I'm looking for any records available for hubby's grandmother, Albertine Eurma Stegmann.
Her 1900 ship manifest lists her last residence as Neu Dobrin, W. Pr.
Her 1906 Peoria IL USA marriage record lists her birthplace as Rosenfelde, West Prussia and her parents as Friedrich Johann Stegmann & Caroline Kienitz.
Albertine was born 9 Sept 1875.
She has an older sister who immigrated to USA abt 1889 - Johanna Bertha Stegmann b 7 Nov 1870.
Both were life-long Lutherans, first attending German-speaking Lutheran churches in America.
Albertine's 1965 obituary indicates she has/had siblings in Germany.
Albertine Eurma Stegmann b 9 Sept 1875 Rosenfelde, West Prussia
Johanna Bertha Stegmann b 7 Nov 1870 West Prussia
daughters of Friedrich Johann Stegmann & Caroline Kientiz
I understand there MAY be civil or Lutheran records from Dobrin for the period 1874-1904 possibly in Posen, Poland - Archiwum Państwowe w Poznaniu Oddział w Pile 64-920 Piła, ul. Podchorążych 76, skr.poczt.231 . Also perhaps in Berlin - Evangelisches
Zentralarchiv, Bethanienstraße 23-29, D-10997 BERLIN, GERMANY. It's all very confusing to me.
I do not read/speak German so it's very hard for me to evaluate records should I find them. I am willing to hire someone to research possible records for this family. Any help is greatly appreciated. And it would be wonderful to find people related to this family!!
Sincerely,
Laraine Wilson Wessels
near Peoria, Illinois
I recently order an 1889 civil marriage record from Archiwum Państwowe
w Poznaniu Oddział w Pile for my g, grandparents who were married in
Preussendorf, Kr.Deutsch Krone. Another listmember [not sure which
list] provide me with a sample letter written in polish that I just
needed to fill in the names and dates. I would be happy to provide
this privately.
I mailed the completed form letter and within three weeks I received a
response in Polish that a possible match was found. Helpful
individuals on the list translated the letter into English. Minimal
information was given on the family in the response, but they
indicated for me to receive the copies it would cost $36 and provided
the bank account information needed for the transfer. After making
the transfer it took a lot of patience as it took almost two months to
receive the civil marriage record which was sent registered mail. It
was my g, grandparents civil marriage record. I do not know if they
charge for searches that are not successful.
You may first want to be sure the records for your time period are
available at the archive. If you are not familiar with the site, it
is http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/?CIDA=43
If you are unsure which church your family attended, I would encourage
you to visit www.kartenmeister.com
enter the town and it should provide the current town name and
Lutheran/Catholic church affiliations. let me know if you have
questions on this.
With practice you can 'read' the German records. Some records are
easier then others depending on the handwriting and format. There are
numerous excellent books and websites that can help. And even if you
can't read everything normally you can pick out your ancestors name
and this is soooo exciting.