In a message dated 2/27/2006 6:44:05 PM Mountain Standard Time, KarenHob@aol.com writes: circumstances that might have caused them to emigrate. (I am wondering if the living conditions experienced by my ancestors might have been comparable to the conditions experienced by the Poles in Prussian Silesia.) Circumstances that could cause emigration from just about anywhere in the Austrian lands: 1. Avoiding military service, expecially if a war was looming. See historic timelines for when wars occurred. 2. Being sought by the police or creditors. 3. Being from a large family with no hope of inheriting enough property to make a good living & no other prospects. 4. Other economic circumstances Multiple crop failures. Widespread depression Family facing loss of land -- bankruptcy, deep in debt to moneylenders. Loss of a job as a factory worker / journeyman tradesman. Crowded conditions at home - successful home farm no longer able to sustain growing family, someone has to go. 5. Looking for adventure. 6. Looking for better opportunity: Industrial workers recruiters from the US promising a job and enough money to bring the rest of the family within a year or two, then buy land. Advertisements of free land in the US -- large plots europeans could not hope to ever own. 7. Cheap fares, boat captains willing to accept service for passage -- sell a service contract for some years of work to pay after arrival in the US -- make it easy to leave. 8. Escaping epidemic while still healthy. 9. Looking for healthier climate. 10. No family left, no point in staying. 11. Other.

There are a few books that would cover the subject in the World Catalog but the only one in English is available only at Oxford in UK. The others are all in German, Polish or Czech. There is one book about Austrian lands in general that may cover Silesia in a paragraph or page here and there. Whatever, it is a very interesting book even though it covers periods earlier than most of our ancestor's emigration. The methods described for 1848 pretty much continued to apply after that, in particular for smaller farmers. Farmers were slow to accept change and it could take a crisis to force change on them. Ëven after the emancipation mentioned in the book title below, many simply continued to do what they had always done. Except that now they owned their farms. Farming was perhaps the most important part of the Austrian economy until industrialization began in earnest. There may be books on the history of the economy of the Austrian lands that cover agriculture, too.. Noble landowners and agriculture in Austria, 1815-1848; a study in the origins of the peasant emancipation of 1848. Author: Blum, Jerome, 1913- Publication: Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press, 1948 English : Book Libraries Worldwide: 256 Karen In a message dated 2/27/2006 3:55:13 PM Mountain Standard Time, CWarschak@aol.com writes: My German ancestors lived in Austrian Silesia - just across the border from Poland. I have been doing genealogy for many years and have a considerable amount of knowledge of the atrocities suffered by the Germans in Czechoslovakia after World War II but I would like to know more about the everyday living conditions of Germans in the small rural villages of Austrian Silesia in the 1800s, as well as the circumstances that might have caused them to emigrate. (I am wondering if the living conditions experienced by my ancestors might have been comparable to the conditions experienced by the Poles in Prussian Silesia.) I have always been thankful that my direct ancestors made the decision to get on the ship and emigrate. I know that they experiences some real hardships in those first years but I'm sure that their hardships were much less severe than those suffered by their siblings who decided to stay.

Dear Karen May I add a big one? RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ! > In a message dated 2/27/2006 6:44:05 PM Mountain Standard Time, > KarenHob@aol.com writes: > circumstances that might have caused them to emigrate. (I am > wondering if the living conditions experienced by my ancestors might have > been comparable to the conditions experienced by the Poles in Prussian Silesia.) > > Circumstances that could cause emigration from just about anywhere in the > Austrian lands: > > 1. Avoiding military service, expecially if a war was looming. See > historic timelines for when wars occurred. > 2. Being sought by the police or creditors. > 3. Being from a large family with no hope of inheriting enough property to > make a good living & no other prospects. > 4. Other economic circumstances > Multiple crop failures. > Widespread depression > Family facing loss of land -- bankruptcy, deep in debt to moneylenders. > Loss of a job as a factory worker / journeyman tradesman. > Crowded conditions at home - successful home farm no longer able to > sustain growing family, someone has to go. > 5. Looking for adventure. > 6. Looking for better opportunity: > Industrial workers recruiters from the US promising a job and enough > money to bring the rest of the family within a year or two, then buy land. > Advertisements of free land in the US -- large plots europeans could not > hope to ever own. > 7. Cheap fares, boat captains willing to accept service for passage -- sell > a service contract for some years of work to pay after arrival in the US -- > make it easy to leave. > 8. Escaping epidemic while still healthy. > 9. Looking for healthier climate. > 10. No family left, no point in staying. > 11. Other. > > > > > > ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== > Visit the German-Bohemian Heritage Society Web Page! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/ > >

