​I am a descendant of my ancestors.  The best way I can honor them is to take care of their descendants.  Because of that sacred task, I am afraid we have had to cancel our trip to “bring my ancestors home.”  Hopefully at some point we will be able to take that special trip. 

​Einbeck, Goslar, Mittenwalde, Mackenson, Kapellen, Clingen and all those other places will still be there when the time is right.

There are many reasons to think about attending an institute course.  Here are my Top 5.

1. Some of the top genealogists in the world teach institute courses.  You’ll learn from the best.  And unlike a conference where you might be one of 100 or more anonymous people in a conference room, institutes typically have a limited number of seats available for any given course.  You’ll get to know your instructors and they’ll get to know you.  These connections and relationships are invaluable as you progress in your genealogical journey. 
2. Your fellow students, too, are serious about honing their skills.  They, too, often have some level of expertise that you might learn from. Their dedication to the field might also inspire you.  By spending four or five full days in the trenches classroom with your fellow students, you’ll form lasting bonds with them.  
3. Many genealogists go year after year to the institutes.  It’s great to catch up at the opening social, or spy an old friend in the coffee line. I didn’t know you were here! What course are you taking?  The buzz on social media as people post about their institute plans fills me with excitement about who I’m going to get to see. 
4. The bookstore! – many institutes have an area set aside for a book vendor.  You’ll find treasures you never even knew existed. 
5. Professional organizations including the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen), the Board for Certification of Genealogists® (BCG) and the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) often have a presence institutes.  You can talk to members and learn how to further your professional development.  For example, BCG generally makes application portfolios available for review. I set aside time at every institute to look at these samples, and they have taken me from a newbie who had no idea what a portfolio even was, all the way to the time when I was on the threshold of submitting a portfolio of my own and wanted the reassurances in my own mind that my work would not be out of place in such a collection. (And major excitement! – I just learned this week that I earned the Certified Genealogist Credential [1].  Woohoo!)

What are your favorite things about institutes?

For more about attending SLIG, click here.
​
 
[1] - Certified Genealogist and CG are registered trademarks and the designations CGL, and Certified Genealogical Lecturer are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists® , used under license by Board certificants who meet competency standards.

Disclaimer – The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy has provided me a discount on my SLIG 2020 tuition for my participation as a SLIG ambassador..  The opinions expressed are my own.

In nine days, I leave for a three-week trip to explore one quarter of my ancestry.  (As I read that sentence I see a lot of numbers – is there any doubt I’m an accountant?!)

My paternal grandfather, Charles Arthur Kircher, came from good German stock.  All four of his grandparents came from Germany.  He knew three of them, and was lucky enough to live near them into his 20s.

My dad’s cousin Thelma had done some work in the 1970s compiling some family information.  Thelma had a few documents created in Germany including a marriage record, details from a couple of baptism records, and a Prussian passport from Carl Conrad Friedrich Kircher and his wife Wilhelmine Rosine Auguste Frühauf, my great-great grandparents.  Their oldest son, Charles Conrad Kircher was Grandpa Charlie’s father.

Thelma didn’t have quite so many records on Charlie’s maternal grandparents, Johannes Sprenger and Caroline Louisa Hartman, and little in the way of specific locations, but she had some brief stories about her parents and grandparents growing up near Syracuse and Rochester, and names of some family members.

From Thelma’s notes I had baptism locations for Carl and Auguste.  Carl’s stated location was close to the actual place and Auguste’s was spot on, down to the church in Berlin where she was baptized.  In the last couple of years, I’ve done some pretty thorough detective work, and found baptism records for the other two, Johannes and Louisa.
 
And in nine days, my husband and I, joined by Carl, Auguste, Johannes and Louisa – in spirit (and photographs if not actual flesh and blood) – will embark on an adventure to take them back to homes they left a century and a half ago.   

Meet my ancestors...
 
