SHOW NOTES - Episode: # 20 - July 29, 2007

Book Recommendation:  Home and Home Again by George and Helen Papashvily.

GEM:  German Homeland - Part 2

Here's a checklist of other types of records that might contain information about your ancestor"s home town.

1. Death Certificates
2. Marriage records
3. Church records
4. Obituaries
5. Tombstones & cemetery records
6. Probate records
7. Delayed birth certificates
8. The Germans to America book series
9. German passenger departure lists.

Bremen Passenger Lists 1920 - 1939
While most of the Bremen, Germany passenger departure records were destroyed -- either by German officials or during WWII -- 2,953 passenger lists for the years 1920 - 1939 have survived. The Bremen Society for Genealogical Investigation, DIE MAUS, has put transcriptions of these surviving Bremen passenger records online.

Hamburg Emigration Lists - BallinStadt â Port of Dreams

Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1872
German emigrants left through Hamburg in 1872. It's available free online HERE.

A research outline from FamilySearch for Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934

Look sideways, at brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, even friends.   If you can determine where one of them was born, you will have an EXCELLENT place to look in Germany for your ancestors!

In addition, determine if your ancestors had traveling companions on their way to America and look into their backgrounds.  Go back to the census and check out your ancestors first recorded American neighborhood.  Where were their neighbors from?  Folks often settled near family and friends from the old country.

The Freedom of Information Act

is a federal statute that allows any person the right to obtain federal agency records unless the records (or part of the records) are protected from disclosure by any of the nine exemptions in the law. 

It can take up to six months to receive a reply.  I've obtained two ancestor files so far, and both contained information and photographs that I had never seen before.  No fees are required when you make the request.  And the first 100 pages of copying and two hours of search time are free!  

FOIA Request Process

1. At the bottom of the page on the left is a link to the two page G-639 form.  Click on the link, and print.
2. Fill out the information as completely as possible. 
3. Make a copy of the form for your follow up records and keep it in a pending file in your desk
4. Put the original form in an envelope and clearly mark on the front "Freedom of Information Requestâ? and mail it.
5. Mark in your calendar six months from today to follow up on the request.  Also indicate that the copy is in your pending file.

GEM:  Christmas in July

Sweet Memories Candy Bar Stocking Stuffers

CLICK HERE FOR TEMPLATE

First, youâll need the following items:

1. A 3.67 oz size chocolate bar  
2. A couple of sheets of high bright white printer paper. I use hp Premium Choice ink jet paper 98 brightness, 32 lb weight. 
3. A computer & printer
4. A publishing software program such as Microsoft Publisher
5. Double sided tape
6. Scissors
7. Scanned family photos.  (I like using old Christmas Photos)

Hereâs how to create the label:

Scan the photos you want to include on the label

Open a new page in Microsoft Publisher

Use the Rectangle Tool to create a 7 Ââ? high x 5 Ââ? wide rectangle

Insert a background image using the INSERT IMAGE function, and then resize it to fit just over the rectangle.   Another  option is to select the rectangle, and use the FORMAT FILL COLOR function to color the box.

Use INSERT IMAGE to add your photos, and resize them to fit.   Measure down 2â? from the top of the label, and thatâs where the top of the front side photo is placed. Set it Ââ? from the left edge.  

The backside photo should begin 5â? from the top of the label, and be set Ââ? from the left edge.

Insert the text boxes.  The  "Sweet Memoriesâ? and Ingredients text boxes are about 3â? wide and 1 1/4â? high.  Format with the borders and colors that you want.   Reflect your own family values in the Ingredients list.

To Print:  From the menu, click FILE then PRINT and then click the PROPERTIES button.  From this window select âhigh resolution paperâ or âHigh Brightnessâ? as the Media Type, and select HIGH for the Print Quality to get the bestlooking label.  Print the label & cut out carefully. 

Folding guidelines: The first fold line is 1 Ââ? from the top of the label, and the second fold line is 4 Ââ? from the top of the label.

Use a small piece of double sided tape to stick the label to itself on the backside snugly. 

Now you have your own custom family history themed chocolate bar ready to tuck in Christmas stockings this year.  Theyâre guaranteed to put smiles on everyoneâs face on Christmas morning, and hopefully inspire a bit of curiosity about the family tree. 

August Episodes - In order to get the book finished and prepare for some exciting new episodes for Season Two Iâm not going to make any promises about how often new episodes will be published in August of 2007.  However, I will be putting out a couple of new podcasts as well as doing some blogging on the website so check back often.