My German ancestors lived in Austrian Silesia - just across the border from Poland. I have been doing genealogy for many years and have a considerable amount of knowledge of the atrocities suffered by the Germans in Czechoslovakia after World War II but I would like to know more about the everyday living conditions of Germans in the small rural villages of Austrian Silesia in the 1800s, as well as the circumstances that might have caused them to emigrate. (I am wondering if the living conditions experienced by my ancestors might have been comparable to the conditions experienced by the Poles in Prussian Silesia.) I have always been thankful that my direct ancestors made the decision to get on the ship and emigrate. I know that they experiences some real hardships in those first years but I'm sure that their hardships were much less severe than those suffered by their siblings who decided to stay.

The URL below is titled: German-American historic sites and museums. It is well worth checking out. http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/kade/gahist.html#northda Karen

Cross-posted from HABSBURG list: The Moravian Archives (41 West Locust St., Bethlehem, PA 18018-2757), announces its 2006 German Script Seminar, consisting of intensive training in reading German script as used in America and in Germany. The course meets from June 6-17, 2005. Tuition and materials are $475 and room and board are available at Moravian College (housing must be reserved by May 15; contact Dr. Robert Windolph at 610-861-1503 to do so). Seminar participants should have completed two years of college German or the equivalent. By the end of two weeks, most students will be able to read the majority of documents they are likely to encounter, usually with some further study on their own. To receive an information packet with an enrollment application, please contact the Moravian Archives at 610-866-3255, send a fax to 610-866-9210, or email them at mabethlehem@entermail.net. For more information about the Archives, the German Script Seminar, and to download an application, see the website at www.moravianchurcharchives.org.

"The Peasants " by Ladislas Reymont, Knopf 1927 is a book recommended for details of the everyday lives of Galician farmers. I assume it covers both Germans and Poles. The following comments about the book and the Germans of Poland was posted by Catherine Havemeier on the Polish Border Surnames list. "My grandparents came from West Prussia in the 1880's. "The Peasants" concerns, I believe, the area under Austrian control. After reading the book I realized that it repeated many of the things my Busia had told us except for circumstances of life under the strict order the Prussians kept. "The Peasants" deals with farm life almost exclusively. The Poles in Austrian Poland had it much better off in many ways. The Austrians were Catholic; the Prussians were not. The Prussians (Germans) tried to Germanize the Poles. My Busia said that the taxes imposed on her father, who owned a small inn, forced him to sell at a loss to Germans and come to the US. The Prussians under Bismarck were determined to settle more and more of their people in the former Polish lands. They imposed German as the language of the schools and forced all males to serve a term in the Prussian army. They established state control over the church. They made the Poles second class citizens, and so, many emigrated. My grandfather, on leave from the army, came to the US. My Busia was always worried that the Germans would make them go back, even though they became US citizens, and so she would not say too much about the past. The best account of the story of the three sections (Prussian, Russian, and Austrian) is told in "The Lands of Partitioned Poland" by Piotr S. Wandycz, University of Washington Press. If I can help with information, please let me know. I have a pretty good library. Catherine Havemeier in Lancaster, PA"

Seeing this reminded me of my attendance 25 years ago. From among the numerous concurrent events, I elected to sit in on a particular seminar regarding migration to Ohio. From among the 12-15 tables of 8, I selected one. As folks arrived before the speaker, we started to chat. One fellow, about 26 then and a few years younger than me, had transcribed and indexed the birth and death records from a church on the west side of Cleveland. I asked if I could see his work. Moments later I found references to my immigrant ancestors and some of their 11 children. The next day I drove to the church, waited for the church receptionist to arrive and found the death record naming his birthplace! (Anyone else hear the theme from Twilight Zone now?) Cliff (sharing info on PLACAK (1770-now), SESTAK (1828), CERNY (1870))

In a message dated 2/24/2006 9:23:10 AM Mountain Standard Time, confezine@ogs.org writes: We are a little over two months from the 45th annual Ohio Genealogical Society conference. Conference program at: http://www.ogs.org/2006confthurs.php The Ohio Historical Society is bringing the death records from 1913-1953. If you need copies of death certificates, this is a great time to get them. The cost is only $.25 each. It will be much easier to locate the record if you obtain the certificate number from the site: http://www.ohiohistory.org. This only goes to 1944, but the indexes for later years will be available at the conference. ....snip....... Saturday Annual Business Meeting luncheon is included in your registration. When filling out the form for conference attendance, be sure to select the item for your Saturday luncheon. ...snip... Make sure to get your hotel reservation early. The conference hotel is the Downtown Radisson. Call 419.241.3000 and request rooms reserved for the Ohio Genealogical Society. Jana Sloan Broglin 2006 OGS Conference Chair _________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options, please visit: http://lists.ogs.org/mailman/options/confezine/karenhob%40aol.com

