Immigrant Genealogical Society Newsletter

Number 344 P. O. Box 7369, Burbank, CA 91510 November 2012 Immigrant Genealogical Society Presents

NOVEMBER 11, 2012 Annual Meeting 2PM Research 12-5 with expert help

DECEMBER 9, 2012 Holiday Pot-Luck 1PM Show & Tell

Library open 12:00 till 5:00 Come for the fellowship! PLACE: Immigrant Genealogical Society, 1310 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA

From the Treasurer: Italian Records on FamilySearch.org Thank you so very, very much to all of you who have 24 million images of civil registrations from the National renewed your membership at an upgraded level AND/OR Archives of Italy are now available through FamilySearch.org, given donations to help us in this economic environment. with some 4 million names transcribed and available for WE STILL NEED HELP! Do not forget our organization is a searching. Readers will be familiar with the above URL, but non-profit 501(c)(3). You can deduct your contribution from go to: to your taxes. Do you know of any foundation/company that view the Italian Archives site in English. And, if you have Italian gives grants, or has a matching plan? Or an individual/other names to research, keep in mind that we have IGS members entity who could donate? who may be able to help you. Let us know by writing to our Marilyn Deatherage - 818-348-6444 Corresponding Secretary!

Gen. Soc. of Stanislaus County 2012 Seminar Irish Heritage Magazine This year’s speaker is renowned genealogical researcher/ This is a start-up with a mix of current events and heritage in- author Mrs. Christine Rose, CG, CGL, FASG, addressing formation. The aim is to add a separate but related geneal- the topics of genealogical proof standards, estates as an ogy/heritage forum in the future. It can be found at: . conclusions, and “solving the problem onsite in 25 hours or less.” The seminar runs from 9 to 3 on Saturday, November Slovakian Records 10 at the Modesto (CA) Centre Plaza, 1000 L Street. We’re GenealogyBlog has passed on the news that free online access sorry there wasn’t more lead-time for this announcement, to Slovakian data has now reached over 5 million-searchable as it promises to be a rewarding day. records at FamilySearch.org. In particular, the 1869 census has been added, meaning that a Slovakian family immigrating to Names Our Members Are Researching this country in the prime years for Eastern European emigration Natalie Cornwell -- Froehlich, Gabel/Goebel, Krum, Wee- may very possibly be located in their village of origin. This has ber. Robert Seal --Guggenburger, Kreichhammer, Muller, all been made available through the efforts of a small army Poch, Schlang, Stadtler, Vatter, Vock. Gloria Thompson of volunteers who transcribe and index information found in -- Dettmer, Fantzen, Gerken, Martrens, Thuesen. Kathy digitized handwritten records. If you’ve benefitted from such Holland --Frenkes, Schlefelbein, Schmidt, Strassburger, an effort, please share your story with this newsletter’s read- Wombacher. Anne Wattmann --Artern, Waechter (Prussian ership by writing the editor at: . Prov. of Saxony); Brosius (Hesse-Darmstadt); Koehler,Merz (Bavaria).

