The Prodigal Returns

I've been on a little hiatus for the past couple of weeks, as that thing called "real life" interfered with my desire to post on the blog.  But I'm back and will be posting regularly, I hope!  I've got work to do before the Genealogy Jamboree at the beginning of June!

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  1. Glad to see you back, Elise--and looking forward to connecting at Jamboree!

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Looking for a German Surname? Try Geogen.

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This morning I was contributing to a thread in the German Genealogy facebook group; a researcher had asked for help in figuring out the German equivalent of the surname Workman. One of the most useful sites I've found for investigating German surnames is Christoph Stoepel's "Geogen" sites. "Geogen" stands for "genealogical geography," and his site will help you locate possible points of origin for your German ancestors. When you put in a name, a map will show you where your family name is found today; the information is current rather than historical but still very useful, since German families tend to be a lot less mobile over the years than are families in the United States. A caveat, though:  if your ancestor's name is Schmidt or Meyer, you'll have a much harder time getting a lead because those names are so common. The less common the name is, the more luck you're likely to have.  Also, the site is most helpful if your family came…
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