This list has had a few queries from Chileans with German ancestry. I have learned that Dr. Christel Krause Converse wrote several articles about the history of the Germans of Chile. One of them is in the Encyclopedia of German and The Americas at http://ebooks.abc-clio.com/ I don't know if it is available in hard copy. If there is anyone who is interested in this research, let me know and I will forward my copies of the articles to you. One of them has a bibliography at the end that cites other research by Dr. Converse. There are also a number of hits with a search of the Internet using Christel Converse, some in Spanish. The URL above may have other articles of interest to all list members. Preview membership is free but limits the number of pages available in each book. I do not know what a subscriber pays. Karen

For those with Austrian Silesia ancestors: The latest Silesian Newsletter is on the Internet at: http://www.schlesisches-museum.de/html/newsletter%2035.pdf Karen Subject: Silesia Newsletter 35 Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 09:21:53 +0100 From: Dr. Michael Parak <mparak@schlesisches-museum.de> Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, anbei übersende ich Ihnen den SILESIA-NEWSLETTER 35 für den Monat Februar 2006. Mit einem Doppel-Klick auf http://www.schlesisches-museum.de/html/newsletter%2035.pdf erscheint die neueste Ausgabe. Für Rückfragen und Anregungen stehe ich Ihnen gerne zur Verfügung. Adressänderungen und neue Interessenten können mir per e-mail mitgeteilt werden. Sollten Sie den SILESIA-NEWSLETTER nicht mehr beziehen wollen, genügt eine mail mit dem Betreff "Abbestellung SILESIA-NEWSLETTER" an mparak@schlesisches-museum.de <mailto:mmparak@schlesisches-museum.de> Mit freundlichen Grüßen

From Eastman's online genealogy newslwetter February 22, 2006 Online Obituary Index in Pennsylvania The Butler Area Public Library, Butler, PA is pleased to announce that their Obituary Index of over 75,000 names from Butler County newspapers is now searchable online (at no charge) at www.bcfls.org/butler; click on the tombstones; have fun. Instructions are included for basic and advanced searches, search tips, the value of obituaries, and ordering copies. The inclusive dates are 1824-1960 and 1990-2000. February 15, 2006 Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database Fred Delap, in cooperation with the Illinois State Archives, has created an excellent new database that allows people to search the names and personal information of Illinois soldiers who fought in the Civil War. The information in this database was always available in large, bulky ledger books that could only be accessed at the state archives building in Springfield, Illinois. The new online version allows everyone to see the same information without the necessity of traveling to Springfield. The state web site had an index of the names of the state's more than 285,000 Civil War soldiers, but it did not contain any personal information about them. The new, searchable database contains the names of soldiers who fought with Illinois units during the Civil War, as well as their ages, physical descriptions, hometown, and service record. The new database has several interesting search capabilities. As might be expected, you can search by name. However, you can also search by unit, county, township, or city. For instance, a sample search found that there were 467 soldiers listed as coming from Union County, which is located in the far southern part of the state. You can access the Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database at no charge by pointing your web browser to http://www.ilsos.gov/genealogy.

Cross-posted from the genealogy librarians list: Legislation affecting genealogical research pending in West Virginia: West Virginia Legislature is considering bill that revamps Vital Registration Office, and would close death, fetal death, marriage, divorce and annulment records for 50 years; births for 100 years. Gives state registrar control over all vital records held by local and state agencies, not just those previously held by state Health Dept. (Have no idea of the implications for all the GSU/LDS microfilm out in the world held by non-governmental agencies.) When similar legislation was proposed last year, we were given to understand we would no longer be allowed to give public access to county records on microfilm that contained even one "closed" record. This means that unless we choose to make all these rolls of microfilm unavailable, staff would have to look up and print off any "open" records requested off reels with "closed" records on them. Nightmare!! Last year's bill was killed suddenly with no explanation at the last minute. Given that someone probably has been working out the technicalities on this legislation during the course of the year since, I'd say this one will probably pass. Chief impetus seems to be compliance with Homeland Security edicts, including provisions to cross-match and mark birth certificates with death certificates, and to be able to share this information with other states. When the West Virginia Vital Research Records project went online, we saw signs of things to come. While the State Archives at the present time is allowed to sell copies of state death certificates up through 1973, and state birth and delayed birth certificates up through 1929, when the decision was made to place some of these records on line in 2005, the cut off for death certificates was 50 years, and no state birth records were included. County birth records from the initial counties placed online go up to the point at which those counties' record were microfilmed in the 1960's-1970, but future records will be added only after passing the 100 year mark. Susan Scouras Librarian WV Archives and History Library The Cultural Center 1900 Kanawha Blvd. East Charleston, WV 25305-0300 (304) 558-0230, Ext. 742

