genealogy or for that matter genealogy as a whole?”

That certainly is natural and very likely what I would have once said myself.

As I walked through this exhibition and examined the displays, I realized how

much of what we do as genealogists is actually detective work. Just as Holmes

acquired the knowledge, the methods, and the resources needed to be success-

ful in his craft, we must do the same to be successful in our chosen craft of

genealogy.

In many ways, the articles in this issue of “My German Roots” display

many of the same concepts that were developed in the various displays devoted

to the Great Detective Holmes developed a methodology which enabled him the deal with specific problems

that he encountered in his cases. Similarly, our first article examines how member Clayton Suave developed a

methodology and the requisite skills needed to deal with the problems presented by documents that he needed

to discover the history of his German ancestors from Bohemia. This is a methodology that will work not only

for those with ancestors from Bohemia but with ancestors of German ancestors from almost anywhere.

Holmes also sought out the detailed

knowledge that he needed to know in order

to better find, interpret, and arrive at sound

conclusions from the clues at a crime

scene. He learned to read finger prints, to

interpret ballistic information, to recognize

the symptoms of a variety of poisons, and

to use photography as a tool in recording a

scene. The genealogist must also develop a

strong knowledge base. In German

genealogy, the ability to read and interpret

church records is essential to success in

locating our ancestors and their stories. Our second article attempts to provide the basic knowledge of this

topic along with templates that may help better interpreting what is contained in them.

In any investigation, new clues can emerge at any time. They are not all laid bare at the crime scene

and readily apparent during the initial investigation. In genealogy, new document collections that we need for

some aspect of our investigations are released periodically at random times. It is always a good idea to keep

abreast of the latest documents related, especially those most relevant in your ancestral work. In this issue, we

- 1 -

examine a set of recently released documents “Romanian Vital Records for Selected Areas, 1595 - 1914 (In

German)” on ancestry.com that may be of interest to many of our readers. .

A detective needs to find the technologies that can assist him acquire the information that he needs in his

work. In “Become a Webmeister,” we do the genealogical equivalent. In this particular issue, we detail the site for

German villages in Russia which was briefly noted in the

April issue of this newsletter. This site offers many possi-

bilities for those seeking ancestral village information

there. Communication is essential. Often something as

simple as confusion over terms can lead both the detec-

tive and the genealogist off on the wrong trail. Here, we

examine the term “Moravian” as it applies to a nation

and examine it as it applies to a religion in our article on

Bruderheim.

One part of the exhibition on Holmes involved ex-

ploring in parts of his recreated home for clues. Here, the

visitor were required to locate a number of specific artifacts.

Now, it was immediately evident that Holmes did not have

time for good housekeeping or perhaps he was as organized

as many a genealogist making the work more difficult. It

took a good deal of close, detailed, and careful examination

to find most of these artifacts. Articles on resources both

online and print in this newsletter provide you with works

which when examined closely will provide ideas which will

aid you in your genealogical craft. In addition, the detective

needs to examine closely to discover what does not immedi-

ately appear using specialized knowledge to arrive at an answer. “Overcoming Brick Walls” provides a genea-

logical story that parallels this. It focuses on how familiarity with German naming patterns and customs can help

overcome brick walls in German genealogy.

After searching the abode of Mr. Holmes most thoroughly, there

was still a single clue (artifact) that we could not find. The reason that

we were not finding it was that we were looking for the clue in a small,

localized setting and what we need to do was take in the whole vista.

Once, we did the clue was very evident. This is also a situation that can

occur in genealogy , we get so caught up looking for the little details that

we fail to see the bigger picture. A book review and articles in several resources mentioned provide information

that can help the genealogist take in the bigger picture in German genealogy. Enjoy your summer and become

a genealogical Holmes finding the elusive clues that you need to add to your genealogical records.

- 2 -

The technology at first may appear strange/

It was not very long ago that Clayton Suave began to ask questions about how to best research his

German ancestors who once lived in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). While he had done other ge-

nealogical research, he knew little about doing genealogy related to Bohemia and Moravia or records

written in German. At the April German Special Interest Group Meeting, Clayton made a presentation

about his research to date along with the problems that he encountered along the way and the keys to

their solution.

At the start of his presentation, Clayton Sauve noted that

there was a code or set of steps that he needed to do and succeed

in genealogy based in Bohemia and Moravia. Until he was able to

discover these steps, his progress in genealogy in these places will

be limited. Without determining this code, he knew that he

would not be successful. However, over time, he did discover the

steps that would lead to him making significant progress in his

ancestral research.

1. Start with What You Already Know and Already Have

As with all genealogy, Clayton started with himself here

and now. He then gathered the information that he already had

about his Bohemian roots. He knew the names of his “immigrant

ancestors”. This is a key piece needed to create a bridge between

our families here and those in far away places. The surnames of

Clayton’s ancestors were rather common ones in those states - “Schmidt” (the equivalent of the English surname

“Smith”) and “Sekora” (which is a surname with a wide array of variations). He knew a little about these initial

ancestors after they arrived in the USA. The knew that they had farmed near “Owatonna, Steel County, Minneso-

ta.” He also knew that the couple had married in Minnesota.1 He also learned that they had arrived aboard the

same ship in 1863. Finally, he knew one of these ancestors was ethnically German and the other was Czech and

that they had come from the same area.

- 3 -

1. Editor’s note: It is surprising how many genealogists search European archives for years looking for the

records of the marriage of their immigrant ancestors without success. Much later, they discover that the

much sought after marriage took place here in North America either where the families settled or

alternately in the port in which they arrived. There is an adage which states that the simplest answer is

often the best one. This is often the case in genealogy.

Clayton describe the key that unlocked

the records for him.

- 4 -

2. Find the Arrival of the Immigrant Ancestors

Clayton searched for the ship’s manifest showing their arrival and located it. His female ancestor with

named “Rosalie Sekora” had not come alone. She had arrive with several family members who are also listed. This

seemingly insignificant detail would prove significant later. The Schmidt ancestors also appeared on the very same

page of the manifest. However, when it came a place of origin, the arrival documents were rather mute, listing

only a rather vague place of origin - “Bohemia.” If Clayton was to proceed and locate family records in Bohemia

and Moravia, he would need a more precise geographic place to focus his research upon. This is the second vital

piece of information needed to unlock one’s ancestral past. Until he could find this place, he faced an insurmount-

able “brick wall” in his family research.

3. Ask for expert help

No one likes to ask for help. However, Clayton decided to contact an expert who could have the infor-

mation that was needed to conquer the “brick wall” that was holding back Clayton’s research. In his pervious re-

search, Clayton had learned of Mike Wolansky who had done research on the people from Bohemia and Moravia

who had settled in Minnesota and had written a few books on those immigrants. With the name of his immigrant

ancestors and the other relatives that Clayton had found on the ship’s manifest. Mr. Wolansky as able to provide

Clayton with the “place of origin” in Europe of his family members.

4. Learn the Geography of Your Ancestors Place of Origin

Clayton learned about the places of origin from which

his ancestors had migrated in Europe. When dealing with Eu-

rope, even navigating place names here can be difficult. Places

where he was researching, have both German name e.g.

