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We all have them: Family Legends that have been passed down through the generations.  Some of the stories may be about the origin of our last name, or a story about an immigrant from Germany.  Others may be about the family black sheep.  Whatever the story, it is often good enough to be retold again and again, and is almost always accepted as pure truth.

When do we accept these stories for truth, and when do we recognize them as fiction?  How can we trace the origins of these stories?  Oft times, the best way to get to the heart of the truth is through genealogical research.

For example, I grew up in Texas with the maiden name Alamo.  Despite all the jokes I got in grade school that my ancestors fought in the Battle of the Alamo, I knew the origins of my last name came from Cuba. My great-grandfather had immigrated to Washington D.C. in the early 1900’s.  As family story went, great-grandfather Raul’s real last name was Mendoza. However, after arriving in the U.S., an official told him he needed an American name, and asked him if he had any preference.  Great-grandfather Raul said, “I want a last name people will remember me by!”  The officiator then put his name down as Paul Alamo.This story was told to me by two of Raul (Paul) Alamo’s children, and accepted as fact by all of us.

When I began doing genealogy research, I immediately looked for the records that would take our family back to Cuba.  What I found surprised not only me, but the rest of the family as well!  Raul was indeed from Cuba, but his surname wasn’t Mendoza!

Raul Alamo's 1917 Ellis Island immigration record (Click on image to enlarge)

“Raul Alamo” came through Ellis Island in 1917, and again 1926.  A closer look at the immigration records revealed the name of his mother in Havana as well: Josefa Mendiondo.  This was a real find!  I curiously noted that her surname Mendiondo sounded similar to the family legend of Mendoza.  Another government document I found of him later, listed him as Raul Roberto Alamo Mendiondo. This left me puzzled. Was his original last name Alamo or Mendiondo?

It took learning about Spanish naming customs to understand why the family story had become so twisted.  In Latin culture, an individual takes on two last names.  The first of their last names is their father’s first surname.  Their second last name is their mother’s first surname.  Women do not change their surname at marriage, but carry the surnames of their birth throughout their whole lives.  Once coming to this country, most Latin immigrants will drop the second surname to comply with traditional American naming customs.  Thus, with the example above, my great-grandfather’s full name was Raul Alamo Mendiondo.  His father was an Alamo, and his mother was a Mendiondo. She stayed a Mendiondo her whole life, despite marrying Mr. Alamo, which is why she is listed on her son’s immigration by her “maiden name”. I have come in contact with family from Cuba who knew my great-grandfather as a boy and have confirmed this fact.

Thus, I found that there was a hint of truth to our family legend—Raul Alamo did in fact come from Cuba, and his name was Americanized (Raul to Paul).  However, his children, not understanding the concept of dual-surnames, mixed up the story.  Someone along the way mixed up the uncommon surname Mendiondo, with a much more common surname Mendoza.  Not realizing how this name fit with their father, they assumed it must have been his original name, and was changed to Alamo upon his arrival.  I believe the fact that our whole family eventually lived in Texas, where “Remember the Alamo!” is a common saying, led to the made-up story of great-grandpa requesting he have a last name “People can remember me by.”

Though Raul was from Cuba, two of his children were born with blond hair and blue eyes. This was a completely mystery for the entire family. Raul was of a dark complexion, and even listed as “African” on his immigration record. Where did those recessive genes, that two of his kids inherited, come from? Discovering that his mother’s surname was Mendiondo helped explain this phenomenon: Mendiondo is a Basque surname, not a Spanish surname.  Somewhere in his mother’s ancestry, blond haired / blue eyed Basque heritage existed!

What I learned from this experience was to take family legends with a grain of salt!  Stories get mixed up over the years, especially if the story is being transferred between cultures (such as the above between a Cuban immigrant to his American wife and children). It’s important to note that I was told this story by my great-aunt while she was in her 60’s.  She was under 10 years old when her father died—leaving at least a 50 year gap between her hearing the story and telling the story—plenty of time to get the facts mixed up!

Although this family legend was full of fiction—it was also important to remember that the story came from somewhere, and thus carried some truth with it. Knowing there was a surname that sounded like Mendoza, helped me correctly identify my great-grandfather in immigration records.  All in all, I still find great value in my family stories. Through genealogical research, I have been able to sort out the fact from the fiction in these stories, and pass them on correctly to future generations.