Carl Conrad Friedrich Kircher, born 17 November 1821 in Clingen, Schwarzburg, Sondershausen;[1] died 1 February 1899 in Webster, Monroe, New York.[2]

Wilhelmine Rosine Auguste Frühauf, born 8 June 1822 in Berlin, Brandenburg;[3] died 8 May 1897 in Webster, Monroe, New York.[4]

​Johannes Sprenger, born 30 January 1827 in Kapellen, Bergzabern, Pfalz, Bayern (Bavaria);[5] died 3 October 1867 in Liverpool, Onondaga, New York.[6]

​Caroline Louisa Hartman, born 3 June 1834 in Mackensen, Einbeck, Hildesheim, Hannover, Preussen;[7] died 1 May 1905 in Union Hill, Monroe, New York.[8]

And one more bonus picture of Louisa... I believe the above picture was taken in her "widow's weeds" after Johannes passed away.  I have a tin-type showing her in happier days with one of her children.  I'm not sure of the identity of baby, but I'd like to think it's my great-grandmother, Franklin Abelone, Sprenger.

Read along in the coming days and weeks as I share my plans and discoveries.  ​


[1]  Evangelishe Kirche, Diözese Sondershausen, “Kirchenbuch fur die Stadt Sondershausen enthaltend die Listen der Gebornen und Getauften 1821” [Church book for the city of Sondershausen containing the list of the births and baptisms 1821], p. 69-70, no. 107, Carl Conrad Friedrich Kircher, birth 17 November 1821; filmed at Staatsarchiv, Rudolstadt; digital images, “Kirchenbuchduplikat, 1813-1846,”  FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/154757 : accessed 26 February 2019) > Taufen, Heiraten, Tote 1821 > image 44 of 611.
[2] Monroe County, New York, Transcript of Death, issued 13 June 2017, Charles Kircher, (1899 death); citing unidentified information on file; Office of Vital Records, Rochester.
[3] Sophien Evangelish Kirche (Berlin, Brandenburg, Germany), “Geborne und Getaufte 1822” [Births and baptisms 1822], p. 42, no. 490, Wilhelmine Rosine Auguste Frühauf, born 8 June 1822; filmed as Sophien, Berlin, Brandenburg, Baptisms Evangelish, Vol. A837, Vol. I-III, 1822-1825; digital images, “Kirchenbuch, 1712-1874,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/285217: accessed 26 February 2019) > Taufen 1822-1825 > image 49 of 542.
[4] Monroe County, New York, Transcript of Death, issued 13 June 2017, Augusta R. Kircher, (1897 death); citing unidentified information on file; Office of Vital Records, Rochester.
[5] Evangelish-Reformierte Kirche Drusweiler, Taufen [Baptisms], Vol. 9, 1812-1839, unpaginated, 1827, no. 10, Johannes Sprenger, birth 30 January 1827; Family History Library microfilm 1,457,537, item 8.
[6] John Springer, burial details, ID no. 2902, “Cemeteries,” Onondaga County, NY USGenWeb (https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nyononda/cemeteries.html : accessed 24 November 2018).  Website has links to two transcriptions of Liverpool Cemetery.  “Liverpool Cemetery from James” shows plot-owner information.
[7] Detlef Bähre to Mary Kircher Roddy, e-mail, 25 February 2019, “Re: Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Kircher 1789 birth record at Kirchenbuchamt on Hildesheimer Str.,” Personal Correspondence Folder, [(E-ADDRESS), & ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], Seattle, Washington, 2019.  Note that a Find A Grave memorial indicates a birthdate of 3 June 1836.  See Find A Grave, (http://findagrave.com : accessed 7 December 2018), memorial 25418634. Louisa Bauman (1836–1905), and digital image of Union Hill Cemetery (Webster, Monroe, New York), Louisa Bauman gravestone; memorial created 21 March 2008 by Russ Pickett, photograph added by Diane Schinsing Burlee. The baptism record found by Detlef Bähre close to the time of birth is more accurate.
[8] Monroe County, New York State death certificate no 1905-114, Louisa Bowman; Department of Public Health, Rochester.