Mesa Arizona Regional Family History
Center
The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints
PDF version
First Step:
·
Work from known data by using the
available records
from the area where your
ancestors lived in the United
States |
·
Census Records |
·
Naturalization/Citizenship
Records |
|
·
Emigration/Immigration Records |
·
Obituaries/Newspapers |
|
·
Cemetary Records |
·
Maps |
|
·
Diaries, Family Bibles |
·
Church Certificates |
·
Military Records |
|
·
Family Letters |
·
Church Records |
·
Vital Records |
|
·
Family Histories |
·
Court Records |
·
Social Security Death Index |
|
·
Personal Journals |
·
Land/Property Deeds |
|
| |
Resources available in the MRFHC to find Emigration/Immigration and
Naturalization Records:
|
1.
Naturalization:
Guide to Naturalization Records of the United States
Schaefer, Christina K; 973.P4s
2.
German American Newspapers and Periodicals 1732-1955
Microfilm 824091
3.
Passenger Lists and Immigration CDs
Early
Texas
Settlers 1700-1800s
Passenger and Immigration Lists Index; 1538-1940, 1999
Update
Early
South Carolina
Settlers, 1500s to 1900s, plus 2000 Supplement
New Orleans Passenger
Lists 1840-1849
Passenger and Immigration Lists:
Boston, 1821-1850
Passenger Lists are also available on Ancestry.Com
4.
Thirty Thousand Names of Germans, Swiss,
Dutch, French and other Immigrants in
Pennsylvania
from 1727 to 1776
974.47 W2ra
Index
5.
The Alsace Emigration Book
944.3&W2s
6.
The Württemberg Emigration Index;
Shenk, Trudy
943.47 w22.st
7.
Pennsylvania German Pioneers (a
publication of the original lists of arrivals in the
Port
of Philadelphia
from 1727-1808)
974.811 W3s
8.
Collection of Ships Passenger Lists from Boston, New Orleans, Baltimore and other Eastern Ports – except New York – Green Book
Reference Section
9.
Germans to America , 1820-1950
Philby
973W2ger over 50
volumes
10.
Hamburg
Passenger Lists 1850-1934
973 W2ger
|
These Lists are available on
http://Ancestry.Com.
After locating a name, check the ship’s manifest since families and
sometimes entire
villages came together.
Naturalization records in the
United States
were kept by the local courts until 1906.
The US National Archives hold the records and
this is being
digitized by Foot-Note.
About 20% are currently available on line.
MRFHC Books on German Surnames and
their Variations:
Deutsches Namenlexikon,
Bahlow, Hans
943 D466ba
Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Familiennamen;
Brechenmaker, Josef Karlmann
943 D466
Where do I find local Church Records
and Civil Registration?
1.
Salt Lake
Family History Library
Catalog
2.
Mesa
Regional
Family
History
Center
Catalog
3.
Meyers Orts und Verkehrs Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs
3 volumes in Reference Section.
4.
Müllers Ort
1 volume in Reference Section.
5.
The German Researcher; Dearden, Fay
943.D27df Guide
to Meyers Ort
Maps:
Atlas of the German Empire 1892
Q Section (over-sized books)
Several are available in Drawer 4 of the
Map Cabinet
On the internet:
davidrumsey.com
Free
Internet Sources:
www.familysearch.com
www.pilot.familysearch.com
https://wiki.familysearch.org
German Research
On the Internet
In addition to
providing digital record finding tools, several archives have started to post
selected record groups on the Internet. Even though the availability of
digitized parish
registers online is still minimal, several websites now
offer access to various sets of records, including the following:
-
www.familysearch.org/recordsearch - Brandenburg and Posen church book
duplicates 1800-1874 (available date range varies by parish). These are
civil transcripts of
baptisms, marriages, and burials.
-
http://www.matricula.findbuch.net/ - International site dedicated to
making digitized church records available online. As of June 2009 available
records include
1. Catholic parish registers of
the Diocese of St. Pölten, Austria
2. One
parish in Passau, Bavaria, Germany
3.