What family stories have helped you find your ancestors?

Originally published 13 September 2011 at blog.progenealogists.com

 
One of the most useful, but lesser known resources at Ancestry.com, is their vast collection of city directories.   City directories offer a small glimpse—a year-to-year census if you will—into your ancestor’s life.  I have used city directories to help me determine:
  • Where an ancestor is located in a census record
  • When an ancestor died
  • When an ancestor immigrated to the United States
  • Who an ancestor’s parents were

This article will give brief examples over all of these, then take you through the simple steps of finding the city directories for your ancestors online!

I know my ancestor should be in this Census record, but where is he?
We’ve all had the experience before—we know Great-Great Grandpa should be in the census record, but he is just not there!  Sometimes, we get lucky and finally stumble across what we think might be his name, butchered by a transcriber (who had no knowledge of the surnames of the area, or the peculiar spelling GGGrandpa brought over with him from Europe.  To determine if an ancestor was in the census record you are looking for, check a city directory)!  Once a street address is obtained, look in the beginning of the city directory for that street name to find out the ward it was in, as well as other streets it was by. This can significantly help you while looking through the census records.

I can’t request my ancestor’s death record until I know a more specific death date…
New Jersey is one of the states that require a specific death year to order one of their death certificates.  This can be especially hard to determine if your ancestor died somewhere between the 1880 and 1900 census gap. If this is a problem you are having, a city directory can help!

I’ve come across three different ways a directory can help pinpoint a year of death:

1) Your ancestor disappears from the directory listings for a good 5-year gap.  This of course, is not fool proof (your ancestor may have just moved to the neighboring city), but can give you somewhere to start.

2) Your ancestor’s widow is listed.  Generally, until the early 1900’s, city directories only listed males that were of-age.  Females were only listed if widowed, often stating this to be the case.  For example, while following Peter Stucky through the Newark City Directories, his sudden death was discovered when in 1860, he was no longer listed, but instead was listed:

“Elizabeth Stukee, widow Peter, h.144 W Kinney”

Since Peter had immigrated after the 1850 census, but died before the 1860 census, using a city directory was vital in tracking him down.

3) Your ancestor is listed with a date of death.  Now this is a great find! While tracking the Meroth family of Boston through the late 1800 city directories, I came across this 1880 listing:

“Ferdinand Meroth, died Sept 17, 1879”

Having this death date immediately explained why he could not be found in the 1880 census, and prompted me to look in the 1880 mortality schedules, leading to other great finds.

I can’t find my ancestor’s immigration record. I wonder when he came over?
Maybe you have found two or more immigration records of someone with your ancestor’s name.  Which record was him? City directories are wonderful for narrowing down a date of arrival for your ancestor.  For example, while looking through city directories, I could not find John Rupprecht during the 1840’s, but eventually came upon him in the 1850 Newark City Directory.  Knowing he was there by 1850 helped me find both his naturalization record and his immigration record.

I can’t identify my great-grandmother’s parents. Could they have lived nearby?
I came across this problem recently. Death records of a son had identified the mother’s maiden name, but I had a hard time finding her by that name in all census records before her marriage.  Though it took a little more time and study, using the city directories is what finally cracked this case.  I used the city directories and Google Maps to map out where her husband lived at the time of their marriage.  I knew her maiden name had been Stucky, so I also mapped the locations of the Stucky families listed for the same year.  From this, I discovered that an Albert Stuck was living just around the corner from her future husband.  All other Stucky’s were in far-away neighborhoods.  This gave me the clue I needed to eventually find her living with Albert Stuck in an early census, where she was listed by a nickname with an age a few years off!  No wonder she had been hard to find!

*Tip: If the street name is not coming up on Google maps, more than likely, the name has been changed over the years.  The beginning or end of city directories usually holds a detailed street map of the day. Look there!*

What Else Can I Use a City Directory For?
1) If you are looking for a slightly uncommon surname, take the time to write down every one of that surname starting with the earliest City Directory available. Chances are, the other people listed were siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, or even grandparents to your ancestor.  Writing down their name, occupation, and address each year can help you notice trends in common occupations, or if they live close together.

