One thing you may not know about me is that I’m an early riser. Usually I am up around 5am. Yes, this is super early, but I have been doing this a long time. When I was working, it was my research time before work. Yes, I was very obsessed with my genealogy.
Being an early bird gets the worm, and my other hat ‘farmer Nancy’ leaves at the crack of dawn to work in ‘The Pickle Patch.’ It you don’t know anything about The Pickle Patch, it is a free plot in my county community gardens about 30 minutes from my house. This was my designated day to be home and work on my blog. Typically, my morning routine goes something like this: wake up, eat breakfast, and head out to get my steps. If Dru is here, then he goes too! Then, settle in my recliner chair that is my computer office. At 10 am, I designated my time to ‘work’. Meaning anything to do with my blog from writing to designing. On this day, though, I ended up putting off my blog, which funnily enough, helped me discover my next blog post.
So, what happened for me to put off my blog work? Let me first fill you in on my Steiner lines and a little bit about where I find my records.
It Started Over a Year Ago
Would you believe I started working on my Swiss lines over a year ago? It all started from receiving one hint from FamilySearch, which you can click here to read about it. I have been steadily jumping to all the different surnames that make up where I finally connected Anna Carolina’s parents: Gottfried Steiner and Elisabeth Kreienbühl.
You are probably thinking that I spend way too much time on one branch in my tree, and it depends on where the information/documentation comes from. As I work on each surname, I keep a detailed record with file number and image number as well as other pertinent information and notes. All of the Swiss records for my ancestors can only be viewed at a FamilySearch Center. So, I have a backlog of work to do on this branch. You are probably wondering why I didn’t use Ancestry. Well, Ancestry is good, but they don’t have these particular records.
So every Tuesday and 1st and 3rd Saturday is my volunteer consulting time at my local FamilySearch Center. If nobody needs help, I work on my list. With my notebook and thumb drive, I methodically look up each record. Then I enter where and when I found it and put the digital image on my thumb drive, along with the film number, image location, name, and event with date. This way, I can find it easily again. One great resource to use when relocating the record on FamilySearch is the “source box”. Which you can click here to read my top FamilySearch tools.
I also want to mention that I finally figured out how to view some of the Swiss canton archives online. A while back, I mentioned that “Robert” sent me some Steiner records when I got my hint from FamilySearch, and he also has the Steiner tree that includes my ancestors on his Geneanet tree. As with any well-documented tree, his resources told me exactly where to find the record to view on the Bern Archive.
With each ancestor and resources listed, I confirmed the ancestor by retracing his steps to double-check his work. By looking at the original digital image, you see more than what is listed on the index. In a typical Baptism record, it usually lists the sponsors. By looking at the record, you might get some clues that could confirm your family like siblings or parents as the sponsors. It could also give you location or citizenship. Below is an example from Robert’s tree.
Geneanet Sources for Samuel Ulrich Steiner:
On The Bern Archive:
I am not going to give you all the steps for the Bern Archive, but the main thing to remember is to click the plus (+) symbol to the left of the parish location. In my case, I searched for Trub Baptism 1717-1740. At the highlighted location, you double click to open up, then click on the pdf file to access it.
Robert’s sources gave me the actual page number, which I could refer to when looking at the Bern Archive.
I reached a point where Robert’s tree ended but continued with my own research on FamilySearch. With these particular Swiss records, you can only view the digital image at a FamilySearch Center. So, when I find a record on FamilySearch at home, I use the index information to locate it on the Bern Archive.
Being able to use the Bern Archive at home meant I could confirm if the record was my ancestor’s and get more clues. This saved me time as I didn’t have to put “Possible so and so” and wait until I get to the FamilySearch Center to find out.
Even though I can use the Bern Archive, though, I still prefer the FamilySearch copies for my family tree as the images are more digitally enhanced.
So, what was my discovery that also ended up being a great birthday present?
My Hot Ancestry Puzzle
At precisely 10 a.m., I was supposed to stop my research and work on my blog. 10 a.m. came and… went, while I continued to work on the Steiner puzzle. I am sure this never happens to my readers.
Here is my branch of the Steiner lines and the ones with red X’s were my hot ancestry puzzle.
It might not look like I discovered anything on my photo, but it took me most of the day to figure it out. One thing you need to know about Swiss records is that they sometimes record the parish record twice, once at the location they were currently living and the duplicate record went back to their citizenship, if they had one.
