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Research Plan for Johannes Zittel

In the ON Templates Section of the Surname notebooks, there is a template for a Research Plan. (A special thank you to Christine Sisko Clause for letting me borrow heavily from her original template to create mine all those years ago.) It’s rather fancy-pants and I have used it on occasion. I like using it when I am trying to solve just one problem for a person or family group. If it’s more complicated, I end using the Initial Research Page that I described in my last post. I filled out a Research Plan for you as an example using the research I did for the death date and place for Johannes Zittel.

This is what the Blank Research Plan template looks like: Blank Research Plan PDF

Blank Research Plan Template

 

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On to the plan… Trees online at Ancestry had John Zittel’s death on 8 Oct 1847 and burial in St. John’s Cemetery in Sheldon, New York. But a change to the FindaGrave.com memorial I had attached to his death put that information in doubt. I did some digging and found my answers.

The template for a Blank Research Plan has some basic instructions and several different tables grouped together to complete the plan. Always start with what you know and give details from the sources you may already have acquired. I filled out the first table in the Research Plan with what I knew, the new, conflicting information and sources (documents) I got the information from.

Partial Johannes Zittel Research Plan

The example above shows the information I originally had and where I got it from as supporting the original conclusion. The next two lines (last line not shown in image above), detail the known conflicting information about Johannes Zittel’s death date. [As a side note: Originally the trees on Ancestry showed Johannes Zittel having the given name of “John” probably because of this FindaGrave.com memorial that is now in question. However, as I have researched more on this family in the last few months, I have discovered his given name to be Johannes.]

 

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The next three tables are for your Research Question, Clues / Hypothesis and Tasks / Places to Look (for new information).

Another portion of Johannes Zittel Research Plan

In my Research Plan, I wrote the specific information I was looking for as a Research Question. Then I detailed some thoughts about where to look for more records and other thoughts I had before I hypothesized that Johannes may have actually died in Cleebourg, France:

  • Given that his wife and several children traveled without him to New York.
  • The fact that I did not see him living close to family members in the 1840 US Census in Sheldon, New York.
  • There are no other apparent records for Johannes in what was then Genesee County, New York.

However, I did search methodically through the records as I outlined in my Clues / Hypothesis table rather than jumping right into the Cleebourg death records just to make sure I had not missed him.

 

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Given that the conclusion is fairly straight forward, I am not going to analyze the new sources (documents) using a Source Description Template nor did I use the table for the Research Log that is included on the Research Plan template. I just put images of the sources (documents) at the bottom of the page with their source citations. (For the most part, at least.)

Conclusion Johannes Zittel Research Plan

 

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Johannes Zittel died on 5 Jan 1819 in Cleebourg, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France according to the death record I found there. To corroborate that this was indeed the right Johannes Zittel — the one married to Margaretha Motz — I then looked for their marriage record. The parents listed on the death record and marriage record for Johannes are the same so I concluded that the death record was his. A PDF of the completed Research Plan is here.

Cleebourg 1819 death record1

Death Record

Cleebourg 1798 marriage record2

Marriage Record

 

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No, I cannot read French nor German. Google Translate and I are becoming fast friends. Regarding the marriage record, I am trusting the person who listed the marriage date over at FamilySearch.org for Johannes Zittel’s profile. The year is correct judging by the volume I found the marriage record in, but I do not see at the top of the record where it says “vingt thermidor” which is the date of the French Republic Calendar for 7 August 17983. I am going to have someone who has more experience translating French and German records confirm the date for me.

Date calculation

 

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My original reason for using the Research Plan in a more formal way for that genealogical problem was to document my conclusions and turn it into a PDF that could be attached to Johannes Zittel’s profile in my Ancestry tree. Because the death information is pretty straight forward, I am going to add the information with a PDF of the death record from the Bas-Rhin Archives and the citation to his profile instead. Which I am going to attempt to go do right after I upload this blog post, because I have a tendency to skip that part while chasing after more bright shiny objects and falling down numerous other rabbit holes, etc.

