I would recommend finding the immigration documents which is how I found my family. The immigration documents contained the village where they lived so I found the church records there Did you try the prussian database? On 09/30/11, judy petersen wrote: > I have the same problem with my gr grandfather Charles Herzog, b. 1862 > Silesia. His 1892 naturalization record showed his country of allegiance > was Germany, but I have no village name. He died in 1917. Plenty of info > on his years in Chicago, but no idea where or how to look for him in > Silesia. I'm also interested in any ideas on how to approach this. > Judy > > On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 7:12 AM, Mary Ellen Chambers <maryln61@yahoo.com>wrote: > > > My family has tried to trace my g grandfather back to Prussia but > > have not > > had any success. Part of the issue is all we have is Prussia which is on > > the > > few records we have as place of birth. Realize that is like saying New > > England! > > We have tried passenger lists coming into Baltimore, approx. 1850 to > > 1860. We use this time-line because, he married my g grandmother 1860 to > > 1864 > > in either Cecil County or Baltimore County, MD. MD civil records did not > > start > > until 1898. About 1869 he moved his family to Crestline Crawford Count y > > OH. > > My g grandmother's family also moved with them. She was American born 1845 > > but > > her father was from Hesse Darmstadt per 1880 census & her mother from > > Bayonne. > > Again huge areas of Germany to try to find the "Needle in a haystack". His > > name > > John Ludwig Kiel/Kile/Kyle. > > I noticed on the list that there are Civil Records available for some > > areas in the late 18th century. Would there be a list/index for the > > various > > areas of Prussia which state the start for their civil records?? Even > > though > > there may be numerous men with the same given & surname, it might give us a > > more > > defined area to search. > > It appears that my paternal g grandfather's surname LIBENS (various > > spelling) is often in what is now Belgium. However, I have been told that > > the > > part of Prussia which is now Belgium was changed D/T Napoleon's defeat. I > > have > > a b. year for him of 1836 which would have been long after the defeat. > > Therefore, find it strange that Prussia continued to be used as his place > > of > > birth if he was actually born in that part which changed. Or would using > > it be > > better define that part??? > > Would anyone on the list have any ideas? > > My g grandfather was John LIBENS b. 1836 Prussia, expired 1879 > > Crestline > > Crawford County OH. On the 1870 census the surname was spelled LABENS and > > on > > other census LIBBENS, LIBBONS. > > Once the families settled in OH, we have numerous records. It is MD > > back > > to Prussia which is our brick wall. In MD both families lived in Rising > > Sun, > > Cecil County MD; near Elkton. They were of the Lutheran faith. > > > > Mary Ellen Chambers > > Lakewood, OH > > > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > PRUSSIA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PRUSSIA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- Lorene Seman, MBA Assistant Administrator, Department of Anesthesiology School of Medicine and Public Health University of Wisconsin 600 Highland Ave, B6/319 CSC Madison, WI 53792-3272 Voice: (608)-265-0588 FAX: (608)-263-8111

I had a problem with my g-grandparents, no village or town listed on any official records. When I started researching the births of their children I found the baptism records listed the village names for each of the parents. It was a goldmine. If you have not checked these records, I would give it a try. Good luck! Darlene On 9/30/2011 9:20 PM, Lorene Seman wrote: > I would recommend finding the immigration documents which is how I found my family. The immigration documents contained the village where they lived so I found the church records there Did you try the prussian database? > > On 09/30/11, judy petersen wrote: >> I have the same problem with my gr grandfather Charles Herzog, b. 1862 >> Silesia. His 1892 naturalization record showed his country of allegiance >> was Germany, but I have no village name. He died in 1917. Plenty of info >> on his years in Chicago, but no idea where or how to look for him in >> Silesia. I'm also interested in any ideas on how to approach this. >> Judy >> >> On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 7:12 AM, Mary Ellen Chambers<maryln61@yahoo.com>wrote: >> >>> My family has tried to trace my g grandfather back to Prussia but >>> have not >>> had any success. Part of the issue is all we have is Prussia which is on >>> the >>> few records we have as place of birth. Realize that is like saying New >>> England! >>> We have tried passenger lists coming into Baltimore, approx. 1850 to >>> 1860. We use this time-line because, he married my g grandmother 1860 to >>> 1864 >>> in either Cecil County or Baltimore County, MD. MD civil records did not >>> start >>> until 1898. About 1869 he moved his family to Crestline Crawford Count y >>> OH. >>> My g grandmother's family also moved with them. She was American born 1845 >>> but >>> her father was from Hesse Darmstadt per 1880 census& her mother from >>> Bayonne. >>> Again huge areas of Germany to try to find the "Needle in a haystack". His >>> name >>> John Ludwig Kiel/Kile/Kyle. >>> I noticed on the list that there are Civil Records available for some >>> areas in the late 18th century. Would there be a list/index for the >>> various >>> areas of Prussia which state the start for their civil records?? Even >>> though >>> there may be numerous men with the same given& surname, it might give us a >>> more >>> defined area to search. >>> It appears that my paternal g grandfather's surname LIBENS (various >>> spelling) is often in what is now Belgium. However, I have been told that >>> the >>> part of Prussia which is now Belgium was changed D/T Napoleon's defeat. I >>> have >>> a b. year for him of 1836 which would have been long after the defeat. >>> Therefore, find it strange that Prussia continued to be used as his place >>> of >>> birth if he was actually born in that part which changed. Or would using >>> it be >>> better define that part??? >>> Would anyone on the list have any ideas? >>> My g grandfather was John LIBENS b. 1836 Prussia, expired 1879 >>> Crestline >>> Crawford County OH. On the 1870 census the surname was spelled LABENS and >>> on >>> other census LIBBENS, LIBBONS. >>> Once the families settled in OH, we have numerous records. It is MD >>> back >>> to Prussia which is our brick wall. In MD both families lived in Rising >>> Sun, >>> Cecil County MD; near Elkton. They were of the Lutheran faith. >>> >>> Mary Ellen Chambers >>> Lakewood, OH >>> >>> ------------------------------- >>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>> PRUSSIA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >>> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >>> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PRUSSIA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > -- > Lorene Seman, MBA > Assistant Administrator, Department of Anesthesiology > School of Medicine and Public Health > University of Wisconsin > 600 Highland Ave, B6/319 CSC > Madison, WI 53792-3272 > Voice: (608)-265-0588 > FAX: (608)-263-8111 > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PRUSSIA-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Darlene, Thank you for posting this - indeed the original entries for extended family in Church Books can be most informative. In some cases diligent pastors and priests kept lists of families, especially concentrating on where baptisms had taken place. Sometimes it may be necessary to visit the churches with such books personally (making sure to ask what books have been made) to find out what information is available. Some may be lucky with immigration, naturalization etc records, but experience of my family has been that either a specific town was not given, or they had moved several times and no births, marriages or deaths were found connected to the last place of residence. Bronwyn. On Sat, Oct 1, 2011 at 7:40 AM, Darlene <tichi1904@pacbell.net> wrote: > I had a problem with my g-grandparents, no village or town listed on any > official records. When I started researching the births of their > children I found the baptism records listed the village names for each > of the parents.  It was a goldmine.  If you have not checked these > records, I would give it a try. Good luck! > > Darlene

