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A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Germanic Ancestors: How to Find and Record Your Unique Heritage
Each ethnic group in America leaves a unique legacy. Distinct historical records, languages and immigration patterns create unique challenges for beginners researching relatives with different origins.The "Discovering your Ancestors" series provides clear, step-by-step instruction aimed at making this task easier. Each of these books starts by teaching the basics of sound genealogical research, then provides time-saving strategies for researching a particular ethnic group. There are tips on locating records both here and abroad, deciphering original documents, planning a research trip, and putting an ancestor's records in historical context.
- GenresGermanyNonfiction
191 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 25, 2017
a MUST HAVE for anyone doing German genealogy!
November 3, 2012
Great information. The charts showing modern English letters compared to their German font cousins will be really helpful in translating some documents of my great-grandfather's.
April 19, 2017
I have read several books about German genealogy. I have learned to read old German handwriting and script. I was superbly impressed with this book.
This book, hands down, has the best alphabet chart I have seen to date. (It's on page 74, for anyone who wants to see it.)
I also liked the word lists typed out in all 4 writing styles with English translation. Lots of genealogy sites have word lists, but very few of them write the word out in the old handwriting style. The months, days, and holidays are especially helpful for reading old records.
I was impressed with this book for showing images of the transcribed and translated records in the family case studies. The case studies shows most of the scenarios you'd run into: Various name spellings (and Latin forms of names), German handwriting in German, Latin, and French; and typewritten modern replacement/duplicate certificates you may order from Germany.
This book is definitely worth your while if you are researching in German records.
This book, hands down, has the best alphabet chart I have seen to date. (It's on page 74, for anyone who wants to see it.)
I also liked the word lists typed out in all 4 writing styles with English translation. Lots of genealogy sites have word lists, but very few of them write the word out in the old handwriting style. The months, days, and holidays are especially helpful for reading old records.
I was impressed with this book for showing images of the transcribed and translated records in the family case studies. The case studies shows most of the scenarios you'd run into: Various name spellings (and Latin forms of names), German handwriting in German, Latin, and French; and typewritten modern replacement/duplicate certificates you may order from Germany.
This book is definitely worth your while if you are researching in German records.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews