2016 European Family History Conference

9:00 am - 10:00 am
Finding German Ancestors Online: Resources and Records (Baerbel Johnson)

From reference information, history, and vocabulary to lists of emigrants and parish registers online – this class demonstrates Web sites you can use to find your German ancestors.

10:15 am - 11:15 am
Internet Sources for Locating your 19th Century German Emigrant (Baerbel Johnson)

Finding your German ancestor's birthplace may be just a mouse click away! New online resources for locating immigrant origins become available every day. Learn about U.S. and German websites containing lists of emigrants and emigration history from various parts of Germany, including search tips and hints for navigating foreign-language sites.

11:30 am - 12:30 pm
German Historical Maps and Territories (Warren Bittner)

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
German Research Strategies for Eastern Provinces (Careen Barrett-Valentine)

The eastern provinces of the German Empire are notorious for having areas where church records have not survived the area's long history of political and social upheaval. This class will teach you how to be certain all surviving church and civil records have been identified. Participants will also learn how to find supplementary records that may contain genealogical information in the absence of church and civil registration records.

3:15 pm - 4:15 pm
Research in German Archives (Heidi Sugden)

This class will focus on how to find the right archive and how to prepare for a research trip to Germany.

9:00 am - 10:00 am
Old German Script, part 1 (Dr. Fritz Juengling)

This course is designed to give family history researchers who read little or no German and have had no experience with German vital records a basic working knowledge of old German script. It would be advisable for patrons who are interested in this class to download and print a copy of the handout before coming to class, as there will be hands-on practice using the material in the handout. This class is two hours long.

10:15 am - 11:15 am
Old German Script, part 2 (Dr. Fritz Juengling)

This course is designed to give family history researchers who read little or no German and have had no experience with German vital records a basic working knowledge of old German script. It would be advisable for patrons who are interested in this class to download and print a copy of the handout before coming to class, as there will be hands-on practice using the material in the handout. This class is two hours long.

11:30 am - 12:30 pm
Extracting Information from German Church and Civil Records (Dr. Fritz Juengling)

This course is designed to give beginning family history researchers who read little or no German and have had no experience with German vital records a basic working knowledge of such records. We will look at a number of vital records, including birth, baptismal, marriage, and death, and learn how to identify essential information. It is the follow-up, application class to “Learning to Read Old German Script” class.

LAB: Finding Places in the former German Area of Poland Using the Online Gazetteer Kartenmeister.com (Ehrengard Egbert)

This lesson will teach you how to use the online gazetteer kartenmeister.com to find German, Polish, Russian, and Lithuanian names for the same locality. You will also learn to find all the villages listed within a county or Kreis and how to collaborate with other people researching the same localities.

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
German Census Records (Jilline Maynes)

German census records are an excellent record set for those researching in German speaking lands. Yet, until recently these records have largely been unexplored. This class will provide an overview of why, when, and where censuses were conducted. Content and accessibility of these records will also be discussed.

LAB: Swiss Names and Places (Daniel Jones)

Identifying surnames and places in Switzerland is now easier than ever! Whether just beginning or rather experienced, this computer lab class will focus on online resources to help identify surnames and places, as well as showing new ways to maximize your research in Switzerland.

3:15 pm - 4:15 pm
Introduction to Swiss Research (Daniel Jones)

Researching in Switzerland can be rather quirky but very rewarding. Come and find out how to use those quirks to find your Swiss ancestors in records available in the Family History Library, in Swiss archives, and online.

LAB: Finding Places in the former German Area of Poland Using the Online Gazetteer Kartenmeister.com(Ehrengard Egbert)

This lesson will teach you how to use the online gazetteer kartenmeister.com to find German, Polish, Russian, and Lithuanian names for the same locality. You will also learn to find all the villages listed within a county orKreisand how to collaborate with other people researching the same localities.

9:00 am - 10:00 am
Poland and Galicia Jewish Research: A Template for East European Jewish Research, part 1 (Kurt Matthia)

Explores prerequisites for finding Jewish ancestors in Poland and Galicia: (1) knowing original family and personal names, (2) knowing the town of origin, and (3) having enough family dates and relationships to positively identify the ancestor(s) in old-world record sets. Tools discussed include JewishGen.org and other U.S. record sets.

