Volksberg is where most of the Brodt family came from. Going by a family tree on another branch of the family, most likely from Germany. Also interesting that depending on who won the last war, they were either called French or German as to country of origin. It is mixed in that family, some claiming France, others Germany. Sometimes both! HA

Hi, Susan Teresa--

In a google search for "Nesensohn Baden," I found this site:

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/ancestorsearchresults.asp?st...

It seems like the Nesensohn family are in 2 places, one in Austria and the other in Baden. The one in Baden seems to be in the Konstanz region, just north of Lake Constance, also called the "Bodensee," because I think it's the origin of the Rhine River. Several towns in that region are mentioned, but I haven't checked any of them out, to see which Nesensohns lived there.

1878 was the year of the Congress of Berlin, where the German Chancellor Bismarck revised the "balance of power" less-favorably toward Russia. Don't know how that might have influenced anything in Baden, however.

I will certainly check out this site. I remember my Mother saying we were, English,Scotch, Irish, German, and a small part French. but I never went looking there. Thank You JerryB and STurner.

Susan Teresa, you are welcome. I am going to check out that phone book to as there may be some relatives in the area of Sohland that I can contact. My greatgrandmother from Volksberg alternately listed herself as German/French, her brother listed himself as German, her dad German and her mother French. A distant cousin there told me it depended where your house was!

Hello,Have found out a little more re my great -grand -parents from Germany to N.Z.The names Tubiingen,Dornach(south of Stuttgard) are connected.Previousley all I had was Wurtemberg.The names of my g.gr.parents are Johann Jacob Ott married Frederica Greneger.Born around 1810-20.Based on marriage cert of one of their children.Any help really appreciated.Dorothy

My Lutheran ancestors in Alsace are all at Ingenheim, which is in the Canton of Hochfelden, and the Arrondissement of Brumath. The latter, whose Latin name, "Brocomagus," means "Badger Plain" in the Celtic language of the Triboci, was their capital, and was later the Allemanic capital.

"Broc" is Celtic for "Badger," and I think there was an Irish saint by that name. I read that the word "Donnybrook" refers to a "donation of St. Broc." It's a place in Ireland, known for its brawls at the Donnybrook Fair, and near to Kilkenny, known for its ferocious cats.

My Ingenheim ancestors are Schaubs, Brunners, Rohfritsches, and Bastians. Both the Bruuners and the Rohfritsches have family traditions that their ancestors originally came from a place named "Muehlbachen," in the Swiss Alps. That was probably in the late 17th Century, when Alsace had been depopulated by the 30 Years War, and Switzerland was overpopulated.

Many people from Ingenheim emigrated to Perth County, Ontario, Canada, in the early 1830s, around the time that Britain abolished slavery, which may have been coincidental. Perth County is just west of Waterloo County, which was settled, to a large extent, by "Pennslyvania Dutch," in the 1820s.

My great-grandfather Jacob Schaub was born near Stratford, Ontario, came to Winneshiek County, Iowa, in 1860 and served in the Union Army, in the Civil War. He married a Norwegian, Agnete Pedersdatter Vaerhaug, whom he may have met in Freeport, Illinois, which was passed through by a lot of immigrants, for some reason. She came from Lands Prestegjeld, southwest of Lillehammer.

My cousin Art "Ruffridge," (Anglicization of "Rohfritsch") told me once, that when his great-grandparents emigrated from Canada to the US, in April, 1865, they came by train. When they passed through Chicago, they bought a newspaper, and read in it that President Lincoln had just been assassinated.

These are 2 of the 8 immigrant branches of my family.

Can anyone tell me what the word 'colon' really means in the context of German genealogy archives? My mother's side came from Grafschaft Bentheim and emigrated in the later 1800s. In the archives, I frequently see the word 'colon' used, referring to occupation (beruf). But what does this mean? I find nothing in usual sources. Example here:
http://www.online-ofb.de/famreport.php?ofb=uelsen&ID=22168&...

I searched "German Occupations" and came up with what seems to be a pretty good site. It quotes "A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Germanic Ancestors." From Ackerman (farmer) to Zoller (customs inspector). Colon = Farmer

I am looking for The Cauble line that came from Germany (Finkenbach area) around 1725. They came to the Rowan NC area in the United states. Anyone doing research Caubles right now?

For Earl--I'm not a German scholar, but according to my dictionary,"kolon" means settler or colonist. (Similar to Koln (Cologne) which comes from the Latin word for colony, "Colonia.")

