Dead point (genealogy)

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In genealogy, the dead point is the end point of an ancestral line from which further ancestors cannot be easily found with obvious methods, but there is reasonable hope to clarify further connections. A dead point can be considered to have been overcome if the relationship is proven from a source with a probability bordering on certainty. Well-founded assumptions must be recognizable as such and are not sufficient on their own. In contrast, the term “ final ancestry” is used when the parentage cannot be traced further due to a general lack of sources .

Reasons for reaching a dead point.

  • Often incomplete or ambiguous information in the sources used, for example in the case of illegitimate birth; in the case of marriage, marriage entries without specifying the parents (in the case of illegitimate children being married or remarried); in the case of immigration, the lack of information about the place of origin (or inaccurate information, e.g. in the case of immigration from abroad) or only temporary residence (see spatial mobility ).
  • Ambiguous information can consist of the same first name and surname in resident families or incorrect, erroneous or spelling changes in the sources on first names, hometown, age , occupation, etc. or in that surnames or place names change, people have several names next to each other use or change their name.
  • Place names that occur several times in the area (such as “Neudorf”) can also lead to a dead point.
  • Other causes are missing or incomplete entries in church registers, illegible entries or those in unusual or hidden places (outside the usual order).
  • Write / read errors by the source creator or the genealogist himself cannot be ruled out.

Methods of Overcoming the Dead Point

From the 18th century onwards, the church registers contain increasingly more precise information, with the help of which it is often possible to identify the members of a nuclear family and to link the generations . The information on the fathers of the bride and groom, at least the first name and the mother's name at birth and the age of the death entries are among the most important information.

If such information is missing , as is information on occupation and status , the church records alone can often no longer be used to prove a certain ancestry and further sources in state, church and private archives must be consulted.

Overcoming a dead point always requires looking through new sources and more extensive ones than before. Common methods for doing this are (in the usual order):

  • Another review of the church records
  • Recording of all data on the person himself (back calculation of the year of birth from the year of death)
  • Note down all variants in the spelling of personal names and places; from when to when were children baptized in the family?
  • Recording of all relatives in ascending and descending line and the side relatives , which may provide information on the name of the wife and the place of origin
  • Review of all godparents of the entire place and the groomsmen
  • Access to court trade books , as they often mention their hometown for non-residents and the subsequent place of residence for children
  • Review of the parish registers and then the court trade books of the neighboring villages (for city residents also of the neighboring cities, see marriage circle ), whereby the review of tax lists for surnames can narrow the search area
  • Insight into the ancestral index of the German people

The last alternative is often the large-scale mapping of the entire occupation in the search area or all bearers of the name or, in the case of identical names, the development of a local family book into which the data from the court trade books are then incorporated.

For many professional groups, especially academics , there are special sources in addition to church registers and court trade books (e.g. the register of universities) about which one has to find information in the specialist literature.

literature

  • Methodical and practical research examples, published 1959–1961 in “Practical Research Aid”, as a supplement to the “Archives for Family Research”.
  • Billeb, E.-F .: Where does Johann Georg Heuke in Ebeleben come from? Genealogy as historical sociology 2 (1988) 52–59 (= workbook 13 of the Society for Local History, Leipzig District Board, Kulturbund der DDR).