10:15 am - 11:15 am
Poland and Galicia Jewish Research: A Template for Eastern European Jewish Research, part 2 (Kurt Matthia)

Explores methods for searching indexes and record sets from Poland and Galicia. Tools discussed include JewishGen.org, szukajwarchiwach.pl, Genealodzy.org, YadVashem.org, and other Jewish and civil indexed or browse-only records.

11:30 am - 12:30 pm
Discovering Polish Websites (Sonja Nishimoto)

This class will present several of the current online record sources that are now available for Polish research including the records found at the Polish State Archives.

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Co Kraj To Obyczaj: Records of the Polish Partitions (Greg Nelson)

At the end of the 18th century the powers of Europe consumed Poland’s territory until it ceased to exist. Only at the end of WWI did Poland return as a sovereign country. We will discuss the records of each partition and how best to access them in finding members of your Polish/Prussian/Silesian/Galician/Austrian/Russian family.

3:15 pm - 4:15 pm
Polish research (Marek Koblanski)

9:00 am - 10:00 am
Lithuanian Research on ePaveldas.lt (Careen Barrett-Valentine)

There are many digitized Lithuanian records available on ePaveldas.lt. This class will discuss what types of records are available, how to find the records you need, and basic vocabulary and search strategies needed for using the website.

LAB: Finding places in Austria, the Czech Republic and the Slovenian Republic Using the Online Gazetteer GenTeam (Ehrengard Egbert)

This course will teach you how to use the online gazetteer Genteam.at to find the name of the parish in Czech and German and in which archive these records can be found.

10:15 am - 11:15 am
Czech Republic Research (Sylvie Pysnak)

This class teaches basics of Czech research, including historical overview, border changes, sources for genealogical research in the Czech Republic and at the Family History Library, and research tools that have been found most useful in the Czech genealogical research. Online resources and personal visit to the archives will also be discussed.

LAB: Russian Handwriting, part 1a (Dennis Everett)

11:30 am - 12:30 pm
Slovak Republic Research (Sylvie Pysnak)

This class teaches basics of Slovak research, including historical overview, boundary changes, sources for genealogical research in Slovakia and at the Family History Library, and research tools that have been found most useful in Slovak genealogical research. Online resources and personal visit to the archives will also be discussed.

LAB: Russian Handwriting, part 1b (Dennis Everett)

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
On Eagle’s Wings: Records of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Republics (Greg Nelson)

The territory that once made up the Russian Empire and then the Soviet Union contains billions of records that can be difficult to find. We will explore the best ways to find family members whether they lived during the time of a tsar, the hammer and sickle, or in one of the former Soviet republics.

LAB: Finding places in Austria, the Czech Republic and the Slovenian Republic Using the Online Gazetteer GenTeam(Ehrengard Egbert)

This course will teach you how to use the online gazetteer Genteam.at to find the name of the parish in Czech and German and in which archive these records can be found.

3:15 pm - 4:15 pm
Introduction to Russian Research (Joe Everett)

Learn about essential historical background, research resources, and methods needed for tracing ancestors from the former Russian Empire.

9:00 am - 10:00 am
Introduction to Bessarabian Research (Gwen Oryall)

10:15 am - 11:15 am
Russian Germans in the North Caucusus (Wilhelm G. Doos)

This class will focus on the history and development of the Caucasus in the Russian Empire and how it came to be colonized by Germans. Emphasis will be placed on identifying various German colonies using a variety of maps. Identification of ancestral village will be a key point, but since most of the colonies in the Caucasus were created as daughter colonies, not infrequently without governmental permission, details about many of them are lacking. It will be key to identify the original mother colony from which they originated which frequently will have some archival material available dealing with life events. Archival material dealing with life events in the Caucasus are scarce and extensively fragmented, however, identification of the mother colony can at least complete part of the puzzle. Emphasis will be placed on becoming familiar with various internet websites and how to network effectively.

11:30 am - 12:30 pm
The Volga German Settlements in Russia (Dr. Darrell Weber)

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Latin Handwriting, part 1 (Heidi Sugden)

LAB: Russian Handwriting, part 2a (Dennis Everett)

3:15 pm - 4:15 pm
Latin Handwriting, part 2 (Heidi Sugden)

LAB: Russian Handwriting, part 2b (Dennis Everett)

Presenters
Careen Barrett-Valentine has been doing professional European Family History research since 2007. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Family History from Brigham Young University, and is accredited for research in the Germany region by the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen).

