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.

Johnny, I'm not researching either of the surnames you mentioned, but I did a quick check of ancestry.com for a Joseph Holstein and George Heisler and found many people with these names. Do you have any other information on the people in whom you are interested that might help narrow the field?

Hi Catherine, I had already researched ancestry.com and found the father of the Joseph I was searching for and his father Joshua. I am trying now to find where they came from in Germany originally. I spent six years in Germany and know the country fairly well. It would be nice to know. It is the same for George Heisler, where in Germany?

I received a very nice e-mail from a gentleman in Germany who lives in Essenheim and has done much research on families from that town. I have an ancestor named Braunewell from that town. He said that there is still a Braunewell family in Essenheim who owns a winery, where a family reunion was held. Quite a few of the Braunewell family made their way to America. It would be interesting to make contact here in the US. Any Braunewells out there?

I am trying to find record of my Great Grandmother. Her name according to County of Alameda, Certificate of Death, information given by her daughter, Mary Holmes/Smith, city of Oakland.
Wilhelmina Nesensohn/Holmes
Husband: Samuel Oliver Holmes
Father: Mathew Nesensohn
she was born: May 21 1855 in Germany,
died: July 30 1940. I find her in the 1900,1910 us census, as well as,California Death Index.
I have personaly verified and viewed her family Headstone and from the Cemetery itself.
In the 1900 US Federal Census, living in Oakland Ca. Ward 2 with husband and 6 children. It also shows year of immigration to US. as 1873.
With this info I am still unable to find anything else, like who was her mother? My Father said she was from Karlsruhe, my Aunt says Baden.
Anybody have any suggestions?

Hello. I have many German ancestors but the one I am most interested in at the moment is Wilhelm Heinrich Bergfeld, born 30 May 1868 in or near Magdeburg. Arrived in Galveston, TX at age 14 in 1882, traveling either with his mother or grandmother. I have requested his naturalization record from Caldwell County, TX and hope that gives more details. However, would LOVE to see any record of him prior to his immigration....names of parents or other family in Germany. Thanks.

Marcy and Susan, German civil or church records might be a place to look, and according to familysearch.org, the Family History Centers have microfilms of this kind of information for both Magdeburg and Karlsruhe (Susan, your father and aunt may both be right--Karlsruhe is a city in the old state of Baden). Unfortunately, though, both Madgeburg and Karlsruhe are big enough to have several divisions, each with their own churches, etc., so a search through the records could be long and tedious unless you can narrow down the area you need. One suggestion another user of this group made a little while ago was to check phone books for the various areas and see if people with your surname now seem to fall into one area or another, then check that area's church and civil records in the hopes that the family has had a consistent presence in that area.
Michael Boscarato (below) suggested trying www.dastelefonbuch.de for this latter kind of check.

Catherine, Thank you so much for your information, it sure gives me plenty to keep me busy for sure.

On all the papers I have so far regarding my grandparents country of birth states they were born in Prussia or Germany. I have found grandfather August Pust on Italia ship passenger manifest coming out of Swinemunde with Zehrten as orgin. My grandmother is elusive though. I'm not sure if she came over with family and married William Brose in Minnesota or if they were married when they immigrated. On his passenger manifest it doesn't show her there. On the 1900 Census it is listed that her immigration year was 1884. On a paper that has been in the family for some time her name shows as Johanna Luecke or Lueke --not sure. Swift County His. Soc. have given all they can find on both William and Johanna. They found my grandparents marriage in 1895 but nothing on what happened to William leaving her either widow or what. Any suggestions? Thanks

I am interested in sharing stories and ancestors with descendents of immigrants from Venne, Ostercappeln (Niedersachsen) Germany. My husband's families are from Venne and neighboring villages where we have made good friends. A very detailed book on the lives of tenant farmers in Venne who emigrated in the 19th century, including a list of over 2000 immigrants and their destinations, is Venne in America by Udo Thoerner. More details on the book and websites for Venne on my blog.

Helen, found the following naturalization info for Johanna Brose on ancestry.com:
Minnesota Naturalization Records Indes 1854-1957
Johann Brose
County: Swift
Reel 1
Code 3
Vol A-3
p 199
declaration of intent
years 1888-1907 & 1909
numbers 1-448
I also found the following description of how to use this info to obtain more information about the naturalization documents:

Source Information
Peterzen, Conrad, ed.. Minnesota Naturalization Records Index, 1854-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 1999.