“Langetriebe” and Czech name e.g. “Dlouha Trebova”. The

places now do not usually bear the same place name that they

did at the time that his ancestors immigrated. He recognize

that to search effectively one must know more than just a place

name. It is also important to know the jurisdictions, both

church and civil2 in which the place of origin was located in and before the ancestors being researched migrated,

but also in the present, as knowing this is important if you are to track down the archives and libraries where par-

ticular documents you need to develop your family history may be kept. A little history of the area is also useful as

it may provide an indication of the reasons that led to the ancestors’ immigration. Also, be able to locate the place

of origin on a map. This too may provide some clarity to the reasons for immigration.

2. Editor’s note: The area name is important as many places in a particular state or province may bear the

same name and therefore, you must know the area where your village by that name is located. Also, you

must have a sense of the place as not all villages had their own church. Where did the people from villages

with such a dearth go to have their spiritual needs attended, a knowledge of the church jurisdictions and

the parishes in it may be helpful in determining the answer.

- 5 -

5. Build Your Expertise in the Genealogy That You Do

Good genealogy does not come about naturally; the knowledge required to create it must be learned.

Clayton became a student again, not in the formal school-based sense, but by locating resources and leaning the

skills and information that he needed to know. He had quite a hill to climb here. The documents were not indexed

by name. So, he needed to find a method that would allow him to find the ones that he need quickly without going

through thousands of pages of records. The documents that he needed were in the old German print (Fraktur) and

script which had not been in use since the early 20th Century. So, he needed to be able to recognize the letters of

that script. He used an alphabet chart in this and other scripts to aid him in this at first. In addition, he was

working with documents in languages of which he had little knowledge, languages containing many words which

no longer are widely used or have the same meanings that they once had. To deal with these problems, he located

and used specialized genealogical word lists in the languages that the documents he studied were written in. He also

developed his store of background information. This provided him with many useful insights into the lives of his

ancestors including a better idea of why they likely immigrated to the USA when they did.

6. Dealing with Records that Are Not Indexed by Name

It is a joy when a genealogist can go to a website and type in a name, click search, and have the desired

document almost magically appear. The reality is that many documents of genealogical interest are “browse only”

that is, they are not indexed by name making them much more difficult to search for a particular record. The

prospect of leafing through thousands of pages of documents to locate the precise one that you want has

deterred many genealogists from embarking on a search of these records. Clayton was not deterred by this. He

now knew the name of the place where his ancestors had lived. This enabled him to reduce the number of records

that he needed to search to those for that place alone. In addition, he had a number of dates which provided some

guidance to where he needed to search time-wise for some specific records that he needed. Church records are

essentially chronological. So, by starting from either end and checking dates and repeating the process to smaller

segment of the records after several tries the researcher is able to access the record sought. Clayton employed this

process and located many documents that he needed.

7. Locate the Key Record

Clayton searched for a while and got a number of the answers that we was seeking but as he did there

were questions that popped up as well. (This is a reality of genealogy that is well-done.) However, he did eventual-

ly find a key document which answered many of these questions. In this case, the significant record was a

marriage record. Here, the record was recorded in a language and a script that Clayton had needed to learn to

decode it. To follow the trail of records that emanated from this document, Clayton again needed to be familiar

with the geography of the area including the places near his family’s village of origin, the name variants for these

places (including the German and Czech names for each place), and the jurisdictions in which each was set, both

church and civil. It was also important to discover where copies of the various documents now were held.

(Remember, the iceberg analogy: Only the tip of the iceberg is above water and visible; much more remains

hidden beneath the water. Likewise, a small fraction of all documents of interest to genealogists are online; most

such documents remain in the collections of libraries and archives somewhere. The trick is finding where.) There

was one more surprise awaiting Clayton in his quest for information on his ancestral family concerning language.

For a brief period around 1848, the records of interest were not recorded in German or in Latin but in Czech.

8. Learn to Read Your Documents and Discover What Each Contains

As Clayton worked through the documents, he

began to recognize certain features that appeared in them.

At times, it was necessary to learn more about them in order

to interpret that information when it appeared on a

document. For example, he noted that almost without

exception in vital records from the Austrian Empire which

included both Bohemia and Moravia, there was a “house

number” assigned by the government to each house in each

place in their possessions. In addition, he realized that these

numbers could not only help him locate a particular

building within the village but more importantly particular

families there.

He also noted that at times information would be added to vital documents well after the original was

- 6 -

The headings from one page of a church register from Bohemia that Clayton located. Our next article of

this issue will examine German church registers in greater detail.

Later, a two-number system was adopted

- 7 -

filled in as in the case of “legitimacy.” At the time of baptism, a child could be listed

as “illegitimate” if no church marriage had occurred and no father’s name would

appear on the record. However, if a marriage later took place, the documents could

be adjusted and both the designation changed and the father’s name then added.

Also, it was at times necessary to review archaic terms. For example, Clayton found

that the occupation of one of his ancestors to a “hostler”. Do you know what this

occupation is? Clayton didn’t initially know either. So, he looked it up and

discovered what that occupation was.

9. Learn the Methods Used to Access the Records You Need

Clayton found the records from Bohemia of his family in two separate

locations. He found some as unindexed documents on <familysearch.org>. He

found others in the regional archives of the Czech Republic. It was necessary in

both cases to learn the process to acquire the documents that he needed. For

example, when searching for materials on a particular place on this site, you proceed

by listing the place from the largest entity in which it is located to the smallest i.e.

country, province, district, region, place, etc. to narrow your search results. When it comes to the material

necessary for citations, it is present on “familysearch”. All you need to do is copy and paste it.

To access the records you need, go to familysearch.org (website). Place your cursor on the word

“SEARCH.” A pull-down menu will appear. On it, click “Records.” A new page will appear. There will be a world

map in the upper right hand corner. Draw your cursor over the area that you are seeking records from on the map.

The area (continent) will become gold. Click on the gold area. A dialogue box “Contain a Location” will appear.

Scroll through the choices on the left side of this box until you find the nation you want and click on it. The

names that appear will be the present day name of the country. So, for either Bohemia or Moravia, you will be

looking for “Czech Republic” and “Slovakia.” A new page “Czech Republic” appears. It allows you to search all

indexed Czech records on the website by name simply

by placing information in the boxes of the search box

and pressing search. If you should wish to access a

particular document either indexed or not simply scroll

down the page and click on the name of the record

collection that interests you.

When searching an indexed set of records that

allows you to search by entering a person’s name and a

few other pieces of his or her personal information,

you will often get a large number of possible hits. To

reduce the number add more exact information e.g.

the specific place where the person lived or their exact

date of birth. Such additions to the search information

The books and knowledge

of Mike Wolansky proved

most helpful

Consider which of these Archival Districts would

include the place you seek within it.

- 8 -

can often reduce the number of hits significantly to a more workable number.

Also, note near the top of the “Czech Republic” page on the right side is a section marked “Learning

Center” which states “We have 12 learning courses to help you do your family history research in Czech

Republic.” However, only two are shown there. For the complete list of these courses, simply click on “See all

Czech Republic courses in Learning Center” and the complete list will appear. Some of these courses explain how

to use various Czech Regional Archives online. Remember, these archives were important sources for the

information and records that Clayton needed in his family history research. Here again, Clayton discovered that

things may not always be as simple as they should be as the records he needed for his research were held in two

different regional archives. In genealogy, exceptions to norm are indeed commonplace. Also, below the link to the

courses, you have similar links that will take you to the Czech resources in the “FamilySearch Catalog” and

information on it in “FamilySearch Wiki.”

