Weser River Project
Kenneth W. Heger, Ph.D. & Debra A. Hoffman, PLCGS
MAGS President Ken Heger and MAGS Secretary Debra A. Hoffman share the next installment of items from the first volume of U. S. Consular Records from Bremen-Miscellaneous Records as extracted by Debra A. Hoffman. The volume begins in 1797. It includes significant genealogical items from that volume and additional items will be published in each issue of Der Kurier until completed. This issue includes entries from between 25 August 1801 and 30 July 1803.
A Random Clue Opens a New Family Line
Bob Greiner
Louisa Kammerdiener’s life stretched across 82 years, two continents, three marriages, and several dramatically different communities. Born in Herschberg in the Bavarian Pfalz in 1829, she immigrated to New York City as a young child and grew up in Kleindeutschland, the city’s bustling German immigrant neighborhood. For years, her story seemed to disappear after the 1870 census, until a descendant’s family interview revealed remarriages that led to new records in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey. Those discoveries connected Louisa to the German-founded “New Germany” settlement, where she spent much of her later life. Her story shows how church records, land records, wills, census entries, family interviews, and online sharing can come together to solve a difficult genealogy mystery.
Getting Started With War Department Correspondence, Part II: Letters Sent by the Secretary of War Relating to Military Affairs, 1800 – 1889
Ken Heger
Ken Heger shows readers what a rich genealogical source War Department correspondence is. Using the search for Emil Grüneisen, a Württemberg immigrant who enlisted in the U.S. Army under the alias Charles Green, he demonstrates how these records can reveal birthplace, age, occupation, military service, health, location, and family connections. The records also include letters about pensions, back pay, discharges, claims, employment, imprisoned soldiers, missing relatives, and inquiries from foreign consuls and private citizens. Because both the letters and indexes are digitized and available for free through the National Archives, making them an invaluable online resource for researchers. The series offers a valuable way to trace immigrants who served in the U.S. military or came to the attention of diplomats, family members, or federal officials.
German Language and Culture: German Trade Cards
Dan Soller
Dan Soller shares the third in a six-card series depicting the life and works of Amadeus Mozart. These trade cards are a rich and fascinating part of advertising and print history. Produced by the Liebig's Extract of Meat Company, these collectible cards were issued from the late 19th century into the early 20th century, primarily across Europe. The cards included in this issue depict scenes including Mozart and Schikaneder working on the opera "The Magic Flute" and Mozart listening to his last work, the Requiem, in 1791 shortly before his death.
Know Your German States: Hesse/Hessen
Dan Soller
This series helps Der Kurier readers understand the history and genealogical resources available to them for each of the modern German states and external German territories. Hesse traces its roots to the ancient Chatti and developed through medieval landgraves, dynastic partitions, the Protestant Reformation, and later state mergers into modern Hesse. After World War I, Hesse-Darmstadt became the democratic People’s State of Hesse, but its early republic faced major political and economic changes.
