Transcript Folie 1 - NW

Reading German Script
Part III
Lesen
Systematic learning and support
Author Norbert Willmann, www.nw-service.at
Translated by Iris Luschin Fuchs
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Reading German Script III
In parts I and II we showed ways to recognize – and then read – the script in
church registers on the basis of known words.
This section deals with the research system in genealogical research.
We already used this system with the example in part II. Here we will present a
more detailed explanation.
Basically there are two main approaches to research:
 Researching only the direct line—keeping only the father and the mother and no
siblings.
 Researching all the children who belong to a family, as well as the additional
marriages of either parent.
The second option produces a much more complete picture of the ancestor--their
social environment and includes the whole family.
It also fulfills the promise in Malachi: ‘And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to
the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers,..’ Malachi 4:6.
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Reading German Script III
When searching for ancestors, many would wish for the simple option of entering a
single question into one of the many search engines to find their ancestor. This
option would seem to produce the precise results we desire.
1. Answer from
http://wiki.familysearch.org/
en
‘The great-great
grandfather’
2. Answer from
http://ghostworld.sky/en/na
mesindex/europa/germany
‘Martin Falkner, born February 18, 1845 in Dornstadt, Ulm, Germany, son of
Johann Falkner und Magdalena Scheen, both from Dornstadt.’
Download of all ancestors and descendants (except for living people) as GEDCOMDatei“
_________________________________________________
This would be nice, but fortunately it is not possible.
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Reading German Script III
When starting a search, we need a specific name, birth-date (or at least a birth year)
and/or the birth place with the correct country. (This may be the location of the
parish).
With this we are able to start searching with a search engine-– as shown on the
previous page’s hypothetical example.
Example:
Search input: Justina Catharina GRUEBEREN
First result: www.nw-service.at/familiewi/dornstadt.ged
Apparently someone (actually myself) has already done this search and via the link
at the website contact can be made with the other researcher.
This is an important basic principle: before starting any research, check to see
whether someone has already done research on that ancestral line.
There are many data bases available on the internet where researchers make their
research available.
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Reading German Script III
The largest worldwide database is found at www.familysearch.org with data for
more than 2.5 billion deceased persons.
A one-time, no charge registration is required in order to use all the features at this
site.
This and many other databases should be searched before starting one’s own
research in original sources.
FamilySearch has filmed copies of original parish records (registers) in their
archives and available at family history centers. Also Matricula and other onlinearchives provide very up-to-date digitized texts.
CAUTION! In doing research, it is best to proceed chronologically backwards--this
means from a person’s death to his marriage to his birth. Normally a person’s life is
viewed starting with birth and going to death.
This backward search method can at times be confusing.
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Reading German Script III
Let’s try this effective system in searching for an ancestor.
We need:
Birth
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Reading German Script III
Let’s try this effective system in searching for an ancestor.
We need:
1) A genealogy program to enter and edit genealogical data e.g. PAF (which is very
good but is no longer being maintained) or Ancestral Quest or another commercial
option. Ancestral Quest has direct access and data exchange to the
aforementioned data bases of family search. For MAC users, there is for example:
MacFamilyTree 6.0.12 which can be downloaded from the internet.
Birth
Zur Folie 20 zurück
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Reading German Script III
Let’s try this effective system in searching for an ancestor.
We need:
1) A genealogy program to enter and edit genealogical data e.g. PAF (which is very
good but is no longer being maintained) or Ancestral Quest or another commercial
option. Ancestral Quest has direct access and data exchange to the
aforementioned data bases of family search. For MAC users, there is for example:
MacFamilyTree 6.0.12 which can be downloaded from the internet.
2) The specific details for the person with whom we want to start.
If we have a birth date, we start searching in the birth register of the birth place.
Birth
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Reading German Script III
In the birth entry, the parents are identified. Now we could now look in the marriage
register for the wedding of these parents.
The wedding is most commonly before the birth of the first child in a family. Thus
we need to search for additional children who may have been born before the
known ancestor. Children were commonly born about every two years. If we can
find no additional children after searching about 5 years before the birth of the
oldest child, we can start looking for a marriage date. The 5 year rule allows for the
birth of stillborn children or children not born right after the wedding.
Birth
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Reading German Script III
In the birth entry, the parents are identified. Now we could now look in the marriage
register for the wedding of these parents.