10. Continue In Spite of the Problems that Arise

Clayton illustrated in his resource that the path to the records that we need to develop our family record is

not always an easy one. He encountered almost every possible problem that one could encounter in doing research

on his ancestors in their place of origin Bohemia. Yet, in spite of all the setbacks, he pushed on, learning what he

needed to know and what he needed to do to deal with each of the potential brick walls that he encountered. His

persistence paid off as in the end he acquired a rich array of records on his ancestral family from their homeland.

That indeed is a significant genealogical treasure. Even if you have no idea about what to do when you begin, there

are an array of information and resources that you can use to develop the skills and to locate the sources that you

need in your ancestral quest. What is significant is attitude. We must push on eliminating brick walls and road

blocks as we move toward our goals. Genealogy is not an easy road. However, the finds that we make along our

way in the quest of our ultimate genealogical goal make this difficult journey truly enriching.

Clayton’s ancestral village of “Langetriebe” also known as “Dlouha Trebova”

.

- 9 -

Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International @ https://www.cgsi.org/

“Czech Research Outline” by Shon R. Edwards an article pdf 41pp @ http://www.afocr.org/sites/

default/files/pdf/CZ%20Genealogical%20Research_kasik%20draft3.pdf

“Czech Genealogy for Beginners” @ http://czech214.rssing.com/chan-8868285/all_p3.html

CZECH AND SLOVAK GENEALOGYA Bibliography of Publications in English and Guide to Other

Information Resources Compiled by Miloslav Rechcigl Jr. @ http://www.svu2000.org/publications/

c5ga3.htm

List of historical German and Czech names for places in the Czech Republic @

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

List_of_historical_German_and_Czech_names_for_places_in_the_Czech_Republic

“Bohemia, Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic: Genealogy, Ancestry, and Family History Knowledge

Hub” @ http://onwardtoourpast.com/czech

“Regional Archives” Czech Republic @ http://www.czechfamilytree.com/regarchives.htm

“Czech Genealogy” American Friends of the Czech Republic @ http://www.afocr.org/czech-

culture/czech-genealogy

“5 Places to Begin a Search for Czech Ancestors” by Kimberly Powell @ http://genealogy.about.com/

od/europe/tp/czech-genealogy-online.htm

“Researching Czech Church Records on the Internet” by Wesley Johnston @ http://

www.wwjohnston.net/famhist/czech-research.htm

“BOHEMIAN, CZECH, MORAVIAN & SLOVAK GENEALOGY” list of resources St. Louis County Li-

brary @ http://www.slcl.org/sites/default/files/shared-files/hg%20bohemian%20guide.pdf

“Printed Materials Available for Research” German-Bohemian Heritage Society Library @ http://

www.germanbohemianheritagesociety.com/printed-materials-available-for-research/

Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland @ http://

www.familytreemagazine.com/article/polish-czech-slovak-maps# (sign up required)

Atlas of Czechoslovakia @ commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Atlas_of_Czechoslovakia

“Czech Genealogy Resources” from FEEFHS @ http://feefhs.org/links/czech.html

“Mapping Tools for polish, Czech and Slovak Genealogy” By Lisa A. Alzo @

http://www.familytreemagazine.com/article/polish-czech-slovak-places (To access this com-

plete article, you will need to join Family Tree Magazine PLUS $)

At the last meeting of “the German Special Interest Group,” I distributed sheets from ancestry that

acted as templates to help decoding German civil records. During some of the presentations, some of the

members present wondered if there might be some similar resource for “German Church Records.” This arti-

cle will attempt to respond to those stated needs. Now, remember, there are several document types which

may be considered as German church records: 1. church registers, 2. church issued certificates, and 3. extrac-

tions from church records. In this article, we will focus on the first of these church registers (also known as

“church books”).

When looking at church records, you quickly realize that while there are similarities in these records.

However, you also realize that there are differences in these records as well. Many of these difference occur

with the difference in denomination Catholic or Protestant. However, there are many that exist even within

the church books of a given denominations for different churches at the same time or for the same churches at

different times. However, we will attempt to examine the commonalities in the hope of making German gene-

alogy easier for you.

Below is a chart of headings that might well appear on a Lutheran Baptism register (Tauf Register) .

The words in red are the English translations of the German column headings. Not all this information will

necessarily be present in all Lutheran Baptismal registers but generally much of it is.

- 10 -

Lutheran Birth Register I German: Top: Tauf Register = “Baptism Register” and the columns: 1. No.,

2. Father and Mother’s names, 3. child’s name, 4. date of birth, 5. date of baptism, 6. God parents.

Zahl Ge-

borenen

Number of Birth

Taufname der Kinder

Baptismal name of the child

Eltern

Parents

(Perhaps) Hebamme

Midwife

Ort der Gerburt

Town of

birth

Zeit der Gerburt

Time (Date)

of birth

Ort und Tag der Taufe

Town

and day of Bap-

tism

Wer sie

Ber-ichtet

hat

Who re-

ported the

birth

SOMETIMES Taufezeugen

witnesses /

sponsors OR

Familien Regis-ter

number on

family register

Lutheran marriage registers may be more complex often spanning two pages of a church

register. Each page will have headings that need translating. Above are the titles for columns on the first page

of one such a marriage register. Remember, here too, the titles may vary somewhat from register to register.

Now, this is a listing of the titles for the second page of this register providing the English translations of the

German terms in red. As you can see, there was a good deal of information needed to fill in such a form.

As you can see from the image above, handwritten script adds an entire new dimension to decoding

church records as there will be much more variation in handwritten script than in printed sources. Here, a

character generator for the script in use can be helpful as it can provide you with family names, place names,

and parish names that you can print out in advance of searching a collection of records. This will enable you

to recognize the pages with those names when poring through many records. This will focus your research

efforts and may even significantly reduce the amount of photocopying that you need to do.

- 11 -

Nro.

No.

Jahr und Tag Trau-ung

Year and Day of

Marriage Ceremony

Name des Geist-lichen, welcher die Trauung Verrichtet

Name of clergyman who performed the marriage ceremony

Vor= Zu= und Geschlechts = Name der Getrauten, Aufenthalts = Ort, Stand und Gewerbe, auch ob die

Trauung in der Kirche oder zu Hause vollzogen

Fore- and Sur- and Lineage Name of Couple Being Married, Residence Place, Occupation and Trade, also if the marriage ceremony was performed in

the church or at home

Ob sie schon verhei-rathet gewesen, in-

gleichen ob sie noch un-ter Eltern und Vormün-den stehen | Alter des Bräutigams Alter der Braut Whether they

have already been mar-ried or are still with par-

ents or guardians and age of the bridegroom

and of the bride

Religion des Bräutigams Religion der

Braut

Religion of the bride-

groom Reli-gion of the

Bride

Einwilligung der Eltern und

Vormünder

Consent of the Parents

Datum der Aufgebote

Date of Banns

Datum der erlangten Dispensa-tion des

aufgebots

Date of dis-position or intended marriage

Anmerkungen

Remarks

Above is a typical burial record with the German headings in black and the translations in English in

red. Again, I must stress that there is significant variation in the form and content of these registers and even

the headings used.

