Sources of family research

Search for descendants of German emigrants

In order to find descendants of German emigrants in the USA, family researchers have extensive sources at their disposal. Newspapers, most of which have been digitized and can be viewed online, are very productive. The family announcements regularly contain reports on family events such as births, engagements, marriages and deaths as well as land purchases, obituaries, court hearings, social events and accidents. Another option is the American people search engines such as www.searchpeoplefree.com. Here, family researchers can find home addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses as well as information on relocations and other relatives. Finally, living descendants of German emigrants in the USA can also be found through DNA tests with providers such as Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, 23andme and LivingDNA by finding related people in match lists and contacting them. When searching for descendants of German emigrants, however, it should be noted that family names were often changed before leaving Germany or after arriving in the USA in order to adapt linguistically to the new homeland and to Americanize the family names.

Online presentation

Finding living relatives in the USA

Source: Ahnenforscher Stammtisch Unna

https://youtu.be/9ELNcF_s8a8?si=jTO_K55RIwEAQvYl

Online presentation on 6.5.2024 – Speaker Sabine Akabayov, PhD

Online presentation

The US Vital Records –
US civil registers and church records

Source: Ahnenforscher Stammtisch Unna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0muB24ZZPQ4

Online presentation on 18.4.2024 – Speaker Barbara A. Pieh and Kent Cutkomp