Germany and German Ancestry

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Comment by Connie Underwood on December 2, 2011 at 11:48pm

Thank you so much  Micheal.  Gottlieb b 1865 is my gg grandfather.  I have a lot of info on the family from when they came to America and setteled in Colorado, but nothing in Russia and Germany.  If you have a tip to get me started over the ocean that would be great.   Thanks again. Connie

Comment by Connie Underwood on November 21, 2011 at 1:26am

Hello

   I am looking for the Fritchell or Fritchele name and where abouts.  They went to Odessa Russia prior to 1870.  But I have no idea of where in Germany they came from.   Any tips would be great thanks

Connie

Comment by Stephanie Richardson on November 3, 2011 at 10:54am

Hi Everyone -

I'm looking for Luhmann and Benthin from Todendorf (Germany) circa 1890 and Duensing (or Deunsing) circa 1880-1890s in Illinois/Michigan.

Thanks.

Comment by Virginia Barker on October 7, 2011 at 1:29pm

Hi Catherine,

I'll try the google search and see what I can find. I went one time to the Morman church in our area, but didn't really know how to search for anything. I'll give it another try later.

Thank you

Comment by Catherine Davis on October 7, 2011 at 11:59am

Virginia,

     You can try googling the church, use the town name followed by either evangelischekirche or catholischekirche, depending on whether you want the protestant (lutheran) or catholic church.    There might be an address for the church offices there.  The website will probably be in German, but you should be able to get a translated version, even if there is no mark on the website for English.  Your browser might ask at the top of the page if you want to translate.  If not, copy the url, go to googletranslate, set it for German to English, paste the url into the German side; it will reappear exactly the same in the translated box, but if you click on the url in the English box, the website will reopen in English.

There is no guarantee whether you will receive an answer from the church; it often depends on the pastor's feelings about genealogical searches or his feelings about privacy.  If you send a letter, you will have to write it in German, although several people on this webpage have said they've used google translate for this, and they have received responses.  If you receive a response, it will most likely be written in German, too. 

 

If LDS has the church records for the church you are interested in, and there is a Family History Center near you, I'd start there.  The records will be films of the originals, not transcripts, and the staff is likely to be very knowledgeable and helpful.   you go, the records will be written in old German script.  You can have a copy of the original record this way.  A letter from the church may just give you a transcribed version, or perhaps only a few facts and leave out some details you might find if you see the original record for yourself.

You do not have to be a Mormon to use the FHC.  Many of us who go there fairly regularly are not affiliated with that church. 

 

Comment by Virginia Barker on October 6, 2011 at 7:00am

Hi Catherine,

I'm not sure at what port my Schaffner's entered the US. I will look again at the ships list and see if I can find anything. If I were to write the church in that area of Germany, do you know where I might send the letter? Thank you, the information you wrote does help me.

Comment by Virginia Barker on October 6, 2011 at 6:53am

Liz Richardson - Hi Liz, I was just posting my German surnames that I'm currently working on to try and connect with others researching these families. Thank you for replying.

Comment by Catherine Davis on October 5, 2011 at 9:34pm

Virginia--have you looked for ships' lists to help you determine when your ancestor might have come to the US?  You might find something on the Castle Garden website (Castle Gardens was the NY entry point that preceded Ellis Island), although many ships from Germany entered the US at the port of Baltimore.   Baltimore ship records are available on ancestry.com.  Have you looked on familysearch.org for your surnames?  This site is putting more and more records, including German records, online all the time.

 

Also, regarding the geographic area from which your ancesters came. Baden-Baden means the town of Baden in the old state of Baden.  The states of Baden and Wuerttemburg merged after WWII to form the modern state of Baden-Wuerttemburg. 

 

If you don't find records for your family on familysearch.org, you might want to click on "catalog" above the search routine on this site, and then plug in the towns in which you are interested.  The catalog will tell you if the LDS has filmed church or civil records for these areas and, if they have, you can rent the films of the records from your local Family History Center.  You do not have to be a Mormon to use these films or these Centers.

Comment by Virginia Barker on October 5, 2011 at 6:50pm

I'm looking for the following German surnames who migrated to the US

SCHAFFNER from Baden-Baden or Baden-Wurttemberg around 1840-1845 not sure where they came into the US, but my branch settled in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky. I found my 3rd Great Grandfather Berhnard Schaffner in the 1860 US Census list of Louisville, Kentucky and lists his birth city as Baden Bernhard is listed as Ren Schaffner he was born in 1834 and died in 1878. I found his wife Katherine Luhr Schaffner in the 1880 and 1900 Census, Kate was born in 1830 and died in 1908. They both died in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky.

ROTHENHOEFER - migrated from Germany in 1840 and settled in Frederick County, Maryland. Johann Lorentz Rothenhoefer born 1815 in Guntersleben, Wurzburg, Germany and died in 1894 of Maryland, he married Christine Graff she was born 1816 in Germany and died 1887 in Maryland.

Comment by Lee Tsakalos on October 4, 2011 at 5:37am

Further to my comment 18 minutes ago - My GGGrandfather Johann Heinrich Lorenz KRUSE who migrated to Melbourne Australia in 1854 arrived here on the ship MALVINA VIDAL.  He came looking for gold.  I wonder if there are descendants from other immigrants arriving in the same year at the same Port who may have mated up together and maybe also went looking for gold.  My GGGrandfather went to the Fiery Creek Diggings.  It's a stab in the dark. 

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