Dear Dorothy, Your books are a gift for all of us who have German roots in Effingham. My father's mother Eda Merz was born and raised there during this time period. She was the daughter of Martha Schwarz and Henry Merz who had a cigar factory in Effingham. I recall seeing a photo of a float with some relatives sitting in chairs on it. It was probably one of the July 4, celebrations. Thank you for your work. Suzanne Russell, Laguna Niguel, CA ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dorothy Brumleve" <brumleve@insightbb.com> To: <ILEFFING-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, December 19, 2004 12:05 AM Subject: [ILEFFING-L] New Books on Effingham County History > I've recently published three books of Effingham County history -- > written _as it happened_ in 1884-1886. The books are based on two > continuous years of issues of the Effingham Volksblatt, a > German-language newspaper which served the Effingham area for four > decades. A bound volume of Volksblatt issues, from mid-June 1884 to > mid-June 1886, is housed at the Monastery Museum in Teutopolis. Some > four years ago, I photographed all the local content in these issues > five column-inches at a time, and I'm just now getting around to > translating and publishing it. The books contain the original German > articles side-by-side with my English translation. > > These are the earliest known issues of the Volksblatt still in existence > -- and they are NOT available on microfilm. > > Each book includes a surname index. There's news of many Effingham-area > families, with a concentration on those of German descent. > > The books published so far cover news of Effingham, Teutopolis, and > Sigel. I'm planning further titles with news of the county and towns > like Altamont, Dieterich, Montrose, etc. for 2005. The current titles > may be seen at Lange's News & Books on Jefferson Street in Effingham or > ordered by mail from http://www.brumleve.org. The book of Effingham News > is a particularly enjoyable read, with many stories followed over weeks > or months. There's a terrific description of the 1885 4th of July > parade, tours of the Vandalia Roundhouse and Effingham Foundry, crime, > accidents, celebrations, births, deaths, marriages, travel and > transportation -- everything you'd expect in a newspaper and more. > Reading the books straight from start to finish really evokes the time > period our ancestors lived in and helps us understand what life was like > for them. And, of course, discovery of tidbits on particular ancestors > is a great deal of fun! > > I've also submitted two articles to the Effingham County Genealogical > and Historical Society quarterly for publication in coming months. Each > contains excerpts from the books. One article is on the benefits of > newspaper research and includes translations of a sampling of > obituaries, and the other covers the "Mysterious Disappearance of the > Mormann Sisters." > > Dorothy Brumleve > mailto:brumleve@insightbb.com > http://www.brumleve.org > > > ==== ILEFFING Mailing List ==== > If you want to subscribe to this list or unsubscribe from it, send e-mail > to ILEFFING-L-request@rootsweb.com or (for the > digest list) ILEFFING-D-request@rootsweb.com and put the word subscribe or > unsubscribe in the message body. > >