Now, of course not all German church records were recorded in German. As many of the records in

church registers are Roman Catholic records, they were recorded in Church Latin. I will again provide tem-

plates with the terms in Latin with their English translations as well. As with the German Lutheran records,

there is often significant variation in records from place to place and at the same place over time. Here is one

- 12 -

Alter

Age

Vor- und Zu– namen des Ver-storbenen auch namen Stand des Baters First and sur-name of De-ceased with children also name the occupation of the father

Stand des Ver-storbenen Occupa-tion of the De-ceased

Jahre Years

Monate Months

Tage Days

Ob der Versor-bene eine Gatten und majorenne ober minorenne kinder hinterlas-sen If the Deceased leaves behind a spouse, and adult or minor children

Tag und Stunde des Todes, in Buchstaben und Zahlen Date and time of death , in letters and numbers

Krank-heit woran er gestor-ben Illness from which he died

Tag des Ber-grӓbnisses Day of the fu-neral

Alter

Age

Liber natorum Children's Book

4.

5.

6. Nomen

Your Name

7

.

8

9

10

11

12

Nomen et cog-

nomen Name &

surname

Condi-

tio

Condi-

tion

Nomen et cognomen

Name and Surname

190_ Parentes Parents Patrini Godparents 1. 2. 3.

Mensis

Month

Translations for blue

numbers on next page

Roman Catholic Baptism register. Most of the words in the categories listed above each column have been

translated to English and are included in red in the mock-up of the document. Some spaces did not provide

enough room to do that there. So, these spaces were numbered and the translations of them are provided in the

chart above. Below, we have a slightly different version of the document. Note that the categories are basically un-

changed.

Now, we have another yet another document. Note that there are places for three “Nomen” or “Names”

with a good deal of information being provided for two of these people. Logically, what type of document do you

believe this to be? Here, there are only three words that did not appear in Latin in the previous documents:

“Aetas” (4 & 9) = “Age”, “Caelebs” (5 & 10) = “Unmarried,” and “Viduus” (6 & 11) = “Widow,

Widower.” So, these words too provide a clue about the nature of the record. Yes, these are the headings from

the top of a Roman Catholic marriage register.

- 13 -

1. Religio = Religion 7. Catholica = Catholic

2. Sexus = Sex 8. Aut alia = Or other

3. Thorl = Type of birth 9. Puer = Boy

4. Natus = Theme 10. Puella = Girl

5. Baptismus = Baptism 11. Legitimi = Legitimate

6. Numerus

domus =

House number 12. Illegitimi = Illegitimate

Mensis

Month

1. Nomen

Name

2

3

4 5 6 Nomen

Name

7

8

9 10 11 Nomen

Name

Conditio

Condition

12 13

- 14 -

Above this is another vital document issued by the Roman Catholic church. This particular one is a

funeral record. By now, you should be able translate the untranslated and numbered words in this doc-

ument. As you have likely noted, there are a good number of common words both in Latin and German used

in baptism, marriage and burial records. If you find your ancestors in sets of these records prepare a template

where you may transcribe what you find in the headings for each column as we have above and leave lines

below where you can transcribe your English translation of the content once you unravel the secrets of the

script used. A good German to English dictionary should help you translate the additional words that you en-

counter. Genealogical word lists or a good German to English genealogical dictionary can be of help when

dealing with archaic terms no longer used or with specialized genealogical terms including abbreviations that

you may find in the documents that you access.

Remember that many of these records especially the earlier ones may not be set up as charts but as nar-

rative, anecdotal records appearing much like the one shown below.

If you wish to learn more on German church records read German Church Books Beyond the Basics

by Kenneth L. Smith, Camden, Maine: Picton Press, 1989. You will find it in the Edmonton Branch AGS

Library collection.

Dies mortis

Day of death

MENSIS

MONTH

Nrus

Domus

House

No.

NOMEN MORTUI

Name of the Deceased

1

2

3

4

Dies

Vitae

Days of

Life

MORBUS et QUALITAS

MORTIS

CAUSE OF DEATH

Religio Sexus

In the April issue, I noted that

“Romania, Vital Records from Se-

lected Regions, 1595-1914” had

been added to ancestry.com. Here, I

will describe these records in greater

detail including explanations of how

to access them and of what they

contain. This collection provides

photographic quality copies of the

original records. They are recorded

mainly in the German language but

some documents of this collection

may be recorded in “Hungarian,

Latin, Romanian, Hebrew, and Old

Cyrillic” as well and are drawn from

“a combination of civil and church

records from the Transylvanian

Saxon cities and villages”. “This

collection includes a combination of civil and church records from the Transylvanian Saxon cities and villages

of Brasov (German — Kronstadt; Hungarian — Brassó), Deva (German — Diemrich; Hungarian — Dèva),

Sibiu (German — Hermannstadt; Hungarian — Nagyszeben), and Targu Mures (German — Neumarkt,

Neumarkt am Mieresch; Hungarian: Marosvásárhely) in the historical region of Transylvania in present-day

Romania.” On the map note .

So, how do you locate these records on ancestry.com? 1. Begin by hitting the “Search Tab” at the top of

the ancestry page. 2. A “pull down menu” will appear. 3. Click on “All Collections.” 4. A new page will ap-

pear. 5. Scroll down that page until you come to the map of the United

States which appears at the top of the next page. Of course, a map of

the USA will not be of much help when it comes to Romania.

However, along the top of the US map you will note the names of

several places.

- 15-

6. Click on “Europe.” Now, a map of Europe will appear in place of the map of the United States. The new

map will help you access the records of European countries including those of Romania. There are two ways

that you can access Romanian records. 7. You may click

on “Romania” right on the map, or you may click on the

word “Romania” on the list of nations directly below the

map, the choice of which is yours. This will take you to a

page titled “Romania” which lists the records

related to Romanian ancestry that are available

on ancestry.com. 8. Scroll down the page to

“Romania Birth, Marriage & Death.” As you examine that the specific record collection that we need is not

listed on the page. However, look at the bottom of “Romania Birth, Marriage & Death.” You will note the

title to the left. 9. Click on “View all Romania

Birth, Marriage & Death (8).” The page to the

- 16 -

right will appear on your monitor. On it,

you will see “Romania Vital Records from

Selected Regions, 1595 - 1914 (in

German). 10. Click on this title. This will

take you a “search box” through which

you can access the nearly five million

records of this indexed collection.

11. Type in the information that you have for the person you

are seeking into the appropriate space of the “search box.” 12.

Press the “search button.” You may notice that your search

will provide many documents including

those that are not either the type of records

that you want or from the places that you

want them to be. To narrow the search

parameters to a particular type of document

e.g. “Birth, Marriage & Death” simply go to

the column on the left side of this page and

click on the record type desired there. If you

wish to limit the search to a particular place,

click on “Edit Search,” and when your

search terms including the place that you

originally wanted appear, click on the box

marked “Exact” below the place name that

you originally inserted. Once you have your

listing of “Results” if you wish a better

sense of what an entry contains without ac-

tually opening it, place you cursor above the

blue title of the document and a box with a

- 17 -

- 18 -

more detailed description of that particular document will appear. If you then wish to see additional

information or go to the original document, simply click on the box marked “SEE MORE.”

Now, what can a search yield for one with German roots connected to Transylvania? Here, we have for

the areas indicated a rather long span of records 1595 to 1914, from virtually the Reformation to the start of

World War I. This is a greater time span than records in many places cover. How are the records presented on

ancestry.com. First, as mentioned, you do a standard search through these birth, marriage, and death records.

This produces a list of possible

documents that fit the parameters that

you provided through your search

terms. Be careful, as these parameters

are at times interpreted rather loosely

by ancestry leading you to people who

may not be the person you seek or

even related. Scroll through this list of

possible documents. When you find

one that is of interest, click on the

entry for that document. A sheet that summarizes

the basic information and source material related

to that document will then appear. You may or

may not chose to reproduce a copy of these sheet.

