ZVA WEB SITE
Unfortunately, our web site host has gone out of the business for the third time in our short history. Thanks very much to Mike O”Brien for rescuing us from our last time in the wilderness by hosting, finding the tools to build our site, and coaching me through the process. Mike continues to help with troubleshooting and problem solving, but he was no longer able to host our site. We moved the site to GoDaddy.com in the spring, but the move should have been virtually seamless to users. There are a few of issues however.
One is that when you navigate to a page, including the home page, the window will sometimes go blank and not complete the loading of the page. I have found that clicking on the page reload button adjacent to where the page URL is displayed will quickly and completely reload the page. We will try to resolve this issue in the near future.
The second issue is that some links have been broken. Please let me know of any that you find so that we can repair them.
The third concerns our mailing list. Previously, you were automatically added to the mailing list when you registered on the site. This was a great convenience for me when mailing out the newsletter. Unfortunately GoDaddy.com does not support this capability. I will have to now manually add everyone to a list. The other benefit was that this arrangement allowed each of you to send an email to the whole list, facilitating discussion. Unfortunately this feature was rarely used. I could somewhat replicate this by setting up a mailing list on Rootsweb similar to the Banat and DVHH lists with which you might be familiar or setting up a Google Group. The disadvantage with both of these tools is that each individual must take the initiative to subscribe. Would we get sufficient participation to make this worthwhile? You tell me. I am willing to make the arrangements if there is sufficient interest. Would you use such a discussion vehicle? Do you have a preference for Rootsweb or Google Groups? Let me know. Ironically, this would be a great topic for a discussion list!
CADASTRE RECORDS
ZVA has acquired copies of many cadastre records for the villages of Zichydorf, Györgyháza, Setschanfeld, Gross Gaj, Ürményháza, and Heideschütz for various years. These are records of property ownership. They really do not have any genealogical value, but they can be very interesting if you are trying to learn more about your family’s circumstances in the Heimat. The following definitions from Wikipedia will help to understand these records.
A cadastre (also spelled cadaster), using a cadastral survey or cadastral map, is a comprehensive register of the metes-and-bounds real property of a country. Metes and bounds is a system or method of describing land. Typically the system uses physical features of the local geography, along with directions and distances, to define and describe the boundaries of a parcel of land. The boundaries are described in a running prose style, working around the parcel in sequence, from a point of beginning, returning back to the same point. It may include references to other adjoining parcels (and their owners), and it, in turn, could also be referred to in later surveys. At the time the description is compiled, it may have been marked on the ground with permanent monuments placed where there were no suitable natural monuments.
Our records contain lists of landowners with the numbered parcels they owned along with (in most cases) maps showing the locations of the individual plots. For a complete list of what we have, go to our web site at Zichydorfonline.org. In the Main Menu, click on Banat, then Geography, then Cadastre Land Records. To order the cadastre records, send $20 to Zichydorf Village Association, 2274 Baldwin Bay, Regina SK, S4V 1H2, Canada OR use the Donation box on the left side of the ZVA home page at zichydorfonline.org. Be sure to specify what you are ordering. When I have received your payment, I will send you instructions on how to download the package. We only ordered the maps we thought were most likely to be wanted, but we may be able to obtain maps of other municipalities if you are interested. Please inquire.
You should be able to print off maps that you desire on your printer. Some are very large and you may have to shrink them. If you are near Regina, one of our members there has a plotter and would be willing to print off large maps for the cost of materials. Please contact me for a referral if you are interested.
2012 BANAT TOUR
I have organized three-week tours to Banat in 2006, 2008, and 2010. I am considering whether to do another tour in May/June 2012. On the previous tours, I paid my own way. However, having gone three previous times, I don’t think I have to go again for myself. I don’t think I can justify spending all the organizational time and my own money to lead a tour for other people. I am considering putting together another tour if the rest of the members will cover my costs. A three week tour would cost about $4,500 to $5,000 per person, all included. A big variable would be air fare because of varying departure points. Please let me know if you are interested and I will see if there are enough people to make it work.
OBITUARIES
Since our last newsletter we have lost Miles Dormuth’s mother, Jack Stoeber’s brother, Garth Gleisinger’s mother, and member Roy Loos. Mike Borkan’s Dad passed away in August 2010.
