R E S E A R C H   G U I D A N C E

A GENEALOGICAL
HANDBOOK OF GERMAN RESEARCH
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Acknowldegements
Chapter 1 Historical And Geographical
Chapter 2 Emigration Before 1800
Chapter 3 Emigration After 1800
Chapter 4 Determining The Place Of Origin L.d.s. Sources
Chapter 5 Determining The Place Of Origin U.S. Sources
Chapter 6 Determining The Place Of Origin European Sources
Chapter 7 Analyzing Surnames And Place Names
Chapter 8 Locating The Parish
Chapter 9 Determining The Present Name Of Localities
Chapter 10 Conducting An Area Search
Chapter 11 Record Repositories
Chapter 12 Naming Practices (patronymics And Occupational)
Chapter 13 Naming Practices (farm And Locality)
Chapter 14 Handwriting And Terminology Beginning
Chapter 15 Handwriting And Terminology Intermediate
Chapter 16 Handwriting And Terminology Advanced
Chapter 17 Feast Days And Calendars
Chapter 18 Finding A Birth Record
Chapter 19 Finding A Marriage Record
Chapter 20 Finding A Death Record
Chapter 21 Corresponding For Records
Chapter 22 German Genealogical And Family Organizations
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Appendix E
Appendix F
Index




Chapter 4 Determining the Place of Origin L.D.S. Sources

One of the major problems facing the German researcher is that of trying to determine the place where an immigrant was from. This was often a result of the nationalistic feeling that many immigrants had when they came to America. Because they were in America, they were, therefore, Americans and no longer German. Many of them carried it to the point of not speaking

German in the home nor mentioning anything to their children about the place in Germany that they were from. Others, not so nationalistic, just did not bother to record the information; or, if they did, it was either lost or not passed on. Regardless of the reason, when the place in Germany is not known, the researcher is forced to check other sources in order to determine the exact place where the immigrant came from.

The reason why finding the exact place is so important is because in Germany there are no central repositories of records. In order to locate the civil, parish, or other records, the exact place must first be determined. This, and the following two chapters, attempt to cover the problem and to examine those records which might provide the needed information for solving this type of problem.

In this chapter, records which are kept by the L.D.S. (Mormon) church will be covered. Before you who are not members of this church decide to skip this chapter and move onto the next ones, you should read the following. Having been associated with the L.D.S. library for some time, it has been my opportunity to help many individuals who were not members of the L.D.S. faith. Much to their surprise, they have often found that a nonmember had done research on their line and had donated it to the church library. Some have found a fourth or fifth cousin that they did not know about had joined this church and had done research on their line. Others found that the church had compiled an index of the parish records from the place where their ancestors were from and all they had to do was to put the families together.

In short, an individual would be a poor researcher indeed if he did not determine whether research had been done on the lines he intended to work on, and this includes checking those records kept by the L.D.S. church.


International Genealogical Index

The first L.D.S. source that will be covered is the International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.). This index was first started under the name Computer File Index (CFI). It presently includes names from all over the world. The majority of these names have been extracted from parish registers.

The I.G.I. is available in two forms:

1. Microfiche

A printout is made on microfiche, with each card containing over 350 pages and each page containing approximately 30 names. The header on each card gives the names of each region and country and the date of the printout. This same information is repeated on each page. As the page in Fig. 4A shows, Germany is filed under the region of Central Europe. Next, under country, the former kingdoms are listed and arranged alphabetically in the following order:

Baden

Bavaria

Germany

Anhalt Lippe-Detmold Waldeck
Bremen Lubeck Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Brunswick Oldenburg Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Hamburg Schaumburg-Lippe  
Hesse-Darmstadt

Prussia

Saxony

Thuringia

Wurttemberg

In the I.G.I., the surname is listed in the first column on the left, then the given name or names of the individual are listed. Next, the name of the spouse is given if it is an extract from a marriage record, or the names of the parents are given if it is an extract from a birth or christening record. Under the next column titled “Sex,” F is given for female, M for male, H for Husband, and W for wife. The next column is titled “Event,” and B is for birth, C for christening, M for marriage, N for census and W for will or probate. The next column gives the date of the event and the one after that gives the place of the event.

