Von: carlah@earthlink.net (Carla)
  Datum: 21.01.99, 23:57:04
Betreff: Maiden Names & Treading Carefully in Your Research

Thomas J Eggleston wrote:

> I've just made my first trip to the LDS library.  I tell you that so that
> you know how little I know.  I found my gggrandmother in the WEI according
> to the birthdate.  However she is listed by her maiden or surname and the
> date of emmigration is after her date of marriage.  The lady at the library
> said that in Germany women kept their maiden names so it would be that way
> on the list.  Is this true?  If so, will all records in Germany always be
> listed by the maiden name?  Thanks for any help.     Mary

================================
Dear Mary & Baden-Wuerttemberg List Friends,

It is true that German women are often identified *in official records*
by their maiden names---for example, you will often see this in church
registers in Germany for a marriage entry or an entry recording the
birth/baptism of a child which is refers to the mother.  However, in
everyday reference, a woman married to a Johann SCHMIDT would be known
as and called "Katharina SCHMIDT" (or whatever her husband's surname
was).

In keeping with this, in the German *emigration indexes* I have worked
with, I have always found my married female relatives identified by
their HUSBAND'S surnames (if they were married at the time of
emigration).  If your potential ancestor's date of emigration is *after*
the date you know her to have been married, you should find her under
her married name.

One very important thought, Mary.  If you are deciding that the entry
you found in the WEI is for your gggrandmother just on the basis of the
birthdate and/or name matching, I suggest you make this decision VERY
cautiously.  Unless you are dealing with someone who had an EXTREMELY
unusual name (or some other piece of uniquely distinguishing
information), simply matching a birthdate and/or surname is NOT
sufficient evidence to be SURE this is the person you want.  Many, many
immigrants could have the same first and/or last name and
birthdate---even people in the same *towns* in Germany can have
identical names and event dates, while lacking any particular
*connection* to one another.  You need to continue your research to find
more information to substantiate the fact that this person you've
located in the emigration index is indeed YOUR ancestor.

You should have other supporting details about the individual you are
seeking, like her parents' names or the name of her German place of
origin---only when you have sufficient information to compare can you be
sure.  Be careful. . .it's very easy to jump to the wrong conclusion in
your eagerness to find your family members.  You don't want to make a
hasty assumption about "finding" a sought-after ancestor, only to
discover later on that you've spent enormous amounts of time and effort
in researching the WRONG person or family, who might turn out to have no
connection to you at all.

Best wishes,
Carla HELLER
Los Angeles




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    Von: carlah@earthlink.net (Carla)
  Datum: 22.01.99, 00:55:34
Betreff: A P.S. to "Maiden Names..."

Carla wrote:
>
> If your potential ancestor's date of emigration is *after*
> the date you know her to have been married, you should find her under
> her married name.

Dear Baden-Wuerttemberg List Friends,

I should have noted the following additional information in the above
excerpt from my earlier post concerning the use of maiden versus married
names in German emigration indexes.  While I have normally found married
females listed under their *husband's* surnames in the emigration
indexes I have worked with, these entries sometimes included a
parenthetic reference which indicated the woman's maiden name as well,
such as "Katharina SCHMIDT, geboren WALDHERR" (WALDHERR in this example
being the maiden name).
Some entries of this type go so far as to include the woman's father's
(or both her parents') name[s].  The amount of information recorded can
vary.

Emigrating families and couples who were married at the time they
registered to emigrate are often conspicuously listed *together* in
emigration indexes, depending on the specific format of the resource you
are using.  The bulk of my emigration index research has employed the
Baden Emigration List Index on LDS microfilms (though it is also
available in book form).  Some of the entries in the Baden Emigration
List Index on microfilm also cross-reference one another, to indicate
that certain people were traveling together.

Sorry I neglected to note this in my earlier post.

Warmest wishes,
Carla HELLER
Los Angeles




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