NEW IN THE LIBRARY
Remember To Tell the Children: Emigrants and Exiles is the third book in a trilogy of historical fiction by Henry A. Fischer. Well, actually, the third book got a little longer than planned and ended up being a two volume set, extending the series to four books. The first book, The Pioneers, dealt with the first three generations of Henry’s family as they carved out a new life in a new land. For these generations, the Homeland was still back in Germany. The second book, Strangers and Sojourners, covered the first half of the 19th century, during which the Donauschwaben developed their own identity in their new Homeland. Their language, religion, and traditions bound them together, but separated them from the other cultures with which they were intermingled. They remained outsiders and were seen as foreigners who resisted any attempt at assimilation. This book concludes the story with the family’s departure to North America. Henry’s ancestors were Lutherans living in Hungary, but their circumstances were very comparable to the Roman Catholics living in Banat.
Familienbuch der katholischen Pfarrgemeinde Lenauheim (= Csatád) im Banat 1767-1835/1835/1849 (Family book for the Catholic parish of Lenauheim in Banat) by Stefan Stader & Peter Tarnai/Taugner contains family groupings plus a short history and indices of wives’ surnames and place names. It also includes another work about the settlers of the predecessor village of Csatad.
Familienbuch der katholischen Pfarrgemeinde Deutsch Zerne im Banat by Helga & Anton Hornung. Soon after the completion of their book, the authors uncovered additional information (primarily the church books after 1918) and created this supplementary CD of families in Deutsch Zerne compiled from church records. It includes births 1808-1949, marriages 1808-1944, and deaths 1808-1951 (except that deaths 1880-1895 are missing). This CD also contains information for the village of Tomsdorf-Hettin which was part of this parish. The author’s preface, historical background and tables of abbreviations are all translated into English.
Familienbuch der Gemeinden Deutsch-Etschka, Sigmundfeld, Rudolfsgnad im Banat by Philipp Lung. The Deutsch Etschka – Sigmundfeld section contains a short history, family groupings based on church records, and indices of wives’ surnames and place names. The church records used are baptisms 1793-1880 (missing 1865-1868), marriages 1793-1901 , and deaths 1794-1878 and 1898-1948. The Rudolfsgnad section is based on the village history covering the years 1866 to 1891, supplemented by church records of marriages 1908-1944 and deaths 1918-1930.
L’émigration des lorrains vers le Banat et la Batschka au 18éme siecle 1750/1803 (Emigration of Lorrainers to the Banat and Batschka in the 18th century 1750-1803) by Charles Amann. This book is formatted very much like the Banat Familienbuchs. However, unlike most Familienbuchs, it does not contain any explanatory or historical notes. It consists primarily of lists of families pieced together from church and immigration records. There is also an index of surnames and another of place names. This book is in French, although it only occurs in occasional notes. Virtually the entire book is names and places, so language should not be a concern.
Vintage postcards on calendars. Elisabeth Hugel donated several calendars with images of vintage postcard pictures of Regina, Zichydorf, and Werschetz.
Heimatbote. Elisabeth also donated several old issues of the German newspaper dedicated to Donauschwaben.
NEW ON THE WEB SITE
A translated 1932 letter from Peter Kleckner describes the immigration to Canada of the Bolen family and how this led to continued immigration from Zichydorf. Click on Canada in the main menu, then First Settlement in Canada.
The Canadian Dept. of Immigration paid the German newspaper DER NORDWESTERN to report on the German colonies in Canada. The copies of
these special edition newspapers were sent to Europe to encourage settlers to immigrate to Canada. This 1902 article describes the conditions at Zitchydorf Colony, near Regina. Click on Canada, then Zitchydorf Colony.
Skorenowatz/Szekelykeve was one of the later Banat villages, founded about 1869 by people from older villages, including Zichydorf , Ürményháza, and Setschan. It is located about 25 km SE of Pantschowa and 55 km south of Zichydorf. Church records for the residents are found at the nearby town of Brestowatz until they built their own church about 1892. ZVA member Shirley Gibbard has compiled this list of German family names, taken from census records for Szekelykeve in 1875 and 1882, which included land owners and tenant farmers. Some of these people came from Zichydorf. Click on Banat, then Genealogy, then Skorenowatz/Szekelykeve.
