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"Pre-printed" Death Record for Bartholomaeus Gigl, listed on the first row. (Click to enlarge.) |
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"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 “
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 16th
and 17th 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 19th
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.
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