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Archiver > GenWisconsin > 2004-05 > 1084332458


From: Kathy Lenerz <>
Subject: Re: [GenWisc] Roeder, Eich, Arthur
Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 23:27:43 -0400
References: <01e401c4378f$97d22840$36a1fea9@oemcomputer>
In-Reply-To: <01e401c4378f$97d22840$36a1fea9@oemcomputer>


Faith wrote:
> This is everything that I have on my Roeder, Eich, & Arthur families. Can
> anyone help me in researching further? I have no idea how to search in
> Germany and/or passenger lists to find them.
>
> Husband: John H. Eich - 15
> Birth: Dec 1857 Place: Koblenz???Germany
> Death: 1910/1920
> Wife: Annie/Anna Roeder - 16
> Birth: Apr 1859 Place: Koblenz???Germany
> Notes:
> Came to USA in 1888. Naturalization in PA.

It sound like you're just starting out on your genealogical quest.
There are a lot of things to think about and a lot of places to search
for information, but it's always best to search from the known to the
unknown. That means you should try to exhaust your resources in the US
before trying to search through German records. If this were my family,
I would do the following:

1. Find out when John and Anna died. Since they both died after 1907,
when death certificates became mandatory, you should be able to find
their death certificates in Milwaukee County. Check the USGenWeb site
for where vital records are kept there. You can also check city
directories for Milwaukee to see John and Anna stopped being listed. If
you're not in Wisconsin, these can probably be obtained through
interlibrary loan, usually at no cost. Check with your local public
library.

2. After you find their death dates, you can look for obituaries for
both. These often provide clues as to where they came from and other
useful information about their lives. The Wisconsin Historical Society
has the second largest collection of newspapers in the US, so you should
be able to obtain microfilm of Milwaukee newspapers from them through
interlibrary loan. There will be a fee for this.

3. Look for John's naturalization records. If you took his
naturalization information from the 1900 census, "Pa" doesn't stand for
Pennsylvania-- it's an abbreviation for "papers," meaning that he had
filed his "first papers," or Declaration of Intent to become a citizen,
but had not yet been naturalized. He probably filed in Milwaukee
County. Not being familiar with research there, I can't tell you where
those papers are held, but I'm sure someone on this list can help you
with that. Declarations of Intent varied from place to place and time
to time in what information they contained, but they could just possibly
contain information on the exact place John originated and the exact
date of immigration. (But they also may contain nothing of use.)

4. Look for church records (Holy Cross Church?) of baptisms, marriages,
and funerals for the family. For Germans, these sometimes include place
of origin. They will also tell you who their oldest child, Annie,
married. If you know that, you can find her obituary, and that may tell
you where she was born.

5. Look for a will and other probate records for John or Anna. Again,
I'm not sure where they are kept for Milwaukee County, but someone on
the list should be able to help.

6. Look for passenger list. This may not tell you much, since you
already know they immigrated in 1888/9. I'm pretty sure NARA has not
indexed the lists for those years. You'd have to scour hundreds of
ships' lists and then what you find will probably just be a country as
place of origin. You could check the passenger list indexes on
Ancestry.com (free at many public libraries), but I think they're quite
incomplete.

6. After you're pretty sure you know where they came from, start
researching German resources. How do you know what resources are
available there? Check out what's available through Family History
Centers. The Family History Library has thousands of microfilms of
records from around the world that can be rented at your local Family
History Center. Check with a Mormon church for the center nearest you.
The FHL Library catalog is online at: www.familysearch.org
Click on the Library tab, then FHL Catalog, then Search Place. Put in
the name of the place you want to research and a list of subjects with
available microfilm will appear. You should also check for Milwaukee
County resources (above) this way. If you find a film you're interested
in searching, request it from your local FHC.

There's a lot that can be done, but I'm not sure searching in Germany is
the most useful or first thing to be done. Let us know when you find
something.

Hope this helps,
Kathy


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