GRIP Day 4: So Many Sources, So Little Time

Today (Thursday) John said that genealogists have 3 jobs:

1. To identify sources
2. To find the information about your family in those sources
3. Write up our findings (they are of no use in a notebook)

He made sure to give a multitude of sources for us to look for.  Whether church records from the seventeenth century, compilations, maps or online databases, I now have dozens of items to look for while looking for my ancestors across the pond.

We began the day looking at maps and gazetteers.  In German research, the Meyers Orts- und Verkehrs-Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs is the most important gazetteer in German research.  There is a “how to” book by Wendy K. Uncapher that is very useful.

Our second session was on sources of information in Germany.  Published sources from Germany are much more accessible than archives in Germany.  It is important to look for civil records (especially family registers for those from Württemberg), land records, and house books, among others.

After lunch we discussed how to find your ancestors in those published records.  Although there will always be transcription and translation errors, these are still great sources to use.  Make sure to check the US first, both the Family History Center and WorldCat, before heading to Germany to look for them.

Our last course was on finding German ancestors on the internet.  John said that the internet has revolutionized the way we go about researching.  One of the most important things to remember in searching is to use German key words as well as English.  You can also search through Google.de for more German language hits.

Our evening sessions began with a Q & A with the instructors.  My favorite line from the entire week was when Josh Taylor was discussing Who Do You Think You Are? and mentioned that he had told producers “I don’t do southern Indian princesses.”  An amusing line with an important point: every genealogist has a different area of expertise; one does not have to know everything.

Our second session was by the creator/director of the Photo Antiquities Museum in Pittsburg.  He went through the history of photography complete with examples that he passed around.  He was tremendously passionate about the subject, which made the presentation even better to watch.  I look forward to visiting his museum in the future.

Only 1 day left!

GRIP: Day 2

Another early start today (Tuesday) for breakfast and catching up online.  Our first session today was on German church records.  John discussed how church records brought the common man out of obscurity.  Prior to these, you can only research nobility or the winners of history.  With local parish records, every person has a name and a spot in the past.  These are the records that will help you put together families and the joining of families (through marriage).  They are the most important record group for German research.

After our church record introduction it was time to learn to read said records.  The Germans used Gothic script, which is what has kept me from ordering parish records from the villages I have identified as my ancestral home.  After a couple hours of reading words and paragraphs with his Gothic script font, I was a parish reading rock star.  Then came the copies of actual parish registers after lunch and it was like I had never seen these characters before.  As with anything, this will be a skill I learn in a slow and steady manner.  I intend to practice as much as possible on films from the FHL when I get back to Syracuse.

After dinner tonight, I purchased my pile of books which will make for some interesting reading for German research and narrative writing.  Then I headed to Rick and Pamela Boyer Sayre’s lecture on Google Earth for Genealogists: The Sequel.  This was one of the lectures I was not able to attend at the NGS conference, so it was nice to have a second chance.  I am amazed by all that you can create with Google Earth and all of the ways it can help in your research.  I have to admit that it is not a program I use frequently, but I will be ordering some introductory books on it when I get home.  The Sayre’s will be teaching a course on advanced land records at the 2013 GRIP which I am told is fantastic.  Deciding which course to take next year is going to be tough.

The lecture ended at 8:30 and after dropping off my belongings I took a walk around campus.  La Roche is a beautiful campus surrounded by the woods.  They have large statues of the Stations of the Cross that lead down a gravel path toward the woods which ends at a cemetery.  Since it was late, I did not make it all the way to the cemetery, but I plan on wandering around it tomorrow.  Only a genealogical institute would have attendees excited by a cemetery on the grounds.

Our lectures Wednesday will be the Pennsylvania Germans, finding places of origin in Germany and typefaces, published sources and German-American newspapers.  At night there is a public lecture on Pennsylvania Research, which I may not attend due to my lack of Pennsylvanian ancestry.  I do have a great-great uncle who randomly got married in Scranton, however, so maybe they can tell me why (he and his wife were from and living in Buffalo).

NGS 2012: Day 3, PM

 

My first session of the afternoon on Friday was Making the DNA Connection by John Pereira of Ancestry.com.  This was a discussion on Ancestry’s new DNA test.  It looks interesting, but I really need to do more research before making a DNA test purchase.  There is a waitlist for this test and it is available only to members of Ancestry.com

My last session for today was Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion: Catholic Church Records by Dave Schroeder.  Having recently begun searching for my father’s side of the family and my husband’s mother’s family, Catholic Church records are going to be tremendously important.  I was pleasantly surprised by all of the information available on the records and that records are available beginning in the last 1800s.  Check with diocese archivists to see if records are available.  And remember, a small donation to the church never hurts.

After the session was over, we headed to dinner where I gave a brief beginning genealogy lesson to the server, who was interested in using the family history search as a bonding tool with her mom (she was college age).  I hope she decides to start this research.  After a full day of genealogy, I ended it with the latest episode of Who Do You Think You Are? and searching the British National Archives site for probate records.