Volume 20, Number 2, June 2002 Ortssippenbücher by Kreis

Volume 20, Number 2, June 2002

Ortssippenbücher by Kreis
At the MAGS meeting held on April 27, 2002, Dan Heinemeier talked about a resource that is invaluable for researching German families, namely Ortssippenbücher. In some areas they are also known as Familienbücher.
Ortssippenbücher are books that use information from church records. The researcher has taken birth/baptismal, marriage, and burial records on one family and compiled the information into one volume. A good example is the Ortssippenbuch for the town of Göbrichen in Baden. That book has information on Hans Jacob Bossert who was born in Bauschlott in 1675 and died there in 1724. The entry notes his 1700 marriage to Anna Catharine Heck, born 1686, died 1763. It then lists their four children with dates of birth.
As Dan noted, the Library of Congress has more than 230 Ortssippenbücher in its collection. Within the past year he created an index of those books organized by state. That index can be found in the Glebe House collection of the National Genealogical Society Library.
There are 89 Ortssippenbücher for Baden-Württemberg, the largest number for any region. Interesting information can be generated when the books are organized according to yet another administrative unit—the Kreis (county). By reshuffling the books for Baden-Württemberg, for example, we learn that the county of Rhein Kreis, located north of Bruchsaal, has a total of seven Ortssippenbücher in the Library of Congress. Ortenaukreis, located on the east bank of Rhine River opposite Strassbourg, France, has a total 20 Ortssippenbücher, and the county of Calw in the state of Baden-Württemberg has nine.
Organizing the books by county yields an area-wide list of family names that has tremendous research potential. This approach can produce additional discoveries. For example, surnames can be identified for villages that do not have Ortssippenbücher. A search of indexes for Enzkreis (Enz County) discloses numerous entries for Klingel, a rather unique family name. The entries note the family had its origins in Eisingen. This village has no Ortssippenbuch, but additional information on this family then can be found at one of the LDS Family History Centers. The Ortssippenbücher in the Library of Congress are undoubtedly the important key to unlocking this valuable information.
John Humphrey, President





MID-ATLANTIC GERMANIC SOCIETY
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Our mission: to stimulate and facilitate research on Germanic genealogy

and heritage in the mid-Atlantic region

Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society (MAGS) is a non-profit genealogical society founded July 10, 1982. Annual dues are only $10 (individual) or $12 (family). Membership is open to all interested persons without regard to place of residence, nationality, or ethnicity. Benefits of membership include:

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  Quarterly newsletter, Der Kurier.
  
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  Ahnentafels published in Der Kurier.
  
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  Surname Exchange Index
  
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  Stumped Roots
  

A membership application appears on the back cover of Der Kurier.

Contact information for MAGS special services appears on the inside back cover.

Officers
President: John T. Humphrey

1^st Vice President: Susannah E. Brooks

2^nd Vice President: Jane Adams Clarke

Corresponding Secretary: Patricia P. Cramer

Recording Secretary: Deyerle R. Atkins

Treasurer: David Pincock

At-Large Board Member: Betty deKeyser

At-Large Board Member: Open

Immediate Past President: Dorothy J. Reed


Special Services

Ahnentafel: Shirley E. Forrester

Editor: John W. Bieber

Historian: Beverly Repass Hoch

Library Administrator: Carl M. Shrader

Membership: Susannah E. Brooks

Programs: Jane Adams Clarke

Publications: Corinne P. Earnest

Publicity: Open

Queries: Edythe H. Millar

Registrar: Diane M. Kuster

Rep Assn German-American Soc: Merl Arp

Sales Manager: Judy Dohner

Stumped Roots: Susannah E. Brooks

Surname Exchange: Edward G. Winner

Webmaster: R. Yos


Der Kurier is published quarterly in March, June, September and December. It is indexed in the Periodical Source Index by the Allen County Public Library, Ft. Wayne, IN, and the Genealogical Periodical Annual Index by Heritage Books, Inc, Bowie, MD.

Submissions to Der Kurier. Articles concerning Germanic genealogy and heritage in the Mid-Atlantic region are welcome, as are “Letters to the Editor.” Research articles should document conclusions with appropriate citation of primary sources.
MAGS reserves the right to edit submissions for length and style. Any material published becomes the property of MAGS. Deadline for submissions: the first of January, April, July and October. Submit to: John W Bieber, 25 Rolling Road, Claymont, DE 19703. E-mail: [e-mail] Phone: [phone].



der Kalender


IN THIS ISSUE

People and Events ............................. 24 New Members ..................................... 26 Fraktur Forum: DUNDOR (Part 3) ..... 27 Queries ................................................ 28 1930 Census Released!! .................... 29

MAGS 20 Year Anniversary ............... 32

Book Reviews ..................................... 33 Ahnentafel: MICHELMAN .................. 37 MAGS Services / MAGS Store .......... 39 Clippings:

U.S. State Websites ...................... 23 Dr Schmal’s Links ........................ 25

German Research by Mail ............28



2002
June 27-29. Palatines to America National Conference. Springfield, Illinois. For further information contact Palatines to America, 611 East Weber Road, Columbus OH 43211. Ph: 614-267-4700. E-mail: [e-mail] Web site
July 3-7. American Historical Society of Germans From Russia, 32^nd Annual Conference. Embassy Suites Hotel, 101 East Locust Street, Des Moines, Iowa. For reservations, call 1-800-Embassy.
July 20-21.  Germanna Foundation Reunion.  Some special events will be held on Friday, July 19.  For more information, contact Germanna Foundation Reunion, P.O. Box 693, Culpeper, VA 22701; or e-mail [e-mail].  Their web page is
August 16-18, Wertman Family Associa-tion Annual Reunion. Contact Shirley Daniels, Corresponding Secretary, 5487 Sleeping Dog Ln, Columbia, MD 21045-2250.
October 18-19.  MAGS 20^th Anniversary Celebration and Annual Fall Meeting, Columbia, Maryland. MAGS twentieth anniversary banquet on Oct 18 features nationally known speaker Dr. George Schweitzer. Fall Meeting on Oct 19, jointly sponsored by National Genealogical Society, features Cyndi Howells of Cyndi’s List, and Sheila Benedict, CGRS, on genealogical research sources.
Watch future issues of Der Kurier and MAGS Website for details.
If you would like your event or program placed on der Kalender, please send the information to the MAGS Editor by the stated deadline (see inside front page).

Official U.S. State Websites
To reach the official Website of any state in the United States, try typing into the address line of your browser: , where the blanks are filled in with the two-letter U.S. postal service abbreviation for the state. For instance, takes you to the official state Website of North Carolina. Alternatively, the following Websites display maps of the U.S. where you can click on the state to jump to the official state Website:





Surname Resource
DREISBACH, DRESBACH, DRESBACK, DRIESBAUGH: