Wortmann aus Oldendorf amt Melle (Follow-up)

hannover-l
1

Dear List members:

My ability to write in German is a bit rusty, so
please excuse me for posting this follow-up in English
only...

I had send a short post yesterday seeking suggestions
as to how to get information regarding my
2ggrandfather from Oldendorf in Kreis Melle. Here is
a more extensive description of my quest:

I've been to Oldendorf several times and am somewhat
familiar with the area, which is why I am hesitant to
make any assumptions based simply on family name and
not supported with evidence.

My ancestor left a clear paper trail in Indiana, being
very precise that he was born in Oldendorf, amt
Melle. I have three other 2ggrandparents who were
born in this
parish, so in Indiana he was in a community where
people were familiar with the parish. His wife was
from Hoyel and there is a large community of
immigrants from Oldendorf in the area. Again and
again, he is listed as Hermann Heinrich Wortmann born
2 Oct. 1828 in Oldendorf, amt Melle.

The problem is, soon after my 2ggrandfather left, the
pastor at the time assembled an informal family book
or parish directory which does not include my
ancestor. Like parish directories of today, it
probably included those currently in the parish, not
who were
born in the parish. I haven't been able to get anyone
to check the baptismal entries, but it was found that
he's not in the informal directory... From what I
understand, the informal directory is the "go-to"
source today to quickly find people of the era--but my
ancestor left as the wave of migration was
beginning. And while there are Wortmanns listed, he
is not among them.

With half of my immigrant ancestors from Kreis Melle,
I know how common names can be in the area, so I'm
hesitant to send out blind letters. For years,
Hermann Uffmann was the resident genealogist for many
of the parishes of the Kreis, but about the time I
could afford to contract for his services, he passed
away.

Like everyone else, I can find the addresses of
Wortmanns
there--I even have a phonebook for the area. But I've
not had good luck with cold letters in the past and I
would rather find a source into the official records
(or someone familiar with the family in the area).
The LDS has only filmed a few years of civil records
for the parish during the Napoleonic era.

Any help or suggestions are welcome.

Gru�

Larry

2

Much clearer now on where you're at Larry, and where you're looking to go. Part of the problem may be the time frame you're searching in. "Official" records as such may be comprised of only church records and ledgers at this time, and if they were not filmed (or inadequately) by LDS or elsewhere, you're caught between a rock and hard spot unfortunately. At least in the way of 'easy-outs'. I myself have little to offer re this particular area. It appears you have done a bit of homework here already though, and that the LDS holdings are rather lean.

Back in the late 90's at H-L, Julie Ploehn-Vigna was busting her chops trying to make similar headway in the Oldendorf area. She faced many of the same roadblocks you are. I have no idea if she is still subscribed to H-L, but you may want to consider touching base with her privately via e mail, since she was pushing hard researching this same area. All her posts date to 1998-'99, with the sole exception of one last straggler she submitted in the summer of 2003. For your benefit, I'll include two of her messages from the H-L archives below, both pertinent to queries she made re Oldendorf.

The first is the 2003 post previously mentioned. The second is a response she received a few years earlier from Fred Rump, our in-house curmudgeon and all around wunderkind (and the guy who put H-L on the map to begin with). FR is still with us, but checks in these days on a more hit and miss basis (heck, he could be anywhere in the country at any given time, ever since he took liberal flight in that gas guzzling monster-home deluxe of his). It's enough look at his signature line (@@ below). He was last spotted rumbling in the direction of Disney World over the holiday period. For all we know, he's still battling the Matterhorn (or is it Magic Kingdom?) there. Hope he didn't blow a tire. @@~@@ :slight_smile:

Others may have more to offer here, especially anyone better acquainted with the Oldendorf / Kreis Melle area.

Jb

PS. One of our German listers [H.P.A.] recently offered a very smart and practical piece of advice that warrants inclusion here also, as it is apropos to your situation. I'll include it as [Message 3] below. There are also professional Hannover area genealogists to be found, but as I'm sure you're aware, their services won't come 'a la cheap'. Let us know if you might have any interest along these lines.

3

"Larry Knigga, Ph.D." <lknigga@yahoo.com> schrieb:

.... Again and
again, he is listed as Hermann Heinrich Wortmann born
2 Oct. 1828 in Oldendorf, amt Melle.

...

Hello Larry Knigga,

there may be different reasons for him not being in the directory of the parish books, which were made usually very much of time lateron. Here some of them:
- just forgotten (seldom)
- not readable name in the entry (also seldom)
- having been living all his childhood in the place, but being born just, when mother has
               been visting parents or anybody else.
- being born and in the entry with the mother`s name, because of marriage lateron
- entry error by the parish-book writer

So it might be worth getting the notice, who was born in Oldendorf on that special date. In case of same prenames, there will be a hint to further research. As parish-books were no public books and seldom read by the people of the entries, errors had good chances to survive, if there was no reason to go back to the entry for an otherwise documentation. So if you have already his mothers name, it would be a good idea to look also under this name. Back again to the informal directory. According to the opinions of the time sometimes "unlegal" children were not taken up in the general directory, but when then at all in a small special one. A professional researcher would check up all this possibilities too. But off course nobody is perfect, the possibilities of going wrong ways were lots and are lots at any time.

Greetings

Hans Peter Albers, Bienenbüttel