Grigo East Prussia

Hi

    I joined the list about a month ago and have been reading the information before posting my own queries.

    According to the Naturalisation papers in Western Australia of Carl Grigo he was born on 25 January 1850 in Mitschullen, District of Gumbinen, East Prussia. I have done some research on the area and found that Mitschullen is in the Parish of Benkheim between Angeburg and Goldap. I have tried searching Family Search IGI but I did not find him, however I think I have found is parents marriage in Buddern on 20.12.1943 and a possible brother Ferdinand born December 1843 Klein Gulacken, Buddern, Ostpreussen, Preussen, but unfortunately he died on 17.1.1844. His parents were Friedrich Grigo and Charlotte Glinka. I found that Buddern is not far out of Angeburg on the Goldap Road so I am assuming that this entry is correct but how can I confirm this in German records and where do I find them? I might also mention that Friedrich Grigo and Charlotte Glinker are listed on his marriage certificate in Queensland Australia in 1879, so again I am assuming that the above people are the correct ones.

    I haven’t been able to find any Church Records online to check out, would there be any available? Also would Klein Gulacken in Buddern be a farm?

Thanks

June Welsby

Hi June.

You really ought to get Family History films from your region/ churches of interest. Given you are searching in areas that were ethnically cleansed of their German populations after WW2, there are few local/ online resources available. IGI is not a very reliable source of genealogy data; it is both incomplete and, too frequently, inaccurate (much like what you find on Ancestry.com). Although you will find useful clues in IGI, you will often also be 'left wanting'.

As for a good set of options....

1. Familysearch does have the Benkheim church records, see:
    Catalog Search Results for {parameters} - FamilySearch.org — FamilySearch.org Your family will, most likely, be found in
    those records. (If you don't have experience using their materials
    here's a guide: http://is.gd/nRedzN )
2. If you need further help conducting searches in the lost German
    Eastern Provinces, here are several dozen BLOG posts that might
    help: http://is.gd/YWHTPu
3. If you want additional source (West & East Prussian) materials,
    including free records and maps from the area, I provide those on
    http://many-roads.com as well. Currently I have a bit over 30GB of
    genealogy source materials available for use.

Viels spass und glueck beim forschen.

Pax vobiscum,

Pax vobiscum,
...mark

Hi Mark

    Thank you for this. I figured that the German population of East Prussia may have been ethnically cleansed but I was hoping that there may be some local or online sources left. I'll have a look at the URL's that you have supplied and see what, if anything, I can get. Do you have any idea where I may be able to go for his emigration? So far I haven't found anything for him at the Hamburg Resources so I thought that maybe he left from another port and came to Australia via England or another country. I don't know when he arrived in Australia as I haven't been able to find his records from most of the sources that I have. The first I know of him here is when he married in 1879 in Queensland.

Regards

June

Hi June

Sadly, there are few immigration records from Germany anywhere. Most ship records that were housed in Germany were destroyed in bombings, fires, etc. If the records don't exist on your side of the journey, and you haven't found them via the German online sites, chances are they are gone or walkabout.
Pax vobiscum,
Because there are no German communities of note left in the area you are searching, there is very little development of German genealogical history going on. My site is actually among the biggest independent research efforts in West Prussia/ East Prussia. Sad...

Your best bet is to look for and in Church records. It seems your community's records survived. Throughout most of the past many of the best Civil Records were housed in the churches. Having those available is a godsend. If you are prevented by LDS/ Australian copyright law or similar fom viewing any records, you can ask someone in the US to get copies and research for you. I know that runs into some expense, but for many it offers the best chance of finding their 'folks'. (The same applies to those who are Suetterlin- German handwriting- challenged.)

If you want some initial help setting up your search, let me know. I am happy to help you get started, 'gratis'...

Pax vobiscum,
...mark