2) Look for what occupation your ancestor is doing.  Who knew great-grandpa had his own Private Investigator business for a few years?  The city directories did!

3) Notice how often your ancestor moves.  I found a man once who moved his family 16 times in 25 years!  It suddenly became clear they had struggled financially, and helped me understand why they had to hire their daughters out as servants at such a young age.

How do I find these City Directories on Ancestry.com?

There are two ways:
1)  Do a general search for your ancestors name and location:

  1. Type your ancestor’s name and location into the search screen
  2. On the left hand side, you will see “Schools, Directories, & Church Histories”
  3. Sort through the findings


2)      Do a specific search for your ancestor:

  1. Hit “Search” at the top of your screen
  2. On the right, under “Special Collections”, click “City & Area Directories”
  3. On the right, under “Featured Data Collections” hit “U.S. City Directories”
  4. On the right will be a drop down menu.  Choose your state, city, and year
  5. Since they are alphabetical, estimate the page your ancestor will be on, type it in to the upper right hand corner page finder, then flip through the pages like a phone book.

Since names were often misspelled in the 1800’s, I have found the second option most useful in finding ancestors.  (For example, sometimes the name “Rupprecht” did not come up in a general search for Newark, because the name had been spelled “Ruprecht, Rueprecht, Roprekt, or Robrecht” that year).

If the city directory year you are looking for is not found on Ancestry.com, try back in another week (they are always updating!), check with your local library, or request a copy of the film from the Family History Library.

By incorporating an often overlooked resource, you may just find the key to busting down your own brick walls. Good luck in your search!

originally published 5 August 2011 on blog.progenealogists.com

 
 Have you ever been talked into playing a game you didn't know the rules of? While others are scheming for the win around you, you helplessly try and keep up, getting either bored (if you don't care) or frustrated (if you do care) as the game progresses.

Such is the case with researching Westfalen records without learning the "rules" of playing the research game for that area. Westfalen, once a Prussian state, marches to the beat of its own drum as far as both naming customs and inheritance patterns. Understanding these nuances will make for a much easier research experience.

Rule #1: Which child inherits the land?
Westfalen is worlds different in this custom from the rest of Germany: Instead of inheritance passing on to the oldest son of a family, it is always passed on to the youngest child in the family (male or female). This fact may not seem a big deal if you are only planning to peruse the vital records (as opposed to land records), but in fact, knowing this helps the researcher muddle through the oft-times confusing naming patterns of the area. Which brings us to...

Rule #2: Acquiring a Surname in Westfalen: The importance of one's farm or Hof
In western society, a surname passes from father to son, down through the generations. However, in this particular area of Germany, the farm (Hof) a person lived on was more important than the name their own father had passed on to them! I came upon this phenomenon with many of my ancestors. An ancestor who was named Joseph Schütte was later listed as Joseph Hilverding in his son's baptism record, and finally as Joseph Stallhans in his daughter's marriage record. In one record, I found the poor man listed as Francisco Casper Joseph Schütte or Hilverding now Stallhans (English translation added—see Rule #3). When you take into account that there was no set spelling to these names--you can imagine the confusion of trying to find a man who has 3 different last names spelled in various ways throughout the years!

Once learned, however, the naming pattern becomes easy to follow. Those who did not inherit their family farm (remember, only the baby of the family gets to inherit!), were forced to search for greener pastures elsewhere. This meant finding a husband or wife who did inherit the family farm. Once married to the inheritor, both men and women took on the new spouse's surname. A period of transition then followed where both last names were listed for an individual, until finally the new last name had been fully and solely attached.

In the case of the ancestor above, Joseph Schütte did not get lucky enough to be the youngest in his family's large brood of children, and thus went in search of a wife. Either due to his father marrying an heir to the Hilverding farm, or Joseph working on the Hilverding farm, he acquired the "aka Hilverding" surname. By age 32 he had met and married a young heiress in a neighboring hamlet named Anna Catherina Röper called Stallhans. You see, Anna was the youngest surviving member of the Röper family who had inherited Stallhans farm. As such, she inherited both the estate AND the surname. Her brother (who she must have been close to as he is a witness to her marriage, multiple children she had, and her death) is listed as Casper Theordore Röper called Stallhans up until Anna inherits the farm. In later records, he is then listed as Casper Röper called Burik.