To the right, there are several suggested records

from the whole collection which you may consult

later and which may or may not be relevant.

However, it is always valuable to consult the

original document for the person featured to do

this simply click on the green box “View.” This

will take you directly to the image of the actual

document indicated.

This is how the document that

you wished to accessed appeared. 1.

There is a navigation bar that allows

you to enlarge and reduce the docu-

ment in size, allows you to maximize

the size of the view, and other func-

tions. 2. There are two white arrows

in circles on the document. Clicking

on the arrow on the left allows you to

go back in the register one page at a

time; the one on the right to go ahead

one page at a time. 3. In the white section to the right of the document,

there are references to other records within this specific collection of birth,

marriage, and death records which may (I emphasize “MAY”) also be on

the person you seek. Clicking on any of these will take you directly to the

entry for it. As not all entries of this white column may appear on the

screen, it is necessary to scroll through the list.

So, what do these documents look

like? Their appearance and content vary con-

siderably over time and from place to place.

They vary from documents which are more

anecdotal in the early years to ones that are

more chart-like in more recent times. The

document to the left is an example of a page

of early baptism record. Below is an enlargement of a few of the entries from that

page. Here, you will be dealing with many of the same concerns that Clayton

faced when doing his research in Moravian German records. These entries appear

to be written in Latin. The number “10” is the date

of the month, the month “October” was displayed

higher on the page at the point where the entries

for that month began. The area within the gold

box is the entire entry for just one baptism.

Below left is a page from a more recent

baptism record from 1722 and 1723. Directly

below is an enlargement of the area boxed in blue

on that page. The steps that you need to take to

decode this document are:

1. Determine the language it is in.

2. Decipher the scr ipt.

3. Transcribe it in English scr ipt.

4. Translate what you have transcr ibed.

5. Preserve a copy: the document with 3 & 4.

- 19 -

Here is even a later version of a baptism

record. The format here is much more chart-like.

The entries appear in a more standard form. Below

is a close-up of one of the entries from this page.

The entries fro this register cover both sides of the

book - two pages. (the specifics of reading German

Church Records has been covered earlier in this

issue. However, in the case of these particular rec-

ords, I urge one caution, “be certain of exactly

what record you are examining. True, most of

these records are baptisms, marriages, and deaths,

but occasionally slightly different designations do

pop up among these documents. Most records for

infants are baptisms, some of which will record a birth date as well. Other records will be listed only as

“birth records.” A death record may not be present but a funeral record will. The funeral may or may not

have occurred on the same day as the death. Unless stated, we cannot be certain. There are some “marriage

banns” posted among the marriage records. Be certain that you do copy what a particular record reports.

Take care to record your findings as accurately as possible. Find a way of differentiating dates of birth from

dates of baptism as both words begin with “b”. So, what exactly does “b. 1722” mean?

This set of records provides a rich documentary resource for anyone having roots in the German vil-

lages of Transylvania. If you follow the methodology employed by Clayton in his research using Bohemian

German records and find the code to deciphering them, you will have success in finding your ancestors in

these records as well. First, you will need to master the script in use. Here, if you are not familiar with Ger-

man script both printed and written, it might be useful to study it via a tutorial online or an actual course.

As many of us doing genealogy involving German documents are not fluent in the German language, we

will need to be able to translate the words written on these documents. Here, a good genealogical German -

English genealogical dictionary (and I emphasize genealogical) such as Ernest Thode’s German - English

Genealogical Dictionary can be helpful as can specialized word lists of archaic German terms for such

things as causes of death and occupations. Create templates of the church register pages with English trans-

lations so that you may transcribe the records of your family on them and access the records more easily.

- 20 -

Interesting Websites Related to German AncestryResearch

In the last issue of this newsletter, the newsletter mentioned a website that can be used to find German

villages in Russia that was recommended by Laura Turnbull. In this article, we will examine that site in

greater detail.

This site can be found at

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zFmiOKDRna9c.kQytbv16tO3g

It should be noted that this site is a site “in progress” that is it is not yet complete but villages are con-

tinually being added to it. However, it is of great use for those villages listed and when completed will be an

invaluable tool for anyone engaged in genealogy centered on Germans from Russia. This site is not restricted

to a single area as so many sites related to Germans from Russia are but covers the whole gamut of area Rus-

sian Germans settled. By scrolling down the left side of the webpage under the red bar titled “Germans from

Russia.” you will find entries for the Beresan Villages, Bessarabian Villages, Crimean Villages, Dobrudscha

- 21 -

Villages, Grossliebental Villages, Hoffnungstal Villages, Kutschurgan Vil-

lages, Odessa & Glückstal Villages, and Volga Villages. You will note that

on this list the icon before the name of each village listed in a group is in a

particular colour signifying that group. These icons also appear on the map

making it easier to identify the area where the specific grouping of villages

is located. So, if you look at the villages listed under “Bessarabian Villages”

you will note that they are a shade

of red. Therefore, the grouping of

red icons on the map shows the

Bessarabian villages. You will also

notice that on the list not all villages will always be visible. For example, at the bottom of the short listing

for the “Bessarabian Villages,” there is written “… 181 more” and below “Volga Villages” “… 240 more.”

To get a complete listing of any set of villages, simply click on the number and the word more which fol-

lows the shortened list for the group..

If you want to find a particular village, you would first need to know

which group of villages it was located in. Then, you would need to locate its

name below “Germans from Russia” in the red bar. Once, you have found it

click on it. So, if I was looking for my ancestral village. I would go to the

“Volga Villages,” Scroll down the list of villages there until I found its name

“Alexandertal, Kamenka, South Russia...,” and then clicked on that name. The

area name is important as German villages in different areas of Russia may

have been Christened with the same name. In the odd case, even villages

within the same area may also have the same name. There are a number of

villages near the Volga that have the same name “Neu Schilling.” This is im-

portant as one of them and only one is also known as “Alexandertal”, the an-

cestral village of my maternal Sattler family ancestors.

This will open the site to the page for the village that you seek, in my

case the page for “Alexandertal.” The village page that appears will provide a

- 22 -

good deal of importance on the village. First, examine the in-

formation on the left below the red box which now contains

the name of the village and the area in which it is located. It

also provides you with a number of vital pieces of information

of value to genealogists:

1. Place name variants for the village.

2. Whether a “mother” or “daughter colony.”

3. The year that it was founded.

4. Major religious denomination of the village.

5. Latitude and longitude coordinates.

You will also note that the area cov-

ered on the map has been reduced signifi-

cantly and now only shows the icons of the

group of the area in which your village is

located, all green for the Volga villages

here. Yet, the area covered is still too large

to select your village out of all the green

icons. You can navigate on the map in sev-

eral ways. When you place your cursor on

this map, a symbol of hand appears. By

clicking your left mouse button and holding

it down and then moving the mouse in the

desired direction, you can move the map in

any of the four direction. However, the scale

of the map will remain the same.

If you wish to enlarge an area of the

map, centre the section of the map with your

village using the means described in the pre-

vious paragraph. Then, use the plus and mi-

nus signs in the lower right hand corner of

the map. By clicking on the plus sign, the

details of the map will become larger while

the area covered by the map becomes small-

er. The minus sign does the opposite. You

click the plus or minus sign as often as you

wish until the village comes into the detail

that you desire. From time to time when doing this, you may need to re-centre the map so that it does not fall

in an area off the map being viewed. Above is an enlarged view of the map. The village you seek can be

- 23 -

located even if the name of the village name does not appear.