Page 1 IGS Newsletter, November 2012

November 8, 2009 —WORKSHOP #6 2009—12-5 Put It Together . New entries in the Mecklenburg-Kontakte Database were eager to lure additional farmers to their lands in order These are the surname entries for the month of August, to till the fallow fields and provide the tax base with which to courtesy of Dieter Garling continue the rulers and noble families in the style to which and die KontaktDatenbank . The search page is here: Germany “out of nowhere” www.emecklenburg.de/Mecklenburg/l44.php>. some three-and-a-half centuries ago, you might ask yourself Ahrens Bahr Baier Bartelt Berger Berndt Bleeck if they might originally have been Swiss. --Ed. Bockholdt Bold Boldt Bredow Bruhn Bunge Busse Doss Eggebrecht Eisenhaber Eisenhaver Eisenhawer Other Reviews... Frenz Froh Grunwald Hahn Havemann Ida Kaltofen In yet the same issue of The Palatine Immigrant Klück Konow Kruse Kurzyna Ladwig Lenthe Lev- (Vol. XXXVII No. 4, Sept. 2012), several other brief ermann Meinhard Moll Mueller Opper-mann Pas- reviews may mention a smaller locale that is still of interest. sow Pechtel Peter Poehl Qualmann Rahne Regling Here is a list of them: Böckweiler/Kreis Bleiskastel; Ober- Rohde Runge Salfeld Schmahl Schröder Schütt entfelden; 57639 Oberdreis/Westerwald (with constituent Schultz Schulz Schwerdtfeger Sodtman Stahl Tre- towns Lautzert, Dendert & Hilgert); Niederwambach/ tow Viereck Voelker Westphal Winterfeld Zahrndt Westerwald; Nueuenkirchen/Odenwald; Absteinach & Mack- Zierk Zimmer-mann. enheimer; Atzbach, Dorlar & Waldgirmes (three villages on And these are the additions for the month of the Lahn R. between Giessen and Wetzlar); and Tambach- September: Adam Bechtold Blumenthal Braemer Dietharz. Prospective readers may wish to search for their Brehmer Bruhn Dickfo Dickfoss Dieckfoss Dieckvohs volume of interest using “Worldcat.org”. Dieckvoss Diekfoss Diekvoss Dieterich Ehmke Fell- mann Fleck Gundlach Heise Holst Kaehlcke Kaelcke Family Tree Magazine’s Best Websites for 2012 Kalkhorst Kock Krohn Krüger Langheim Leit- Readers will want to visit the magazine’s web page for full mann Martine Meier Mittddelstaedt Mittelstaedt details and links, but a few sites may be of special interest Ott Otte Palis Peters Plückhahn Prinzler Rode Ro- to those researching Euro-pean immigrant ancestors. Danish hde Scharfenberg Susemihl Tesch Teschendorf Von Demographic Database contains among other data censuses beginning with 1787, emigration records, and probate records for cer- Westrich, the Pfalz region near Kusel tain Danish locales. Digitalarkivet from the National Archives of Nor- contains an interesting book review of a 1995 work by way has censuses, and certain parish and land records. the Zweibrücken Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Familien- Genlias is concerned forschung. The German title is: Schweizer Einwanderer with the Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam, now New im Westrich, 1650-1750 (English: “Swiss Immigrants in- York. The European list also ranks two Jewish genealogy to the Westrich...”). This book of 279 pages contains sites very highly. Live Roots is a alphabetical lists of Swiss immigrants to this region, metasearch site that is highly ranked, but possibly not well- together with family member names and vital statistics known. WorldCat is wellknown, information, all documented in such a way that the but probably underutilized for finding books of interest in reader may trace these migrants back to their Swiss specific libraries. Family Pursuit home towns. As the review observes, even those who is a collaborative site for family trees that can synchronize don’t read German can profit from finding this book, as (on a beta-testing basis) with trees at FamilySearch. the lists are easily understood. One may contribute to the Community Family Tree for free, or upgrade for a fee and establish one’s own tree. These are Emigration from the Bern Aargau to the Pfalz but a half-dozen of the 101 sites recommended by Family The same journal cited above offers a second book Tree Magazine; no mention has been made here of review that similarly covers Palatinate inmigration from many other sites that may be of value for U.S. research. Switzerland that occurred after the Thirty Years’ War in --Ed. Germany. And, like the above-cited work, there is an al- phabetical list -- this one comprising 220 pages. Written Million Short by Peter Steiner in 2009, the German title is: Aargauer Another great find has been recommended by the “Upfront in der Pfalz: Die Auswanderung aus dem Berner Aargau with NGS” blog (from the National Genealogical Society)! nach dem Dreissigjährigen Kreig. By reading the review They note in a September 18th email release that Mocavo, I learned something I hadn’t considered previously. The the dedicated genealogical search engine, may still not find Swiss had had a ready market for their agricultural ex- the information you want. So what’s a person to do? Million ports during the years of war, but when the thirty years Short is perhaps an answer. The purpose of this new web of warfare were at an end, and Germany was again site is to allow researchers to “narrow” search results able to harvest its crops, the Swiss lost a major market retrieved by search engines to the less popular sites. The and grain prices dropped accordingly. This, then, was way this works is that one first begins a search in the usual a major factor in the subsequent emigration -- the so- manner. Once the umpteen zillion results have been called “push factor.” Likewise, constant warfare had de- reported, you can remove the top one hundred, one thou- populated much of Germany, and many German rulers sand, ten thousand, hundred thousand or one million sites