Warren Bittner

Dr. Wilhelm G. Doos is a long-standing member of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, a member of the Board of Directors, and an active member of their Historical Research and Archive Committees. He has been actively researching Russian Germans in the North Caucasus and has published in the AHSGR Journal.

Ehrengard Egbert was born and raised in Austria where she also served a full time mission. For the last five years she has been a volunteer on the International Floor in the Family History Library. Ehrengard enjoys helping guests with German research. She also has taught several classes.

Dennis Everett

Joe Everett is a genealogy librarian at FamilySearch, managing patron services in international Family History Centers. Joe was previously the head of International Reference at the Family History Library and a technical services librarian, cataloging Slavic and Germanic records. He also spent several years as content manager at Ancestry.com. Joe earned a B.A. in Russian Language and Family History/Genealogy (Germanic emphasis) from Brigham Young University and a Master of Library Science from Emporia State University (Kansas). He has been active in library and genealogical associations and has lectured and published articles Central & East European research.

Baerbel K. Johnson, AG® works for FamilySearch, supporting the German-language family history centers in Europe and providing research support within the international genealogical community. Previously, she had worked as reference consultant at the Family History Library for 20 years.

Daniel Jones, AG® is an Accredited Genealogist specializing in Swiss and German research. His interest in genealogy began when as a youngster he would pore of his mother’s Book of Remembrance, but his love of family history took off at the age of 13 when he earned his Genealogy merit badge as a Boy Scout. He has been awarded a BA in Family History/Genealogy at Brigham Young University and a MS in Early Modern European History at the University of Utah. Daniel has been working professionally since 2003, with on-site archives research experience in Switzerland and a dozen other countries. Daniel is currently a research specialist at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Dr. Fritz Juengling received his Bachelor’s degrees in German Studies and Secondary Education at Western Oregon University, his Master’s and Doctorate in Germanic Philology with minors in both English and Linguistics at the University of Minnesota. He has taught all levels of German, English, Latin and Old English (Anglo-Saxon) at the high school and university levels. He is an Accredited Genealogist® for Germany and the Netherlands through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists and a German, Dutch, and Scandinavian Research Specialist at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Marek Koblanski

Elder Kurt Matthia began personal family German, Polish, Czech, Ukrainian and Romanian family research, including Jewish lines, in the 1970s and has maintained a successful personal family history website since the early 1990s. He has been assisting Family History Library guests with Central and East European research since 2004.

Jilline Maynes has been happily involved in family history for over 20 years. Currently, she is a student of Family History at Brigham Young University. Her emphasis is Germany and Midwestern states. She has worked for the Nauvoo Community Project at the Center for Family History and Genealogy at BYU researching LDS polygamous families. In the spring of 2015, Jilline had the opportunity to work as an intern researching German census records with Dr. Roger P. Minert at BYU. Presently, she is working on Dr. Minert’s German Immigrants in American Church Records project, where the goal is to identify the hometowns of German immigrants.

Greg Nelson is the Content Strategy specialist for East Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa in the Records Division of the Family History Department. His research interests are in Central and East Europe with an emphasis on Russia and Ukraine.

Sonja Nishimoto has been employed by the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah since May 1989. She has been a professional Germanic and Slavic researcher since 1982. She is accredited in German and Swiss research.

Gwen Oryall is from Payson, Utah and shares a long-term love and devotion to family history. She first learned Danish and to put microfilms on the readers at age 8, following the example of her mother. She has worked with Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Scottish, German, French, Spanish, Latin, American and Pioneer Heritage. Gwen was able to work in the first LDS extraction program as a youth doing Scandinavian records and now enjoys family search indexing. Gwen is a registered nurse and loves helping others.

Born and raised in Czechoslovakia, Sylvie Pysnak, AG® has been with FamilySearch for 18 years. She knows several languages, has overseen many Central/Eastern European countries, established relations with Czech archivists, created genealogical content, written publications, researched on site and taught at conferences. She is currently managing the FamilySearch Learning Center.

Heidi Sugden, a native of Vienna Austria, graduated from the University of Utah with a M.A. in German Language and Literature. She has been employed at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City for over 20 years as research consultant. Heidi is accredited for French and Austrian Research and is also competent in German Research. Besides her husband and her 6 children, Heidi adores her 25 grandchildren.

Dr. Darrell Weber