The first time we heard from Betty was in 1999, when she posted her question to our list. She definitely has made progress in the meantime, and I do feel that our subscribers have been of help as well. Nice to hear from you, Betty, and we wish you further success and much fun visiting 'our' Hessenland' :-) Yours truly John Merz ----- Original Message ----- From: <Bdhery@aol.com> To: <hessian@sympatico.ca> Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004 12:11 PM > ============================== > Source: HESSE-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Heinrich Degenhardt > > I have researched my famly for many years, and just recently returned from > four weeks in Germany and surrounding countries. Since 1995, I knew where I > needed to obtain information, but due to things between the LDS (Morman Church) > and the German Archives, We cannot obtain them except one record at a time at a > cost of almost $100.00. They refuse to let the LDS copy their records due to > to their baptising them into the LDS faith. > > The only way to obtain the information is have someone do it for you. It is > a shame that they could not be made avaliable to us. > > The Evangelical state Archives in Hessen is the only way to find the old > church records. I wished for years read everything that I could and now I have > what I need and want. I went to Germany and got it. > > The state Church Archives, is hard t find. I went in circles for 30 minutes > and could not find it, finally got a map from a service station and found dead > end streets and some not wide enough but for one car and they do park cars on > the sidewalk also. Many streets are still cobblestone. > > I will contact Rootsweb, and write a story about my research and I think they > will put it in the Newsletter that arrives every week. I love the > newsletter, because it tells of other people's finds and can help us do our own research > at times. I have read it for eight years. > > We all want to research our families both unknown and the famous. The famous > people have the money to have someone do their research and the poor people > sit and wish. > > Well after my Husbands death last year I could not get away, to do my > research. In May of this year I made arrangements to fly to Hessen, Frankfurt, > Germany and drive to Kassel and found family and had a wonderful family reunion, > and found records back to 1654. Things that I had wished for for the past 14 > years, and knew that they had to be there. > > My grgr grandfather was a Hessian Soldier and I found him in the book > Hetrina, there are two volums and are in alphibical order and then miscellaneous > misses at the end of each. Many people who have family that arrived in USA in > 1775 to 1790 could be Hessians who deserted from the troups. England recrited > the King of Germany to conscript these young men and send them to help fight for > the rights of England. If you know history, you will have already known this. > > > I loved the small villages so much and the look of Germany that I will be > returning there in August, September and part of October of 2005. > > I am a 73 year widow, and have done research for many years. I am not a > professional, but am well versed on Genealogy, lectured and taught it, and started > a group that is now a genealogical society. If you do not belong to a > society, please do. you can learn so much from others and enhance your own research. > > I have known since 1990 who my family was in Germany and basically where they > originated from. I now have records that will take me a long time to get > into my computer, and family that will eventually come to the United States to > Visit, and see what we look like and return home to their beautiful country. > > Betty