Several copies of the I.G.I. are available for use at the main library in Salt Lake City and many of the Family History Centers have them as well. By writing to the main library, you will receive the address of a Family History Center near you.

2. CD-ROM

The I.G.I. is also available on the new FamilySearch computer program at L.D.S. Family History Centers. The entire I.G.I. and other programs have been put on compact discs, making it easier to search.


FAMILY GROUP RECORDS ARCHIVE (FGRA)

Another L.D.S. source that provides similar information is the Family Group Records Archive (FGRA). The FGRA is divided into two groups, the main section and the patrons section. Both sections contain family group sheets submitted by members of the L.D.S. church. The difference between the two is that those in the main section are checked for accuracy and receive special processing by the family history library and those in the patrons section do not. Family group sheets in the patrons section were filed just as they were submitted without receiving special handling. One other difference between the two is that sheets were filed in the main section from 1942 through 1969 and in the patron section they were filed from 1962 through 1979. Sheets from both sections provide dates and places of birth, christening, marriage, death and burial of the parents and children as well as the names of the grandparents and spouses of the children.

Both the main and the patrons section are available on microfilm and can be obtained through any of the family history centers.


FamilySearch Ancestral File

FamilySearch computer programs include the ancestral file which in 1991 contained over 10,000,000 names. It is a collection of genealogies from all over the world. The Family History Department encourages anyone who does genealogical research to contribute their findings, preserve their genealogies and share their information with others. With the ancestral file program you can use the computer to retrieve information on individual files, family group records or pedigree charts. The word living appears instead of a name when the information pertains to anyone born less than 95 years ago if their death date is not also given. The file also provides the name and address of the person who submitted the information to the ancestral file.

Anyone using the ancestral file must understand the Family History Department accepts genealogies from anyone including professionals who verify and document their research and novices who make mistakes and wrong assumptions. The Family History Department does not accept responsibility for any incorrect information. It is possible to correct mistakes made or found in the ancestral file records. corrected information may be submitted on a diskette along with the documented sources for the changes.

Information from the ancestral file may be printed out or copied onto a diskette. All data in the ancestral file is copyrighted by the Family History Department of the L.D.S.Church but the submitter retains the right to publish his own information. For a handout on “Contributing Information to Ancestral File,” write to the following address:

Ancestral File
Family History Department
50 East North Temple
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150

FamilySearch- Social Security Death Index

A major problem in locating family records such as family bibles, naturalization or immigration documents and family letters that have been passed on, is determining where living relatives currently reside. The Social Security Death Index can be used to help locate relatives.

This record contains over thirty nine million names of persons who died in the U.S. between 1937 and 1989. This record can assist a researcher in locating birth and death dates, a person's residence at the time of death and the locality where the death benefit payment was sent. This information may help locate family members with additional information on immigrant ancestors. This file also indicates which state the deceased was living in when their social security number was issued. The social security number may be helpful in obtaining additional information from the social security administration as well.

The social security number is not needed to search this index. Researchers using this file should realize it will not provide the name of the deceased's spouse or children. It also will not give place of birth information unless it happens to be the same as where the social security number was issued. It does not contain the person's entire social security file or information on any living person. It is also not possible to look up an entry on a woman using only her maiden name. In addition, there will not be a file on anyone if their death was not reported to the social security administration.

Locality information in this record is based on the 1987 zip code table. If the zip code has changed since the person's death then a wrong locality may be given. If the person died before zip codes were being used then a locality will probably not be given.

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Copyright 1996, by Larry O. Jensen. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be translated or reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing from the author. Printed in the U.S.A.
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Version of Data: 6/7/2001]