Simply look for the green icon that appears in a white circle. That

symbol indicates the location of the specific village that you seek.

Perhaps, you wish to see the land around your ancestral vil-

lage in a little more detail. Look at the column to the left with the

red bar with “Alexandertal, Ka-

menka, So…” on it and click the

arrow to the left of the village

page. That will take you back one

page. Go to the bottom of the left

column of this new page. Near

the bottom of it, you will see an

icon showing an aerial view of a

map. Click on it and it will replace

the standard map view with an aerial photograph map. You then maneuver the aerial map just as you did pre-

viously with the original map until you get the desired view in the right amount of detail.

Here is an aerial view that shows the details of the village itself. The image at the left shows a detailed

view of the village and the land around it. The smaller image at the right shows an even more detailed view of

the village streets and the building along them.

This village finder is a tool that has great potential for anyone doing ancestral research related to Ger-

man families who once called various areas of Russia home. It already allows us to look at the land around

these villages and the very streets of these villages as they are today in great detail. In the future, I look for-

ward with great anticipation to seeing all that this wonderful geographic online tool can be once it has been

completed.

- 24 -

Left: a detailed aerial view of Alex-

andertal and the land surrounding

it. Right: an image in even more

detail showing the streets and

buildings of Alexandertal.

One fact that appears self-evident when doing genealogy related to our German ancestors is that some

of the terms that we encounter may have more than one meaning. In an article earlier in this issue, the term

“Moravian” was used. “Moravian” is another of those term that crops up in German genealogy that can cause a

good deal of confusion. What exactly is Moravian? One dictionary states:

Moravian [maw-rey-vee-uh n, moh-] adjective: 1. pertaining to Moravia (a former nation) or its inhabitants,

2. of or relating to the religious denomination Moravians. Noun: 1. a native or inhabitant of Moravia, 2. Al-

so called Herrnhuter. a member of a Christian denomination descended from the Bohemian Brethern and

holding that the Scriptures are the only rule of of faith and practice 3. a dialect of Czech spoken in Moravia.

So, then Moravian may denote a person from a certain nation, but it may also denote someone of a par-

ticular religion. It also names a speaker of a certain dialect. Does the term Moravian as provided by all of the

definition apply to everyone called Moravian. The simplest answer is, “No!”

Let’s examine the word “Moravian” as it applies in a few situations right here in Alberta that may be

relevant to genealogists. When doing my research into the Catholic Germans in the Ross Creek area, I discov-

ered that were a number of other German groups nearby. One of these groups was a group designated as

“Moravian” and had settled around the town of Bruderheim, northeast of Edmonton. These people had settled

here as early as 1894. But which type of “Moravians” were they? They originated from Volhynia. So, they

were not in terms of their nationality “Moravian.” The group was organized by “lay pastor Andreas Lilge”

who brought about 100 families to the area beginning in 1894. Their reason for coming to Canada and ulti-

mately Bruderheim was to find a place “where religious freedom was guaranteed and Christian communities

could be formed on land made available by the government.” The next year they established their church on

the site of the present church. This group of Moravians were people who adhered to the Moravian faith.

- 25 -

Above: Moravian Cemetery, Bruderheim AB. Right: Older

section of the Moravian Church, Bruderheim AB.

You may find out more about these Moravians in Alberta and particularly in Alberta at https://

www.ualberta.ca/~german/AlbertaHistory/Moravians.htm There are a number of links listed on

this page which would be of interest to genealogists and family historians, but unfortunately most of them ap-

pear to be inactive. Moravians were also very active as missionaries. In Canada, they were particularly active

in mission work in Labrador as early as 1752. For information on this aspect of their faith see http://

www.mun.ca/rels/hrollmann/morav/index.html There is a listing for Canadian Moravian Historical

Society, Edmonton Chapter 2304-38 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6L 4K9 and a recent newsletter

from it at http://www.moravian.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/

CMHS_Newsletter_February-2016_Vol.-3_Issue-1.pdf Aside from this anything related to contact-

ing it remains vague. Perhaps, one of our readers may be able to help.

A post from The Provincial Archives of Alberta stated, “The Moravians, members of a five hundred

year old Protestant denomination that originated before Martin Luther’s Reformation, began immigrating to

Canada in the mid-eighteenth century. In 1894, about one hundred German-speaking Moravian families from

Volhynia, Russia, settled in Alberta and founded the community of Bruderheim northeast of Edmonton. Their

church still stands there today, although the building is now used to preserve the history of Western Canada’s

Moravian communities. The Moravians were among the earliest Protestant groups to immigrate to Alberta.”

“Moravian Church Confirmation

Class, Bruderheim, Alberta” (1916)

Photo Number: A6769

Factual source: https://

www.ualberta.ca/~german/

AlbertaHistory/Moravians.htm

To visit the museum: http://

www.lamontcounty.ca/p…/

Canadian-Moravian-

Museum_11435

Now, as far as the word

“Moravian” being used as a name of a

nationality, a people with a unified cul-

ture in Alberta, the word has been virtu-

al replaced by either Czech or Slovak. These people are credited with founding the hamlet Prague in Alberta

(a name retained for a school district near Viking, Alberta) was founded by second-generation, Czech-

Americans from the United States.” They also settled “in Lethbridge, Alberta. Lethbridge soon became a ma-

jor Slovak centre and the location of early Slovak church and community organizations. Early Czech and Slo-

vak settlements in Alberta were also established at Taber, Pincher Creek, Nordegg and Blairmore. At Leth-

bridge and in the Crowsnest Pass, Czech and Slovak pioneers were coalminers, while in other areas they set-

tled farms.” “Most Czech and Slovak immigrants who arrived in Alberta in the interwar years were farmers.

Some were attracted to the sugar beet fields of Raymond and Taber. Many Slovaks arriving in this period

worked in coalmines at Blairmore, Coleman and Frank.” It appears that the Moravians like people of German

ancestry from throughout Eastern Europe were highly valued by employers for their strong work ethic.

- 26 -

There is an article “German Surname Distribution Maps Locate

Your Ancestor’s Village!” by Leland K. Meitzler which will be of inter -

est to many doing research into their German ancestry. Meitzler examines a

number of websites which show the distribution of surnames within Germa-

ny. These sites were traditionally developed from the listings found in Ger-

man telephone directories and focus on the adult citizens bearing the name

in question. The author shows how these surname sites may be used to nar-

row down your search for your family’s ancestral village of origin. Also

note: on page 3 of this issue, the publisher notes that the next issue of the

special Tracing Your Ancestors series, a special series of magazines will be

Tracing Your Germanic Ancestors to be available sometime in the Summer

of 2016.

This magazine which I am only able to find on a very irregular basis

on the newsstands in Edmonton has a good deal of information on various

aspects of German heritage including articles which may provide excellent

background for anyone doing German genealogy. It includes not only arti-

cles drawn from Germany but from Austria and Switzerland as well. Major

articles in this issue are: “Will It Fit in My Luggage? Souvenir Shopping

in Germany,” “Kirchweih - A Tradition of Celebration,” Arnold

Pannartz and Konrad Sweynheim: Bringing Gutenberg to Italy,” “The

Rulers of the Middle Age,” “Land of Extremes - Hallig Hooge,” “At

Ease Across Switzerland,” “Duisburg: An Industrial Metropolis Rein-

vents Itself,” “Von Hexen und ihrer Hexerei - Of Witches and Witch-

craft,” “Playing for Keeps - Hamelin and the Pied Piper,” and “Secrets

of the Past - Chilon Castle.”

