Identifying Emigrants and Immigrants with German Origins
Friedrich R. Wollmershäuser, 1999
The following data about a person may be used for identification:
- Surname
- Given names
- Date of birth
- Place of birth
- State/country of birth
- Physical description
- Occupation
- Signature
- Names of wives and children
- Others.
In many cases, these data are just partially known, or they are wrong or not reliable. If identification between an emigrant and an immigrant cannot be done with certainty, the following method may be applied:
1. Try to exclude the person you found in the country of origin
- Gather biographical data of this person and see if they fit.
- Look for the death entry (many died in infancy prior to 1900).
- Look for the whereabouts of this person in the country of origin.
- Has the person been mentioned to be in the country of origin at a time when the immigrant is proven to have been in the country of destination?
- Try to find additional data about the person to confirm or disprove identification.
2. Try to determine the whereabouts of the person you found
- Passenger lists
- Probate records
- Orphans records
- German military records
- Calls for missing heirs
- Other sources
3. Try to find "circumstantial evidence"
- Does the religious denomination fit?
- Was the emigrant involved in "chain migration"?
- Was the emigrant member of an organized party of emigrants.
- Did the emigrant have a rare occupation which is suited to identify him?
- Did the emigrant have a rare given name and/or surname?
- Can a hint be derived from the given names of the children?
- The geography of the area of settlement may give some indication.
- Other agreements between the emigrant and the immigrant.
- Can discrepancies between the data on the emigrant and the immigrant be properly explained?
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