It just happened again! Just yesterday I found renewed evidence of the value of local histories in locating an immigrant's town of origin.
Researching in rural Buffalo County, Wisconsin, I turned to the three histories and biographical sources published for that county. The biographical sketches were gold mines of information about the many immigrants (German, Swiss, and Scandinavian) who had settled that county. Many sketches indicated the actual town where the immigrant was born!
Of course the case I was researching was not quite that fortunate, but the families were in the histories! Indeed, although the biography of William Kuehn did not mention the German town where his father was born, I obtained crucial clues that did shortly lead to the birth place of his wife's parents.
William was not an immigrant, so I did not expect his biography to identify a German town for his father. However, it did identify the names of his in-laws, John and Mary Duerkop, and all four of their children. The Duerkop surname was uncommon. In checking the index, I noted another Duerkop entry, for Carl. Carl was the son of Henry who was born in Germany. Henry was not William Kuehn's father-in-law, but was of the right age to be John Duerkop's brother.
Noting this information, I continued to search. Among the other sources available were the German Lutheran church records for this small community. There, in the church burial records I found records for John and Mary Duerkop, as well as John's brother. All three listed the place in s where they had been born!
In this case, it was the county history that provided the key clue: The names of William's in-laws, together with their relatives and immigration data. Do not be dismayed when the local history's biographical sketch of an immigrant does not name the home town, directly. Read further, and elsewhere in the history for more clues.
What are Local Histories and Biographies?
During the nineteenth century in the United States, a new kind of publication evolved: the county history. While local histories had existed before, notably in England, the new American style was much different. These books are much better sources of information on individuals, in part because American counties were so much younger than their English counterparts.
County histories are traditionally large volumes which detail the events that have occurred within a county, and the people who played a part. These histories detail the early settlements within a county, including who held which office, who founded various towns, when different churches were started, and other worthy information.
BookIn addition, most of the histories published between 1870 and 1920 included a lengthy section with biographical sketches of many of the county's families. Sometimes more than half of the 1,000 or more pages in a volume include these biographical sketches.
In the United States, they are definitely a product of the post-Civil War era. Before 1850, only 22 such histories had been published, and by 1870, only 96 had appeared. However, in the next 30 years, at least 1,166 county histories were published. Their popularity continued on into the twentieth century, as a similar number were published between 1900 and 1929.
Until about 1920, almost all of these histories pertained to the northern and western states, with the largest concentration in those states bordering on the Great Lakes (often called the Midwest). For researchers of immigrants, this is a tremendous benefit. It is in these northern states where the majority of nineteenth century immigrants settled.
At the same time, biography was becoming a major literary aspect of American history. As county histories, with their biographical sections, were published, other volumes began to appear which published only biographical sketches.
This is the origin of the still popular biographical dictionaries (such as the Dictionary of American Biography) and their close relatives, the "Who's Who" style books. These collective biographies developed, which profiled hundreds (sometimes thousands) of people sharing some common fact. Often it was vocation or occupation. Commonly, it was residence within a state.
The popularity of county histories encouraged publishers to issue county biographical volumes as well. These publications made no attempt to discuss the history of a county, they simply presented biographical sketches of many (but not all) in that locality. Precise numbers are not known. Hundreds of county biographies join the more than 2,000 pre-1920 county histories in providing significant biographical detail at the county level.
The Good and the Bad
Certainly any source which provides a biographical sketch of an ancestor is of great interest to the family historian. However, the wise researcher needs to understand these biographies. Note that the subjects of these sketches were almost always male, heads of families, who were alive when the book was in production. While there are exceptions, these were the same people who would supply the biographical information, purchase the book, and whose presence in the book would encourage others in the community to buy.
The information in a biographical sketch could include almost any aspect of a person's life, but generally always included information about the family, education, and occupation. Community service, including political offices was also a popular topic, as was the arrival in the county (if not born locally).
Thus, biographical sketches usually tell the subject's date of birth, parent's names, wife's and children's names, and often their birth dates. Usually there is some comment about where they were born. If the subject was an immigrant, the foreign country was always mentioned, and perhaps 30% or 40% of the time, the town of birth was also noted.
There are no known studies regarding what percentage of residents are profiled in such sketches. Nor do we know if immigrants were noted in greater or lesser numbers than their representation in the local population.
However, experience suggests that about a quarter to one-third of the established families in a county are discussed in the biographical sections. In rural areas, immigrants may be slightly better represented in these volumes than they were in the general population. Thus, there is a good chance that an immigrant ancestor's biography may appear in one of these volumes.
