MY DIFFICULT RESEARCH INTO A PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN IMMIGRANT FAMILY : STEP NINE : POST #5

Step nine : Looking for participation in the Civil War

Since the family was on the 1860 census I wondered if we might find relatives who fought in the Civil War who might have been part of the family in Germany-Prussia but did not appear to live in the same house as the immigrant nuclear family group. In other words, perhaps brothers of the head of household. Once again the focus is on discovering where in Germany-Prussia the immigrants left so that I could get into those records and go back further.

There were TWO, one in the same county, and one in a county over.

Using the National Archives and the State of Pennsylvania Archives as well as FamilySearch I was able to find the cards for these two men. The cards showed some basic information on them including that one of them filed for disabled status pension. The question was if there is more information held that these cards lead to and what information it might have.  There was no way to prove that these two men who fought in the Civil War were relatives.

One must pay for this information, per name. I was told there was no way to tell what, if anything, of value might come up.  Because this is speculative, the client is thinking about paying for it.

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MY DIFFICULT RESEARCH INTO A PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN IMMIGRANT FAMILY : STEPS SIX and SEVEN and EIGHT: POST #4

THESE STEPS SHOW AN EXPANSION OF RESEARCH from the focus on the 1860 immigrant nuclear family in Berks.

Step 6 :  Considering the formation of Counties (Philadelphia).

Philadephia County History from the Pennsylvania Historical Society

Looking for other families with the same surname in the larger, historical county and general area (Eastern Pennsylvania).  

As the population grew and settlements grew, more cities were established and counties that were large were divided into smaller ones.  Historical and map research - along with another check at census and in databases such as Ancestry TM and FamilySearch TM were in order.

For instance, someone might say that the ancestors lived in Philadelphia and you might think of the city as it is now, but they might have meant the county named Philadelphia that was cut into three: Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks. So though my client's immigrant ancestors appear on the 1860 in Bucks, some family members might have been in Chester or Philadelphia Counties.

NOTE THAT DATABASES ARE NOT USING PRESENT TERMS BUT PAST TERMS. So when they lived there is important. What if a child's parents were living in Philadelphia County but when the child was born, that same area was Bucks?

Step 7: Looking at Plat maps of those counties that are available.

When it comes to map that show early land owners (usually farmers) sometimes the surname will relate to other documents held in an archive, sometimes not, such as land sales and purchases or transfers or wills.  It would depend on when exactly that particular county kept these records and if they still exist. We are used to, in modern times, a certain exactitude and knowledge and obedience to the law that did not always exist back in the day when a handshake could be a contractual agreement. So though I might use a database first, what's on a Plat map might not link to what's in the database.

The term for this type of map is a Plat Map.  It shows how land is divided into lots. Some maps will show early roads and other geographical features such as lakes and rivers which may bear the names of these early residents or pioneers. Some are housed in the National Archives of the United States.

Step 8 : Looking at the census for surrounding counties.

However on the census of 1850 in the county one over I did find the surname and it appeared that it might have been a school or some sort of skill based workshop.  Why? Because the 1840 only records the head of household (assumed owner or renter of a building) and the statistical count - a group of males who are teenagers.  I think a master and his apprentices were at that location!

Will there be any way to associate this particular man with the same surname with the family that settles in Berks?  It shows the German surname in Eastern Pennsylvania at a time when it's possible that a family member was there but went uncounted. What if the boys are his sons?  Well the ages are so close.  What if one is a nephew or a son?  A tantalizing possibility.

(Sadly, this went unproven but it is in the report given to the client.)

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MY DIFFICULT RESEARCH INTO A PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN IMMIGRANT FAMILY : STEPS THREE and FOUR and FIVE : POST #2

Step three: Houses and Buildings Owned by the family

The next step was to see if there were property titles (houses or buildings) in the current county with some historical information of ownership.  There is a current database that went back a ways and there were some properties under that surname but it appeared as if the descendants of the immigrants took a couple generations to own property.  These people were once again known individuals and not the original immigrants.

However this, along with no building or land ownership in the family provided an important clue as to when they may have come to America.

Step four : Historical Research into the County

Because the immigrant family did not appear to own any land in Colonial Pennsylvania and did not seem to own any houses or other buildings until a couple generations after that 1870 census where the immigrant group appeared, it suggested that they were not of the earlier immigration of Germans that came to Pennsylvania and settled in the same County who could purchase land - the farmers.  Local history posted on the Internet by the Historical Society showed that the city they lived in was known for its bakeries.  This wave of German immigrants tended to be crafts persons bringing the skills they had in German that those farmers and the burgeoning population needed.

Looking at a web site for the city, I noted that there were some statues honoring the bakers.

Step five : Looking for family members who might have been in the Pennsylvania Militia or who served in the Revolutionary War, and/or who might be listed as members of the honorary societies such as the Sons of the American Revolution or the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The family was on the 1860 census but not the 1850 or the 1840 even though it is possible that some or all of them were in America to be counted.  At the time sail ships were coming into Philadelphia and New York though they could have come in through another harbor or off-shore landing spot.  But there is always the possibility that some relatives of theirs came earlier, providing them refuge or a start in America.  The surname was NOT in the Pennsylvania Militia, the Revolutionary War, or in the Sons of the American Revolution or the Daughters of the American Revolution. So this thoroughness further confirmed they were of a later wave of German Immigrants.

This wave is called The Second Wave.

Why would they NOT be on the earlier census?  Well, census' have never been 100% inclusive.  (I myself was not counted on two census in modern times. At the time it didn't bother me in the least.  I suspect the census taker could not get through our security.)  These people were Germans adjusting to a new country.  There might have also been some fear of being counted.  

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