Page 2 IGS Newsletter, November 2012 from consideration. This leaves you to search through the bined in one book, for it constitutes a genealogy of the von more obscure findings -- the very ones that may mention Randow family. One member of the family, born in 1863 your ancestors. In the example given, the writer searched on in Mirow (Mecklenburg) to Ernst Heinrich Leopold August “Simon Turner” and “Wake County.” Essentially, you’ll end v. Randow and his wife Helene Rode, lived in Los Ange- up “searching from the bottom” instead of wading through les after 1920. His name was Karl Heinrich Wolfgang v. all the commercial and common sites that don’t hold what Randow, and he perhaps first lived in San Francisco and you’re looking for.... Wow! What won’t they think of in Mono County (1910 & 1920 censuses) before apparent- next? --Ed. ly moving south to live out his life. I wonder if any one of you knows of this gentleman? --Ed. Learning about Illinois History at the German Emigration Center Geschichte Schlesiens: Preußisch- und Österreichisch- An article in the April 2012 issue of the Bremerhaven Cen- Schlesien 1740-1945 ter’s News publication (Issue No. 11, pages 10-12) relates Here is a history of Silesia with a broad variety of chapters. how millions of immigrants arriving after 1913 took New They range over some 490 pages from the political history York Central Railroad from the port city’s Grand Central of the Prussian province over four eras (with the breaks at Terminal to Chicago, either to live there or to embark for 1815, 1848 and 1918), the economy, religious history other cities in the Midwest or as far away as California. And (Catholic, Protestant & Jewish), culture (literature, the it does this this by recreating the scene as an immigrant arts, music, and publishing) before ending with some 80 would have experienced it! “Visitors to the German pages on Austrian Silesia. A fine series of maps is also Emigration Center will step up to the ticket booths with their provided. Look for this one on the “New Books” shelf in bronze adornments just like the travelers do. Exact copies Section 29 of the IGS Library. of eight of the 26 booths in Grand Central Terminal were reproduced for the new exhibition rooms, each containing The Prussian-German Army cabinets displaying photos, documents and memorabilia of Joyce Rohloff-Gardner has written a concise summary of a German immigrant family. An audio station relates how the ins and outs of serving in the Prussian (later German) emigrants felt as immigrants in their country of arrival, their military in the mid- to late-19th century. It appears in the new home, and what became or has become of their Fall 2012 issue (Vol. 35, Issue 3) of our own IGS special descendants....” The state of Illinois, founded in 1818, did interest group’s journal, Die Pommerschen Leute. Did you not register a significant rise in population until after 1832 know, for instance, that: “Men could not marry until after when the Sac Indians had been defeated. In Illinois partic- they served their first three years in the standing army, ularly as well as in other Midwestern states, close to one and this is why you will see men’s marriage age as 23 or million German farmers settled between 1830 and 1870. older in the church books.”? Not only does she do a great One of the three dioramas in the Waiting Room of the new job of explaining how military requirements may have affected exhibition rooms gives a precise picture of how these German your ancestor, she also provides a list of “Sources for military farmers lived. A second diorama shows German workers records.” She is a board member of the Pommern Regional in the ‘huge, greasy meatpacking plants’ of Chicago ‘that Group of Minnesota, and she plans a book on the Pruss- smelled like the craters of hell.’” --according to Upton Sinclair’s ian military. Reach her at . novel, The Jungle. Perhaps you can even get a glimpse of the expansive nature of such exhibits by catching the Polish in Minnesota? Center’s presence at a trade show or travel fair. The News The Summer 2012 issue of Rodziny, the journal of the Pol- (Issue No. 10, page 14) describes how the Center’s trav- ish Genealogical Society of America contains a nice four- eling team periodically tours the U.S.A. in concert with the page article written by the late John Kowles on Polish set- Bremerhaven Tourism Board, targeting German emigrants tlers in the state of Minnesota. In particular, he talks of the and their descendants in cities such as New York or Mil- “pushes” and “pulls” that spurred emigration from Poland waukee, or on the German Board of Tourism’s