52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Week 12 Prompt - 12

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
2019
Week 12
Prompt - 12

There are many records that I use in my genealogy. It amazes me what is available for public records on line. It also helps if you have someone in the family who might be a pack rat and keeps records and mementos. I know every family has at least one. Here is 12 different types of records that I have used in my genealogy.

1. Parochial Certificate
   My maternal grandmother, Maria McLaughlin, her siblings and parents immigrated to Canada from Warenburg, Privalnjoe, Samara, Russia. Prior to leaving Russia, their Lutheran church pastor gave my grandfather, Andreas Krikau a Parochial Certificate. This certificate is an introduction to their new pastor stating that The Krikaus are in good standing with the church. The family also used it as a birth certificate. It is written in old German Script.  I know you can't read this but if you wish me  to forward a copy that you can enlarge, please email me.

   

   Written August 16, 1911.

2. A Memento – Anniversary Napkin
   My husband's maternal grandparents are Arthur and Ida Jahnke. They married June 24, 1917 in Killaly, Saskatchewan. Their daughter, my mother in law, Clara Hoffart saves all things. This 50^th Anniversary napkin is a type of record that shows their wedding date.

   

   Arthur and Ida Jahnke 50th Anniversary Napkin

3. Attestation Form
   My father, Jacob Peters served in WWII. All volunteers in the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force) were required to fill out an attestation form . It is an information form which gives us a snapshot of our military men on the day that they enlisted.

4. Personal Notebooks
   Bill's grandparents - Arthur and Ida Jahnke kept little pocket type notebooks. In his youth Arthur Jahnke had taken a 3 month course in bookkeeping. These notebooks are logs of their trips across Canada to United States. The information included in these notebooks include day they left for the trip, gas mileage, cost of gas, accommodation (usually a cabin) and much more. It is a wonderful tool to add some flesh to their story. Ida Jahnke kept her own notebook and she recorded birthdays, anniversaries, and death dates of her family. Plus I have samples of my ancestor's handwriting.
   
   
   
   
   
   

5. Burial Report
   My grandmother, Mary McLaughlin had 3 children. The second child was named George Windsworth Sullivan. He died at 3 months of age on January 8, 1925 and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Saskatoon. On a visit to the cemetery, I stopped at the office and asked what I might find for this burial. They had two documents and photocopied them for me. It was a burial report from McKague's and Sons Funeral directories that gave me information on his cause of death among other information.

   

   George Windsworth Sullivan Burial Report

6. Personal Trip Diary
   My mother's trip diary to Hawaii in 1976 is full of interesting tidbits of inner thoughts. They went to Hawaii for their first time. She kept the diary recording every day from the time they left Saskatoon until their return. It is more than a daily account of what they did, but more importantly to me what they felt.
   
   
   
   
   

   

   January 27, 1976 - Vivian Peters Diary Entry
7. Family Interview
   Bill's younger sister, Elaine had a school project in grade 12 in 1976. Her term paper was taken from an interview of her mother's father, Arthur Jahnke. Arthur was widowed at this time and living with his daughter, Clara Hoffart and family. Elaine had an opportunity to interview him several times and Arthur recounted many stories that she recorded. Elaine's report extended from the immigration of Arthur's parents in 1891 to Winthrop, Minnesota to the end of the depression in Killaly, Saskatchewan. It is a fantastic paper with named photographs and details that could have been lost to all of us. Thank you Elaine.

   

   Elaine Hoffart 1st Page of Family History

   
   

7. Ship Manifests
   Vessels carrying immigrants to North American were required to keep lists of the passengers on their ship. This list was to be left at the port of departure. My paternal great grandparents, David and Catharina Peters along with their 7 children left Hamburg in July 1875 destined for Quebec City.
   

   

   David and Katharina and Children Listed in a Passenger List.

   
   
8. Newspaper Obituary
   My father, Jake Peters died September 22, 1983. His notice was placed in The Saskatoon newspaper just prior to his funeral. Obituaries often contain much information for genealogists

Obituary for Jake Peters

9. Wedding Booklet
   I don't know if it is only the Lutheran Church that had these type of booklets. They were made for baptisms, confirmation and wedding events. The booklets had one page usually filled out by the minister with all the pertinent details of the event. My sister, Betty married John Olajos in 1963. This is an example of the type of detail included in the booklet.

Wedding Booklet for Betty Peters and John Olajos; April 20, 1963.

11. Postcard
    I have scanned a well kept album of Bill's grandmother – Ida Jahnke nee Bachmann which contains postcards she received when she was away from the farm on a seamstress course. Besides being beautiful they have tidbits of information. This particular postcard from her sister tells her she has to come home and help out as her sister says; its too much for her alone.I love the one cent stamp. Small villages and towns did not need specific addresses.
    

    
    
    
    
12. Who Do You Think You Are?
    We have known that Bill is distantly related to Randy Bachmann of Bachmann Turner Overdrive; aka BTO. The episode of Randy Bachmann was aired in September, 2012. We watched it with Bill's mother who said that all the information was familiar to her and she  had heard about before. As it turns out Randy's great grandfather, Friedrich Wilhelm Emil Bachmann is the brother of Bill's great grandfather, Wilhelm August Bachmann. The episode gave me clues to more of the Bachmann family. If you google this you can watch the episode.

Partial Description of The Episode With Randy Bachmann

These are 12 different types of records that I have used in my research. Maybe you have more records than you thought you might have had. Don't throw out those mementos because as I see it; for every memento discarded a family genealogist cries a bucket of tears at their loss.

Wendy