Harvesting Ancestors-Lessons from the Garden

In genealogy, as in many other pursuits, we reap what we sow.  This summarizes several lessons learned this past Saturday from professional genealogist, Sharon Batiste Gillins at the Clayton Library in Houston.  The metaphors from the garden that she used in her presentation entitled Harvesting Ancestors-Lessons from the Garden provided excellent examples of genealogical lessons with a broad appeal.  I highly recommend her as a keynote speaker for your upcoming genealogical events.

A gardner at work, 1607
SOURCE: Wikipedia citing Anonymous - Hausbuch der Mendelschen Zwölfbrüderstiftung, Band 2. Nürnberg 1550–1791. Stadtbibliothek Nürnberg, Amb. 317b.2°, via http://www.nuernberger-hausbuecher.de/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13207509

Gardening is one of Ms. Gillins favorite past times as it gives her time to "mull and ponder" about the things that occupy her mind in her genealogical research.  Her practices learned from the garden were compared to genealogical practices and illustrated with examples from genealogical research.  The content was definitely suitable and accessible to beginners, intermediate and advanced researchers.  All of us need to practice the good research habits that were demonstrated in this presentation.

For example: "you can't garden without getting dirty."  This garden reality leads to the realization that genealogy research is physically demanding and messy work.  Ms. Gillins used an image from a county courthouse to illustrate the heavy volumes that must be lifted in dusty rooms filled with allergens.  Genealogy research can be a strain on the eyes and the back.  Exploring old cemeteries exposes a genealogist to the hazards of brambles, thorns, bugs and snakes.  We must prepare ourselves for the difficult and challenging work of genealogy.

"Know your soil: it is the foundation of the garden" leads to her recommendation that we "learn the context in which our ancestors lived."  The geography, history and political organization of the localities in which we are researching, is a necessary preface to understanding the lives of our ancestors.  Laws influence the shape and form of records that were formed in the past to suit certain political purposes.  Understanding the historical context of those records that we use today for genealogy helps us to analyze and interpret our family history.  She went further by describing sources and how they are helpful in understanding the context including almanacs, city directories, maps and land information.

Some of the other lessons that she taught were:

Garden: "The harvest comes after a long growing season." Genealogy: "Credible results must be cultivated over time."

Garden: "Get in close; important details can be easily overlooked" Genealogy: "Mine every document for hidden information."

And there were many more lessons.  You will have to invite her to speak to your genealogical society to learn them all.

I was especially gratified when Ms. Gillins used another metaphor of a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle to explain the process of fitting the genealogical facts together into an image of our family history. "Some of the pieces look like they should fit but really don't."  We need to avoid the tendency to force fit the pieces of our "Ancestor Puzzles."

I first learned of Ms. Gillins talents when I read an amazing article about her discovery of some artifacts of a slave from the Moody Mansion that have been sent to the Smithsonian.  I met her last year when she spoke at the Family History Conference of the Texas State Genealogical Society.  I was impressed by the depth and the wide applicability of the examples in her presentations.

She will be one of the featured speakers at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research coming up in June 2016 in Track 10 on Researching African American Genealogy: Black Roots in Unique Collections. Sign up soon as classes at the IHGR are filling up fast.  This will also be the last opportunity for those of us in Texas to attend the IHGR in Alabama before it moves to Georgia. Hearing Ms. Gillins speak will help you to find a bountiful harvest of ancestors!

Libraries- A Tale of Two Claytons

The Clayton Library in Houston was one of the many reasons why I moved to the Gulf Coast of Texas from Northern California.  The Clayton Library is recognized as one of the nation’s top genealogical research collections.  It received this mark of distinction for its extensive collections covering the entire United States, as well as international sources for Europe, Canada, and Mexico.  In addition, Clayton has 100% of its books in open stacks for public access. The Clayton houses nearly 100,000 research volumes, holds over 3,000 periodical titles, and has an extensive microfilm collection.

The Main Building of the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research at 5300 Caroline Street in Houston, Texas opened to the public in 1988.

The Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research covers a two city block area in the heart of the Houston Museum District at 5300 Caroline Street.  Originally, the genealogy section of the Houston Public Library (HPL) was located in the Julia Ideson Building in downtown Houston.  The genealogy collection was moved to the Clayton House in 1968.  This property was donated to the HPL by William Lockhart Clayton (1880-1966), a prominent statesman and business leader and his wife, Susan Ada Vaughan (1881-1960).