Now, the articles listed above are only the major articles of this magazine. However, there are also

several minor features which may be of interest to you. There are interesting “LETTERS” to the editor. A

genealogical articles titled “Genealogical Card File Digitized” and “’He Said, She Said’ - 18th Century Style”

are also present. There are a number of interesting books in English o topics related to Germany listed and

even book reviews of a few of them. There are articles on a few of the German dialects, a few German based

recipes, a series of articles called “Yesteryears” people, places, and events from Germany’s past and a calen-

dar of events related to German culture.

- 27 -

The question of what exactly is meant by the term “Holy Roman Em-

pire” is one raised often by those interested in German history and gene-

alogy. In “The First European Union,” the author Peter H. Wilson dis-

cusses the Holy Roman Empire as an entity. He notes the unique fea-

tures of this political entity that endured for a thousand years. A colour-

ful timeline provides the major events of its history, In addition, the au-

thor vies the ways in which the Empire shaped the character of Germany

as it is today. He extends his analysis to indicate what lessons the cur-

rent EEC might learn from this, “The First European Union.”

This issue contains one article of specific interest to those with ancestry

including German ancestry with roots in Eastern Europe. “Mapping It

Out” by Lisa A. Alzo examines geographical resources for Poland, the

Czech Republic and Slovakia that enable you to “put your Eastern Euro-

pean ancestors on the map.” The article provides a page from a Polish

gazetteer with tags indicating in English the nature of the information

that is contained in a typical entry for a place. It provides political maps

of the three nations featured along with details about the place as well as

links to additional information. (It is important to know that to access

this additional online information that you will be asked to sign in.

There is no cost for this unless you wish to select the “Plus” option

which allows you to access even more information. By signing up for

the regular option, you will receive a newsletter from Family Tree Mag-

azine plus ads for their courses and resources.) The article provides tips

and resources including an extensive listing of maps and gazetteers

which will be helpful in your research into the places of these three na-

tions of Eastern Europe. If you find this article helpful, I suggest that

you consider purchasing The Family Tree Polish, Czeck, and Slovak

Genealogy Guide by Lisa A. Alzo from Family Tree Magazine. There is a link in the ar ticle that will al-

low you to do this.

There are a number of articles in this issue that are not directly on German ancestry but that may be of interest

to you. “Family Figures” provides some interesting figures on family reunions. “Hiding in the Census” pro-

vides seven common scenarios for relatives that prove elusive in US Census Records. “Reeling in the Clues”

deals with how to preserve home movies and use them in genealogical research. In light of the recent presenta-

tion on fraud, it might be useful to read “Private Property” which provides some suggestions for protecting

your presence online. The workbook section of this magazine focuses on US Military Records. There is also

additional material on family reunions, photo editors, and genealogical attention getters.

- 28 -

CONFERENCE OF THESOCIETY FOR GERMAN GENEALOGY IN EASTERN

EUROPE (SGGEE.ORG), JULY 29 - 31, 2016, Calgary

The SGGEE convention committee is pleased to announce this preliminary look at the program for the Calgary

meeting in July. We'll provide the final program and speaker bios when all the information has been received. Two

of our speakers are coming from Ukraine.

The convention hotel info and registration form are available on sggee.org and the SGGEE Facebook page. The

weekend agenda also includes the Annual General Meeting for SGGEE and our evening banquet on Saturday as

well as the research room where you can talk with others about your research efforts. Hope to see you there!

· Genealogy 101 and online resources

· Volhynian church and religious life

· Getting children and youth interested in genealogy

· Conserving your family treasures

· Intro to DNA and applying it to genealogy

· German community in Volhynian cities

· Changing map in Europe

· Using maps in genealogy research

· Family history toolkit

· Volhynian indexing project

Please send any questions

to convention@sggee.org

Volhynia Parishes Public Registry

From an email (received May 10, 2016)

If you have an interest in Parish Records from Volhynia, see http://wolyn-metryki.pl/Wolyn/

Metryki_Wolyn/English.html

Start Your Research for German Ancestors with genealogy.net

If you are interested in doing research on your ancestors in Germany, genealogy.net is great resource for doing

so. If you wish to learn how to use this valuable website effectively, you may want to consist this resource on

using the website. This 34 page guide is a pdf document which allows you to download it or print it out. See it

@

http://www.sog.org.uk/uploads/WDYTYA_Live_handouts/Timo_Kracke_2016_NEC_-

_Start_Your_Research_for_German_Ancestors_with_Genealogy.net.pdf

- 29 -

“The Internet Polish Genealogical Source”

If you have an interest in Poland .and wish to see online resources available to assist you with genealogical

work rooted there see this website @ http://www.ipgs.us/

For related German resources see the webpage @ http://www.ipgs.us/germany/listings.html

For related resources of Ukraine see the webpage @ http://www.ipgs.us/ukraine/listings.html

“1914-1918 PRISONERS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR, ICRC HISTORICAL

ARCHIVES”

This website presents information on those Romanians taken prisoner in World War I @

http://grandeguerre.icrc.org/en/File/Search/#/10/2/75/0/Romanian/Military/

Sherk/Shirk/Schürch Reunion August 4-7, 2016

The biennial reunion and genealogical gathering of the

Schürch Family Association of North America will be held at Waterloo, Ontario, August 4-7, 2016.

All descendants from any of the forty or more spellings of the surname Schürch and interested parties are wel-

come. Activities include bus tours, seminars, children’s program, auction, and banquet.

For information/registration see www.schurchfamilyassociation.net or

contact schurch.gathering@gmail.com or Elaine at 519-696-2526. A poster detailing this event

has been posted on the bulletin board in the AGS / Edmonton Branch Library.

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“Alberta Genealogical Society Annual General

Meeting, Drayton Valley, April 23, 2016”

Jo Nuthack, a member of Edmonton Branch

and the German Special Interest Group, received the

President’s Award. AGS President Susan Haga pre-

sented Jo with the award. In her remarks presenting

the award, Susan noted, “In Appreciation of His 41

Years of Dedicated Service to the Society.

During these 41 years of membership Jo has

served the society in many capacities--he was

Edmonton Branch President, he coordinated the

"Tracing Your Family Tree" course for two years,

assisted in the formation of the Special Interest

Groups especially promoting German Research, He

chaired the 2000 Bylaw revisions committee and has

been Chair of the Bylaws Committee since that time.

He is always ready to translate German

records, work on the Policies and Procedures, and is

the first step forward whenever projects require a helping hand such as GenFairs and Elections. We have seen

him at the Board table for several years as Chair of Bylaws, a member of the P&P Committee and as our

Parliamentarian. He says he is retiring this year so we thank him for all he has given to our Society.”

Jo has been an active force in our German Special Interest Group at Edmonton Branch from its found-

ing. He has served as coordinator of the group. He has made presentations on various aspects of German ge-

nealogy, history, and culture to not only our tiny group but to larger audiences as well. He has from time to

time written articles for Relatively Speaking on aspects of German genealogy. He has also written books on

periods of his own life. Jo has entered many areas of genealogy, research, writing, and preserving it.