The wedding is most commonly before the birth of the first child in a family. Thus
we need to search for additional children who may have been born before the
known ancestor. Children were commonly born about every two years. If we can
find no additional children after searching about 5 years before the birth of the
oldest child, we can start looking for a marriage date. The 5 year rule allows for the
birth of stillborn children or children not born right after the wedding.
Now you are trained in finding the births in a family going backward. You can now
easily find the children born after the know ancestor. Here again, we try to find no
more children (depending upon the age of the mother) for about 5 – 10 years. This
allows for the birth of a child later in life.
Birth
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Reading German Script III
When searching in the parish registers, you don’t have to read all the entries on the
page, but – as shown in part II – you need only look in the parent column for the
parents’ first names, i.e. Andreas and Magdalena. When you find this, then check
the surname and then last of all look at the location.
This minimizes the search effort and allows for quicker results.
Birth
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Reading German Script III
After all of the children have been found in the birth register, search for the
wedding in the marriage register. It should be chronologically before the birth of
the first child of the family.
One would assume it sufficient to search for the marriage nine months before the
birth of the first child, but the woman could have been pregnant at the time of the
wedding. It is therefore advisable to start searching shortly before the birth date.
The wedding also could have taken place some years prior. There could have been
unregistered still-births or children not born right after the marriage.
Marriages
Birth
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Reading German Script III
Sometimes the parents of the couple and the ages of the bride and groom are
specified in the marriage entry. In this case two sets of parents could be
identified—one for both the groom and the bride. The parent’s names will be the
basis for a further search in the birth register for the birth of the bride and groom.
If the age of the bride and groom are specified, you can find the birth entries in the
birth register for that year. If there is no age given, search for the birth of the bride
going back about 17 to 30 years and for the groom about 20 to 35 years.
The search is conducted as described in Part II: you search in the birth register for
the first name of the bride or groom and when found you search for the first names
of the parents and lastly look at the family name.
Marriages
Birth
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Reading German Script III
The research system used with the known ancestor is now repeated.
Search for other children in the families of the bride and groom.
Marriages
Birth
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Reading German Script III
The research system used with the known ancestor is now repeated.
Search for other children in the families of the bride and groom.
Search in the marriage register for the wedding of the parents of the couple
chronologically before the respective first child in each family.
Marriages
Birth
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Reading German Script III
The research system used with the known ancestor is now repeated.
Search for other children in the families of the bride and groom.
Search in the marriage register for the wedding of the parents of the couple
chronologically before the respective first child in each family.
Using the marriage register entries go back again to the birth register to find the
four birth entries for the parents. This then gives the next generation.
Marriages
Birth
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Reading German Script III
The research system used with the known ancestor is now repeated.
Search for other children in the families of the bride and groom.
Search in the marriage register for the wedding of the parents of the couple
chronologically before the respective first child in each family.
Using the marriage register entries go back again to the birth register to find the
four birth entries for the parents. This then gives the next generation.
Search for other children in each of the respective families.
Marriages
Birth
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Reading German Script III
The research system used with the known ancestor is now repeated.
Search for other children in the families of the bride and groom.
Search in the marriage register for the wedding of the parents of the couple
chronologically before the respective first child in each family.
Using the marriage register entries go back again to the birth register to find the
four birth entries for the parents. This then gives the next generation.
Search for other children in each of the respective families.
...and so on and so forth.
Marriages
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Reading German Script III
Using this research method we were able to find 6 families with children in only 3
generations--which can be between 40 and 70 persons.
Marriages
Geburten
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Reading German Script III
Please note:
In the birth registers, always search the parent’s column for the first name of father
and mother and then when these are identified search for the family name and
lastly search for the location.
In wedding registers, the columns containing the bride and groom must be
searched for the first names and then searched for the family name and lastly the
location.
In death registers, the preferred search is for the family name (with all its spelling
variations such as Koler-Koller-Khöller) and when found then searching for the
location. The age may also be extremely beneficial.
This method permits a rapid search of parish registers.
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Reading German Script III
Let us illustrate once more this research principle using a single generation:
1) Search for a known person with a possible birth date and location.
Marriages
Geburten
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Reading German Script III
Let us illustrate once more this research principle using a single generation:
1) Search for a known person with a possible birth date and location.
2) Search for other children of the same couple (via the first names) going
backward.
Marriages
Geburten
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Reading German Script III
Let us illustrate once more the principle of research within a generation:
1) Search for known (birth date and place) person.
2) Search for other children of the same couple (via the first names) going
backward.
3) Search for other children also going forward.
Marriages
Geburten
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Reading German Script III
Let us illustrate once more the principle of research within a generation:
1) Search for known (birth date and place) person.