Evangelical records of parishes in the Gelnhausen, Hessen-Nassau, Germany
area
4. Evangelical records of sixteen parishes
in the Rhineland region, Germany Most of these records have not been filmed
by the Family History Department.
-
http://www.kirchenbuch-virtuell.de/ - Parish registers of the Bayreuth,
Bavaria, Lutheran Archive. The “virtual reading room” allows access to
scanned images of over 30
parish registers. The user joins an
association and pays yearly dues (30 Euros in 2009) plus modest additional
monthly fees for access to specific records.
-
https://www2.landesarchiv-bw.de/ofs21/olf/struktur.php?bestand=5632 –
Digitized microfilms of Jewish birth, marriage, and death records from
Baden, Wuerttemberg, and
Hohenzollern available through the Landesarchiv
Baden-Wuerttemberg. This collection complements similar records available
through the Family History Library
Genealogical
data bases
•
http://www.familysearch.org - Family Search web site, contains various
linked and unlinked name data bases, reference material (i.e. research guides,
word lists, letter-writing guides),
digital parish registers for
Brandenburg and Posen
•
http://www.ancestry.com - Ancestry’s web site contains submitted name data
bases as well as indexes and images of many sources, including vital records,
U.S. census records,
several important emigration indexes, and
passenger lists.
•
http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/ - available for free at family history
centers worldwide
•
www.heritagequestonline.com - Heritage Quest’s census indexes and
census images as well as other records (as accessible at the Family History
Library).
•
http://www.ancestry.rootsweb.com - contains indexed family trees, surname
web sites, and over 30,000 mailing lists
•
http://www.genealogy.net/genealogy -
Although this is a German web site, some sections are also available in English.
It includes links to many German research associations’ web sites,
regional resources, reference information for both beginners and advanced
researchers, gazetteers, links to emigration sources, a translation help
program, a listing of German town lineage
books (Ortssippenbücher)
both in print and available online, form letters, and lots of other helpful
information. This site is worth getting to know well!
•
http://wiki-en.genealogy.net/wiki/Main_Page-
the English-language Wiki for German genealogy. For example, enter “emigration”
as search term to find a bibliography of printed lists of
emigrants
•
http://www.cyndislist.com/germany.htm -
categorized list of links to emigration databases, gazetteers, association web
sites, archives; also includes links to several specialized mailing lists.
•
There is also a separate category for Germans from Russia.
•
http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/Kategorie:Linkliste
- a link-collection subdivided into several topics, including links to lists of
emigrants from various areas.
•
http://www.ahnen-und-wappen.de/ - Links to
various resources and German research forums
•
http://www.daddezio.com/germgen.html - This
site contains articles about various aspects of German research and links to
many related topics, including heraldry (coats of arms).
•
http://www.worldroots.com - This site
contains links to various data bases of European royal families.
•
http://www.roots-in-germany.de - Link
collection for researchers and tourists; includes links to emigration sources,
maps, gazetteers etc., including regional sections.
•
http://www.germanroots.com/ - Resources for
German genealogy on the Internet
•
http://feefhs.org/indexger.html - FEEFHS
German Genealogy Cross-Index; contains links to helpful German research sites.
•
http://www.ekd.de/kirche/3218_karte.html -
portal to all the web sites of the various Lutheran synods in Germany; click the
area on the map to get to the web site you need.
•
http://www.katholische-kirche.de/197.htm -
Web portal to Catholic dioceses
•
http://home.att.net/~Local_Catholic/Catholic-Poland.htm
- Local Catholic Church history and genealogy- Poland
•
http://www.saur-wbi.de/ - World Biographical
Index (Index to biographical material published about prominent persons from the
16th-20th Centuries on fiches and online; links to the
actual entries
as well) - as of September 2004 actual entries are available by subscription
only.