Thanks, Charles and Catherine. I doubt if they were 'colonizers' as they are recorded in the very same location since 1660, and the word colon is used to describe many of them through the generations. But I think Charles has hit it, for the emigrants and many of the second generation in the U.S. were farmers up until around WW2 in the U.S.. Thank you both.

Looks like a great group, I hope to learn a lot.
The only thing I know about my German ancestors is that at least one Noinsfeld(probably mis spelling it) crossed the pond, one of those children was my mom's mom'.s mom. Somewhere in there is also an Arnold on my dad's side.
Hopefully I can find out what the names mean, what part of Germany they're from, ect.

Anyone recognize the last name Nesenshon? Karlsruhe, Baden

ok, since the name Nesensohn in not from, what would the possibility of it being eastern France?

I was told by my Aunt, Baden, so whats the possibility of that area?

I don't know how many of you are researching Prussian roots or subscribe to the Prussia Roots mail list but I received this in my newsletter today and thought it might be of interest to at least some of you:


Hello all,

Over the past week or so I have added almost 10,000 pages of
documentation to ManyRoads on the city and county of (Kreis) Elbing
(Prussia). Included in the "vast" amount of information are many
Adressbuecher? to help trace (find) Elbingers of the past. I have
archived all the Adressbook Issues of which I am aware except one? the
1934 Elbing Adress (Einwohner) Buch. If anyone knows where I can obtain
a copy, or knows of other missing issues that I should add to the
archive here, please let me know.


Pax Vobiscum,
...mark (Mark Rabideau)

ManyRoads Family Genealogist (Rabideau-Henss Family)
Visit us at: http://many-roads.com
If you are interested in following the postings and updates at ManyRoads
I suggest subscribing to our feed:
http://many-roads.com/index.php/feed/

My 5 x Grandfather was Carl Godfried WALTHER b. abt 1800 m Elvire TROISTROFF they had 5 children

Emilie Helene b.1827 in Aachen
Johanna Pauline b.1830 in Aachen
Carl Robert b. 1832 in Aachen
Bernard Ferdinand b.1834 in Aachen
Ernest August b. 1836 in Aachen

Bernard Ferdinand married Flore Bathilde Emilie BUJARD m.07 January 1860 in Le Havre, France. They had 1 child,

John WALTHER b 21 June 1868 Le Havre. He married Annie Louise BROOK (nee NAYLOR) m.1897 UK. He left her and setup home with Elizabeth Maud HARDING they had 3 children,

Martha b.1907 Manchester, England
Babette b. 1910 Pontypridd, Wales
Carl Willie b. 1912 Guernsey, Channel Islands, UK

Martha m. Cecil James CLARK abt. 1932-6 in Guernsey, Channel Islands, they had 2 sons,

James John b. Sept 1936 MY FATHER
Robin Micheal b. 1939

If anyone could tell me how to find more information on any of these relative that would be great. I'd like to get copy birth certificates of the German relatives but I don't speak any german.

Thank you Toni

Toni,
For your French relatives--many French bmd records are available free on-line. See http://genealogy.about.com/od/french_records/French_Genealogy_Recor... for a list of what is available. You should be able to work with these websites even if you can't read French. Just know that "recherche" means search, "actes etat civil" are civil registrations, and "registres paroissiaux" are parish registers. It isn't terribly difficult to read French records if you get hold of the LDS Word List for French, which is downloadable from the LDS site, under the dropdown"research, articles." Google Translator and/or a dictionary are helpful too. Just note that the date at the head of a record is the record date, and not necessarily the date of the event--somewhere in the record will be either the actual date or "jour d'hui" for today or "hier" (sometimes "hier d'hui") for yesterday. If you find an index, the date there will be the record date.

For your German ancestors, you can rent microfilms of the town of Aachen church and civil records (civil for the time you indicate above) from any LDS Family History Center. See the library catalog on familysearch.org for film #). Reading German, even with the LDS German word list and a dictionary, is trickier than French because of the Gothic script the Germans used to use. I think you can find charts of the the different scripts online. A German speaker at my local LDS suggested I use a copy of one of these charts as an aid, and also, before I settle in to look for my own ancestors, to look through any records on the microfilm and find names or words I recognize, and then make an alphabetic list and, using the words I recognize, draw how the recorder shaped each letter. I have been able to make out most of the information this way. It is quite time consuming, especially at first, but gets easier with each record.

In both cases, most records within the church or civil parish are in the same format so if you translate one birth, one marriage, and one death record, you pretty much have translated all of them except for the names and dates.

