-----Original Message----- >From: odissanders <odissanders@cox.net> > > LGO >In #1, I have an ancester, Teresa Flick census of 1870 (New Orleans) >says she was born in Baden. >SHe married Simon Jacob Navo. Their first child was born in New Orleans in >1850. >Can you find out anything on her. Simon Jacob Navo says he was born in >Prussia (Pressen). Dorothy, You need more information before you can start looking in German records. You have the name of a large area of Germany where your ancestor came from, and it's a tempting trap to start jumping into those records looking for the family origins. But don't do it! I always tell people that they need the following information BEFORE they try to skip the pond into European records; 1.) The name of the ancestor and their birth date. 2.) The name of the parents and/or siblings to serve as confirming info when German records are used. 3.) The name of the city/town/village/Dorf where the ancestor came from. That last item is the great paradox of European research - you have to already know where the ancestor came from to find the family origins! Sad, but true . . . Fortunately, all three of those items I listed above can be found in the records of the ancestor's new country. Even for females. It can sometimes take a lot of work to find (months or years), but once known it's relatively easy to find the family in the old country. You mentioned New Orleans in the family history. If that's a family locale for many decades then you're in luck because there are a great many New Orleans records that survive to this day (even after Hurricane Katrina) and they may very well hold the answers you need. Of course, LDS has microfilmed a great many of them that you can rent at your nearest Family History Center. Stay with it in U.S. records and you'll have success. Diligence is paramount! :) Good luck, LGO