JB - I just hope you will take the time to learn about genealogy and the language and names and cultures and history before hunting all over the place on your computer for a particular family name. Everything is not on line (yet) and much of what is there is not accurate - so it will help you to know what is and what isn't so you can connect to your own line and not someone else's. You have probably figured out this is not an instant science (I've been doing it for 30 years), so patience helps, and proof is mandatory. There are a dozen or so books (those archaic things) which will help you enormously, as will joining a genealogical group including European resources wherever it may be, preferably one close enough to go to - plus one where your people settled in the US if that's a different place. Someone said you must find your European village in the US (or the Americas) and that is correct. If you would like a list of those books, let me know and I'll be glad to tell you. There are a gazillion places to look, just to name a few, besides churches, the courthouse, cemeteries, (including pet cemeteries) the English and German language newspapers, land records, tax and voting records, biographies of many kinds, the fraternal organizations and Turnvereins, the professional directories, schools and universities (yearbooks and special collections), city directories, local historical societies, neighborhood newspapers; NARA, Library of Congress, public libraries, prisons, orphanages (not just for orphans), workhouses, photo albums; and get Thode's Ger-Eng Genealogical Dictionary unless you are fluent in German, French, Latin, obsolete words and abbreviations - that has 90% of what you will need. There are many places to send queries - and they do work. There are lots of knowledgeable people people on this message board - and there are many, many message boards. You can look in the archives for each one - and work your way through _www.Cyndislist.com_ (http://www.Cyndislist.com) if you haven't already. There are exhaustive how-to's on _www.familysearch.org_ (http://www.familysearch.org) under the help menu. Everybody has to go through that learning curve, and it is fascinating, because you will learn about yourself in the process, so I hope you will enjoy your ride! Maureen Schoenky In a message dated 7/3/2009 12:52:42 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: JB: If the church is still operating they will have the records; if not, most denominations have an archive; why would they have attended a Swedish church - unless, of course, it was the nearest one of their denomination? Did I find Anna's maiden name to be "Yadea(u)? Certainly weren't many of them around and it doesn't appear to be German. Have you tried following up on it? Sheila K. On Fri, Jul 3, 2009 at 1:24 PM, JB <[email protected]> wrote: > Again, thanks so much to everyone who has offered advice. > > - Debra, I am going to order copies of death certificates and look for > birth city. > - Joel, I will pursue church records if I can find a/the church they > attended. > - Sandy, Are you from Stronghurst? I found records on Castlegarden, but I > am trying to tie them back to 'West Prussia' which appears in the 1920 > census. Do you have a url for the Prussian site you refer to? > - Kathy, I have subscribed to Dvhh's mailing list. > - Sheila, the church records I know about are the well organized and > indexed Swedish church records. Is there a central repository for US > church > records or must on seek out records from individual churches? > > Regards to all, JB > > > 1. Re: Please help me find the link from Castlegarden to Prussia (JB) > > 2. Re: Please help me find the link from Castlegarden to Prussia > > (D.L. MacLaughlan-Dumes) > > 3. Re: Please help me find the link from Castlegarden to Prussia > > (Joel S. Russell) > > 4. www.castlegarden.org ([email protected]) > > 5. Re: Please help me find the link from Castlegarden to Prussia > > ([email protected]) > > 6. Re: Please help me find the link from Castlegarden to Prussia > > (Sheila Kapella) > > 7. Re: Please help me find the link from Castlegarden to Prussia > > ([email protected]) > > > > ------------------------------ > > > > Message: 2 > > Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 11:56:23 -0700 > > From: "D.L. MacLaughlan-Dumes" <[email protected]> > > > > Do any of the documents from sources in the USA (death certificate, > > naturalization papers, etc.) give a town of origin, or even a town of > > previous residence in West Prussia? > > > ------------------------------ > > > > Message: 3 > > Date: Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:15:26 -0400 > > From: "Joel S. Russell" <[email protected]> > > > I know I've said this on the list before, but you have to look at > > U.S. records to find them in Germany. The most reliable source I've > > found is in church records. Check the immigrants funeral record or > > > ------------------------------ > > > > Message: 4 > > Date: Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:10:14 -0400 > > From: [email protected] > > > > Castlegarden is in New York.? It's where passengers came to immigrate > from > > other countries, not just Prussia or Germany, but all countries.? It's > > also kindof hard to find passengers on a ships list.? A person needs to > > know the exact spelling of a name and an approximate year of > immigration.? > > Also, in the census records from here, there may be a city listed where > > your ancestors are from.? Most times it's only the country.? Have you > been > > to castlegarden.org?? Have you done a search on Prussian site.? Are you > > sure your ancestors were from West Prussia? Prussia was desolved into > > three countries that I know of, Poland, Germany, and Russia.? > > > ------------------------------ > > > > Message: 5 > > Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 16:03:36 EDT > > From: [email protected] > > > > JB: I would contact the Dvhh.com group, they have some people that are > > from > > Germany and they also have books that they can look up the family name > > .Just re-put all the info you have again, and you should get something > > back. > > Kathy > > > > ------------------------------ > > > > Message: 6 > > Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 15:29:59 -0500 > > From: Sheila Kapella <[email protected]> > > > > JB: The LDS microfilm is a photocopy of the actual manifest, the same > one > > as on Ancestry. The best place I have found for info on the exact place > > of > > origin has been in the US church records. One other mention I might make > > is > > following through on the records generated by the children of Ferdinand > > and > > Anna. Their marriage and death records often contain the info you are > > seeking. Every rock needs to be turned over. Sheila K. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] 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 [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message **************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1222585087x1201462804/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072&hmpgID=62&bcd= JulystepsfooterNO62)