The historic home of William and Susan Clayton became the Clayton Genealogical Library in 1968.

The continued growth of the collection and tremendous increase in use stimulated plans for a larger facility. The property now consists of four buildings: the Main Library Building, the historic Clayton Home, the Clayton Guest House and Clayton Carriage House.  The historic property went through a 7 million dollar renovation that was completed in 2009.

The two story, Main Building built in 1988, contains 23,000 square feet.  The first floor houses the main genealogy book collection, two small conference rooms, seating for 100 customers, work areas, and the unique collection of over 15,000 published and unpublished family histories.  The second floor houses an extensive microprint collection.

Dr. Mayme Agnew Clayton, Ph.D. (1923-2006)

Last week, I discovered another Clayton Library located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.  The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum (MCLM) maintains the world's largest collection of rare books, documents, films, music, photographs and memorabilia on the history and culture of Americans of African descent.  The flagship Literary Collection contains over 30,000 volumes including a rare copy of Phillis Wheatley's poems published in 1773.  The Literary Collection is particularly strong in the arts, pre-Civil War, sports, children's literature and the history of blacks in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and the American West.  The mission of the MCLM is to collect, preserve, exhibit and celebrate the unique history and cultural heritage of Americans of African descent.

Poems by Phillis Wheatley are part of MCLM collection of rare books.

I had the opportunity to tour the museum with the Director, Lloyd Clayton.  He walked me through the galleries, archives, and meeting facilities located at 4130 Overland Avenue in Culver City in the "Heart of Screenland".  The MCLM was originally founded as the Western States Black Research Center in 1975 by his mother, Dr. Mayme Agnew Clayton, Ph.D. (1923-2006).  For more than four decades, Dr. Clayton single-handedly amassed the world's largest independently held collection of African American history materials.  Dr. Clayton spent her time and resources collecting these artifacts "So children will know that black people have done great things."

The MCLM offers vital educational, artistic and cultural programs that include research for scholars, students and genealogists.  The library  partners with the California African American Genealogical Society, Inc (CAAGS) by providing meeting space and access to the library and archives.  For more information on the Mayme Clayton Library and Museum, visit their website and Facebook page.

Both of these institutions are known locally as the "Clayton Library."  Both libraries are filled with unique treasures for historians and genealogists.  I am headed to the Clayton Library in Houston, this week.  I plan to spend much more time at the Clayton Library in Culver City on my next visit to Los Angeles.

Another historic coincidence of the connection between Los Angeles and Houston. Read more about the Los Angeles to Houston Freedom Ride.

German Church and Civil Records

On Saturday, April 18 I made a presentation on German church and civil records co-sponsored by the Friendswood, Texas Public Library and the Bay Area Genealogical Society.

Image Source:
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Germany,_Pomerania_Church_Records_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records)

The goals of this session were to:

• provide a brief overview of the history and value of German church records & civil records
• show how to use a German word list or online translator to interpret the records
• teach how to find German church & civil records either online, on microfilm or in print.

I wrote before about the series of books on German Immigrants in American Church Records by Dr. Roger Minert.  What I have found is they are a great source if your locality has been covered.  Unfortunately for me neither Cleveland nor Milwaukee German Immigrant church records have been extracted.  Another problem was the the Clayton Library was in the process of cataloging some of the volumes but they are a great resource for many Midwestern locales.

When attempting to locate your ancestors in the church records of Germany you will usually be more successful if you know the German hometown.  My previous article about Germany will tell you about how to locate the German hometown.  The most common records found in churches are baptism, marriage, and burial.  Often times baptism records will include the date of birth but not always.  Burial records may not include the date of death but burials usually happened within a day or two of death before embalming and cremation became commonplace.

The areas to begin keeping church records were in the western part of Germany.  The farther east you go, church records begin later.

Church Record Timeline

• 1524            -First surviving German Protestant records in Nuremberg.
• 1540            -Lutheran churches in general began requiring records.
• 1563            -Catholics began recordkeeping
• 1618-1648  -Many records destroyed by Thirty Years War
• 1650           -Most Reformed parishes began keeping records.
• 1792-1815  -Pfalz and Rheinland church records interrupted by French civil registration.
• 1930s         -Up to this time records were still written in Gothic script

For more information on the history of German church records go here.