My Steiner lines citizenship was Trub, Bern, Switzerland. According to the Register of Swiss Surnames, my Steiner lines from Trub acquired their citizenship before 1800 and I can actually say based on my records it was in the 1600’s. Sometimes, the duplicates records to Trub or other citizenships locations that were recorded might not be in chronological order as it depends when it was sent back to their citizenship. So, having the records indexed on FamilySearch really helps even if the spelling is just not quite right.
Working back on Samuel Ulrich Steiner, I had these clues:
- His citizenship was in Trub based on his son, Johannes Steiner, Baptized 1770.
- Marriage record also confirmed his Trub citizenship.
- His official name was Samuel Ulrich, but sometimes he used just Samuel or just Ulrich. Which was proved with other records like his children’s Baptisms or his death record.
- I thought his original Baptism could be in Vaud based on the record that was indexed on FamilySearch for his brother, Christian Steiner, Baptism 1740 in Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland.
Working back takes a lot of time as I build on what I find going back and forth looking at FamilySearch then looking it up on the Bern Archive. My one stumbling block is that I usually have to send an email for help as my eyes are not very good at reading German or French as far as locations go. “Matthew,” my Swiss friend that I made with my Steiner hint over a year ago, has been very kind to help me. I am learning so much and I think I am getting better. To help improve my reading and getting ready for Nancy Dru on the road, a family trip to hit where some of our ancestors came from, I am studying hard at learning German with the APP, ‘Duo Lingo.’
When I looked at his Baptismal record recorded on the Trub records, I wasn’t quite sure where he was actually Baptized. I was proud that I was finally able to figure it out on my own with help like Google Maps and a list of Vaud municipalities from FamilySearch Wiki to help me identify the letters and look for what I could identify. Here is the record to give it a try.
If you came up with Chexbres, then you are on your way to becoming a super ancestry sleuth. With this bit of information, I then go back to FamilySearch and click on the catalog tab and enter Chexbres in the place search box to give me all the records that are available for Chexbres. Two results are listed: church records and civil registration. I selected church records, and it gives me detailed information about the records and lists the film number.
Under the tab of format, it has a camera with a lock symbol above it. If it didn’t have the lock, I could proceed to look for my image. I quickly copied the film number and clicked the tab search, records and clicked more options. At ‘More options,’ you will enter the image group number or film number.
The reason why I am going into detail about how I did this search, is so that you can try it on your own with your own ancestry puzzles. Before I got to this point, I already knew there was another son born to Philip Samuel and Christina Steiner, named Christian. Right away, I noticed that Christian was listed in Lausanne Vaud records on FamilySearch, whereas Samuel Ulrich was not. This usually indicates a couple of things:
- The Chesbrex film was not indexed.
- First or last name not spelled correctly.
Since I was looking for Samuel’s Baptism record, I concentrated on only pulling the birth record option and put 1737 for my year range. Pay close attention to the canton that should be used. When I started typing Chexbres, two options popped up with years and, for this, my records were in the canton of Bern. After 1803 Chexbres is in Vaud.
Going down the list, I looked for:
- Samuel Ulrich or any combination.
- Birth date 18 August 1737
- Parents names of Philip Samuel Steiner and Christina Bachofner.
I found a record that seemed to match most everything. The only thing was the surname of De La Pierre. When I opened up the record, I checked for similar records by clicking on the hyperlinks parents and there was a marriage record for the parents of Samuel Ulrich.
Remember, I couldn’t view the film because of the lock symbol on the film, and so what I found was the index, that if I was in a FamilySearch Center, all I would need to do was click on the image, but I wasn’t. I needed to view these records to confirm that the Chexbres and Trub records match. Since I figured out how to locate the records on the actual Swiss Archives, I was able to confirm that the sponsors were the same on both records. Yay!
Next, I emailed Matthew and Leonard about my discovery and both knew the answer to my puzzle. They both responded on my birthday and just solving the name was such a great birthday present!
Putting Off My Blog
If you could solve it just by seeing the FamilySearch index and knowing the records were in French, then you must know French. Both of my friends are European and can speak more than one language. Of course, both told me that Steiner means stone and that de la Pierre means of the stone.
To test this, I went to FamilySearch surnames, where you can click here if you want to learn about your surname. The Steiner came up stone, but Delapierre or De La Pierre didn’t, but Google translate did. I learned something new. Who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. 😀
So now, when I have a hot ancestry puzzle and I am supposed to blog, I have no problem putting off my blog as it might be my next blog post and technically I am still working. Wink, wink.
