Research Journal: German

  • Started with information gathered by my great-aunt, Marge. She had a book written by Fr. Ambrose German, which had traced the German family as far back as Basilius (and his father, Frank). Amazingly, the book also traces the hundreds of Basilius' descendants, an enormous task! Marge also had precious pictures to share.

  • Began to gather official government documentation to verify the work done by Fr. German.

  • Received Basilius' death certificate, which, unfortunately, was too early to request parents names and only lists place of birth as Germany.

  • Internet searches found some interesting sites:
  • Marge Galus Sandlier's database on Rootsweb
  • Marge Sandlier's Home Page
  • Princeville Township History
  • Past And Present Of Platte County, Volume II
  • Illinois Databases Online
  • Received Basilius' wife Gertrude's death certificate, which occured later and did have parents names and parents place of birth. It is sloppy handwriting and looks something like "Owersbach, Baden." This was the best lead I had thus far to their birthplace in Germany, since, according to Fr. German's book, Basilius and Gertrude were sweethearts in Germany, though they married in America.

  • Did a search at http://www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/loctown.htm for this town. Nothing matched exactly. Ordered Baden microfilm from local LDS branch as directed by their tutorial. Didn't find what I needed.

  • Posted messages to the message boards at ancestry.com and genealogy.com re: the town name in Baden. Received an email from a kind soul who had family connections to the German's through the Hofer line. He pointed me to the LDS website to do a search for the surname spelled "Goermann." I had never thought to try that spelling. Lo and behold, there was Basilius, with matching birthdate and father, Franz. Jackpot!! Actual spelling of the town name is "Önsbach." Another Internet Search found:
  • Önsbach, Baden, Germany on Mapquest
  • Picture of a church in Önsbach (denomination unknown)
  • Black Forest Genealogy Site (This is area of Germany that Önsbach is in)
  • Listing of LDS microfilm for the Catholic Parish in Önsbach, Baden, Germany
  • Very happily ordered the LDS microfilms for the Catholic church in Önsbach and began research. This research is still in progress!

  • Posted findings to this site and to rootsweb. Several cousins have contacted me from these postings and have been kind enough to share some pictures for which I am eternally grateful! This site is also a work in progress.

  • April 2005 - Ordered and received Familienbuch Önsbach by Eugen Weber, which I am thrilled to have! It traces the Goermann line back to Bräunlingen, Baden. My next task will be to order the films from Bräunlingen and see if I can find any more information.

  • July 2007 - Did a search of Ancestry.com and finally found the ship's manifest for Franz, Basilius, and siblings, and Helena and Conrad Hofer. Did not find Basilius' future wife, Gertrude Seeger on this ship manifest... so family story probably holds true.



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