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Archiver > ALSACE-LORRAINE > 2004-03 > 1080403851


From: "C J Sheridan" <>
Subject: [ALS-LOR] Village Records and other thoughts
Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2004 11:10:51 -0500
References: <c0.8829fe6.2d9680a4@aol.com>


This is a sort of follow-up on comments made about village records.

Church records prior to the 18th century.

In 1998, while following a lead and seeking to locate the man who extracted
an ancestor's village records, we were sent to the home of a man living in a
villge several miles away. While there he showed us an 18th century
Catholic Church register. We were told that while the book was photocopied
it had never been microfilmed. I've since checked that village and
registers are available for that period. Was it a duplicate (second copy)?
I never did get the exact time frame so I'll never know. This register
should have been in the possession of the Archives.

A friend recently photographed 2 family 18th century Catholic Church burial
documents at the Archives in Strasbourg. They differed slightly from the
copies that I had made from the rented LDS microfilm. He was unaware that
duplicate books existed and is checking on this but I've yet to hear from
him. I know from past experiences that 2 civil books recording the same
vital stats were kept and have seen the slight differences in copies that I
made from LDS films (registers kept at the Archives) and those available and
photocopied in that village. A question arises: If duplicate books were
made and if they do exist where are they kept. Villages that lack
registers, and I can think of several where many years are missing, can
another copy also exist somewhere. And if so, where. Or are these just
dreams of finding rich treasures somewhere on the dusty shelves of some
church or archive or in someone's home.

Church documents during the French Revolution through the 19th century
including some recorded in the 20th century.

Several years ago I had the privilege of viewing and photocopying thousands
of, while scanning several that were extremely important to me, Catholic
Church documents in Latin (baptisms, marriages, burials and also a family
register that included some pertinent info on each family, and in several
families when a family member emigrated) that were contained in 13 or 14
registers dating from the early 1790s to the 1950s. While not all registers
were available nor complete, and many 1790s documents were written after the
fact and were lacking, it did allow me to obtain some information that was
not available through the LDS films. In my case I was able to see my
grandfather's baptismal record with his complete name along with his
godparents. There were also the signatures of many of my ancestors and
relatives. At home I discovered that a number of these documents existed
only in the church records although this vital stat information should have
been included in the civil records. A specific case is that of one
ancestor's 1800 baptism document that I located but the birth was never
recorded. Without that document I'd still be believing that he was born in
another village. Other examples were burials that had no counterparts in
the civil death records and several marriages left unrecorded.

Hopefully these documents have been now been removed and secured as planned.
They were in a wooden cabinet as are many of the civil registers. I did not
see nor ask for any current registers and believe that they must have been
kept separate.

How many other churches have these registers can never be easily determined
but I've been told that the Protestant Church in this village also has it's
own set of 19th century books written in German.

As for the priests assisting you - well if you now had 3 or more parishes
where you were the only priest and had all the responsibilities that several
priests had in each parish in the past I doubt if looking through old
documents would be a priority even if available. And no, it wasn't a priest
who assisted me; it was my cousins who took seriously my request to search
out whether said registers existed and then secured them and assisted me in
the photocopying that resulted in my good fortune. It takes lots of luck
and knowing the right persons even when you can't speak the language.

And...

If you can make the trip to Alsace do so. Spend some time in the
villages(s) of your ancestors and don't just pass through. Some villages
have hotels, B&B or gites as they are called there and many of these can be
viewed on-line. try: 1. http://www.flash-hotel.com/selectdv.php?op=dl67
Not all gites are listed in #1.
2. In Google - village, gites - ex. Schleithal, gites.

You can always do a tour but life is fragile and those whom you can meet
today might not be there later in your life. In 1997, the first visit to
meet my cousins, an 84 year old 3rd cousin, whom I never met, asked his son
every day when I would arrive only to die 3 months before my arrival.

If at all possible make contacts, especially with cousins, even far removed
ones. It takes time but some of us have done this and now enjoy the lasting
friendships made with our Alsatian cousins. I started in 1997 researching
Alsace. Since that time, and 5 visits, I've met 100s of my cousins (2nd to
8th) and have gathered in my files over 17,000 relationships all stemming
from my Alsatian grandfather with 20,000 more just waiting to be linked but
unfortunately most never will, and still so much more to do. I also have
located about 50 ancestral surnames. It's so possible if you try.

For those of you that are new to this hobby - don't be overwhelmed by the
languages, or discouraged at first by few finds. It usually takes lots of
effort but the rewards are forever enjoyable to behold. For those of you
who have the time extract a film of an ancestral village. If interested in
doing so I can put you in contact with a Genealogy Society that might
publish it one day or refer you to someone else. No monetary gain, only a
copy of your book and the knowledge that you contributed to the cause will
be your reward.

Also don't be afraid to ask questions for even dumb ones to some were not so
dumb when they started.

Charlie



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