Music courtesy of UC Santa Barbara:  Deutschlands Ruhm performed by the Johann Strauss Orchestera for Edison Records  in 1913. Homeland, sung by the soprano Elizabeth Spencer, recorded by Edison records in 1911

SHOW NOTES July 15, 2007

GEM:  A Long Look Sideways

Have you ever heard the piece of genealogical advice that says if you get stuck with your own ancestor, look sideways  - at their siblings, aunts and uncles?  Well in this episode we stretch this idea even further by looking at folks who aren't even related to us in order to get a clearer view of our ancestor"s lives.

EXAMPLE  Hereâs a list of books that Iâve found that are about specific locations and experiences that apply to my ancestors:

1. The Kinta Years by Janice Holt Giles (Oklahoma)
2. Tunbridge Wells - I was born on the Pantiles, By Josephine Butcher (England)
3. Still Life â Sketches from a Tunbridge Wells Childhood by Richard Cobb (England)
4. Rebecca of Blossom Prairie by Maurine Walpole Liles (Texas)
5. Papaâs Wife by Thyra Ferre Bjorn -1956 (Sweden)
6. Anything Can Happen by George and Helen Papashvily â1940 (immigrant experience)

Places to find old or out of print books:

Ebay.com, Amazon.com, Google Search, Garage Sales

GEM:  Finding Your German Ancestors Town of Origin

A little German village can seem like a needle in a haystack when youâre starting with ancestors who made it to the shores of America.   But once youâve found that gem, it will open up all kinds of records from their native land, and likely take you back several more generations.

There are three important pieces to this Ancestral puzzle:

1. The village name
2. The Parish it belonged to
3. The district or Kreis it was part of

First step: find them in the most recent census and work backwards.  Look for immigration information. 

The naturalization process created a lot of paperwork, and in that paper work your ancestors were asked for specific information about where they were born, where they immigrated from, the ship they traveled on, and when they arrived in America.  Naturalization was applied for at the county courthouse in most cases.

Try the free GenWeb website  http://http://usgenweb.com/  for the county where you think your ancestorâs applied for citizenship to see what resources they have available.  Also, look up the county courthouse online for records and contact information.

Declarations of Intent:  The first document filed for citizenship
Petitions for Naturalization:  The final papers

The more recent the naturalization, the more likely you will find listed the place of birth, date of emigration and the ship on which they sailed.

Brush up on your German border history.   Most recent border changes occurred in 1945 and 1871.  Wikipedia 

Consult a gazetteer at the library or online, and look up the town. This should indicate the parish and Kreis.

Check familysearch.org:  Enter the last name, and the country as Germany to see if people with the same last name are listed in the same location you have pinpointed in Germany. 

Also, Search PLACE under the Family History Library link to find out what records they hold for that village.  Suggestion:  Put the village name in the first field and the kreis in the second.

Next, Timelines are a great tool for seeing the bigger picture and determining how the little bits of information fall within it.

One of my favorite German sites is Genealogy.net German Genealogy website http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ger1871.htm

Email me & Visit the complete website at genealogygems.tv

SHOW NOTES July 8, 2007 

In addition to this Genealogy Gems Podcast website, I've launched the new website at Genealogygems.tv 

From the Homepage of the GenealogyGems.tv website click on the TV set on the right side of the page to go to the Genealogy Gems TV page where you can watch my "Our Summer Vacation" video that just took 2^nd place in the Rootstelevision.com Wild Roots Contest. 

GEM:  Colorado History

The song That Railroad Rag performed by Edward Meeker.is an Edison Recording from 1912, Courtesy of the University of California, Santa Barbara   

Colorado Historical Society 

Georgetown Loop Page

Georgetown Loop Railroad website

Colorado State Archives Website

Family History pages

GEM:  Vehicular Forensics

 
Above: Original Photo

Applying your own CSI "Alternative Light Source" to reveal the license plate number on an a car in an old photo. 

 Left: Before

1. Open up the photo editing software that probably came with your computer 
2. Open the photograph in question in the program  
3. Use the trim feature to zoom in on the license plate 
4. Zoom in to make it easier to see  
5. Try using both the Brightness and Contrast feature of your program in combination until you achieve a favorable result. 
6. Apply Auto Sharpen for further detail. 

 Left: After technique

Compare the plate with plated found on LicensePlates.TV 

Check the state's Department of Motor Vehicles website for license history 

Try the state's archive website online catalog for 'motor vehicle records'

Paul Young Willys Overland Knight Registry website

Email me

Book Alert:  No more note taking required! My new book The Comprehensive Guide to Season One of the Genealogy Gems Podcast -The First Twenty Episodes is set for publication in August / September 2007.  Subscribe to the newsletter for special notification.

Ragtime music courtesy of Frederick Hodges