by Lisa Kindrick, Genealogy Librarian, the Public Library Albuquerque and Bernalillo County
One of the most difficult aspects of genealogy research can be finding the connection between the immigrants’ arrival in the United States and the home country. The Genealogy Center has an incredible set of books designed to assist you in identifying your German immigrants’ home town.
German Immigrants in American Church Records (https://albuq.cabq.gov/record=b1405536) is a set of thirty-two volumes of records for Protestant churches in the Midwestern United States serving German immigrants. If you had German speaking immigrant ancestors living in Indiana, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, or Ohio, you may find an amazing treasure trove of information in these books.
A team of Brigham Young University students and graduates under the direction of Professor Emeritus Roger P. Minert has done the hard work of scouring through thousands of church records, often in old German script, to extract vital record information for over 210,000 people whose European origins are mentioned in the records. Places and dates of birth, marriage, parents, death/burial dates and place, immigration date, and previous residence in Germany can be found in these records. Dr. Minert estimates that 65-76 percent of historical local church records give an immigrant’s exact place of birth. Entries found in the volumes also include people born in Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein.
You can see how difficult these records can be to translate:
Entries in the book often look something like this:
You will then also be able to go to the church record book on FamilySearch to find the original record and possibly additional records for the family.
For a fascinating look at how these books were created and to get the most out of these amazing books, you might enjoy watching these video presentations by Dr. Roger Minert on YouTube:
- Getting the Most out of German Immigrants in American Church Records
- The Making — and Keeping — of German Immigrants in American Church Records
Save the Date!
- When: Last Tuesday Research Day | January 25, 2022 at 11:00 a.m.
- Where: Main Library located at 501 Copper Ave NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 | Genealogy Center located on the 2nd floor
- Description: Brief overview of German Immigrants in American Church Records, and then we’ll delve into them together!