•
http://mdz2.bib-bvb.de/%7Endb/index.html -
Digital index to two major collections of biographical material, the Allgemeiner
Biographischer Index, and the Neuer Biographischer Index.
The actual
encyclopedic articles are also available online, but only with a paid
subscription.
•
http://www.retrobibliothek.de/retrobib/index.html
- includes Meyers Konversationslexikon, 4th ed. 1888 -1889, and other general
reference works, fully searchable online
•
http://www.berufsgenealogie.net/-
Association of German-speaking Professional Genealogists
Archives
•
http://www.archivschule.de/content/59.html - Listing of German Archives in
the Internet
•
http://www.h-net.org/~german/research/archives.html - links to German
archives, more detailed on the federal level
•
http://www.hinterpommern.de/Wegweiser/node64.html- Bundesarchiv Berlin,
description and contact information. This archive now holds the records of the
former Berlin Document Center.
•
http://www.ekd.de/archive/deutsch/regionen.htm- portal to the archives of
the various Lutheran dioceses.
Gazetteers
for the entire German Empire
Digital version of Meyer's Gazetteer of the German Empire, published 1912,
found on
www.familysearch.org in two volumes
Gazetteer for
the German Empire of 1900
•
http://www.gemeindeverzeichnis.de/gem1900/gem1900.htm?gem1900_2.htm -
gazetteer of Gemeinden
To use, click on the state, choose the region,
then the county. A list of Gemeinden will come up. A Gemeinde is a civil entity
comparable to a U.S. township and may include one or
more parishes.
Regional
Gazetteers and Parish Register Inventories
The German DigiBib
[Digital Library] continually adds new gazetteers and maps to its collection, so
it’s worth checking there first. Access it through
www.genealogy.net/genealogy
by clicking on the tab “DigiBib”, or directly through
http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/Portal:DigiBib . Choose “Pfarr- und
Kirchenbuchverzeichnisse” for parish listings and parish register
inventories, or , Ortslexika, Topografien, Statistiken etc.” for gazetteers and
geographical descriptions.
Alsace
•
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/michel.barbier/AlsaLor-DHaHen.html list of
German place names during the German occupation 1870-1918 in Alsace-Lorraine,
with French name,
department, Kreis, Kanton
Bavaria
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/bavaria/index.html
Berlin
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/berlin/berlin.htm - street index with
church- and civil jurisdictions
Hamburg
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/HAM/#gaz – listing of sections/suburbs with
civil registration office addresses
Hessen-Darmstadt
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/hesse/hessendindex.htm
•
http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/Wohnpl%C3%A4tze_im_Grossherzogthum_Hessen_1863
– 1863 gazetteer in DigiBib
•
http://www.landeshauptarchiv.de/aktuell/kalender/archiv/Kirchenbuchverzeichnis_Stand_Februar_2006.pdf
- parish register inventory for the area covered by the Speyer Church
Archive [Pfalz and parts of Rheinhessen]
Hessen-Nassau
•
http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/wiki/Hessische_Kirchenb%C3%BCcher lists parish
registers filmed at the Kassel Church Book Archive
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/hesse/hessnas.htm - abbreviated
gazetteer for Hessen-Nassau
Hohenzollern
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/baden-wurttemberg/hohenzollern/index.html
Leipzig
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/saxony/leipzig/index.htm -street
guide with parish and civil jurisdictions
Lippe-Detmold
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/NRHE-WFA/lippe_orte-d.html , give parish
jurisdictions for even the smallest villages
Mecklenburg
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/mecklenburg/meckgaz.htm
Oldenburg
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/vereine/OGF/index.html - list of parishes, with
beginning date for records and expert to contact for help, where available
Ostpreussen
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/prussia/index.html
Posen
•
http://donhoward.net/genpoland/posguide.htm guide to genealogical records
for Posen
Rheinland
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/vereine/wgff/trier/index.html - under „ABC
listen“ are indexes to parish registers from the Trier region, and an index of
emigrants
•
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pick/ - Eifel region birth
and marriage data, contains over 535,000 names
•
http://www2.genealogy.net/vereine/ArGeWe/englisch/index-e.htm - Westerwald
research site
Sachsen-Anhalt
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/saxony-anhalt/index.htm contains
lists of parishes for Halle an der Saale and Magdeburg, with some addresses
Sachsen
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/SAC/Kirchen/ort-C.html
•
http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/Die_Kirchenb%C3%BCcher_im_K%C3%B6nigreich_Sachsen_%281901%29
– Franz Blanckmeister, Die Kirchenbuecher im Koenigreich Sachsen,
1901 [digital copy]
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/SAC/Kirchen/index.html Alphabetical listing
of localities and parish addresses in Saxony
Schaumburg-Lippe
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/NSAC/SLP/gaz.html
Schlesien
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/SCI/kirchenbuecher/base/index.html data
base inventory of Lutheran parish registers of Schlesien [ click on
"Ortschaftsverzeichnis"]
Schleswig-Holstein
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Schleswig-Holstein:_Place_Names List
of places in former Prussian province keyed to the parish.
