The Hamburg passenger list gives "Schellhausen, Hessen" as the home town for my Great great grandfather Carl "Charles" Madel when he came to the U.S. in 1869. There does not seem to be a place named Schellhausen, so I am trying to figure out which films to order from the Family History library. After some thought and consultation with others, the two best choices we have come up with are Schellnhausen and Zellhausen. The closest place name would seem to be Schellnhausen, which I believe is in Gross Felda parish. In the Family search/FHL library catalog they list films from Gross Felda, however I only see Evangelical church and Jewish records, and the family was Catholic. For Zellhausen there are catholic church records listed in the, but this doesn't seem to be as close a match to the hometown as given on the passenger records. My questions are - In the experience of German speakers/German residents on the list, what are the chances that Schellhausen on the passenger list could be Zellhausen? Could it be Schellnhausen? If so, are there catholic church records available for that area and what would I look to find them? Thanks for any advice in forming a plan of attack as to which films would be the most likely to have what I am looking for. Lenise

In reading this posting, it reminded me of the challenges of researching the numerous spelling variations among my German ancestors. It brings to mind the question of who actually wrote the passenger list? Were they German or of another nationality? Were they literate or simply relied on phonetic spelling? If the person writing the passenger list was of another nationality, i.e. American, did he write what he THOUGHT he heard? It appears that is how many German names have gotten "mangled" at the start, not to mention the spelling that has changed over the years as spelling became more standardized. Just my two cents worth. Pat McCoy, M.S. Addiction Psychology Slow Down and Enjoy Your Garden! ============================================ ________________________________ From: Lenise Cook <lacook@deepbondi.net> To: hesse@rootsweb.com Sent: Mon, May 16, 2011 6:49:51 PM Subject: [HESSE] Schellhausen/Schellnhausen/Zellhausen? The Hamburg passenger list gives "Schellhausen, Hessen" as the home town for my Great great grandfather Carl "Charles" Madel when he came to the U.S. in 1869. There does not seem to be a place named Schellhausen, so I am trying to figure out which films to order from the Family History library. After some thought and consultation with others, the two best choices we have come up with are Schellnhausen and Zellhausen. The closest place name would seem to be Schellnhausen, which I believe is in Gross Felda parish. In the Family search/FHL library catalog they list films from Gross Felda, however I only see Evangelical church and Jewish records, and the family was Catholic. For Zellhausen there are catholic church records listed in the, but this doesn't seem to be as close a match to the hometown as given on the passenger records. My questions are - In the experience of German speakers/German residents on the list, what are the chances that Schellhausen on the passenger list could be Zellhausen? Could it be Schellnhausen? If so, are there catholic church records available for that area and what would I look to find them? Thanks for any advice in forming a plan of attack as to which films would be the most likely to have what I am looking for. Lenise ------------------------------- 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