When Is a Record Useful?

"Pre-printed" Death Record for Bartholomaeus Gigl, listed on the first row.  (Click to enlarge.)

"Written entry" for Sophia Schoenholtz's Death Record, listed as the second person on day 29.  (Click to enlarge.)

Welcome back to my blog.  Once again, my name is Braedon.  Last week, I explained that “Germany” was divided into various nation-states and kingdoms.  After centuries of war and invasion, these regions finally became unified.  Today, I’ll be explaining helpful documentation and its use.  There are a variety of religious and governmental records that assist researchers today.

First off, I should probably clarify something: What makes something “useful”?  To illustrate, I’ll use an example.  Suppose that a son tells her mother that he’s going to study for his American History test.  To her surprise, she finds him reading Shakespeare’s plays.  While this may be excellent literature, it does not contribute to the exam material.

When I say that a record is “useful,” I’m really saying that it’s relevant for our research purposes.  By this I mean that the document gives us important events on someone’s life.  When these details are combined, they allow us to create a timeline.  Furthermore, findings often give the give the researcher a revelation regarding identity or location.

A Few Cautions to Take into Consideration

I have taken a German Paleography course from an excellent instructor, Professor Minert, here at Brigham Young University.  He has shared valuable insights to this topic, so I will be sharing, with his kind permission, a selection of them here.  A few of our readers will consider this advice obvious.  Other readers require gentle reminders or suggestions to guide their efforts.  I would like to express appreciation for the patience of those more experienced.

Like the student reading Shakespeare, many researchers waste their time on documents that have nothing to do with the task at hand.  If a document is presenting information on how roofing is to be done, then it’s probably not helpful.  Some experts will offer to read “every last word in a document.”  Such researchers are wasting their time and the client’s money.  To put it bluntly, customers want information directly pertinent to the ancestor in question—and they should want this type of data.

Despite a professional’s experience and today’s wide variety of resources, there are limitations that should be taken into account.  A researcher should never overstate his or her abilities.  Failure to measure up to such standards will damage the reputation of the expert and possibly someone who made the referral.  My professor explained that if someone promises to find ancestors’ names, he or she “is a fool or a liar.”  This may seem harsh, but no one guarantee absolute success.

Birth and Baptismal Records

Civil officials were primarily concerned about birth information.  Baptismal information usually was omitted, because government and church records were separate.  Sometimes, parents would claim that there son was a daughter—in order to avoid military service.  In various French areas, officials claimed to have “methods” for verifying a child’s gender to crack down on misinformation.

Many religions considered baptism to be more important than birth.  Hence, the “first records” (those in the 16^th and 17^th centuries) often times excluded this information.  Soon after Napoleon’s time (the 1800s), these became more detailed.  One misconception is that illegitimate children were not baptized—at least that was my initial impression.  In reality, most children were regardless of parentage.

Suppose that we’re looking for a man named Wilhelm, whose father’s name was Ignatz.  We then find a church record that tells us that Wilhelm had three brothers and a sister and mentions Ignatz as the father.  Later, we find a birth certificate that reveals that Wilhem’s “father” was a legal guardian.  The inclination for many of us is to say that one source is more valuable than the other.  Often times, secular and religious sources tell the whole story.

Death Records

While both institutions kept death records, government authorities often gave more details than those given by ecclesiastical leaders.  In their documents, one must skip a multitude of names before finding the deceased person(s).  In the religious realm, death records were in existence long before marriage records.  Information was initially simple and became more detailed over time.  A church record may reveal the location of Heinrich’s gravesite, but will likely lack the legal information provided in civil records.

Marriage Records

The various administrations legally recognized marriages.  With the various implications that came with marriage, there were many details to record (such as the change of surname for women).  Marriage records could take up an entire page, sometimes two.  Historically, marriage has been one of the most important events in German history (and it still is today).  In many cases, a wedding day was described in greater detail than the occurrence of death.  In the 1500s and 1600s, records typically mentioned the names of the spouses and the date.  Later on (typically during the 19^th century), parents and witnesses were mentioned.

Two Different Formats: Pre-printed and Written Sources

Another aspect to consider is the formatting of records—whether they were ecclesiastical or governmental.  Pre-printed records have charts with a set criterion.  These are easy to search, but discourage the recording of some items.  For instance, a church record may neglect to mention that the parents are guardians (not biological parents).  Records with written entries require the author to write material without clear guidelines.  This method allows more space for detail but may encourage the recording of “less important” details.

The two death records placed above illustrate some key differences.  In the first, Bartholomäus Gigl’s death record shows us a pre-printed format.  The headings utilize a quick reading.  We see that he is marked as a Catholic Man (Katholish and Mannlich) and died at the age of 78.  However, we don’t get much insight about his marital status here.  Also, when the author gives a description of the person’s state (Stand), we can see that he’s trying to write small—so that he has space to include the details.

In our second example, Sophia Schönholtz’s death record shows written entries that are placed vertically.  The only heading is the month and year (January 1770).  The lady is the second person mentioned on day 29.  The author does tell us a region or city from whence she came, as well as the age at death (45 years).  However, this record does not give us any more details.

Conclusion

Every record relating to events are important because each of them helps us better understand someone’s life.  Don’t waste time on a record if it has no relevance.  Whatever record you work with, remember to pull out key details.  As much as possible, use both ecclesiastical and civil records—as practically all Germans had some religious association.  Thanks for reading this week’s entry.  Next time, I will discuss the Gothic and Fraktur alphabets—both of which are used in old German records.