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/schleswig/index.html
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/SCN/kirchenkreise-d.html list of church
districts with archive addresses etc.
Waldeck
• http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/hesse/waldeck.htm
Westpreussen
•
www.westpreussen.de – For a list of towns including their Catholic, Lutheran
and civil registry jurisdictions, click on “Ortsverzeichnis” in the bottom left
bar under the heading “Forschungshilfen”. This brings up a dialogue box in which
to enter the place name. In German
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/prussia/index.html gazetteer in
English]
Wuerttemberg
•
http://www.archiv.elk-wue.de/dok_start.fau?prj=KB-DB&dm=Gemeinde - data base
of Evangelical parishes
General
Geography
•
http://gov.genealogy.net/ -German genealogical gazetteer, a growing
reference work
•
http://wiki.genealogy.net/wiki/Ortssuche_FAQ - This site includes links to
many online gazetteers and maps and a bibliography of printed sources. It also
gives hints on how to
structure an effective search- in German only.
•
http://www.atsnotes.com/other/gerpol.html - An index of German-Polish and
Polish-German localities
•
http://alexandria.sdc.ucsb.edu/gazetteer//dgie/DGIE_website/gaz-links.htm -
links to online gazetteers for various countries
•
http://www.library.wisc.edu/etext/ravenstein/home.html - Ravenstein Atlas of
the German Empire
• www.multimap.com -
maps for anywhere in the world
•
www.expedia.com - another very good map site
•
http://www.ieg-maps.uni-mainz.de/ Historical maps of Germany available
online, hosted by the Institute for European History in Mainz
Handwriting, Vocabulary
•
http://script.byu.edu/ - Interactive tutorial for learning the old German
Gothic, Dutch, Italian, and Spanish scripts.
•
http://www.donicht.de/occupations.htm Old German professions, occupations,
illnesses, and notions
•
http://dict.leo.org/ - English/German, German/English dictionary online
•
http://wiki-en.genealogy.net/Transserv - instructions for using a free
volunteer translation service for genealogical material.
•
http://www.germanychurchrecords.com/dates.html - links to various
genealogical reading helps [dates, months, illnesses, occupations]
•
http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/GermanOccs.htm - JewishGen Infofile:
translations of about 1500 German occupations
Regional
Resources
Alsace
•
http://alsacegenweb.online.fr/homepage.htm - Alsace GenWeb
•
http://www.prenom.com/bas-rhin-67/villes-bas-rhin-cartes-cassini-ville-village.html
- 1750 historical maps by Cassini, also available on several other websites, but
seems
more navigable
here. See also
http://www.cartocassini.org/planville/plan.php
Baden
•
http://www.websters.net/blackforest/index.html - for those researching in
the Black Forest area; can post queries.
