At the PalAm meeting in New Holland, Pennsylvania, two of the talks were given by Annette Kunselman Burgert, F.G.S.P., F.A.S.G.(don't ask me, but they sound impressive). She started one talk by giving a number of considerations which trouble beginners. It has been her experience that people who are just commencing their German research often have trouble on these points.
The Eighteenth Century is the Seventeen Hundreds, almost . The Eighteenth Century commences with the year 1701 and ends with the end of year 1800.
The Colonial Period in America is the time up to the Revolutionary War.
Immigrants come into a country. Emigrants leave a country. Migrants move around in a country, including from New York to Pennsylvania, for example.
There WAS NO Germany in the Eighteenth Century. Political boundaries shifted and changed. The classification system used by the Latter Day Saints utilizes the boundaries of 1872, just before the unification of Germany. Political jurisdictions are important because it tells where the records may be stored.
Use maps. The maps which show a large area help give an overall orientation. The maps which show a lot of detail are necessary to find the individual villages.
The place name is probably spelled wrong. Say it aloud and imagine it written in the German alphabet, which pronounces some letters differently.
The surname is apt to be spelled differently than what you have. This is not to say that either of them is wrong. Names were spelled in many different ways, so don't look for an exact match.
In the Eighteenth Century, Germans favored two given names, of which the second one was the name that the person most likely used. Be aware, though, that a person might use all possible combinations of his first two names. People who used both of their given names were apt to confuse civil clerks who were expecting only one given name.
German had an old style calendar and a new style calendar, the same as we do; however, they switched at a different time than we did. Generally, they had switched before 1700. (If you are wondering if a village has switched, look in the church books and see when they start the new year.)
If you are having trouble finding your ancestor in Germany, try the people with whom he associates in America.
(29 Sep 03)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.