Hi all, As many here (I suspect) find, Prussian immigrants are difficult to track back. As I understand, there is no centralized German resources, like in Sweden, and even the churches were fractured by war and politics. I had heard vaguely from one older family member about "Regensburg" mentioned, but no specifics. I just found a new Illinois death recording in "Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947" which lists "Berlin, Germany" as the immigrant's (her father) place of birth. But this is the first reference in 15 years of looking and I'm naturally suspect. The daughter's surviving husband was probably the informant, and Berlin might not have been the actual birthplace, as the other poster commented - people move. If anyone has good suggestions for Berlin resources, I'll look of course, or even hire a local, which worked well for getting a Swedish g-grandmother's info. At 11:40 PM 9/30/2011, you wrote: >I had a problem with my g-grandparents, no village or town listed on any >official records. When I started researching the births of their >children I found the baptism records listed the village names for each >of the parents. I found a number of Antone Schumacher's children in Chicago Catholic baptismal records (Latin) in the LDS films, but none mentioned a village. They are still a good source of other info, especially as the Great Fire destroyed all civil records, like their marriage and his naturalization. I searched all area church's records for an ~1861 marriage to no avail; it might have been a justice of the peace in little Niles Township. Most children were married Catholic, but some not. They were baptized in at least 3 different Chicago churches, not corresponding to their residence at the time. I found it amazing they would travel 8 miles in 1860s with an infant for the baptism. > > On 09/30/11, judy petersen wrote: Plenty of info > >> on his years in Chicago, but no idea where or how to look for him in > >> Silesia. I'm also interested in any ideas on how to approach this. I too found a lot of info post-fire, but by then he was married with 5 children. His wife, Maria Klinge, was 1st generation American and so her parents are in the same informational black hole... Basic info on who I'm searching for: Antone Schumacher b.1837 (Berlin?) Prussia, imm. ~1848 parents: Antone Schumacher - Ann Maria Krupp, Prussia m. ~1861 Niles Ill. to: Maria Anna Kilnge b.1844 Niles parents: Carl Klinge - Gertrude Falkenberg, Prussia Ray Schumacher http://rjs.org/geneaology/

Lorene~       To what USA immigration documents do you refer??  The majority of Naturalization Papers in US, especially in MD  & in OH just have Germany or in rare circumstances Hesse Darmstadt, Prussia, etc.  I have volunteered at our local archives, been to MD archives at Annapolis numerous times, find most of the application & final papers quite vague.  Now doing research in MA , found for some reason their copies had extra data.        Are there other immigration documents I am not aware? Mary Ellen ________________________________ From: Lorene Seman <lmseman@wisc.edu> To: prussia-roots@rootsweb.com Sent: Sat, October 1, 2011 12:20:53 AM Subject: Re: [PRUSSIA-ROOTS] Suggestions re: On Line Prussia Ancestor Research I would recommend finding the immigration documents which is how I found my family.  The immigration documents contained the village where they lived so I found the church records there  Did you try the prussian database? On 09/30/11, judy petersen wrote: > I have the same problem with my gr grandfather Charles Herzog, b. 1862 > Silesia. His 1892 naturalization record showed his country of allegiance > was Germany, but I have no village name. He died in 1917. Plenty of info > on his years in Chicago, but no idea where or how to look for him in > Silesia. I'm also interested in any ideas on how to approach this. > Judy > >