•
http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/helios/fachinfo/www/gesch/tipfam2.htm - link
collection for family history in Baden Wuerttemberg, Pfalz
Bavaria
•
http://www.gf-franken.de/ - web page of the Franken Genealogical Society
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/Articles/bavgen.htm - short
descriptive article listing sources and archives for research in Bavaria
•
http://www.lkan-elkb.de/Download/Kirchenmatrikeln_nach_Orten.pdf – listing
of Lutheran parish registers available in the Church Book Archive in Nuernberg
•
http://www.kirchenbuch-virtuell.de – Lutheran church archive Bayreuth:
digital reading room- over 26 parishes [scanned images] searchable online [fee]
Berlin
•
http://www.alt-berlin.info/ - street maps
•
http://adressbuch.zlb.de/ - Berlin address book from 1799-1943 available
with images.
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/berlin/berlin.htm - street index with
church- and civil jurisdictions
•
http://www.blocksignal.de/krt/b07/f.cgi - map of Berlin and suburbs 1907
Brandenburg
•
http://grueneberg-lenzen.de/deutsch/Kirchbuch/start.html - links to some
„virtual parish registers“ and indexes for Brandenburg and Mecklenburg
Bremen
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/vereine/maus/datenbanken/index.php?lang=de –
links to various data bases, including town genealogies for the Bremen area,
funeral registration
books, tax records, emigration sources
Hamburg
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/HAM/ - resources for research, links to
gazetteers etc.
•
http://www.genealogus.de/infoskontakt/ - research in and around Hamburg,
explains various sources and their location, gives archive addresses etc.
Hannover
•
http://aidaonline.niedersachsen.de/ - Online record inventory for the state
archives in Niedersachsen, includes indexes of emigrants
•
http://www.osfa.de/ -family history sources in the Osnabrueck area, includes
lists of parishes, farming estates [Hoefe], and a parish register inventory
Hessen-Darmstadt and Hessen-Nassau
•
http://wiki-de.genealogy.net/wiki/Hessische_Kirchenb%C3%BCcher lists parish
registers filmed at the Kassel Church Book Archive
•
http://www.archive.hessen.de/ - Archives in Hessen; a web portal
•
http://www.hadis.hessen.de/ - online indexes to Hessen archival resources.
Enter surname or search term in the field “Schnellsuche” and click on the
magnifying glass.
For lists of emigrants look for the category
“Auswanderernachweise”
Hohenzollern
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/
Lippe-Detmold
•
http://www.nhv-ahnenforschung.de/ - genealogical and local history material
for Lippe
Mecklenburg
•
http://portal.hsb.hs-wismar.de/pub/lbmv/mjb/jb079/348686668.html -
historical development of the principality of Ratzeburg [book online, in German]
Niedersachsen
•
http://www.staatsarchive.niedersachsen.de/home - state archives in
Niedersachsen, includes inventories of the various state archives.