Until the next time,

~Erin


1 “Cleebourg Death Register – 1819” database with images, Departmental Archives of Bas-Rhin (http://archives.bas-rhin.fr/detail-document/ETAT-CIVIL-C74-P1-R56411#visio/page:ETAT-CIVIL-C74-P1-R56411-3077231 : accessed 1 May 2020, image 2 of 9 > No. 1 > 5 Jan 1819 > Entry for Johannes Zittel.

2 “Cleebourg Marriage Register – Year VI” database with images, Departmental Archives of Bas-Rhin (http://archives.bas-rhin.fr/detail-document/ETAT-CIVIL-C74-P1-R56276#visio/page:ETAT-CIVIL-C74-P1-R56276-289673 : accessed 1 May 2020, image 3 of 5 > Entry for marriage of Johannes Zittel and Catherina Margaretha Motz.

3 “The Republican Calendar” date converter app. Napoleon.org (https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/the-republican-calendar/ : accessed 2 May 2020); converted > 7 August 1798 Gregorian calendar to French Republic calendar date of 20 thermidor an VI.


Cite This Page:

Erin Williamson Klein, “Research Plan for Johannes Zittel.” My Family History Files.com, 2 May 2020 (https://myfamilyhistoryfiles.com/research-plan/research-plan-for-johannes-zittel/ : [access date]).

Please do not copy without attribution and link back to this page.


 

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The Butcher, Baker and Candlestick Maker

[Disclaimer: There is no candlestick maker involved in this story. It just sounded good.] I found out that I come from a long line  of bakers in Preuschdorf, France. (Four generations!) And just an FYI, the baker’s daughter married the butcher in Buffalo.

This post is actually about the Timeline Template I created in OneNote that I never use. Why don’t I use it? Mostly because I don’t like the tables in OneNote. I don’t like that I am unable to merge and split cells. I especially do not like how thin and light the lines are around the cells. (I have old eyeballs. Give me black lines around the cells, please.) I make my Timelines in MSWord and attach the file and a printout to the person’s Timeline page. I set the page orientation in Word to Landscape so I have more space across the page for all my columns. I have written about using timelines before. I will link to Anne Mitchell’s video again about how and why to create timelines  at the bottom of this post if you want to view it later. The problem with the previous timeline example is the person in the example is not my real paternal grandfather. (I like to refer to him as my faux grandfather.) Yes, that whole DNA tree implosion thing I hinted about before. That timeline annoys me since it is a reminder of how much time I spent researching the wrong surname.

I have a new Timeline example though. I went back to my Büsch / Cuntz line and created a Timeline from the records that I have gathered during my research over the last couple months. I posted about initial research I conducted and concluded on this line a few weeks ago and the next round of research I was going to conduct. I finished that research and then created a Family Timeline in Word for this couple.

I had decided (Once again! Since I have made this decision before…) a while back that I wanted to tackle one of my direct-line ancestral couples per week — getting all their sources gathered, downloaded, cited and uploaded to Ancestry and WikiTree. (Since I’m fairly certain I don’t have 25 more years left to spend on research, this is important to me.) While working on this couple, I realized that while a week might be long enough for a couple that has less than 10 records or a couple that much of the research is already done, it may not be enough for other couples in my lines that need more research. For Georg Heinrich Büsch and Catherina Barbara Cuntz, I now have 28 records, 16 that are in French; so a week was not going to be long enough to finish up everything I wanted to accomplish. I haven’t even looked at land and probate records yet, nor completed my searches in the Buffalo City Directories. (Which will be the plan for the next time I visit this couple. Hopefully the records aren’t going anywhere in the meantime.) The new plan is to work on one ancestral couple for as long as it takes to find the usual records I might not already have in my tree — birth, marriage, death and census — while not get totally sidetracked — and then move on to the next couple. I had a similar plan years ago but got lost in caregiver duties and never had enough time for research. (Regarding only spending a week on each couple… That also doesn’t take into account the time I need to spend on ongoing research on the dilemmas in my Research Quandaries notebook because continuing research on those has to continue as well. Then there is all the quilting and fiber art related projects. Let’s not forget the Rosetta Stone French lessons either. I almost forgot about the gardening on the patio! Who needs Netflix? I could hold an online class on how to stay busy at home during a pandemic.)

