Stefan IsraelJan 28, 20214 minWhy Couldn’t My Ancestor Spell Their Name the Same?You’re tracing your family back, and the spellings sometimes just go crazy.
Stefan IsraelJun 24, 20202 minKaffeeklatschKaffeeklatsch, a very gemütlich, cozy gathering. It translates as ‘coffee chit-chat’
Stefan IsraelApr 13, 20203 minDUTCH, not DEUTSCH: English, Dutch and GermanEnglish, Dutch and German are all related languages - the languages diverged - you can see it in how the same original words now differ.-
Stefan IsraelMar 2, 20204 minUnderstanding -Sen and -Son in a Name: Johnson, Janson and JansenWhy do some family names end in -son and some in -sen?
Stefan IsraelFeb 10, 20202 minDutch and Deutsch: so similar, so dissimilarWe’d talked about how much the German dialects vary, looking at dialect forms of the Lord’s Prayer. Let’s compare High German and Dutch.
Stefan IsraelJan 29, 20202 minAUGH! From German to EnglishAUGH! It’s not just a cry of distress, it’s an anglicization. Why do we see lots of names ending in -augh? Baugh, Grumbaugh, Brumbaugh?
Pamela IsraelDec 13, 20193 min1960 Christmas Card MysteryWhy were there piles of Christmas cards from 1960 sent from around the world to a young girl in Virginia?
Pamela IsraelSep 19, 20193 minWashing & Sewing: A Diary & TinsSewing, in addition to laundry, used to be a responsibility that almost every woman had. And yet it can be tough to get insights into this p
Stefan IsraelAug 5, 20193 minDutchland? Germany?The tribes that coalesced into Germans spoke 'the people’s/ popular language’ as opposed to Latin
Stefan IsraelMay 8, 20193 minH- huh? Making Sense of GermanGerman and English both mostly use h the same, as that puff of air at the start of a word: hello/hallo, here/hier, horn But what’s that h do
Pamela IsraelMay 1, 20192 minTips for Finding the Day of the WeekJust a head's up for those looking up dates further back (generally prior or 1752) or from some other countries cultures: People used di
Pamela IsraelApr 18, 20192 minPostcard Clues 100 Years On - Clues to Olof !It's amazing how curious you can get about people in no way related to you. I've written before about Olof Harrison, a Swede who mov
Pamela IsraelApr 5, 20192 minGerman Wedding Invitation DetailsOur family has a photo of the framed wedding invitation of my 2nd great aunt and uncle. It's a charmingly simple one. When I first came
Stefan IsraelMar 14, 20194 minWe're from Germany but Where?When you’re tracing an ancestor to Central Europe from a century or more ago, you need to find out which state they were from. Here are some
Pamela IsraelMar 1, 20192 minPostcard Pals - Old Swedish Cards in TranslationA series of correspondence to and from the same people opens up a whole new understanding about them. Old Swedish postcards from greater
Pamela IsraelFeb 11, 20192 minFrom Genf to Geneva and other TranslationsWhen learning about ancestors who immigrated to the US decades or centuries ago, you get a double challenge. Not only is there the translati
Pamela IsraelJan 22, 20191 minJoyous German Visit Home: 1925Eliese Trede, my mother's grandmother, immigrated in 1908, leaving her loving parents on a journey across the Atlantic. This is her 1925
Pamela IsraelJan 21, 20192 minBeloved Son, Hurry! 1843 LetterThis is an 1843 letter from my 3rd great grandfather, to his son telling him to hurry home from the army before his mother dies. We have a l
Pamela IsraelJan 18, 20191 minHandwritten Letters & a PostcardDay 2 to highlight the Art of Handwriting and your Family through January 23rd, National Handwriting Day. Share a favorite family hand-writt