I recommend that you check Family Search for translation guides to German church and civil records.  For example this German Word List is very helpful.

Source: https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/German_Word_List 

Civil record keeping began early in the Napoleonic period but generally very few civil records are found prior to 1876.
 

Civil Record Timeline

1792  -  Civil registration began in Alsace-Lorraine (controlled by France)
1808-1812  -  French advance into German Territories and begin records in French
1813 October  -  Battle of Leipzig was decisive defeat of Napoleon and end of French civil record keeping
1874  -  Civil BMDs in Prussia
1876  -  Civil registration mandatory in all German states

Here are a few recommendations for finding German church & civil records:

The Family History Library Catalog is always a good starting place.  Search for the German hometown place names and you will find indexed and original church records in online databases and microfilms of original records.   A similar strategy should be used in the Ancestry.com- catalog search the term "Germany"and you will find a list of 188 databases.

Online Church Records at https://www.archion.de went live on 20 March 2015.

Records at Archion.de are organized by the State or Regional Archive, Districts, Cities/Town, and Record Type.  In the image below green means they have records online.  Blue highlights the record that you have selected.  When you compare Rheingonheim to Mundenheim, you see that not all localities are covered.  Here are a few more key words: Bestattungen = Funeral Services; Taufen = Baptism; Trauugne = Weddings.

The bottom line is that Archion.de is a pay site.  Check to see if your localities are covered before subscribing.

The ultimate goal is to get to the original records so this site could be very valuable if your hometowns are covered.

Spend time reviewing the list of online databases available at the Family Search Wiki page on German Genealogy.

Source: German Genealogy page on the Family Search Wiki.

Here are few recommendations when searching online and microfilm German sources:

• Make sure to use a research log to keep track of the databases searched.  Keep track of the searches that were made and the results both positive and negative.
• Double check the localities, record types and periods covered in online databases and note that on your research log.
• Search your localities in the Family Search and Ancestry catalogs for online and microfilm.

Example of Family Search Library Catalog search for Rheingonheim.

Search results for Rheingonheim showing Church books for both Lutheran and Catholic churches and the Civil Records that are available on microfilm.

• Search online first, then order microfilm.
• Try to determine the denomination of the church that you need to search first.
• Catholics and Lutherans may be recorded in the other church if it is a small locality or if one denomination is predominant in the area.
• Pay close attention to the description of the type of records and the time periods covered.
• If you do not find your locality online or in microfilm, try contacting local or regional genealogical societies in the U.S. and in Germany.  Some require paid memberships to use their resources.
• Use Google Chrome to translate German webpages.
• A search of genwiki.de can lead to online sources and published sources available in libraries, archives and through societies.

• If that fails contact the regional archives or a local genealogist and determine charges for record searches.  
• Search the directory of the Association of Professional Genealogists by geographic specialty for a list of German researchers.  Use the drop down list for International.

Next German genealogy session presented on Saturday, May 16 at 2 p.m. at Friendswood Activity Building, 416 Morningside Drive, Friendswood, TX.
Topic: Reading German script, German vocabulary and free online videos
Cost: Free; More information: Kim Zrubek, Librarian, 281-482-7135

ACHTUNG!- 1. Finding the Hometown of your German Immigrant Ancestors

The Bay Area Genealogical Society is sponsoring a series of lectures and workshops on researching your German ancestors in both U.S. and German records.  The next session will be on Saturday, April 18 at 2:00 pm: An Overview of German Immigration to the U.S. and Finding and Researching German Church & Civil Records. The session will be held at the Friendswood Activity Building, 416 Morningside Drive, Friendswood, TX.  There is no charge or registration required for this session. For more information, contact Kim Zrubek at the Friendswood Library, 281-482-7135

The village church of Zemmin dates to the 15th century. It is located in Zemmin Bentzin in Vorpommern-Greifswald, Germany.  Source: www.de.wikipedia.org /wiki /Dorfkirche_Zemmin

Here is a summary of what we covered in the first session:

Strategy 1:  Use American sources to find German hometowns

American genealogical sources must be thoroughly researched before attempting to delve into the German records.  Here are some statistics on the success rates of American resources that reveal German hometowns based on research by Dr. Roger Minert.