My stack of couples on scrap paper.

I had 50 couples with just some basic info on a scrap piece of paper to start. (There are 0 couples for my mother’s paternal line so the number would be higher if I knew my mother’s paternity.) Of course, I got sidetracked on the Büsch / Cuntz line. It’s inevitable. I did manage to not fall too far down the rabbit hole and to rein myself back in. Although I ended up going back two more generations, (Because rooting around in church records from the 1700s seemed like a fun challenge!) I didn’t get carried away researching all the children for the  new couples and then on down each of those lines. (You know I was tempted!) I found a few records for the new generations which then added three more couples to my pile and then went back to my original couple like a good little researcher. (In real life, I am in introvert and do not talk this much. Really. Truly.)

When I left off with this couple, I was going to go back through birth and death records searching for more children. I also looked for the death records for the deceased parents mentioned in the marriage record. The parents still living at the time of the marriage both died before Henry and Barbara emigrated so I added them to the timeline as well. Because the death records mention their parents names, I got started down the rabbit hole. (Who doesn’t want to go a few generations farther back when the names are right there?) When I was digging further into these lines, I just made some notes in the table I had created for Henry and Barbara’s marriage record. I have copied that table over to the Sections for both fathers on their Initial Research pages and made notes about the next generation back. The second Initial Research for Georg Heinrich Büsch page looked like this when I finished:

 

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The first page of the Georg Heinrich Büsch Family Timeline  in Word looks like this:

The citations for all the records I found are listed below the table. Here is a link to the PDF so you can view the whole thing.

 

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Once the Timeline is done, it can be attached to the Timeline page in the Person’s Section under > Insert > choose File Attachment > Insert Printout. A Word file icon appears at the top of the page and your Word pages are added as screenshots to the page.

You cannot edit the Word pages in OneNote. You must reopen the file in Word. To reopen the Timeline from OneNote, right click on the File Icon > choose Open. If you have made any changes to the Timeline in Word, you can refresh the printout (screenshots) in OneNote by right clicking on the file icon > choose Refresh Printout. (See below.)

 

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Georg Heinrich’s Section and all the other Sections I created for new family members as I needed them are now all neatly tucked back into the Buisch Surname Notebook where they belong. Note that Georg Heinrich’s new Initial Research page has a list of the next three items to research.

 

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I have added the sources to WikiTree.com for Georg Heinrich Büsch and Catherina Barbara Cuntz and I will be adding the citations and sources to Ancestry over the next few days and then it’s on to the next couple in the pile. I am not looking forward to doing the citations on Ancestry. I have contemplated uploading the Timeline PDF and calling it good but I won’t.  The Cuntz Cold Case Sub-Section of my Research Quandaries notebook is officially closed. I’m doing a genealogy happy dance. (In my head. Because: Introvert.) Oh, and in case you are wondering, the baker’s daughter, Eva Elisabeth Büsch, married the butcher, Wilhelm Friedrich Beidinger/Baitinger on 26 June 1845 in Buffalo, Erie, New York.1

Until next time,

~Erin


1 “New York, Church Records, 1660-1954,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPZJ-SYVS : 10 October 2019), Wilhelm Friedrick Baidinger and Elisabeth Büsch, 26 Jun 1845; citing multiple churches, Marriage, Erie, New York, United States.