Understanding the farm name is important in searching out records. All of Joseph and Anna's children are listed in indexes under the surname Stallhans, even though most of them carry the Schütte surname throughout their lives. Anna Catherine Röper was actually listed in her death record as Anna Stallhans, thus finally being fully known as her farm name. How would that record ever be connected to her if attention had not been paid to the Hof she had inherited?

Rule #3 Pay close attention to the German or Latin words used in records!
During my first round with German records, I came across the Hof naming pattern often, but didn't fully understand it. I sought out help from those who spoke German (not from the area), who also didn't fully understand it. It is a system unique to this area, and thus must be learned about from others who have experience researching there. There are numerous German or Latin words used in-between surnames that can give you clues as to what is going on.

Words used to denote the new farm surname are often:
modo; alias; nunc; sive; dicto (Latin)
genannt; colon (German)

Noticing the slight differences in the meanings of these words can help you understand who is inheriting what surname from whom. For example:

In the years after Joseph and Anna's marriage, many children were born. For the first two children, the Latin records list the parents as:
Josepi Hilverding nunc Stallhand or Joseph Hilverding now Stallhans
Anna Catherina Röper dicto Stallhand or Anna Catherine Röper called Stallhans

Noting the slight difference in meaning between the words nunc and dicto helped me figure out that Anna had the original Stallhans farm name, while Joseph had only recently acquired it.

The most important of these words to understand for this region is colon. This word is often interpreted to mean someone who belonged to a colony, or was a hired hand on the farm. Such is not the case in Westfalen. Joseph Schütte colon Stallhans does not mean that he worked on the Stallhans farm--it means he owned the Stallhans farm, despite his ancestry not carrying one drop of Stallhans blood. This is how the naming system worked, and is still even practiced in parts of this area today.

Rule #4 Why are so many parents not married?
Around the early 1800's, I began to notice that some of my ancestors were being listed as illegitimate in their birth records. My immigrant ancestor, Franz Kemper was one of those labeled as such in his birth record. Luckily, his father stepped forward and claimed him, thus not ending the pedigree. In such cases as those of children born to unwed parents, the child takes on the mother's surname, not the father's (though I found Franz listed later in life under his father's surname Cussmann as well, the majority of his life he carried the surnames of his mother--Ebbert or her farm name Kemper).

Illegitimacy, though common, was slightly like a scarlet letter one carried around the rest of his/her life. The word illegitimate was noted in various ways in every vital record of the individual throughout their lives. Certain privileges were taken from those who held illegitimate status--such as voting or owning land. So why, knowing all this, would so many parents of this time period never marry? The answer is that new laws were created that consistantly raised the price of marriage. Many families could simply not afford it. In some areas, one was not allowed to marry until acquiring status in his profession in a guild, which didn't usually happen until a man's 30's. Knowing such circumstances gives the researcher insight as to why so many Germans immigrated to America. It was much to my delight to see ancestors with such restricted societal status in Germany, have themselves listed as "Burgers" in the German obituary notices listed in their American communities. Such would not have been the case had they stayed in Germany.

Though there are many other "rules" to researching in Westfalen, these are 4 of the major ones I have encountered in my own work. Even after reading articles on the subject, I was not able to pick up the distinct patterns of my ancestor's towns until I had taken the time to search their records. Over time, patterns can be seen that may be unique to your area. (For example, the patterns I have seen in Robringhausen are slightly different then the patterns I have found in Westenholz, only 20 miles north of it.)

Hopefully, blogging such information will help others out there be more successful "playing" the research "game". If you have any feedback, or further insight on this subject, please leave a comment!

Much of the information above was acquired from German Research classes I have attended, my own experience, and the following article (which I highly recommend to those serious about researching in this area of Germany):

Dr. Roger P. Minert's article Surname Changes in Northwestern Germany, found in the German Genealogical Digest Spring 2000 (Vol. 16, No. 1). Copy found at FHL, SLC, but copies of this Digest may be available in other libraries as well.

Article originally published 1 April 2011 on bethgenealogy.blogspot.com