IIGS™ Newsletter - October 1998
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IIGS™ Newsletter - October 1998
An American (Edgar Dohmann of Alvin, Texas) and three Germans (Reinhold Kornhoff of Bergish-Gladbach, Matthias Rempe of Oelde, and Hans-Georg Pagendarm of Gsttingen) are collaborating on a book project via the Internet.
The book, Seelenstandsverzeichnis Borgholz 1691, is scheduled for publication in Borgholz, Nord-Rhein Westphalen in May 1999.
A "Seelenstandsverzeichnis" is a census listing of all families who were members of a parish. The Borgholz Seelenstandsverzeichnis was initially recorded by Father Balthasar Hanebrink who was the pastor in Borgholz in 1691. Father Hanebrink's tenure ended in 1692, but his successors maintained the Seelenstandsverzeichnis until about 1696.
The Borgholz Seelenstandsverzeichnis was recorded in Band 2 (Volume 2) of the church books of St. Marien, Borgholz, which were filmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in1975. Edgar Dohmann discovered the Seelenstandsverzeichnis while researching his family roots in Borgholz. After reporting its existence to his friends and cousins (Reinhold, Matthias, and Hans-Georg) who also have family roots in Borgholz, the four decided to transcribe these records and began discussing alternatives for publishing the transcript.
Reinhold, Matthias, and Hans-Georg contacted the pastor and some of the community leaders in Borgholz to report on the Seelenstandsverzeichnis and to discuss the possibility of publishing the transcription. The project was enthusiastically received by the Borgholz pastor and community leaders and a committee was formed to coordinate the publishing of the book.
The scope of the book has expanded somewhat beyond a simple transcription of the 90 pages from the church books which contain the Seelenstandsverzeichnis. The published book is expected to be about 300 pages in length and will contain some background history on the community and church as well as a chapter on the genealogy of all of the approximately 200 families in the Seelenstandsverzeichnis.
The family genealogy section will contain one to five generations of information on the Seelenstandsverzeichnis families gleaned from the baptismal, marriage, and death records recorded in the Borgholz church books.
The Seelenstandsverzeichnis transcription section will contain a completely literal transcript (including all Latin and old German text) as well as a modern-German translation. The combination of this literal transcript, modern translation, and family genealogy should provide a valuable reference resource for all researchers with roots and interests in the (former) Kreis Warburg area of eastern Westphalia.
The exact size and cost of the book has not yet been determined. The book will initially be published in German. No decision has yet been made on whether or not the book will also be published in English. For further information, you may contact Edgar Dohmann at edohmann@ortech-engr.com.
Editor's note: I first "met" Edgar Dohmann and Reinhold Kornhoff via e-mail through our mutual research interests in the Warburg area of Westphalia. We belong to a small group of family researchers living on both sides of the Atlantic who correspond fairly often with exchanges of information.The Seelenstandsverzeichnis project is typical of the kind of research cooperation which exists today because of the Internet. To say that Misters Dohmann, Kornhoff, Rempe and Pagendarm would not be able to complete their project by May 1999 without the aid of the Internet is not, I believe, an overstatement.