At 10:48 16.12.99 -0800, you wrote: ------------------------- > Hi, > > Many (maybe even many, many) months ago I came across > a reference to a resource that was roughly translated > into "family books". I understand that these are > available at many archives, and essentially are > pedigrees of given families, often going back > centuries. I believe that they were produced by parish > priests. > > What I need to know is the actualy German name for > these resources. So, if anyone out there knows what I > am talking about, and knows the correct name, would > you please email same to me, directly, at > franalm@yahoo.com Could be the "Ortssippenbücher". They were often compiled by priests. However, I never saw one and know only roughly what they are. As far as I understand, they contain basically the same info like the "normal" church books, but the info in this "Ortssippenbücher" is sorted by family. If anybody had better info: pls. correct me. Hope that helps a bit Stefan