Hope this helps.
Catherine

For Toni Smith: I am a Walters, but don't know where in Germany my family is from, as I have only proven my line back to my gg grandpa born in 1829 in Ohio. But another Walters lady recently contacted me and her Walters family were from England, so perhaps she is related to you? If you would like, I can call her and give her your e-mail address? Let me know. I'd be glad to do it!

My Great Grandfather Valentine Spahn and my Great Grandmother Gertrude Rosenburg were both born in Schwarzelbach Germany in 1851. Valentine immigarted in 1880 and Gertrude and 4 daughters came over in 1886. My name is Randolph J. Spahn and I would greatly appreciate and help or information I could get on my family.

I am a decendant of Mathias Eugene Roesch, b. Feb 12, 1812, married Magdalena Jehle. They came to America in 1857 and settled in Potosi Wisconson. I am looking for photos and any further info.

Hi all;
I just signed up for this group. I find searching for groups a little tedious on this ning thing.
I am researching the following names; SENGER / SÄNGER, WENINGER / WENNINGER & FEIST / FIEST. So far they are Germans from Russia (yes, I've joined that group as well :) ). Most of what I've read about the folks of German descent in the Kutschurgan area of modern day Ukraine came from Alsace / Lorraine, but I'm not sure which towns in Alsace / Lorraine. The town in Kutschurgan area is Strassburg.

Al Parsons
Duncan, British Columbia, Canada

My Wimer/Weimer/Weimar/Weimert family came for Alsace-Lorraine. The town was Langensoultzbach.
langensoultzbach.free.fr/index-us.htm

Researching Fett from Seesbach area in Germany, Schumman from Mecklenberg, Schreiber from Kammin area (now Poland) and Ehlers from Hamburg area.

Looking for Kauntz/Kaunitz/Kauntze. Interested can look here, I have more than 700 living and deceased Kauntz from all over the world.
www.werbeka.com/kauntz/kauntz.htm

Hi, I am having 'fun' tracing my German ancestry. Although I am the third generation born in Australia, all my paternal line originates from Germany (as far as I have traced it so far, anyway). The surnames of interest are: Will/Wille from Zahrensdorf, Mecklenberg-Schwerin, Dreier/Dreyer from Vellahn, Mecklenberg-Schwerin, Qualmann from Neumecklenburg, Brandenburg, Prussia, Karger/Kaerger from Radnitz, Germany, Busch from Neumecklenburg, Brandenburg, Prussia, Schmidt and Bannoh from ?? Sophia Maria Margaretha Bannoh married Johann Friedrich Qualmann prior to coming to Australia, so they may be from the same area. I have actually traced the parish records for Zahrensdorf (Zarnsdorf), so I know they are correct, and I have found some Dreier names at Vellahn, but the others are all heresay from others' research (with no sources quoted) - oh, except for Daniel Busch who was naturalised and stated his birth place as Harkensee. Would love to link up with anyone who might be interested.

My great-great-grandfather, Christian Schreiber, immigrated from Germany to America with his family in 1843. There is some belief that they settled in Pennsylvania for a sort time. They eventually migrated to Wisconsin in the later 1840's as I have found a record of a land purchase in the Jackson area in 1848. I am researching any temporary stop in Pennsylvania.

My goal this year is to connect my two German great grandparents back to relatives in Germany. They arrived in America in 1888; my grandfather was born in Germany before they immigrated. This branch of the family will be the most challenging because I know so little to start. Hopefully I will glean some good research tips from this group. My German relations are Sophie Buchbinder and Herman Schulz. My grandfather Frederick William was born May 1885. They have listed Rhineland as a birth place but I recently found a docuement with a burg?; I believe they may have lived in.

Michael, I am thrilled to see my surnames with numbers alongside them, but I have no idea of what that means, or where I can go to learn more. Help, please.

I am beginning to speculate that some of my German ancestors immigrated to New York, some of them I can document their migration to Canada and eventually their deaths. However, some members in the same immediate family never show up anywhere passed their arrival in New York. They do not show up in any US or Canadian Census. Anybody know how I could find if they returned to Germany.

I am looking for more information on Gildehaus, House and Johnson family from Germany.

