Genealogy Mini Camp

Adults 18 & Up

Join us for a series of seminars focusing on the challenges and rewards of researching ancestry and genealogy of migrants who immigrated from German-speaking areas of Europe to various parts of the US from the 1700s to the 1900s. Knowledge of the German language not required! Whether you're researching for yourself or others, all 18 years of age or older are welcome. Seminars are suitable for all experience levels. There will be a break at noon for lunch on your own.

German-speaking areas include more than just the modern country of Germany. If your ancestors came from Austria, Switzerland, and areas with historical German-speaking populations like Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and France, you may find the mini camp helpful.

Professional genealogist Bernard N. Meisner will speak on the following topics:

Pushes, Pulls, and Records: The Waves of German Immigrants to the United States: German immigration to the United States can be grouped into four waves, based on time period. The waves can be differentiated by the pushes and pulls that drove the immigration, and the types of records produced during each wave. Learn the factors that may have drawn your German speaking ancestors to the United States, and the most likely records where they can be found.

How a Non-German Speaking Person from Texas Can Trace Their German Ancestors: Prior to attempting to locate records about your family in Germany it is essential to conduct an exhaustive search of U.S. records, since there is no central repository for German records. Rather, most records are recorded at the local level (town or parish). Also, due to wars and boundary changes “German” records may now be located in another state or country. Learn how to conduct an exhaustive search of U.S. records to identify your ancestor’s home town and religion.

Working With German Parish Records: Given your ancestor’s hometown, learn how to identify the most likely parish(es) with the records, then check the online availability of the registers on FamilySearch, Archion, Matricula and/or The Catholic Archives of Germany. Having found the records, learn how to extract the relevant information regarding your ancestors.

Working With German Civil Registration Records: Civil registration records of, kept by the government, are excellent sources for information on names. dates and places of births, marriages, and deaths. They are important sources for German genealogical research, especially after 1876 when the entirety of Germany established civil registration. Given your ancestor’s hometown, learn how to identify the registration office where the records are most likely to be found. Having found the records, learn how to extract the relevant information regarding your ancestors.

The event will meet in person in the library's Multipurpose Room and will not be recorded.

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About Bernard N. Meisner: Bernard is a genealogist and lecturer based in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. He began researching his family over 35 years ago and enjoys sharing lessons learned from that experience, including his mistakes. Although he knew only one grandparent (his maternal grandfather) he has successfully identified all of his great-great grandparents, several triple- and quadruple-great grandparents, and his Meisner 8th great grandparents. He is a past president of the Mid-Cities Genealogical Society, a co-leader of the Dallas Genealogical Society’s German SIG, and he is a member of the Texas State-, the Germanic-, and the National Genealogical Societies. He has been invited to write several articles for the Texas State Genealogical Society’s quarterly magazine, Stirpes.

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