65-76%:  Local church vital records

20-30%:  Military muster, pension lists

20-25%:  County genealogies, state death certificates

15-25%:  Passenger arrival lists

15-20%:  Newspaper obituaries, county histories,

15%:  State census

10%:  Naturalization/citizenship, cemetery monuments/stones

5%:  County marriage licenses

<1%:  Federal census

In addition we recommended the following steps for finding the hometown of your German immigrant ancestors.

1.  Church Records - The FIRST PRIORITY is to find baptisms, christenings, confirmations, marriages and burials for your immigrants, their children and siblings in U.S. church records.  The churches attended by German immigrants were usually very thorough in their descriptions of persons involved in the sacraments.
2. Passports - If your ancestor traveled outside the U.S. their passport record may include their birthplace.
3. Military records - Military records can be very revealing of German origins.  Pay special attention to draft registrations especially World War I, pension files from the Revolution to the present and muster lists.
4. Obituaries - Look in newspapers for your immigrants, their children and grandchildren.  Newspapers especially in smaller towns include very detailed obits.  The German language newspapers in the larger American cities will include many more details than the English language papers.
5. Biographies - County, regional and state histories, Who's Who, professional journals and many other sources include biographies of early pioneers and prominent people.  This is where descendants genealogy can be especially helpful.  Look for biographies featuring your German immigrant ancestors and their descendants.  These biographies often provide some details about the place of origin of the original immigrant.
6. Death Certificates - Look for records for your immigrants, their children and siblings. Check the name of the informant to determine reliability of source.
7. Gravestones - Look for all family, friends, associates & neighbors born in Germany.
8.  Naturalization Records - Helps to narrow search (i.e. Prussia, Bavaria, Brandenburg, etc.).
9. Print resources by Dr. Roger P. Minert, professor of German family history at Brigham Young University (Available at ClaytonLibrary)

·         Consolidated Index to German Immigrants in American Church Records, volumes 1-14 (Clayton Library call# 973.0431 G373 USA  )

·         Researching in Germany: a handbook for your visit to the homeland of your ancestors (Clayton Library call# M664 GERMAN)

·         Deciphering Handwriting in German Documents (Clayton Library call# M664 GERMAN)

·         Place Name Indexes – A series for each German State e.g. Rhineland, Posen, West Prussia, Bavaria, etc. (Clayton Library call# M664 GERMAN)

·         Spelling Variations in German Names: solving family history problems through applications of German and English phonetics (Clayton Library call# M664 GERMAN)

·         Germans to America and the Hamburg Passenger Lists (Clayton Library call# 325.243 M664 USA)

Strategy 2:      Familiarize yourself with the geography of your locality

  FamilySearch www.FamilySearch.org

·         Catalog:  Click on Search then click on Catalog to locate microfilm, microfiche, and online materials available through the Family History Library.  On the Catalog search page, enter a place name to discover what records available for a specific US or German locale.  

·         Research Wiki:  Click on Search then click on Wiki to find research advice for specific World or US state, county, city, or town.

Houston Public Library Catalog catalog.houstonlibrary.org  Use this catalog or the catalog of your favorite genealogy library to see what books they have. 

Google Use search engine www.Google.com to identify additional church record resources. 

Google Translate  Use www.translate.Google.com to past in German text and get an English translation. 

Use Google Chrome browser to translate entire webpage of text from German to English.  The browser provides a translate button.  To download Google Chrome browser, access the page www.google.com/chrome/browser

Strategy 3:      Use gazetteers and maps to locate the hometown, nearest parish, and administrative towns

1.  Germany as a country did not exist until 1871.
2. Prior to that time it consisted of many large and small independent entities, including states, kingdoms, duchies, principalities, and others.
3. Each entity was a separate “country” with a unique government, laws, money, measures, and so on.
4. These various geographic areas are called jurisdictions.
5. Record-keeping jurisdictions are places where a government or church has authority.
6.  Jurisdictions are used to identify a given locality and find records.
7. Place names in Germany are often used more than once.
8. Finding the right place is critical to finding the right records.

ü  Historic Gazetteer:  Meyers Gazetteer of the German Empire

       ·         Compiled 1912 prior to redistribution of territory

       ·         Includes over 210,000 places

       ·         Available free at Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org  Go to website  https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Germany_Gazetteers to get access.

ü  Historic German Genealogical Gazetteer online database http://gov.genealogy.net Use to determine place locations, former names, past affiliations, and related churches, church districts, places, districts, and regions. 