About Minnesota Naturalization Records Index, 1854-1957
Several years ago, the Iron Range Research Center purchased the entire set of microfilmed Minnesota County Naturalization Records (61 counties) from the Minnesota Historical Society. Because the record set was one of the most widely used records in the Iron Range Research Center, it quickly became apparent that the indexes to the records were incomplete and often inaccurate. Conrad Peterzen, a Research Center volunteer, resolved to make a new comprehensive index to the entire set. His index recorded the name of each person requesting citizenship and included the following information: Spouses name, county of residence, microfilm reel reference, print volume, and page number. The index also includes records of people who were denied citizenship and those who never completed the process. The present version of the index contains all of the 61 counties and roughly over 865,000 records.

The fact that spouses are listed in the index can be especially important because before 1922, women became citizens through their husbands and did not have their own papers. This index provides the necessary information for researchers to access the original papers in the microfilm collection. The microfilmed papers contain most of the relevant genealogical information, i.e., dates and places of birth and marriage.

Note: While most of the locations refer to counties, the following names are cities in St. Louis County: Ely, Duluth, Hibbing, and Virginia.

To receive additional information and forms to access your ancestor's naturalization documents, please contact: Iron Range Research Center

To contact the Iron Range Research Center directly, you can write them at:

Iron Range Research Center
ATTN: Naturalization
801 SW Hwy. 169, Suite 1
Chisholm, MN 55719

Phone: (218) 254-7959

Fax: (218) 254-7971

Email:yourroots@ironworld.com

Please include as much information as possible.

Helen--I meant to type Johanna, not Johann. As a PS, William Brose's naturalization record has the exact same citation as Johanna's. T

Carolyn, My ancestors were in the Venne immigrants. My 3rd great-grandfather was Johann Heinrich Tormohlen, they wer from Osanbruck.

I'm researching my great grandparents Jacob and Esther Dicker who arrived in New York sometime between 1880 and 1900. Their Daughter is Minnie Mildred Dicker (my fathers mother). My grandmother never told anyone her history or anything about her family. My sister just found information that leads us to believe that Minnie and her family were German Jewish, she found Minnie and 3 other siblings had possibly been taken from thier home and put into a Hebrew asylum in Brooklyn NY. Trouble is that we have no documentation on minnies birth or her parents birth due to a fire where the records were held.


Does anyone have advice on where to start? I thought maybe court documents from that time period but don't know what to ask for exactly, or even where to look for such records.

Wow thank you Michael, This is them......great english...lol. Minnie's sister should be Doris and I believe there are two more siblings. My sister has some census records and from year to year you can see the children gone and then back again. The record of Harold (another brother) and Minnie has been found in the census of the Hebrew Childrens Asylum abt. 1911 to 1918 which matches them missing from the home census. In that one the parents are from Austria and the kids speak german. Just can't seem to push past the kids to see where the parents are actually from. and now we have another mystery to solve, Why were the children removed? Not hard to conjecture being that immigrants had a very difficult time surviving the first few years after getting here.

Thank you so much for looking this up for me, you're a great help.

Cheryl, don't forget that before WWI, Austria and Hungary were parts of a dual kingdom--Austria-Hungary--and before 1867, Hungary was part of the Hapsburg (Austrian) empire. Possibly, your ancestors came from the Hungarian side of Austria. See http://www.answers.com/topic/austria-hungary for multiple encyclopedia entries about Austria-Hungary.

Wow, Michael! You did some amazing and very helpful research for Cheryl! Good for you!! Nice to see people on here so willing to help each other. =)

Oh my! LOL, thank you again Michael, My sister is Dian, she's also searching in areas I can't pay for. Did you message her? We've been doing this for a long time and seem to end up going in circles. I haven't seen that info on Esther, that's a great find.

Thank you too Catherine, I didn't know about the Hungary/Austria connection.

You all have been so wonderful here and I'm very grateful for all the help you've given.

I have been researching my paternal Rhinesmith surname for a number of years. So far, I have a direct, unbroken lineage to Johannes Reinschmit (Reinschmidt) b. 1728 in Germany, d. 03/01/1787 Northampton Co., PA. Trying to find origin and ancestry in Germany. Evidence suggests Siegerland Rhineland - Pfaltz area, possibly Plittershagen, Neunkirchen-Altenselbach, Eisern. Agreeable to exchange data with other researchers of this line.

I am searching for my great grandfathers family. His name was Herman Samuel Neumann (father name Gottfried) born 1871. All I know of him is that he was a sailor on the ship Bertha which arrived in South Australia in 1893 from Amsterdam (Holland). His naturalisation papers state his birthplace as Clein Lukto. Has anyone heard of this place? Any suggestions?