2) Search for other children of the same couple (via the first names) going
backward.
3) Search for other children also going forward.
4) Search for the wedding date of the parents in the marriage register prior to the
birth of the first child in the family .
Marriages
Geburten
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Reading German Script III
Let us illustrate once more the principle of research within a generation:
1) Search for known (birth date and place) person.
2) Search for other children of the same couple (via the first names) going
backward.
3) Search for other children also going forward.
4) Search for the wedding date of the parents in the marriage register prior to the
birth of the first child in the family .
5) Search for the birth of the father (20 to 35 years into the past) and the mother (17
to 30 years into the past) in the birth register.
Marriages
Geburten
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Reading German Script III
Let us illustrate once more the principle of research within a generation:
1) Search for known (birth date and place) person.
2) Search for other children of the same couple (via the first names) going
backward.
3) Search for other children also going forward.
4) Search for the wedding date of the parents in the marriage register prior to the
birth of the first child in the family .
5) Search for the birth of the father (20 to 35 years into the past) and the mother (17
to 30 years into the past) in the birth register.
6) Return to item 2 and start the searching process for the parents of the bride and
groom.
Marriages
Geburten
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Reading German Script III
Some notes on the children of a family:
 When a first name occurs more than once in a family it may indicate, that
children of the same first name have died previously. In the death register this can
be easily found using the time span between the births.
 Many children died in their first year or in early childhood (up to about the age of
8), so that only about half of the children born ever reached adulthood. In the death
registers we also find more cases of baby and small child deaths in the cold winter
months.
 When a child died, this was entered in the death register and at times also in the
birth register by the birth entry--noted with a cross and the death date. Picture: On
Nov 18, 1767 Paul (son) of Joseph Schaden, Edlprinz and
Theres was born. He died in the year 1769.
 Hence, research in the death register is important, but is only worthwhile and
effective after all the children in a family have been found.
Using this method, the death register can be ‘paged through’ and you don’t have to
switch between the birth and death registers.
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Reading German Script III
 After this explanation of the research principles, if you return to presentation
part II you will deepen your knowledge and better understand the research system.
 Another important item is the recording of your data with suitable programs--Two
of them were mentioned in slide 7.
 Using FamilySearch it is possible to enter one’s own data online into that large
data bank or to upload and work with existing data. This is especially convenient if
parts of one’s own genealogy is already available in these data banks. Once again-remember to make checking ‘mandatory’ before starting research to know whether
someone else has already worked on an ancestral line.
 It is importance that data be entered very completely and accurately. Estimated
data can help in research but it can also lead to false conclusions.
 In each data set, in ‘notes’ you can enter important details or further intended
research as a reminder for later on. You can also enter links to pictures, screens or
further documents.
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Reading German Script III
In conclusion–below is a summary of the first names of couples in church books
and proof of the effectiveness of this search method.
I have entered all the church book entries between 1748 and 1800 into a genealogy
program.
For the 7343 Persons in this database these are the first names for the couples:
103 Johann und Maria (Joan, Johan, Anna Maria, Maria Anna und Eva Maria)
74 Josef und Maria (Joseph, Anna Maria, Maria Anna und Eva Maria)
19 Johann und Catharina (Joan, Katharina)
14 Josef und Catharina (Joseph, Katharina)
11 Adam und Maria
Individual first names:
641 Maria (Anna Maria und Maria Anna und Eva Maria)
217 Josef (Joseph)
182 Catharina (Katharina)
119 Johann (Joan)
38 Susanna
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Reading German Script III
Assistance when reading old script:
Schriftenspiegel (script sampler) to recognize letters by comparison
Orte-Austria - Program to search for towns when the name is only partially legible and
to correlate parishes with communities.
Genealogielexikon (Genealogical Reference Program) to help clarify identification of
persons and Latin terms in the registers, as well as identification of names when the
name is only partially legible.
Telefonbuch Austria (Telephone directory) to recognize the surname by comparing it to
present-day surnames in a certain location.
Anfragen (Queries) Used to submit register pages per email with existent transcription
attempts.
Bildschirmübertragung (Screen sharing) using the CrossLoop-Program for joint
transcription with simultaneous telephone connection (only in German).
Norbert Willmann
www.nw-service.at
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Reading German Script III
End of Part III
Author: Norbert Willmann www.nw-service.at
[email protected]
Part I Part II
Begin
Translated by Iris Luschin Fuchs, many thanks also to Bradford W. Harper for his assistance
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