User:Kimballgeorgecarter/Sandbox

A Guideline With Examples
You probably know that your ancestor came from someplace in Germany, but knowing the specific hometown is critical to finding records about them in their homeland. Records were kept primarily in the town your ancestor lived in before they immigrated to the United States. These records are often from the local church parish, which was often small in geography. Trying to find your ancestor in German records without knowing their hometown is usually futile.

This page has been created to help you discover your ancestor's hometown—read it carefully and by following the guidelines listed here you will probably find your German ancestor's hometown.

1. Find every record about your ancestor and their family in the U.S. (or other country of arrival) FIRST!
Your ancestor probably appears in many records; censuses, vital records, military records, newspapers, church records, and more. Your ancestor's birthplace/hometown may be listed in a few of these records or just one of them, so it's important to search as many of them as needed to find their hometown. For one ancestor it could be a census record that lists their hometown, for another a church death record, for another a naturalization record, and for another an obituary—hence the need to search as many records as needed.

Sometimes the records for your ancestor don't list their hometown, but the records of their sibling or parent do. Always search for records for the entire family, you never know which one left a record that lists their hometown!

2. Search the FAN Club of your ancestor.
FAN stands for friends, acquaintances and neighbors. People usually immigrated with other people from the area they left behind and they often settled in the U.S. near these friends, attended churches with them and often became family through marriages of children. Look at who is living near your ancestor in the census that is from the same country as your ancestor. See if their immigration year is similar to your ancestor. Research these people as if they were your own—they may end up leading you to information about your ancestor. Neighbors often immigrated with each other. The records of an extended family member, neighbor or friend may have information about their home in the old country when your ancestor’s record doesn’t.

3. Be open to new spellings and different names.
Many immigrants names changed when they came to the U.S. Remember that standardized spelling is a relatively new concept. When our ancestors arrived in America the people who wrote down their names often didn’t speak their language and they wrote what they heard, how they thought it would be spelled. Stay open minded to creative spellings of your ancestors names, and be prepared for inconsistent spellings!

Example: When the Christian Warning family from Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany settled in West Seneca, New York in 1870, the census taker wrote their surname “Vorning.” The next census it was “Warning.” Even in Germany the name was inconsistent, in one parish it was “Warning,” another wrote “Warnick,” and still another “Warneke!” They are all the same family