ü  Kartenmeister www.kartenmeister.com Use to identify former Prussian towns and current location information.   Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the search box.

The following marriage record is being used as a case study for the upcoming church record lecture and workshop.  The birthplace of the husband is shown as Zemmin, Germany.  The 1870 census for Siegfried Wegner reveals he was from Pomerania.  This marriage record also states the name of the pastor.  Come to the session on April 18 to find out more about what this record has revealed.

Source: "Wisconsin, Marriages, 1836-1930," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org /pal: 1MM9.1.1IXR6B -YJ5 : accessed 05 Nov 2012), Siegfried Wegner and Louise Eikoff, 02 Mar 1896. source film number: 1013994; reference number:  
page 457 marriage 391

African American Research Strategies

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending a series of three seminars presented by Franklin Carter Smith.  Mr. Smith is currently employed as a librarian at the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, a branch of the Houston Public Library.  Mr. Smith is co-author of A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your African-AmericanAncestors.  This book provides easy, step-by-step instruction for researching slave and free black ancestors pre- and post-Civil War.  Mr. Smith excerpted examples from his book for the three seminars.

The first seminar was entitled “Tips and Strategies for Researching Post Civil War African-American Ancestors.”  Some of the points that I found especially illuminating were

• Create a knowledge base from your family
• Consult the Elders-oral tradition plays an important role.
• Identify family collectors and gatherers of information including obituaries, funeral programs, pictures, Bibles and documents.
• Pay close attention to your African-American ancestors’ neighborhoods in each census but especially 1880 and 1870.  They likely lived with or near relatives, in-laws and pre-Civil War neighbors.
• Given names of former slaves are oftentimes more important than surnames.
• Note ancestors, family members and neighbors’ places of birth, both White and Black to see migration patterns.

The second seminar was “Researching Pre-Civil War African-American Ancestors.”  Mr. Smith offered more tips and strategies for this very different phase of research.

• The search prior to 1865 becomes a search for records that identify chattel property.
•  Slaves were taxable chattel property.
•  Locating the Slave as chattel property depends on identifying the chattel property owner-the Slaveholder.
•  If your ancestor was free prior to 1865, look for Free Black registers- Free blacks were required to register annually at the county courthouse.
• The Rule of 1870- Most Freedmen and Slaveholders remained at or near where they were before 1865.
• The 1870 neighborhood can be the key to unlocking your ancestors’ history during slavery.
• Scour the 1870 neighborhood for potential slaveholder candidates.  They might be next door.
• Research the white families in the 1870 neighborhood who had real estate including wives and in-laws.
• Use pre-Civil War censuses and tax records to create a timeline of when and how many slaves the family held.

The third seminar focused on “Searching for Slave Ancestors in Slaveholder Documents.”  Mr. Smith described a variety of search strategies for finding records naming slaves.  The records are divided into two classes: 1) legal and public domain records (i.e. records filed at the county courthouse) or 2) business/personal records and documents including plantation and business records, family Bibles recording slave births, diaries, letters and other personal or family papers.  The legal records can be found in county courthouses, state archives, genealogy or historical societies or they can be found on microfilm through local Family History Centers.  Many of these microfilms are now being digitized and made available at FamilySearch.org.  Some are indexed.  Others require painstaking browsing.  Examples of the types of Slaveholder documents that must be searched include:

• Deed books may name slaves as the subject of a sale, gift, devise, trust or as collateral for a mortgage.
• Check the deed and property transactions of the Slaveholder, their immediate family, and extended family including in-laws.
• Other documents in the deed books may include manumission papers, surety bonds for free persons of color and bills of sale.
• Probate and estate documents may list the names and ages of slaves.
•  Look for records of slaveholders, spouses, parents, siblings or in-laws that died before 1865.
•  Slaves are unlikely to be named in Estate records created after 1865.
• Wills may be especially valuable as they might list slaves by given names or full names with descriptions of color, size or age.
• Wills may also suggest slave family units or explicitly describe families.
•  Wills might also not name slaves.
• Always search for an inventory and appraisal which is more likely to include names.

Franklin Carter Smith citing the example of his family story of Native American ancestry.  His research indicates that features attributed to Native American ancestry are most likely due to a European ancestor, William Dotson, 1794-1858.

I own an autographed copy of A Genealogist's Guide toDiscovering Your African-American Ancestors and I highly recommend it as a reference guide.