ERNSTHAUSEN RECORDS
Several of our members trace some of their ancestors through Ernsthausen. They probably know that Amy Nichols recently coordinated a project to obtain church records for this village. Ernsthausen is too far away to be of direct interest to ZVA, but we volunteered to help in some way. As this project has evolved, we have worked out the following arrangement.
1. ZVA will not contribute directly to this project. Our involvement will be to act as custodian of the records once the project is complete.
2. Most people involved in this project are contributing $100, although some have been more generous. In fairness to those who are carrying the load, latecomers should expect to pay a similar amount. Since ZVA is not contributing money to the project, our members should not expect any special pricing.
3. ZVA will manage and resell the record package after the project is complete, if additional people come forward in the future. Revenue will contribute to ZVA’s own efforts to acquire other records.
The archive would not permit direct photography of the church records, so they had to be copied by hand into a spreadsheet, adding to their cost. The 1828 to 1867 church records have now been copied. We already have photographed birth records for May 1881 to May 1894 and from 1926 to 1945. Records for 1916 to 1926 are in the Bishop’s archive in Zrenjanin, but Amy has not yet been able to obtain permission to copy them. The AKdFF wanted to publish an Ernsthausen Familienbuch and Amy was able to negotiate a trade. She gave them the 1828 to 1867 extractions and they gave her the actual records for 1895-1916. This will still leave a gap from 1868 to 1881 that we will have to find. To purchase any of this material, contact ZVA. If you want to discuss this project with Amy, contact her at absn15@gmail.com
To summarize, we have the following photographed records: births 1881-1894, 1895-1916, 1926-1945; marriages 1895-1916; and deaths 1895-1916. We also have the extracted births, marriages, and deaths for 1828-1867. The photographed records fall under the existing policy for our own records of $15 per CD/DVD. They will easily fit on one DVD. If anyone purchases the extracted records for the $100 fee, I will include the photographed records in the package at no extra charge.
FORMATTING OF DIGITAL CHURCH RECORDS
You may recall that some of the other church records we purchased were in an obsolete format that is not recognized by most modern photo software. I reported that members could download the Vixelsoft program from the Internet to convert files one at a time to other formats. I have just learned of another program that will convert multiple files at one time. If you are interested, check out the Advanced Batch Converter program online.
GEORGSHAUSEN BOOK
Ray Borschowa has four books remaining for sale. Contact him at rayb@mtangel.net if you are interested.
MILLIONS CRIED…NO ONE LISTENED
You may remember Ann Morrison, creator of the video The Forgotten Genocide and organizer of the genocide conference in St. Louis. Ann is continuing to develop projects about the Donauschwaben. Check the following link to learn about her latest project and how you can help to tell the Donauschwaben story. Pass it on to friends and family.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/annsfilms/millions-criedno-one-listened-a-hidden-truth?ref=email
SASKATCHEWAN PROBATE RECORDS
The Family History division of the Church of the Latter-day Saints and the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society have agreed to a joint project to index the Saskatchewan Probate Records. The index will be located on both the SGS and FamilySearch websites. The LDS will provide the online image and software and SGS will provide the volunteers. There are 217 microfilm roles to index so a large number of volunteers will be required in order to complete the indexing in a timely fashion. The LDS has indicated that the indexing should be ready to begin in the Third Quarter (July, August, September). All volunteers will be advised as soon as the project is ready. The following link will give you a sample of how easy it is to index, using the LDS software. Click on the “test drive” link and follow the instructions. If you feel this is a project you could help with let Lisa or Linda know at SGS.
https://indexing.familysearch.org/newuser/nuhome.jsf?3.7.11
GENEALOGY CLASS
In case anyone is interested, I have attached a poster about a genealogy class in Saskatoon on September 10.
ZVA REGINA BRANCH MEETING
Regina Branch will meet at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 25, at Access Communications, 2250 Park St. (north door by the ball diamonds). Glenn will give a presentation on the newly obtained cadastre records. Please mark your calendar and bring along a Zichydorf friend.
Zichydorf Village Association News
edited by: Glenn Schwartz
2274 Baldwin Bay, Regina, SK, S4V 1H2
Internet: http://zichydorfonline.org
&
http://www.feefhs.org/members/zichydorf/frg-zva.html
email: gschwartz@accesscomm.ca