From: LeRoy Felzien
Sent: Friday, 03 September, 2004 14:01
To: Dan Felzien
Subject: Fw: Felzien Family History Update
 
----- Original Message -----
From: David Murray
To: LeRoy Felzien
Sent: Saturday, June 05, 2004 12:26 PM
Subject: Re: Felzien Family History Update

LeRoy,
 
I don't have it quite ready to be shared yet.  I have extracted the names and dates from the records, but I need to get together with my friend from Germany.  She will look over the names to make sure I have interpreted the spelling correctly and she will also translate the small details for me (occupations, relationships, towns, cause of deaths, etc.).  I will be meeting with her this next week, probably on Thursday.  I will also be sending a brief history of the area along with some pictures of how it looks today.  I am trying to get this all put together by the 19th as Dad & Mom will be coming to visit then to see my daughter's music recital.  Everyone is welcome to make copies of what I have so far, but please realize this is still a work in progress.  Will there be access to a  copy machine at the reunion?   The records I have for Holzendorf only go back to 1800, but there are supposed to be records going as far back as 1702.  I am trying to locate those records.  The records for Helpt go back to 1748.  I am working on the Helpt records right now.  The challenge is not only am I working with a foreign language, which I do not speak, but I am dealing with the Old Gothic Script, which I do not read!  Although the more you look at it, the more sense it begins to make.
 
How did I find this information?  :)  I took a hint from your book and I followed it.  The hint was this, "Information indicates that Fred was confirmed in Badresch, Germany in 1854."  First I confirmed that Badresch was the correct spelling of a real place that was indeed located in Mecklenburg, and then I found that the LDS church had microfilmed the records.  I then got an ILL through them.  I found Fred's confirmation record along with a few other records.  These records led me to Holzendorf and records I found in Holzendorf led me to Helpt.
 
I used a similar approach in finding what information I have on the Kortz family.  I use the Internet to find out what is available, then I order the records from the repositories that have them.  If I can, I look through the records myself, because I am going to pick up on information that a disinterested third party would not.  I will be trying to locate the Kortz Family records in Germany once I am finished with the Felziens.
 
When I get the project completed, I will print it in a book of some sort.  I am not sure how long it will take me.  The more I dig, the more I am finding.  Maybe I will have it ready to print up in 2005.
 
Vonnie
 
 
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: LeRoy Felzien
To: Vonnilou
Sent: 6/5/04 7:24:13 AM
Subject: Re: Felzien Family History Update

Wow you have found alot of things that I am anxious to see and have a copy even before the reunion.  If you have it in your computer could you email me what you do have now??  I am also interested in learning how you found this stuff!!
 
I have not had a reply to my letter from Nancy Jensen in St. Louis and I need to call her to find out what she did with it and follow that up some!!
 
Thanks so much Vonnie for doing this!!!!
LeRoy
----- Original Message -----
From: David Murray
To: j-lfelz@swbell.net
Sent: Friday, June 04, 2004 6:10 PM
Subject: Felzien Family History Update

Hi Leroy,
 
I just wanted to update you with what I have been researching on the Felzien Family.  I did not hear further from Mr. Jensen of Garding, Germany.  After I sent the letter,  we were real busy here with lots of different things happening .  I didn't do any work on our family history for about 3-4 months and so did not follow up on the letter, but I will be getting back to it.  I did locate Grandma Felzien's name on the Hamburg Lists, although I haven't found the passenger list for when her ship arrived here in the U.S.  I did find the family on Ellis Island records when they returned to visit Germany in 1909.
 
I have a little bit of information on the Kortz family (passenger list, census records etc.) and will be working more on that line also.  I haven't yet tried to locate them in Germany.
 
I am currently working on the Felziens.  I have located them in Germany and am in the process of going through microfilms of church records.  I have found Ernst & Fred as well as their parents and siblings. 
 
I am preparing a notebook with the information I have so far and will send it with Dad to the reunion so that others can look through it and see what I am working on.  My goal is to have a book of some sort prepared by the next reunion so that everyone can have a copy of this information.
 
Vonnie