Hello to all -- Sorry for the length of this post. I hope it contains enough general information to be of interest to more than one subscriber. This is in response to a post by <Zastrowpm@netwurx.net> on 31 Jan re: surnames ANGEBEAU & DEHNE in the mid-1800's. No country was specified but I believe the locations mentioned (Schlagenthin, Arneswalde, Pommern and Vezins, Tuscany) are Germany and France. I am also sorry that this subscriber did not include his/her name in his/her post so I am unable to mention it here. My best advice to anyone who has information only from the mid-1800's is this: Begin searching records in the last location(s) where ancestors were known to have been, working your way back from there, for at least a hundred years or more (or as far as you can). There is no other way to prove Huguenot connections other than by this slow step-by-step research. In this case, it is known that Franz ANGEBEAU died on the 18 Apr 1847 at the age of 60 and that he was apparently born at Vezins, Beaupreau (France). Therefore, research needs to be done in the records of that location c1787 (an estimated DOB) to see if his birth or baptism can be found there. If not, try working outwards from this location to see if it can be found in nearby surrounding areas. No mention was made in the post from <Zastrowpm@netwurx.net> of possible Huguenot ancestry. However, the fact that ancestors appeared to move from France to Germany, particularly in this late time period (late 1700's-mid-1800's) is not in itself proof of Huguenot connections. Remember that Huguenots were those French Protestants who fled their country, generally in earlier time periods than this (mid-1500's+). For further information, please see the section titled Who were the Huguenots and Walloons? (in the Introduction section) on our list website at http://www.island.net/~andreav/index.html. Also, is the religion of the ANGEBEAU family known? Were they Protestants? It might be helpful to see if birth, death or marriage certificates are available for any of the events mentioned in the original post. Such certificates often contain useful information. However, the starting dates of civil registration in Germany varied according to region. The following URL shows a map which gives more information about civil registration in Germany -- http://www.rootsweb.com/~wggerman/civilreg.htm. Perhaps other listers who are familiar with research in Germany can post further civil registration and about obtaining certificates. As for France, I believe that civil registration began there in 1792 -- unfortunately, a few years later than the estimated birth of Franz ANGEBEAU. Does anyone else on the list have further information they can tell us about civil registration in France and where/how to obtain certificates? The only info I was able to find on the Web was at http://www.sfhg.org.uk/History4.html (The French Revolution and Genealogy). And what about censuses in both France and Germany? For further info about censuses, try http://www.genealogy.com/tip17.html (European Censuses) or http://www.genealogylinks.net/europe/ger.htm (German Genealogy Links). There must be other links to further information about French/German censuses. Anyone know of any? Lastly, don't forget to check the IGI on the LDS website (www.familysearch.org) to see if you can find any ANGEBEAU or DEHNE information there. Always bear in mind however that the IGI is an index only (therefore incomplete). A Place Search on the same site will also tell you if records for any of the locations you are interested in have been filmed by LDS. I hope my comments have been helpful, not only to the person who posted this inquiry, but to others who may have similar research questions. Once again, sorry for the length. Andrea