The question posed by many researchers is, what were the criteria for inclusion, was it money, vanity, or the family's importance in the community? The simple answer is, any and all three. Most accounts suggest that a subject had to pay for a biographical sketch. If they wanted their portrait, or a line-drawing of their "estate," there was an extra fee. Certainly the willingness to pay for a biographical sketch pre-supposes some vanity on the subject's part.
The publication of these volumes was generally seen (and marketed) as a patriotic effort. The country's centennial celebration in the mid-1870s as well as the successful conclusion of the Civil War (from the northern perspective) and both influenced consideration of local history and the part that a family may have played in that history.
For immigrants, the opportunity to document their success in the new country was difficult to deny. To be asked to take part in something that seemed so American as publishing a book about you and your neighbors, was very hard to resist. Of course, the more important a man was in a community (or believed himself to be), the more likely he was to take part in such offers.
But, before you turn away from these sources thinking, my family was too poor, or too humble, to be published, search the volumes! You will be surprised to learn that an ancestor was all too willing to show the world what he had achieved.
Since the information in these sketches was originally supplied by the subject himself, it is usually quite accurate, especially for his own immediate family. Therefore, names of places in the old country are very reliable, as is, generally, any other immigration information published there. Places are usually spelled correctly, unlike place names that occur in other records discussed in earlier lessons.
Immigrant researchers should not stop with the biographical section of county histories. These volumes have much more of value to the researcher:
- Churches of immigrants will likely be profiled, providing the specific name of the congregation and making it easier to locate the correct records for further research.
- Settlement patterns will often be discussed as well, helping you to determine exactly where an immigrant may have lived.
Also consider the many persons living in a county related to your immigrant ancestor. Sometimes -- especially when dealing with volumes published after 1900 -- the immigrant may have already died. Dead people don't buy books or pay for inclusion, so they are usually not the subject of a sketch. Still, check for sketches about their children.
Even if your direct ancestor had already moved away, a brother or nephew may still live in the old county. Information about them could provide significant clues for your further success, just as it did in the example described at the beginning of this lesson.
Even if you don't find any information about any family members, spend some time with the biographical sketches. Immigrants often settled near friends, neighbors, and relatives from the old country.
Read the biographies of those in the same township where your immigrant lived. Learn when they arrived, and from where. Which ones of them have a similar chronology to your immigrant? If you know, for example, that your immigrant came from Ireland, focus on the other Irish immigrants in the volume.
Compare what you know about your immigrant to the ones profiled in the biographical sketches. Consider the ancestor's birth year, year of immigration, religion, uncommon given names of children, occupation, and similar information. Review censuses for families living within five pages of your immigrant, and then seek those families in the biographies.
Beware of the index you find with these county histories and biographies. The index published within the volume is seldom a complete every-name index. The good news is that many volumes have been reprinted and these reprints often include an every-name index.
The subjects of the sketches themselves are often listed in the table of contents, however, they are probably not listed alphabetically. The sketches are often published in no particular order, although they may be arranged by township of residence. Those included in passing in the biographical sketch are probably not in the original index.
Often, local genealogical societies or libraries will have created an every-name index for most of the local histories. These may have been published and distributed to major libraries, or they may be just a manuscript at a local public library. Seek out such indexes, for you might find the immigrant's name mentioned in the biography of a person unknown to you. Such was the case with the Duerkop family mentioned above.
For many states, there is a state-wide index which serves as a master index to hundreds or even thousands of local histories. Such an index cannot be an every-name index, but it does, at least, index the subjects of the sketches, and sometimes others mentioned in more detail in the sketch. These master indexes are especially helpful if you are not sure in which county (or counties) an immigrant (or his children) may have lived within a state.
KEY: With state-wide indexes, Always check the list of sources indexed. Each such index is selective, and does not index all possible titles. Note particularly the counties which interest you. Then be sure to separately search sources that were not included.
Don't forget, most counties have two, three, or even more such volumes for this 50-year time period. Begin with the history published during the immigrant's lifetime, but don't stop with that history. Use the tactics discussed above as you search later histories.
Now, review your list of immigrants. Choose one who came during the nineteenth century, and who settled in a rural county. Using bibliographies and library catalogs, locate the county histories and biographies for that county.
You may need to use the Internet to examine the catalog of your favorite major research library. Once you determine what local published sources exist, make arrangements to search them. Sometimes you can use inter-library loan and have copies sent to your local library.
For more information on the use and value of local histories and biographies, even when you aren't just searching for immigrant ancestors, see:
- Meyerink, Kory L. (ed.). Printed Sources: A Guide to Published Genealogical Records (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1998), especially chapters 17 and 18.
- Filby, P. William. A Bibliography of American County Histories (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1987), a listing of 5,000 county histories (but no biography-only sources).