annual road to our country, and there is a map that illustrates the loca- show. tions of pre-1880 Polish settlements with the approximate years of their start. The article is a reprint from the Die Randows: Eine Familiengeschichte von Olof v. Summer 2004 issue of the Polish Genealogical Society of Randow Minnesota Newsletter. How many of you dear readers know that we have in our IGS Library a wonderful resource for locating writings about West Prussia your German families? I’m speaking of the Deutsches This is the “spotlight” of the Spring 2012 (Vol. 15, No. 1) issue Familienarchiv series, which is currently complete to volume of Germanic GenealogyJournal, published by the German- 156 or so. Those of us who staff the library frequently use ic Genealogy Society of the Minnesota Genealogical Soci- it as a resource for verifying the spelling of a name that is ety. The article by Cynthia Jacobson provides an historical known by a patron to be Germanic, but which may have summary, some “fast facts,” a time line, maps, and much been Anglicized in the course of a family’s early years in information on genealogical resources -- over four pages America. But occasionally an entire volume will be devot- worth! And, if you find a copy of this issue here at your IGS ed to one family, in which case it really should be cross- Library or elsewhere, spend some time reading a 7-page indexed to our family genealogies located in Section 30 of article by Dan Riordan about his quest for one ancestor; the Library. Such is the case with volumes 135/136, com- it’s a nice case study of German ancestor research. Page 3 IGS Newsletter, November 2012 Immigrant Genealogical Society Nonprofit Org. P O. 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Conejo Valley Gen. Soc. ...has a new website at: . We receive their newsletter, and you 1310 W Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA should know (if you live near Thousand Oaks) that they Mail to: P. O. Box 7369, Burbank, CA 91510-7369 maintain a genealogical section at the Brimhall Library (818) 848-3122 http://www.ImmigrantGenSoc.org there (at 1401 E. Janss Rd.) with a strong European focus on German and Irish materials. Officers & Chairmen Ron Grider, President ...... (805)262-2239 Deutsch in Amerika: Episch=lyrische Poesie (Chicago, Lura Perkins, Secretary ...... (818)896-9685 1892). This is a continuation from the last issue. It is an Marilyn Deatherage, Treas...... (818)348-6444 index of 19th century German-American poets with Lura Perkins, Research Chair ...... (818)896-9685 birthplaces in Europe.... Lafrentz, Ferdinand W. - auf Gordon Seyffert Editor...... (626)345-0658 der Insel Fehmarn, Schleswig=Holstein; Lange, Heinrich [email protected] - Bremen; Lexow, Friedrich - Tönning, Schleswig; Leyh, Warren Stone Assistant Editor & Publications Eduard F. - Meimers, Sachsen=Meiningen; Lieber, (818)998-1735 [email protected] Franz - Berlin; Liefeld, F. W. A. - Ludwigsfelde, Provinz Immigrant Library Hours Brandenburg, Preußen; Lilienthal, Max - München; Loeb, Wednesdays . 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm Julius - Edenkoben, Rheinpfalz; Lorenz, Carl - Stuttgart; 1st & 3rd Saturdays .. 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Lüdeking, Friedrich - Neustadt am Rübenberg, Hannover; 2nd & 4th Sundays ..12:00 noon to 5:00 pm Märklin, Edmund - Calw, Württemberg; Meinecke, Karl Closed for major holidays. - Oldenburg; Meißner, Heinrich - Münster, Westfalen; Permission to quote if appropriate credit is given. Michel, Friedrich - Ingweiler, Unter=Elsaß; Moras, Annual Membership, $25, Family $30 Ferdinand - Dovern, Regierungsbezirk Aachen, Rheinpfalz; If publications desired by 1st Class mail $35.00 Müller, Niklas - Langenau bei Ulm; Müller, Wilhelm - Heppenheim an der der Bergstraße, Hessen; Münch, © Immigrant Genealogical Society, 2012 Friedrich - Nieder=Gmünden, Oberhessen; Münter, Carl - Verchen, Pommern; Nau, Johann Baptist - Tetingen, Luxemburg; Nies, Konrad - Alzey, Rheinhessen; Pas- online archive will enable free access to more than 3.5 mil- torius, Franz Daniel -Sommerhausen, Franken; Pohle, lion pages of material that encompasses rare books, Adolf - Bautzen, Sachsen(?); Pohle, Carl Adolf Julius - photographs, artwork, letters, memoirs and ephemera doc- Bautzen, Schlesien(?); Precht, Viktor - Bremen; Puch- umenting the culture and achievements of German-Speak- ner, Rudolf - Beutelsbach, Württemberg; Querner, Emil ing Jewry. DigiBaeck Archive:

the documents being inscribed as well as 20 years of the UNESCO program. Two plus Four Treaty: German-Speaking Jewish History. The new Page 4 IGS Newsletter, November 2012