One cannot begin to research our German ancestors in Germany unless we have a clue to their German hometown. This is because there is no country-wide resource in Germany that covers German-speaking areas in Europe. We have our U.S. Federal Census that helps us locate where in the country our ancestors might live. There wasn’t even a German state until 1871. Before that, there were small independent kingdoms, principalities, duchies, bishoprics, and lands. When we know the hometown, then we can research in records in that location. But first, we must discover the hometown name in U.S. records.
Ship Arrival List
One place to start is locating a ship arrival record. I found
a record that might name my great-grandfather, Johan Anton Hork. A Joh. Hork appeared
on the SS Idaho from Liverpool on 5 November 1870. He was 27 years old
and from Germany.[1]
Johan Anton Hork was not found in the 1870 census, so this is a possibility I
have found a good match. However, no exact location of his origins is given on
the passenger list, only the country of Germany. This doesn’t even tell us
which port out of Germany he came from either, as he traveled first to England
and then left from Liverpool.
Church Record
Church records are another source for locating a German
hometown, especially if they attended a German-speaking church. Early on, I was
lucky to discover the hometown of Johan Anton Hork. He married Julia Anna
Sievert on 6 June 1872 in a church in Joliet, Will County, Illinois.[2]
This was a German church, called St. John the Baptist German Catholic Church,
located at the corner of Division and Hickory Streets.[3]
Here is a photo of the old church and a map of its location in Joliet.[4]
German Records
At the time twenty-five years ago, I did not have access to
a lot of resources. I asked a list-serve for Westphalia researchers if anyone
knew of that town and got some help. Today, I would use the Meyers-Ort gazetteer
which is online here: https://s.meyersgaz.org/.
The website entry for Oberhundem is here: https://www.meyersgaz.org/place/20368064. There is the image of the Meyers-Ort Gazetteer in the original German script, which was one of the reasons the gazetteer was difficult to use. It has been extracted into Latin text to the right. The original book was published in 1912 but has been used by many German researchers to define areas of Germany between 1871 and 1918. FamilySearch catalog place names are based on this gazetteer.
Oberhundem is a Dorf and Landgemeinde (village and rural community). Today it is still a very small place. It is in Kreis Olpe, which is similar to what we call counties. Because it is so small, the civil registration office and the courts are located in Kirchhundem. It has one Catholic parish. Bingo--a place to look.
FamilySearch
At the FamilySearch catalog, I entered the place name “Germany,
Prussia, Westphalia, Olpe, Oberhundem” and there are two record groups
available.
Church records are the best bet to start with, as I scored well at the St. John the Baptist Church. I found there are three different results, all Catholic records. The first two return digital access and the last is microfilm only. However, the digital images are locked to home access. However, the 1848-1874 records have a search function. When I searched for Johan Anton Hork in Oberhundem, I got no results. It turns out a portion of one of the films was from Paderborn, not Oberhundem.
However, I viewed the film at the Family History Library twenty years ago and found Johan Anton Horoch, son of Joh. Heinrich Joseph Horoch and Maria Katharina Trösster, was born on 9 November 1843 and baptized the next day.[5]
This began the process of working through the film to locate his siblings, his parents, and further grandparents in baptism, marriage, and burial records.
Oberhundem
So, what was Oberhundem like when Johan Anton Hork left? Wikipedia
is a good place to start. I chose the German version, as it is usually more
detailed. Google Translate can help. Today there are 852 residents. It
lies in the Rothaar Mountains and the area is popular with outdoor enthusiasts.
A map of the area from 1877 shows its small size as well. Johan Anton was a tailor in the United States, so likely he learned the trade from his father.
The town is off the beaten track but someday, I would like
to visit and place feet on the ground where my ancestors lived for generations.
#52Ancestors-Week 7: Immigration
This is my seventh year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe.
I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.
[1] "Passenger
Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1957," Ancestry
(https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7488/), 5 Nov 1870, SS Idaho, line
39, no. 1030, Joh Hork; citing NARA M237, film 336.
[2] “Illinois,
U.S., Catholic Diocese of Joliet, Sacramental Records, 1800-1976,” Ancestry
(https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62097)
> St John the Baptist, Joliet > Marriage Register, 1868-1884 > image
34 of 92, p. 12, no. 9, Joh. Anton Hork to Julia Anna Siewert, 1872.
[3] “U.S.,
City Directories, 1822-1995,” Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469)
> Illinois > Joliet > 1881 >Joliet, Illinois, City Directory, 1881
> image 8 of 132, St. John’s (German Catholic); The Sun Annual Directory
of the City of Joliet (Joliet: The Joliet Sun Printing Company, 1881), p.
15.
[4] Sanborn
Fire Insurance Map of Joliet, Will County, Illinois (Sanborn Map Company,
Feb 1886), p. 13, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4104jm.g019421886/?st=gallery).
[5] Kirchenbuch, 1649-1874, Katholische
Kirche Oberhundem (Kr. Olpe), Taufen 1826-1847, p. 139, no. 36, Johann Anton
Horoch, 1843; citing Manuskripten im Bistumsarchiv Paderborn, FHL Intl 1257842,
IGN 8113610.
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