Wolf and List, No, this is not disturbing me but I did find the error and it was in the way that I asked for the info. After reading Wolfs last message I remembered that I was given some advice and going back to that email(glad I kept it) I was advised to not send cash but send 3- $1.05 coupons for return mail. I was also advised to ask for Familienschien (familienbuch) or family book information if it was available, and also to ask for church records to back it up. This is where the fee enters into it. I do not feel that the advice that I was given was bad. The money (fee) was never really an issue. I just wanted someone to help me to decipher the letter. I was also at fault for not asking about fees since I was not charged for this same type of document last February of 1999 when I wrote and asked about obtaining information on some of my other ancestors. Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maximus Culpa!! A good lesson learned here. If it takes asking 50 questions- ask 50 questions!! David --- "Seelentag Wolfhart Dr. KSSG_RO" <wolf.seelentag@kssg.ch> wrote: > Dear David, > > I just hope that this discussion is not disturbing > you too much : I feel > it's useful on this list (that's why I cc'ed them) - > should prevent such > misunderstandings (?) at least in some cases in the > future. > > > ---------- > > Von: david kester[SMTP:dck516@yahoo.com] > > Gesendet: Donnerstag, 27. Januar 2000 21:54 > > An: Seelentag Wolfhart Dr. KSSG_RO > > Betreff: Re: [SWITZ] Familenschein fees (was: > Some Advice Please) > > > > Sir, > > Never in a million years would I have thought that > my > > question about someone helping me to explain this > > letter would turn into this. > > > > No, I never applied for anything. All I did was > write > > to the Zivilstandsamt in Hallau and asked them how > I > > could find out about who the other children were > of my > > g,g,great-grandparents. > > > Can't comment on this without knowing the exact text > : the Zivilstandsamt > obviously interpreted it as an application for a > Familienschein, and sent > you the Familienschein. Now - if this was clearly a > mis-interpretation on > their behalf, you could refuse to pay the fee : no > need to pay for anything > you haven't ordered - just return the piece of paper > ;-). Depending on the > wording, however, an application could have been > implicit, and then the > situation would be quite different. > > As I recommended in my last posting to the list a > few minutes ago : whenever > you ask for info, describe exactly what you want, > and ask for the fee - if > there is no fee, you'll just get the info, if > there's a fee, you'll be told > how much. > > > I gave them my > > g,g,great-grandparent's names and dates of birth > and > > death that I obtained last year after writing to a > > Mario Von Moos and he forwarded my letter to the > > Zivilstandsamt in Hallau (in Feb. 1999) The > > Zivilstandsamt in Hallau sent me a page which > shows > > some information on my great-grandmother, Anna > GASSER, > > and her brother and sister, August and Bertha > GASSER > > being the children of Jakob GASSER and Barbara > > SCHNEIDER. It also lists Jakob's and Barbara's > dates > > of birth, marriage and when they immigrated to the > > USA. It also goes on to show the parent's of Jakob > > GASSER, and the parent's of Barbara SCHNEIDER. > Barbara > > SCHNEIDER had a brother and sister who also > immigrated > > to the US. > > > Thank you for a good example what to expect on a > Familienschein ;-) ! > > > I wrote to the Zivilstandsamt and asked how > > I could find out if there were other siblings > other > > than Barbara's brother, John and sister, Anna. > That is > > when I received this Familienschein from the > > Zivilstandsamt in Beringen. > > > > This paper shows: The father, Heinrich SCHNEIDER, > and > > the mother, Anna SCHLATTER. It also lists their > dates > > of birth, marriage and death (Which I already had > from > > the info from Feb. 1999). > > > Yes - there is overlapping information : the > Familienschein usually covers 3 > generations (if info is known) - this makes sure you > can run a line from one > generation to the next. If you go from one > Familienschein to the father's > document, you'll be given an additional generation > further back, plus more > information on brothers and sisters in the same > generation. > > Best regards - Wolf > > > It also tells who the > > parent's of Heinrich and Anna are also. Turn the > paper > > over and it lists the 14 children of Heinrich and > Anna > > SCHLATTER SCHNEIDER. It gives the dates of birth, > > marriage and death for the children, if, the info > is > > known. > > > > All I wanted to know was if someone could help me > with > > the coverletter that came with the Familienschein. > > That's all. I just didn't know what they > > (Zivilstandsamt) were asking for. > > > > David > > > > --- "Seelentag Wolfhart Dr. KSSG_RO" > > <wolf.seelentag@kssg.ch> wrote: > > > Dear Swiss Rooters, > > > > > > after the fairly recent discussion about the > > > cumbersome procedure to get any > > > data from Swiss Civil Registry Offices, we now > have > > > a discussion about their > > > fees. ......... > > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com