Lynn, if you know the town where your family came from in Germany, you might be able to check that town's records for marriages or deaths that might have occurred after an ancestor returned. However, unless your ancestors were somewhat affluent, it is doubtful that many of them could have returned to Germany very soon after arriving in North America. If you have ships records for their arrivals here, double-check in what cabin class they came. If it was steerage, they came to this country with minimal finances, and would have had to accumulate the necessary funds on this side of the Atlantic to travel back to Germany. They may have died here before the next census, but, especially if there were several people involved, I think it is more likely that they anglicized or otherwise changed their surname, especially if they arrived somewhere around WWI when anti-German feelings were strong in North America (or--if you are using ancestry.com to find them, their surnames may have been transcribed incorrectly in the indexing procedure). If your family, as you have found them, all settled in a certain area, it might be worth going through the census page-by-page looking for those who look like your family members but whose names might have been changed or badly transcribed. Or look in the area of settlement for obituaries, etc. However, if your family was widely spread, these ideas are probably non-starters.
Did your family settle in Canada near the US border around 1850? I have family who settled in the thumb of Michigan around that time and I have found that the border was rather porous at that time, with the family crossing and recrossing Lake Huron seemingly at will. I can't find them in either the 1850 US census or the 1851 Canadian census, so suspect that they were in Canada in 1850 and back in the US in 1851, and missed both censuses.
Another possibility, which I learned about in a seminar I attended in October: some of the midwestern US states actively recruited Germans to move to their state and even paid their passage. The states hired agents to carry out the recruiting in Germany and many of them kept very detailed accounts of their recruits lives here, and those records may be found in the individual state archives. I don't know if Canada did this same kind of thing, but if the majority of your family settled there, you might want to try and research this idea in the area you know.

Thanks for your insights. My family came from Rust, Baden. They arrived in Oct 1833 in the Port of New York. George and Franzica Vogel came with their children, Agatha age 14, (K)Clemence age 13, (K)Crescence 2months and Gabriel age 12 ( although we believed Gabriel is poorly transcribed). Anyway, they have an older daughter Agnes who also arrives different ship with husband Anton Bauman, they settle in New York have first two children there. In early 1840's I can put Agnes and Gabriel in Waterloo, Ontario for their remaining life. A very heavily German settlement, from which my father is eventually born. Past the initial ship document showing the remaining members of the family I cannot place them at all. I realize George may miss the census but Francisza was considerably younger, and I find it funny that the youngest children show up no where. Although I have a couple of records for an Agatha Vogel, I cannot place if she belongs to this family, records are for Minnesota not New York.
You are right, George was a farmer, the chances of him being able to afford to return are slim but I find it funny that 4-5 family members cannot be accounted for. I am actually a descendant of Gabriel but I am determined to find out what happened to his father Johann George Vogel.

Another thought, which you've probably already had. We were in Germany a couple of years ago and I noticed that the Germans pronounce their V's somewhat like we pronounce F. Considering that the early censuses were oral reports to a census taker, have you looked for Fogels or Fogles? On ancestry.com, I found a civil war pension record for a "Clemens Fogel, alias Clemens Vogel." There are also tax records on ancestry for a Clemens Fogel in Missouri in the 1860s.

Thanks I have, but to be honest not recently, so I will run it again.

Thank you Michael B. for the tips on my German relations! I appreciate your time and effort. We just lost a member of our tree; my father-in-law (another WWII vet passed on last week), so I have not had the opportunity to act on any of the information.I will let you know how I make out.

I am workng on Christina Friederike Ziperle who married Jacob Christoff Birkicht b. 1801 Germany. they had adaughter Rosina Christina Birkicht b. 04 Nov 1848, Germany. d. 18 Jan 1928, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.

I am workng on Jacob Christoff Birkicht b. 1801 Germany, his parents were Christoff Gottlob Birkicht b. 24 Mar 1764, Weinsberg, Germany, d. 15 Sep 1828, Weinsberg, Germany. & Jostina Lokietia Link, 03 Jun 1777-13 Feb 1835, Weinsberg, Germany.

Christoff Gottlob Birkichtwas the son of Christian Gottlob Birkicht 1713-1742

Jostina Lokietia Link was the daughter of Johann Peter Link 07 Feb 1744, - 04 Jun 1818 Weinsberg, Germany. Would love to find out more on these names!

Still looking for information on Caspar Steininger who married Emily Zengel sometime before 1870. They are on the 1870 census and had three children after that. Caspar was born in Bayern and died in NYC around 1874.

For Barbara Leydecker:
Found the following on ancestry.com:
New York County Letters of Administration Index 1743-1875,
Caspar Steininger
Name of Administrator--Stein. Emilia (the period was written there, it's not a typo here)
When Letters of Admin Granted and Recorded--Feb 3, 1874
Liber Page Bond Book--105-252-153
The original records were kept at the NY County Surrogate's Court and are available on microfilm at the Family History Library (so, if you don't have them already, you should be able to get them through your local LDS Family History Center. They may contain info about family.)

