Getting started is normally the roughest part. It's all quite new and often a bit unnerving and even intimidating. This is only natural, but fortunately this stage passes quite quickly. I'll offer up a few random tips here: - Try to concentrate your research on this side of 'the pond' when starting out, with whatever you can gather up (memorabilia, family records and photos, ancestors' letters, etc.). Then analyze what you have for data and additional clues. Only after you have done sufficient work on the American side will you be ready to 'cross the bridge' into German exploration. Needless to say, this effort could take years, or you may luck out rather quickly (but don't count on it). - Attempt to acquire the birth, and better yet, death records of your grandparents - and their parents - if at all possible. Goldmines of information can also be gleaned from your ancestors' obituaries, if they can be located. This includes collateral relations to boot. - Get to know the LDS (Church of Latter Day Saints) record holdings, both via Family Research Centers as found in most good size cities (most possessing remarkable microfilm collections), and per their online website. Zero in for starters on U.S. census records in particular. After sufficient research, you will eventually try to move onto their various German record holdings. But first things first, as this will no doubt take a bit of time. As always, the baby must learn to crawl before it can walk. - There are also libraries, government archives, genealogical and historical societies, cemeteries and online genealogy lists like this one to look into. Don't be afraid to ask questions and follow up on off-the-wall hunches. If you're not familiar with Google (or any of its online brethren) as an all-around search tool (to include matters genealogical), get hip quick. - Also be prepared to hunker down for the long haul. Not everything will come easy (as you may have already discovered), but often when things look bleakest, a lucky (or well earned) break will find its way to you. And all of a sudden, hope springs eternal. - Finally, avoid letting notions and first impressions evolve prematurely into "fixed ideas". Nothing is more counter-productive to making headway in family/ancestral research than searching with a less than open mind. Trust me, anything is possible at any time and any place. This is as true back in the good old days as it is today. Our ancestors weren't really that much different when it comes down to the nuts and bolts of human nature, and human failings. I could go on more I suppose but I'll leave you with a recent post from one of the members of the list here who posted this shortly after your own query. Though pertaining to a different topic, it addresses a number of the issues you'll face starting off in German family research, particularly having to DETERMINE THE CITY OR VILLAGE your family came from (as critical as anything for making the ultimate connection). There has also been an interesting exchange in the last few days on the cities of Lower Saxony, and also various research "breakthroughs" some on the list have experienced. This should give you a good idea of the range of topics (and tidbits) that can arise on these kinds of lists. If you can learn from those who, like you, had to trip and stumble a bit when starting out (though this continues to happen with maddening regularity even as time goes <gr>), and thus learned things the true blue but often hard way, you will most certainly profit. Good hunting my friend! Jb SoCal ----- On 10-19-05 Fred Buck wrote: Depending on the time period, most people who emigrated from Germany came from rural areas, not cities. (This was true for all seven of my immigrant ancestors, including four who came from what is today Niedersachsen.) I think this would especially be true if the person settled in a rural area or a small town in the U.S. (This wasn't the case for my family -- all seven settled in New York City, including one who farmed in Brooklyn and Queens, New York until about 1930.) So, unless you know that your ancestor came from a city in Niedersachsen, your best bet is that he came from a rural area. Most of Niedersachsen in the past and even today is rural (it was the most sparsely populated of the states that made up West Germany). It was made up of thousands of small farm villages, ten to twenty of which were grouped into a parish. There were Lutheran parishes (this was the dominant religion), Reformed parishes and Roman Catholic parishes. The following website gives a partial list of the Lutheran parishes in Niedersachsen: http://www.hist.de/KB-hannover.htm There are 910 Lutheran parishes on this list. The records for each one were kept separately, thus there is no central index of information for Niedersachsen or any of it's component parts (Hannover, Oldenburg, and Braunschweig). There is an effort underway to index one of the Hanover censuses from the mid-1800's, but this will take many years (They have been working on it for a couple of years and I think they have finished less than 5%). Unfortunately, this means that you need to know the parish where your family lived. (If you know the village, you can determine the parish.) The best place to get this information is in U.S. records (church record - marriages and baptisms of the children, emigration records, citizenship records, death records including obituaries, etc.) Once in a while, you might get lucky and match a person's birth date up with a person who who was researched by someone else, but this is rare. (I have been able to do this for two people (out of 55,000) in my database.) I wish you luck. Fred Buck Cincinnati, Ohio ----- >From: fenix@hawaii.rr.com >Reply-To: NIEDERSACHSEN-L@rootsweb.com >To: NIEDERSACHSEN-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [NIEDERSACHSEN] What next? Genealogy in Hannover, August Philip >WINTER >Date: 18 Oct 2005 02:43:53 -0600 > >Hi all, > >I have an ancestor, his date of birth, and a ship passenger list that >indicates he came from Hanover, Prussia (via Bremen). Can anyone give me >advice on how to go about finding his origins in Hanover (b. 1836, >immigration 1865)? > >I have read that the Lutheran Church in Hannover has many records but am >not sure what steps to take to access them (or any "tricks" to locate his >information). Is it best to hire someone in Germany to investigate? Is >there a single, general index or would finding him require traveling to >multiple places and searching through individual documents? Are there any >other local resources (Hannover or Germany in general) I should consult? >Any advice is appreciated. > >In the off-chance that someone else is researching him, here is his info: > >August Philip WINTER, b. 2 NOV 1836. Arrived in New York via Bremen on >15-16 MAY 1865, destination Ohio. Married in Dearborn, IN in 1867 to >Friedericke KESSLER. Naturalized in 1868 and subsequently moved to KS then >Platte and Lafayette, MO. _________________________________________________________________ Don’t just search. Find. 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To fenix@hawaii.rr.com What I wrote were a few tips for someone starting out. Only after re-reading your inquiry (and after I posted my suggestions) did I realize you may be looking for more precise advice than generalized ones I offered. My apologies if this were the case. Jb >Getting started is normally the roughest part. It's all quite new and often >a bit unnerving and even intimidating. This is only natural, but >fortunately this stage passes quite quickly. > >I'll offer up a few random tips here... _________________________________________________________________ Don’t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/