List members dealing with old documents in Latin should check the "Latin lessons" for genealogists at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/latin/beginners/tutorial/default.htm

In a message dated 2/12/2006 12:35:37 PM Eastern Standard Time, KarenHob@aol.com writes: > For those who do not want to alter their keyboard layout there is an option > > of using a combination of Alt and numbers from the numeric pad. You can also use Character Map. It's on the Start Menu under Accessories/System Tools. It contains all sorts of characters that can be copied to the clipboard and pasted into a document. Cathy

Thanks for the reply....I have some German records that Iwould like trancribing...........what would you charge me to transcribe one page of records??? Let me know -Thanks KK ----- Original Message ----- From: <KarenHob@aol.com> To: <GERMAN-BOHEMIAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2006 11:34 AM Subject: [GERMAN-BOHEMIAN] Typing unlauts and other diacriticals > For those who have Windows XP, it is possible to setup your English keyboard > to type European diacriticals. > > See: http://www.starr.net/is/type/intlchart.html > > This URL instructs you how to set up your keyboard for > US International English. > > If you are a touch typist it does not take very long to get used to this > setup. > You just have to remember to touch the space bar after typing these keys > ` ~ ^ ' " when you want those symbols and not a diacritical mark. > > The URL explains how the special keys work. It does not take long > to set it up and it saves a lot of time overall if you use the marks in > any language very often. > > I translate German and have found that by setting up my keyboard this > way I can capture German text with all the correct diacriticals in OCR, > paste them to a text file which keeps the umlauts intact and then run the > text through translation software to get me started. > > For those who do not want to alter their keyboard layout there is an option > of using a combination of Alt and numbers from the numeric pad. Each > combination results in a specific letter with a diacritical mark. > > Sometimes letters generated with the alt + numbers option will Email as junkj > characters. Letters with diacritcals generated by he US International > English keyboard usually transmit in Email with the diacriticals intact. > > Karen > > > ==== GERMAN-BOHEMIAN Mailing List ==== > Forgotten how to UNSUBSCRIBE? > Visit http://www.rootsweb.com/~gbhs/mailinglist/mailinglist.html > >

Karen-do you know what regiment my ancestor would have served his military obligation in during the early 1860's, if he was from Meistersdorf, outside Steinschonau? Thank You, Chris Jensen

For those who have Windows XP, it is possible to setup your English keyboard to type European diacriticals. See: http://www.starr.net/is/type/intlchart.html This URL instructs you how to set up your keyboard for US International English. If you are a touch typist it does not take very long to get used to this setup. You just have to remember to touch the space bar after typing these keys ` ~ ^ ' " when you want those symbols and not a diacritical mark. The URL explains how the special keys work. It does not take long to set it up and it saves a lot of time overall if you use the marks in any language very often. I translate German and have found that by setting up my keyboard this way I can capture German text with all the correct diacriticals in OCR, paste them to a text file which keeps the umlauts intact and then run the text through translation software to get me started. For those who do not want to alter their keyboard layout there is an option of using a combination of Alt and numbers from the numeric pad. Each combination results in a specific letter with a diacritical mark. Sometimes letters generated with the alt + numbers option will Email as junkj characters. Letters with diacritcals generated by he US International English keyboard usually transmit in Email with the diacriticals intact. Karen

To whom it may concern I am familiar with the Svehla name.....but it also is not totally uncommon.....there were a number of Svehlas who settled in the Chicago area prior to 1900....all from various parts of Bohemia.... You may contact me for more information..... Evelyn Czechekf@aol.com

In a message dated 2/8/2006 7:18:53 PM Eastern Standard Time, MiscSearch@aol.com writes: > Does this have anything to do with the Heritage Quest I use to search > census > files through my local library? Sorry, I sent my question before I saw the other E-mails on the subject.