Bill, My THOMAS family was from West Pommern, east of Stettin, Prussia (today's Szczecin, Poland). I have a wonderful map of the area that includes both the German and current Polish names of the villages, that I received from my cousin in Szczecin. The map includes a URL http://www.hoeferverlag.de and an e-mail address [email protected] - check out page http://www.hoeferverlag.de/onlineshop/englisch/polen/index.php which lists the maps for Poland. Map PL006 is middle Silesia... Hope you find what you need there. -- Marge Galus Sandlier <>< Forget Me Not http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~sandlier/ ---- Bill <[email protected]> wrote: ============= Hello All, Has anyone done research in Silesia? I am looking for a map(s) that shows smaller villages just to the north of the Czech Republic's county/kreis of Mahren. Anyone know where church and civil documents are archived? Would love to find something like the Austrian Military Maps of the 1800's for this area... but so far only blurry and congested maps. I have found on www.yasni.de, when searching for my surname variant of Thanel/Thonel, several Thanel/Thonel family trees/stammbaums. These names are in southern Silesia just to the north of Bergstadt where my forefathers and possibly the Columbus Reinke families lived. I have seen the name Thanel in early Platte, Custer and Polk Countys. Any suggestions will be welcomed!! Bill Thoendel Hoskins, NE