09 Feb 1796

Johann Adam Weber and Anna Barbara Holzapfel married in Schomberg (Oa. Neurenburg) Wurttemberg on 09 Feb 1796.

Adam and Barbara (German custom was to call their children by their middle name -- explains why there were so many Johanns in the same family)  were my great great great grandparents.

The LDS Church has microfilmed the records of a number of the churches in the region going back many decades (centuries).

On the same record which recorded the marriage, was recorded the name of Barbara's father, Jakob Holzapfel.  Trails to be followed.  Brick walls sometimes have stiles built over them by our friends in Salt Lake City.

My great great grandfather was known as Goodlif Weaver.   It was commonly known among the current family that he changed his last name from the German Weber to Weaver some time after coming to North America and settling in Pennsylvania.  What I did not find out until many years later was that he used a phonetic version of the translation of his first name as well -- Gottlieb (God Love) became Goodlif.  Birth dates and places of origin began to tie back and Gottlieb had been baptized in Wurttemberg.   Again, LDS had microfilmed those records.   Again the parents were listed.   And, one more step over the fence was made to find their marriage records.

So, in celebration of #WeddingWednesday I post this entry.  Do not give up.   There are more than the records in the U.S.  and they can be found.  Thank you LDS!

#Genealogy #GermanResearch #FamilySearch

Get the Obituaries -- all of them.

Curt Witcher (#CurtWitcher) of the #GenealogyCenter at the Allen County Public Library ( #ACPL ) in Fort Wayne, Indiana, recently posted a blog about making sure genealogists track down all possible places that an ancestor's obituary might be published -- not to forget Religious Newspaper, Foreign Language Newspapers, etc.  

Well, that is great advice, up until you run into my great grandfather, George Tobias.  I have two obituaries for G-Grandpa.  Unfortunately, each provides a radically different story about where he was born and how he ended up living in Northern Michigan.   One claims he was "born in Rhode Island 83 years ago and when a small boy moved to northern Michigan ..."   The other states he was "born at Black Lake [area near Cheboygan, Cheboygan Co, MI] and came to Cheboygan as a small boy with his parents."  

Each go on to give pretty much identical information.   So, the conclusion that this provides?   Two people were the source of each obituary.   Either may be correct.   Either may be wrong.  In the case of G-Grandpa's birth place, I have to dig much deeper because I can rely on neither source.

#Genealogy #Evidence #Obituaries