Germany, her People and her Families:
        Through the rolling mists of time the richness and diversity of Germany, her people and cultural heritage sprang from the founding races and tribes that settled and conquored her regions. Many families actually trace thier heritage to their ancient tribal roots springing from adversity and triumph over feuding lands, territories and kings. 
        Whether they descend from the German crusaders who conquered surrounding regions establishing the roots of the Hapsburg Empire, or from the mountain folk who bred their horses and defended their territories from the peaks,.. each family played an important role in her history. Some fought and won the battle for survival, while others are just names in the ancient manuscripts lost in time.

• Point of Origin and founding culture/tribe
• Impact on the people of these roots through early medieval times and their branchings through politics, achievements or disasters.
• Family name spellings changes through time. No one family ever used just one spelling due to low literacy rates through until the 1800's. Without multiple spellings your genealogical trace can stall in its tracks.
• Family Coat of Arms registration and dating will determine the point at which the family gained recognition in court and could afford the taxes and levies associated with that standing. Personal Arms were not usually registered voluntarily unless the king, or court waved taxes that would cost the equivalent of building a new 1-3 bedroom house each year.
• Their migration points starting about the 1500's to other regions, other countries and then later to the New World.
• Remember knowing the Port of Departure rarely indicates how far they travelled to the port from thier home territories.

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BRITISH/GERMAN PASSENGER LISTS
Tracing your dna ancestry to North America you'll find that there were several major passenger ports in Canada through which hundreds of thousands of passengers arrived. Many of the passenger lists for these arrivals provide little information about the passengers and their ancestry. Passenger lists were required to list "aliens" who were traveling not people who were considered British citizens but many of the early German known as the Pensylvania Duetsch first sailed to Britain, Ireland and then on to the New World. After London and region was swamped with immigrants escaping the religious fervor that hit Europe in the late 1700's and early 1800's, the King and Queen of England knew something had to be done and began moving the immigrants into more manageable groups into regions where they held lands. Some families stayed as long as 50 years as Queen Anne tried to plant them in Ireland equipping them with a Queen Anne rifle, an acre of land, a cottage and a cow for their family. To do this however she seized the lands from local Irish landlords gifting the new settlers with the anger of the locals as well.  This one reason it can be difficult to trace the early settlements of the German families into North America as people from Ireland, England and Scotland whether they were German descent or not were considered citizens of the commonwealth and of no special mention. (back to top of page)

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PASSENGER LISTS FOR IRISH ANCESTORS
If you need to search ships' passenger lists for Irish ancestors, you'll want to check out Filby's major indexes. One of these is the Irish Famine Immigrants list, which has grown from four volumes to nine and is certain to grow  some more. You can find the entire set at major libraries  and genealogical societies. (back to top of page)

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OLD WEST TIPS
Finding Records of  Wagon Trains 
The best way to track an ancestor who may have headed west by way of wagon train, is to check the "jumping-off places." Some of those places were: St. Louis ,Davenport, Iowa ,Omaha , Muscatine, Iowa ,Dubuque, Iowa. Check the local newspapers during the time period that you're researching your ancestry. Look for reports of wagon trains heading west. These reports can identify the captain of the wagon train, provide the number of people traveling, and, often, list the names of the families from nearby towns who took the journey. Note - not everyone gave their real name, as this was posted publically, and some indentured servants were treated badly. If a name was changed and you suspect this was your ancestor check for the use of the mothersor grandmothers maiden names. One way of cross referencing is to check for family names from the same region/county in the old country - this will bring the size of the list down as to possible ancestors.

Tracing your Ancestry through the Indian Territory
Finding records of mountain men, trappers, farmers, and  traveling men who lived in the territories is difficult, but not  impossible. Several types of territorial records are kept in state historical libraries and the National Archives. County histories often mention original settlers, although the records might  not be accurate.

Wagon Trains West
Wagon masters often kept diaries and  records, which were later donated to local genealogical societies. Newspapers in towns along the trail--such as  Omaha, Kearney, and Ogallala, Nebraska--announced the  arrival of wagon trains.
Wagon trains associated with specific churches might be  recorded in church records in the town of arrival or departure. (back to top of page)