Could not find a ship's record for Caspar. The closest I came--and ages don't match--is for the Louis Phillipe, dep. LeHavre, arr. NY 10 Dec 1846
Stein, Bernard 48, farmer
Catherine 46
Charles 18
Frederick 10
Caspar 4
Johann 3
all born Germany all bound for Buff (Buffalo?)

I found Emilie on the ship Teutonia, dep. Hamburg, arr. NYC 14 June 1869
Emilie Zengel 23, female, unmarried
M. Zengel, 11, child
W. Zengel 26, tailor (or sailor)

She, first name as Amelia, and three children were in the 1880 census for NYC. Brother Michael Zengel was also in the household.

Thanks Catherine. Unfortunately, I have all that. I keep meaning to get to the LDS, but I haven't yet. I have a copy off Ancestry, though. I'm hoping that ship's record for Emily is right, though the family record we have says she only had one brother and a sister. The census is her, and one of her borders, George Rusban, I believe was actually George Russwurm, a man she later married.
I really wish I could find the cemetery in Long Island where she is buried. I feel Caspar must be buried there too.

Thanks for your help!

I am looking for Adolph Rösch who married Albertine Martin in the Rastatt area and had 4 children named Sophie Elizabeth, Maria Albertina, Ludwig Alfred and August Alfred. Adolph was a hairdresser and wig maker and August followed in his footsteps imegrating to the USA in 1922

I am looking for any information on August Bilky and Bertha (Maas). The information that I have is they immigrated to the US around 1885. They lived in the area around Detroit and southern Michigan. The last name could be Bohlke, Boehlke or Boehlka

Sherril,
Using ancestry.com, I found the family in censuses: 1900 --Bohlke in Deerfield, Lenawee Co, MI (her mother was with them); 1910--Bilky in Raisin Twp, Lenawee Co; and 1930 --Bilky in Hazel Park, Royal Oak Twp, Oakland, Co. Do you already have this information or would you like me to try and send it to you?

Also, using http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#start , I found records--census, birth, marriage for several Bohlke and Boehlke people in Lenawee Co. Michigan deaths from 1876-1897 are recorded on that site but I didn't find any deaths for these folks there. Nor did I find any 1897-1920 deaths at seekingmichigan.com, but this site has kind of a goofy search routine, so, if you haven't already been to this site, you might want to try putting in a variety of search characteristics and see what you get.

Thank you for the information but I do have the 1900 census. The bohlke that is living in lenawee is my August and Bertha. My problem is I can't find anything before 1885 when they imigrated to the US. I was able to get death certificates through the Seeking Michigan web site. August came to this country with his mother and brothers but I have not been able to find out where they came from or if they traveled with their father. There are still Bohlke living in the Detroit or southern Michigan area I'm just not sure where exactly they are.

Sherril,
The advice columnist in Palatines to America's newsletter would suggest that you try plugging variations of the surname into the website of a German phone book or two to get an idea of whether the name is widespread or concentrated in a certain area of Germany.

Have you found them in Castle Garden's database?

Thank all of you for the helpful ideas. This is my biggest stumble blocks

I am related to the Borchard and Friedrich families who came to the US from Werxhausen and Duderstadt.

I am related to the Nielsen family who immigr to the US from near Loit, Schleswig-Holstein, the Pittman / Bittmann / Biedmann family who immigr from Framersheim, the Schnepp / Snapp family who immigr from Plobsheim in the Alsace region of France, and the Witzke family who immigr from Sitno in today's Poland (yesteryear's Prussia).

Hi! My great grandfathers sister went to Lübeck, Germany, and married a Paul Georg Hasche November 7th 1914. She brought with her a son, Odd Larsen, born in Norway in 1904.
They lived in Lübeck on these addresses:
1914-1918 Mengstrasse 28
1918-1921 Fischergrube 40
1921-1926 Dornestrasse 18
1926-1927 Dornestrasse 11.
After 1927 no mention of the family, and they are not found dead in Lübeck.

P.G: Hasche was a butcher.

Does anyone have a tip on where to go from here? Any online databases, or places to send a letter/e-mail?

Any help would be very appreaciated!
Laila Christiansen, Oslo Norway

I have two surnames that I would like more info on, Holstein and Heisler, Specifically, Joshua or Joseph Holstein and George Heisler.