Funnily enough, well, not so funny actually, my German ancestors are not very cooperative. My English/Welsh roots have been far more accessible! Thanks for the dictionary tips, Brian. Marita Jacksonville, Oregon On Jun 2, 2011, at 11:44 AM, brian@amason.net wrote: > Actually if it's old enough it may prove better than a newer one. > Ideally, finding one from the time period is the perfect solution. Not > sure how old they get. I've never researched it. The better newer ones are > written specifically for genealogists and, you guessed it they get their > word lists from old German dictionaries. > > Sounds like you have the tools and a plan, you ought to do well. Now it's > only a matter of how cooperative your ancestors turn out to be. > > Brian > > On Thu, June 2, 2011 12:24 pm, Marita Ulrich wrote: >> Hi Brian, >> >> Thanks for your suggestions. I dug out a booklet I've had on the shelf >> for years, Witter's "Deutsch-Englische SCHREIB - und LESE - FIBEL". So I >> have started on some familiarity of that. I have an old German-English >> dictionary, too, but perhaps I need to invest in a better one. This is >> going to be a full on attack of the Ludwig Ulrich family search! >> >> Thanks, too, for the links. Hopefully, with perseverance I'll crack this >> Ludwig Ulrich family. >> >> Great information! >> >> Marita Ulrich >> Jacksonville, Oregon >> >> On Jun 2, 2011, at 9:49 AM, brian@amason.net wrote: >> >>> Another avenue to search is to try and find the church he belonged to. >>> If he belonged to a German church and he had any children born or >>> married >>> in the church, it will probably give his town of birth. It will be in >>> German. You should google for old German script which gives information >>> on >>> how to read it. There are some excellent books to teach that skill also. >>> It's an artform learning to read old German documents, but if you like >>> learning new things it can be a rewarding adventure. There are a few of >>> us >>> here who aren't too bad at reading it, so you might even ask for help >>> once >>> in a while. ;') >>> >>> If you're serious about doing your own research, pick up a good >>> German-English dictionary. It will help in figuring out some words. But >>> once you make the leap overseas, expect to have to deal with Latin too. >>> >>> BTW, printed German documents will be in Fractur, and handwritten ones >>> will be in handschrift (aka Old German Script, aka Sutterlin). Sutterlin >>> is a bit misleading, as it was a writing style promoted near the end of >>> the handwriting period, in an attempt to standardize handwriting. But >>> the >>> Sutterlin script is fairly representative of what you'll see. Along with >>> a >>> great many variations in some letters for some hands. Any place you see >>> Old German Script alphabets it's likely to be Sutterlin. But it's not >>> properly called Gothic writing, which is something different entirely, >>> but >>> I've seen people call it that. >>> >>> Here's a pair of links I like: >>> lower case >>> http://www.suetterlinschrift.de/Lese/Kanzlei1.htm >>> upper case >>> http://www.suetterlinschrift.de/Lese/Kanzlei2.htm >>> >>> I still use them for problem writers, and I have a *few* of them in my >>> families' towns. >>> >>> Happy hunting, >>> Brian >>> >>> On Thu, June 2, 2011 2:27 am, Marita Ulrich wrote: >>>> ... >>>> I've seen some new German records, and >>>> some on Hesse-Darmstadt City Records, but they are in old Gothic German >>>> script. I had a very brief peek today, but it's a long shot. Gothic >>>> German is like reading Chinese to me! >>>> >>>> The idea of a hired local researcher sounds better with each >>>> disappointment. >>>> >>> >>> >>> >>> ------------------------------- >>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>> HESSE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >>> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> HESSE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes >> in the subject and the body of the message >> >> > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to HESSE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message