1950 FORWARD! A LOCAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY MAY SO HAVE ARCHIVED INFORMATION FROM THE MID 19th CENTURY : CHECK THE HISTORICAL SITE TOO

It can be GENEALOGY MYOPIA to think that your local historical society only keeps or cares about, well, history.  But history need not be Colonial, to be history.  In fact, some of us are downright historical ourselves. So, don't hesitate to ask what a particular historical society has in their little archives.  And while you're at it, ask them WHERE YOU MIGHT FIND WHAT YOU WANT.  They may suggest the name of the branch library that has it, for instance.

I once went to a historical commemorative event at rancherio and there met a man who was a rare person indeed,  six generations in Los Angeles, a descendant of Pio Pico.  People who love to talk history are often docents at historical sites.

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MY DIFFICULT RESEARCH INTO A PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN IMMIGRANT FAMILY : STEP TEN : POST #6

Step 10:  Newspaper search

Ok I have to warn you all that this was the most hopeful and frustrating aspect of this research path.  But here goes.  Using a popular newspaper database (which I'll call database #1), and using the surname and a slight variant (removing the s at the end as the family currently spells it) and the State and City, up came some OLD GERMAN newspapers!  But these databases usually have a way of getting you close to the article where the name appears by throwing a yellow tint where your search term appears.  And that was not going to work since the newspaper was not in English (darn AI!).  As newspapers go these were only a few pages each, but large.  I could not get the larger paper to print, to download and open.  So I reached out for help.

I reached out to FamilySearch volunteers but that went nowhere.

I reached out to the Historical Society in the very town where these newspapers had been printed in the 1840's.  I felt that they might give the names of recent immigrants to the town, perhaps news of a baptism or church membership or - what I would love - the names of new citizens.

A volunteer from the Historical Society contacted me and I tried to send to him from the database to his e-mails the newspapers.  But that didn't work either. Finally weeks later a person who volunteers there and said reading OLD GERMAN was easy for her and that she was willing to accept a donation, blessed us with heroic work. She went on another database (which I'll call database #2) and summoned up the same newspapers. 

She got back to me and said she thought basically the surname had not really come up, that what it all was, was gibberish.

What a dissapointment!

However I had a third party in San Francisco who is certified to read OLD GERMAN documents go to a library there where yet another database was on their computers (which I'll call database #3) and same thing.

I may always wonder if I could print out these newspapers in the original size on that size paper and put them in the hands of an OLD GERMAN reader if indeed they would find the surname but enough time had been spent on this!

However, newspaper searches sometimes do pull up interesting and useful information so I can't tell you not to do them!

Posts in this series will be brought up using the label PA-GERM research path

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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.

Posts in this series will be brought up using the label PA-GERM research path

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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.)

Posts in this series will be brought up using the label PA-GERM research path

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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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DO I USE THE ANCESTRY GENEALOGY DATBASES? YES BUT NOT TO THE EXCLUSION OF MANY OTHERS!

DO I USE THE ANCESTRY GENEALOGY DATBASES?

I was asked recently what I think of the ANCESTRY.COM databases.  Well, I can say that I use that database and have over many years, but I also use Fold3, and many other databases,  and resources that are local, city, state, county, and federal. I probably will never give up using "old fashioned" resources like talking to people at historical societies.  I like interaction with other people too much to be isolated and computer bound at home all the time.

At the LATTER DAY SAINTS FAMILY HISTORY CENTERS around the country, volunteers and missionaries are very busy moving information that is presently on other databases and microfilms into FREE USE GENEALOGY DATABASES at their FAMILYSEARCH site. It's their indexing project.

Someone at one of the FAMILY HISTORY CENTERS told me that originally all these databases companies, non-profit and otherwise, once agreed to share all information.  That is why you see information original to JEWISH GEN on ANCESTRY.  I use JewishGen once in a while but must say that their constant begging for donations, which seemingly has increased significantly in the last year, has really gotten on my nerves.  But why should they go begging when they have either turned over or sold all their information to Ancestry? 

This person at the LDS Family History Center told me that the sharing as promised may not be in all cases two sided anymore, since there is a fortune to be made selling subscriptions, etc.

I've used FAMILY HISTORY CENTER RESOURCES FOR YEARS!  I actually love spinning film and find it easier on the eyes and the hands than databases.  I also have greatly enjoyed talking to other genealogy enthusiasts and have experienced some synchronicity in doing so!

I've also found information that was not microfilmed or microfilmed only in part on some of the databases I use.  I know this because I have the photocopies OF THE BACKS OF INDEX CARDS that provided extra good information other than the fronts.  Then there is the long time problem of typists who have produced misspellings despite their best efforts.  As I understand it, at the FAMILY HISTORY CENTER when a volunteer comes across a questionable handwritten name, they will call in a couple other people to give an opinion, and they may also assign people who understand something about the language or names in that language to contribute.

I've had my fair share of encountering sloppy handwriting and misspellings in my years as a researcher, though I'm usually pretty good at making it out, better than most people I would say.  Still, this is a good reason to obtain a copy of the microfilm so that you can go back and check.

Since I'm not associated with the ANCESTRY.COM company, I can't do them an advert. 

HERE IS THE LINK TO FAMILYSEARCH.ORG

A HISTORICAL SOCIETY MAY BE A GOOD PLACE TO START

These days, with so many people moving around the country for work and so busy, it takes a while to feel you are a member of a community.  As well, if you are far from where  your family of origin in the United States settled you may not know much about their lives in a historical niche because you're so distant from that place and time.  Contacting the Historical Society that is in that area may just be the start for your research.

Why?

Because most Historical Societies have some people - often older people - who have stayed put and know a lot about the area. They may just know of your family.

That's what happened to a friend of mine who found out that the home her immigrant ancestors had lived in for a couple generations was on a HISTORY TOUR of the area.  She actually got to go see the house and hear this local expert talk about them.  They were thrilled to meet her as well!

Some historical societies also offer some low-cost look up services for you if the records you need are not on databases or microfilms.  This is especially true of local newspapers.

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