Where else can you look for your East Prussian families if you don’t have a specific location or you have exhausted whatever locations you do have? On Ancestry.com start with the Search menu and go to the card catalogue.
“Germany Lutheran baptisms, marriages, and burials 1518-1921”
In the title window type all words exactly “Germany Lutheran baptisms, marriages, and burials 1518-1921”
Read “Source Information” and “About the Collection” on the home page
You have two choices: You can search by surname and you can search by German State, i. e. East Prussia.
Search by Surname
I went to the search page where I could put in a surname. No one else had done this.
Spurgat had 242 records, which are available as a printed copy of essential information or viewing the original record. Some variation of spelling occurred.
This list gave me other places to look for that name.
Here is a printout of what an individual record looks like.
When you select view, you will get the original record.
It looks familiar if you have ever used microfilm.
The name I am looking for is the third one from the top. A
Other names I was researching include Hutop which had 26. Cering provided alternate spellings. I also tried Zering. Guddat produced two Carolines. Berz also came up. Simoneit came up. Wilhelmina Stein came up.
SUCCESS STORY
Another researcher’s East Prussian results: She had 598 names.
She knew a 2nd great grandfather’s name and confirmed his birth record. She went all the way back to the name of a 5th great grandfather and his estimated birth date from the 1743 birth/baptismal record of the 4th great grandfather.
In his wife’s line she was able to go all the way back to 4th great grandparents with an 1813 birth/baptismal record.
A Few Hints
Provides an easier starting place than FHL films
Separate left and right-sided films have been merged
Printed partial translation of record
This collection does not contain not all films in a given location
Sometimes an index appears but no records
Check the FamilySearch catalogue for a complete listing
For example, I knew that I had searched the Willhunen, Kreis Pillkallen records. I wondered if I had already seen these. So, when I checked my notes, I found my films were 490409 deaths, 1813788 marriages, 1813787 births. There were slight differences. The lesson is check all possible resources.
FamilySearch
Why not just go to FamilySearch? The films on Ancestry are easier to use for the reasons cited above.
When I asked Ancestry and Family Search representatives about the fact that FamilySearch records were on Ancestry, they told me that they did not know the contents of the various contracts either signed.
Because of previous contract negotiations, some German films may only be accessible at a local Family History Center. Some larger centers are being expanded and offering more computers, but many of the smaller ones are closing or open on very restricted schedules. If a film is available in Ancestry you can access it on your home computer with a worldwide subscription or free at many public libraries.
This part of Ancestry.com is also in the Ancestry Library Edition and the Family History Center edition.
DNA Connection:
Recently a researcher who follows this blog used this collection and DNA to prove a relationship between our two families. Originally, we could not find a genetic connection. By using both the records and DNA we now have more work ahead of us, but we remain excited. With the permission of the researcher, details may be the subject of a future post.
Genealogy for German Lutherans In Suwalki Province 