Creating Timelines: A 15 minute tutorial by Anne Mitchell (AKA: Ancestry Anne)


Cite This Page:

Erin Williamson Klein, “The Butcher, Baker and Candlestick Maker.” My Family History Files, 22 May 2020, (https://myfamilyhistoryfiles.com/onenote/the-butcher-baker-and-candlestick-maker/ : [access date]).

Please do not copy without attribution and link back to this page.


 

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52 Ancestors How I Finally Found Margaret

Margaret Hausauer and her first husband, Henry Buisch are my great great grandparents. They are the parents of Henry George Buisch [52 Ancestors #1] according to his death certificate. The were both complete brick walls for me back when searching was more difficult and required waiting for microfilm to be ordered, delivered and then searched at the local Family History Library. Now with online indexes and records, searching is so much easier! And it helped me finally find Margaret. [Margaret’s life with Henry is still a bit of a mystery but I’ll detail that in a later post.]

Other Hausauer researchers on Ancestry.com that connected to the line that I suspected my Margaret was part of had no additional information on her other than her place and year of birth. What little I knew about Margaret when I began searching in earnest recently was what I had been able to gather from online trees and records at Ancestry. It included when and where she was born, when she arrived in America, her parents names, two places of residence for her parents and two places of residence for Henry Buisch’s possible parents. I took that information and did some creative searching.

  • Margaret Hausauer, born 1826
  • Parents: Michael Hausauer and Margaret Zittel
  • Immigration: 1833 from Alsace, France
  • Parents’ residences: Sheldon, Wyoming, New York [1840] and Wales Center, Erie, New York [1860]
  • Henry’s parents: George Buisch and Barbara LNU
  • Immigration: 1834 from Alsace, France
  • Henry’s parents’ residences: Sheldon, Wyoming, New York [1840] and Buffalo, Erie, New York [1850]

My preference for searching is at FamilySearch.org although I do use the search feature at Ancestry.com in tandem with what I uncover at FamilySearch.org. I just prefer the interface there over the one at Ancestry. Here is how I searched and found Margaret step-by-step.

FamilySearch.org Search Page
FamilySearch.org Search Page

On the main search page at FamilySearch.org [shown above] I left the Name fields blank. [Yes, you can do that.] I restricted records to United States and New York because my direct lines never left New York. [Or if they did leave, they returned later.] Then I put Birthplace > France and Birth Year (Range) > 1825 – 1827 and clicked Search. The number of records found was 17,735. Time to drill down the results into something more manageable.

FamilySearch.org Search Results 1
FamilySearch.org Search Results 1

As shown above, in the search parameters on the left I added Search with a life event > Residence Place > Erie County, New York. That narrowed the search down to 3,769 people. Still a little high.

Further down in the search parameters there is a filter for gender. I used the gender filter for female and narrowed down the search results to 1,678. Then I went back up to the top and added Refine your search > First Name > Margaret. [shown below]

FamilySearch.org Search Final Results
FamilySearch.org Search Final Results

That narrowed down the results to 127. Much more to my liking. Oh, and look, there’s Margaret (Hausauer) Buisch Bamberg in the #1 search result. Voila! And genealogy happy-dancing commenced. [In my head anyway.] In a later post, I will explain how I knew this was my Margaret and what else I have been able to find out about her since then.

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The following Ancestry.com Desktop Education videos were very helpful to me in learning how to do more effective searches at both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. Maybe you will find them helpful as well.

 

 

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Notes:

  1. This post was last updated/edited on 14 March 2014.
  2. If you have questions about or corrections to anything posted here, please post a comment or contact me using the form on my Contact Me page.

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Cite This Page:

Erin Williamson Klein, “52 Ancestors #4 How I Finally Found Margaret (Margaret Hausauer Buisch Bamberg).” My Family History Files, 26 February 2014 (https://myfamilyhistoryfiles.com/buisch/hausauer/52-ancestors-4-how-i-finally-found-margaret/: [access date]).

Please do not copy without attribution and link back to this page.

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