Oldenburg
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/vereine/OGF/index.html - list of parishes, with
beginning date for records and expert to contact for help, where available, also
includes an
emigrant database
Ostfriesland
[belongs to Hannover]
•
http://www.rootsweb.com/~mnogsm/records.htm - list of Ostfriesland parishes,
when the parishes begin, and whether an OSB has been published
•
http://www.genealogie-forum.de/ostfrld/kirchen/suchen/doerfer.htm - listing
of villages and churches in Ostfriesland, annotated with references to
genealogical and
historical sources
Ostpreussen
•
http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/prussia/index.html gazetteer for
East/West Prussia
•
http://pirmojiknyga.mch.mii.lt/Leidiniai/Prusviet.en.htm - place names of
Lithuania
Minor
(Memelland)
•
http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~lauze/m_famforsch.htm - family history sources
for the Memelland area
•
http://www.plew.info/verteiler_regionen.htm - genealogy resources for
Sambia, the area around Koenigsberg
•
http://www.historische-masurische-vereinigung.de/ - genealogy sources in
Southeran East Prussia [Masurenland]
•
http://freenet-homepage.de/helmut.ramm/kirchsp_bartenstein.htm - Lutheran
parishes in Kreis Bartenstein
•
http://www.salzburger.homepage.t-online.de/krch-bch.htm - list of extant
parish registers in Kreis Gumbinnen
Pfalz
[Palatinate]
•
http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/helios/fachinfo/www/gesch/tipfam2.htm - link
collection for family history in Baden Wuerttemberg, Pfalz
•
http://www.krebs-onl.de/pfalz/1789.htm - historical maps and reference
material for the Pfalz
•
http://www.landeshauptarchiv.de/aktuell/kalender/archiv/Kirchenbuchverzeichnis_Stand_Februar_2006.pdf
- parish register inventory for the area covered by the Speyer Church
Archive [Pfalz and parts of Rheinhessen]
•
http://www.genealogie-in-pirmasens.de/ - genealogy in the Pirmasens area
Posen
•
http://donhoward.net/genpoland/posguide.htm - Inventory of vital records for
the province of Posen. The lists of existing records are organized according to
the 1887 district division of the Poznan Province and the Eastern Greater
Poland.
Rheinland
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/vereine/wgff/aachen/html/download.html -
databases, various lists to download for various parts of the Rhineland
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/vereine/wgff/trier/index.html - links to online
town genealogies for the Trier region
•
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~pick/ - indexes to parish registers
in the Eifel area, by towns/parishes [about 535,000 names- slow to come up]
•
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~eifel/pick/pickindex.html - master
index to Tom Pick’s collection listed above
Saarland
•
http://www.saar-genealogie.de/literaturverzeichnis/index.php - inventory of
genealogical literature for towns in the Saar region.
Sachsen
•
http://www.saxonyroots.com/ - web site for family history in Saxony,
German-based. More sections are available in German than in English
Schaumburg-Lippe
•
http://www.blume-gen.de/ - family history in the former duchy of
Schaumburg-Lippe [sources, parish register transcripts etc., in German]
Schlesien
•
http://www.militsch.de/ - genealogical sources and data bases for Kreis
Militsch, Silesia
Schleswig-Holstein
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/SCN/kirchenkreise-d.html list of church
districts with archive addresses etc.
•
http://www.fehmarn-genealogy.com/default.htm - The Fehmarn Genealogy Site
Thueringen
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/THU/thu-arch.html - Archives in Thueringen;
address listings include e-mail address, where available
Waldeck
•
http://home.planet.nl/~Kees.Leseman/waldgene.html - list of family histiory
resources [in Dutch]
Wittgenstein
•
http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/NRHE-WFA/Wittgenstein/ -work group for
genealogy, include lists of emigrants
Westpreussen
•
www.westpreussen.de – Genealogical
resources for West Prussia, in German; includes gazetteer, maps, record
information, lists of civil registration offices, archives, and
other
research helps.
Wuerttemberg
•
http://www.archiv.elk-wue.de/dok_start.fau?prj=KB-DB&dm=Gemeinde
Data base of Evangelical parishes
•
http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/helios/fachinfo/www/gesch/tipfam2.htm - link
collection for family history in Baden Wuerttemberg, Pfalz
•
http://www.websters.net/blackforest/index.html - for those researching in
the Black Forest area; can post queries.
Formerly
German areas:
•
www.kartenmeister.com - maps and
gazetteers for areas East of the Oder-Neisse line, include place name changes,
whenever known
•
http://home.att.net/~Local_Catholic/Catholic-Poland.htm Local Catholic
Church history and genealogy- Poland
•
http://www.sggee.org/church_parishes/LutheransInRusPoland - Lutheran
parishes in Russian Poland
•
http://pirmojiknyga.mch.mii.lt/Leidiniai/Prusviet.en.htm - place names in
Lithuania Minor
•
http://www.kartenmeister.com/preview/databaseuwe.asp -tools for genealogy
east of the Oder-Neisse border
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