Jo cherishes the old and proven but also is open to the possibilities that new methods and new

technology offer. A while ago, he had a concern about who within his family might continue and update the

genealogical work to which he had devoted so much effort and time. He was proactive and although not raised

in the time of the computer generation, went out purchased a photo quality scanner and scanned all his family

photographs over 10 000 in all and saved them onto memory sticks which he gave to each family member for

Christmas. In a discussion with Jo a few months after that Christmas, he stated that at least one family

member was raising questions that suggested that that person had an interest in the family past and might well

be the person to carry on his genealogical legacy in the family. In a similar vein, we must ask who will carry

on the work that Jo and others have worked so hard to develop in our German Special Interest Group?

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Jo receives President’s Award from AGS President

Susan Haga

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I rarely review a novel , and this is a novel. At the Saskatchewan

Genealogical Society Conference this April, Dale Eisler this

book’s author was the speaker at the banquet. His story of the

origin of the book and why he developed it in the form he did may

provide an understanding of why I have written about it and per-

haps even the incentive to read it.

Eisler explained that the idea for the book came from an inci-

dent in his own family history. In 1919, his mother then just four years

old observed an event that profoundly affected her. The times following

the Russian Revolution were chaotic ones. One day a group of men ar-

rived in the village near the Black Sea where her Russian German family

lived. Her father welcomed the men and even offered them something

to drink. In spite of this, he was taken by the men and marched out into the street where the other men of the

village had been gathered. Then, one by one in front of their families, they were executed by the visitors.

Both Eisler’s mother and her brother Anton (Tony) who was just a year older carried the memory of this

horrific event with them for their live time. It was an event when recalled that would reduce them to tears. Yet, it

was an event that either said little about to family members. Eisler, a long-time reporter for The Regina Leader

Post and the author of two previous books of nonfiction, wanted to tell this tragic story. So, he began to research

it, he was only able to find a single historic reference on the event. Eisler had little data to work with but still felt

that this story needed to be told. So, he decided that the best way to do it might be to write a fictionalized account

centering on the tragic events that his mother and her brother had observed and that had marked his life. Eisler

also decided that he would see the events not through the eyes of his mother but instead through the eyes of a

character based on his Uncle Tony (Anton) as he could more easily connect with a male character. So, the story

emerges as it a product of Anton’s mind as both a child and an adult.

If you have German roots that extend to Russia, this novel is one that you should read. It provides a clear

picture of the chaos in these historic times. It provides a portrait of the uncertainties faced by minority people in

Russia and ultimately their need to flee the very place that for so long they had considered as home. The novel also

shows a single event in one’s past can orchestrate one’s future life in the most unexpected ways. This is a novel

that will enable those of us with Russian German roots to understand more fully who we are.

They Died as Infants

The final episode of “Who Do You Think You Are” the episode featuring Lea Michelle (of “Glee”) raised the importance of knowing practices used in the ancestral culture. This knowledge allowed the genealogists to gain a deeper understanding of the information within the documents studied.

I recently encountered a situation which reinforced the importance of knowing cultural conventions when doing genealogy. A friend of mine has been doing genealogical research related to his German ancestry for several trees. His ancestors settled in Pennsylvania in the early 1700s and late moving to Ohio and beyond. This part of his research has been quite successful.

However, when it comes to his research in Germany, he has encountered a major brick wall. His an-cestors, two brothers born in Germany, more specifically Württemberg, came to the States as young men in the early 1700s. He returned to the church records of their village church to find records of their births. He found the baptism records of these two family members. However, he also discovered a problem. Both of the children that he found also had death records showing that each died in infancy. This was a problem that peo-ple other than my friend had noted and written of in posts on the internet. Yet, no one seemed to have an ex-planation for it. So, how could these relatives have come to Pennsylvania as young men if they had died as children? Was this an early case of identity theft?

No, this was not identity theft nor does it provide a brick wall that cannot be overcome. The answer to navigating this apparent brick wall rests in having a knowledge of one aspect of the German culture, its nam-ing practices. When my friend told me the story of his brick wall, I had a suggestion for him. Twice that I could recall, I had encountered the key information in my own genealogy which provided a potential solution to his brick wall. In these two cases, a child had been born and had died a short time later while still infants. In both cases, a child born to the family later (even the next born child of the same sex) had been given the name of the child who was dead. So, the family would have two children born close together in time bearing the same name Was this an oddity or was it a rare situation?

A number of convention speakers and articles on the internet, showed that this was a very normal oc-currence. On website stated, “Often when a child died in infancy, his/her name was reused for the next child of the same gender.”1 Another notes, “If an elder child died young, the parents frequently reused the deceased child's exact name on the next born child of the same gender. This can be a good guide in terms of your re-search, but it is not an absolute. Do not assume the older child with the exact name died unless you find his/her death date.”2 Finally, a third website provide this explanation, “If a child died in infancy the name was of-ten reused for the next child of the same gender.”3 These and similar quotes which I could have selected tend to indicate that this practice was more a norm rather than an exception.

Now, not only is there an explanation for this and similar brick walls but there is also a way of resolv-ing them. In these brick walls, our search of the church records was likely initially curtailed when we found the initial baptism records and the death records. We stopped at the point where we found those records which

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we then thought were the ones that we sought. At the point of the death, the second child bearing the name

searched for had not yet been born. So, the logical solution of the brick wall lies in extending the search for-

ward in time. Very often, it will not be necessary to extend this search more than a few years as the birth of

the second time did not occur too long after the birth of the first child who had been given the name. This

closeness in the birth dates may have led us and other researchers to assume that any minor variance had been

an error in recording or reporting and that there was only one person until we searched further and discovered

a birth record for the second child bearing the family and given names we were seeking. If this doesn’t pro-

duce the entry you seek, also extend your search over a short period to the church registers of parishes church-

es near the place where the initial child was baptised and later buried.

There is value in knowing not only the documents that you as a genealogist work with but also the cul-

tural practices of the people within those records. It is also valuable to discuss your brick walls with others

who share your genealogical area of interest as they may possess information that may lead you to breaking

down your brick wall. My friend departed from our meeting with a very plausible explanation for his brick

wall and also the steps that he might employ to possibly find a solution to it. I wait to see if these suggestions

will enable him to eliminate what for him and many others has been a major brick wall and allows them to

proceed further back in time with their genealogical record.

Editor’s Note: In my discussion with other genealogists, I have discovered that this par ticular naming

convention is observed in many cultures as well. It is also useful to determine if a family does in effect use the

traditional pattern, which pattern is used, and when it abandons the use of such naming formulas.

“Germany Names, Personal” @ https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Germany_Names,_Personal

“Understanding German Language and Surnames” @ http://www.familytreemagazine.com/

article/Understanding-German-language-and-surnames#

“Riepe Roots” @ http://www.rieperoots.com/pages/Names/customs.htm

“18th Century Pennsylvania German Naming Customs & Patterns” @ http://

www.kerchner.com/germname.htm

“German Naming Patterns” @ http://myfamilyquest.com/genealogy-blog/german-naming-patterns

“The persistence of names” @ http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/2012/04/14/the-

persistence-of-names/

“She has the Same Name Is She her Sister? Naming Conventions of our Ancestors” @ http://

www.scchgs.org/meetinghandouts/German_Naming.pdf

“So my Germany ancestors had many middle names...do these work like maiden names?” a blog

with some interesting comments @ https://www.reddit.com/r/Genealogy/comments/42g8mx/

so_my_germany_ancestors_had_many_middle_namesdo/

“German Names” provides many links @ http://www.genealoger.com/german/ger_names.htm