I have been able to connect all but one of my German lines back to their ancestral village. My fourth great - grandmother, Barbara Stumpf of “Zell”[1], married Augustus Weppner, circa 1817, in either “Zell, Bavaria” or Pfeddersheim. They immigrated to Buffalo, New York in 1834[2] following the birth of the last German-born child in Pfeddersheim[3] . When I started to look for their marriage record, this German line became more challenging than my Millers because there are quite a few “Zells” in Germany. I put that research aside until last month.
This morning, I came upon this blog post by Sonja. By the way, if you do German research, Sonja’s blog is a treasure trove. Sonja announced a website that combines the Meyers Orts und Verkehrs Lexikon for searching capabilities in Germany and Poland. I have to say this is an amazing mapping tool! In the old genealogy days, I could only access the Meyers Ort on microfilm at my Family History library. Then I thought it was really cool beans when it could be accessed at Ancestry (in card catalog, search under “Meyers Orts- und Verkehrs-Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs” or “Meyers Gazetteer of the German Empire”).
The MEYERSGAZ site is amazing. It toggles historical maps with the modern maps which will keep me happy for many years to come as I finger walk old maps to solve research dilemmas. It also claims to not “worry about diacritics when searching”. The Ecclesiastical listings show the nearest parishes or synagogues with mileage added. Remember that our ancestors hitched a ride in a wagon or walked to religious rituals so this feature would be really helpful in selecting the microfilms one needs to order.
Hope you will enjoy http://www.meyersgaz.org as much as I do, and thanks, Sonja !
[1] Weppner Family Announcement for ARNOLD WEPPNER Memorial (dated Sept. 5 1900) (n.p: Name: Name: Copy of Original; n.d). Private family archive.
[2] New York Passenger Lists 1820-1957. Year: 1834; Arrival: , ; Microfilm serial: M237; Microfilm roll: M237_24; Line: 19; List number: 696
[3] IGI (Vol. 5, Germany). Batch.#C966491 , Source #0949593
Glad it helped. I love it!
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