Databases
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Lutheran Records • Catholic Records • Surnames Lists • Ship Names • Ships Passenger Lists • Canada Vital Statistics • US Vital Statistics • Poland Vital Statistics • North American Parish and/or Cemetery Records • German War Dead • People who received Danish Citizenship 1776- 1960
SGGEE Databases
In addition to the databases below, please refer to the page which describes what's in our members-only area.
1. SGGEE's version of the data in the St. Petersburg files
for Volhynia2. SGGEE Scanned Maps Index Database
3. Membership Database (Members Only)
4. History Books Index Database (Members Only)
5. Christian Name Translator
Find the equivalent spelling or variation of a name in different languages. (pdf format)6. Alternate Surnames List
Find the equivalent spelling or variation of a surname as found in the SGGEE Pedigree database, and from other sources. (pdf format)7. Galicia- Index of Inhabitants. This is an index of people who lived in various villages in Galicia. It includes birth, marriage and death data of the villagers, and their ancestors (Members Only)
8. Announcements of Polish and Volhynian refugees in the Volga area looking for lost relatives (alpabetized by surname) as published in the newspaper, Saratov Volkszeitung c.1915/16, extracted by Richard Benert. This same chart is available alphabetized by village or district. If you find a surname of interest in the first list, you can use this one to search for related or connected families from the same village or district.
Lutheran Church Record Databases
1. St. Petersburg Archives for Volhynia
Extracted records of the Lutheran Consistory of St. Petersburg. The area to which the St. Petersburg records apply is much larger than just the province of Volhynia. The complete list of the St. Petersburg Consistory provinces is: Archangelsk, Bessarabia, Chernigov, Ekaterinoslav, Kiev, Kherson, Kostroma, Novgorod, Olonets, Podolia, Poltava, Pskov, Smolensk, St. Petersburg, Taurida, VOLHYNIA, Vologda, and Yaroslavl. Be sure to click on the "St. Petersburg Archives" to search Volhynia, or you will search the entire library. You can also do a manual search by reading the full listing.
Members of SGGEE also have the opportunity of searching the same database using more complex search strings that allow for some variation in spelling. They can also search full pages of sequential listings to assist them in finding the correct location for villages with common names.2. Bill Remus offers data on the Kiev region, old Volhynia, Romansdorf, and central Volhynia. His site includes a brief history, some maps and pictures, and some surname data.
3. Extraction of confirmation records from the Ilow Parish in Russian Poland, 1806-1814. The pastor from Ilow in this time frame served a very large area prior to the establishment of Lutheran Churches elsewhere. These records can hold vital clues about where families were living at the time AND where the confirmand was born.
4. List of colonists in the Netze District, 1776-1798 as provided by Uwe Kerntopf.
5. Extracts of Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths for the Lutheran Church at Labischin, Schubin, Posen, also by Uwe Kerntopf.
6. Family Search in Posen This site, by Thomas Vogel, has some index names from Bromberg and Hohensalza parishes in Posen.
Surname and Emigration Lists
1. Hopf list of German migrants from the Kingdom of Poland (Russian Poland) to Russia in the years 1813-1866. See also the expanded version which provides more detail about the individuals.
You may know that your ancestors did not migrate to Volhynia or other areas in Russia until after that date but you might find cousins who did so. Even without knowing who that cousin is, a check on where a person with your surname migrated from in Poland may lead to discovery of the village where your ancestors lived. At the very least, the lists will define where in Poland certain surnames existed.
2. Numerous resources for Germans in Galicia are available (German language only).
3. BIGGI's List (in German with some linked pages available in English). This is a like the German equivalent of Cyndi's list. It includes data on archives where records are kept, emigration, family name databases, web forums, heraldry/heraldry, regional research, other genealogy groups.
4. Small list of Ger-Rus people who crossed the Canada/USA border between 1895 and 1954.
5. List of Germans who moved to Brazil in the 1930s along with a brief history.
6. Karlswalde, Volhynia name lists Numerous links to a variety of resources in Volhynia but focusing on those around the village of Karlswalde.
6. Internet Sources of German Genealogy. This site has links to quite a few databases, and also has information on how to do German genealogy, archive information, emigration, other mailing lists, etc. (rather old material, last updated in 1998).
7. Surnames listed on the Posen-L web site, including the name and contact information for the person researching that surname.
8. Lists of people who migrated from German regions to South Prussia 1802-1806 as prepared by Tom Stangl. Much of eastern South Prussia became part of Russian Poland in 1815.
9. Data about Russian migration into Canada known as the LI-RA-MA Collection.
Ship Names
1. GRHS listing of ships carrying Germans from Russia as previously published in Germans from Russia Heritage Society materials of all kinds.
2. Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild - Here is a site that requires you to know the name of the ship, but if you do, you can see pictures and a history of that ship. Go to the bottom of the opening web page and type in the name of the ship to do a search for that ship.
3. The Ships List - Information on ships that transported immigrants from Europe to the Americas and other places. The site also has statistical information and fares that were paid for various categories of service.
Ships Passenger Lists
1. A variety of Germans from Russia lists can be found on the Odessa3 site. Note in particular, links to extractions by Georg Dorsher of Germans from Russia travelling by way of Canadian ports of Quebec, Halifax and St. John from 1900-1914. The Dorscher lists can be difficult to research because the names are not listed alphabetically. SGGEE now has a finding aid available to assist with searching these records.
2. Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild - Passenger lists of ships arriving at various ports in the United States
3. Ellis Island, New York lists of passengers arriving. For a more sophisticated search engine, try the one provided by Stephen Morse.
4. Bremen, Germany passenger lists
5. Hamburg, Germany passenger lists
6. CANADA - all ports 1925-1935 as provided by the National Archives of Canada
Now you can also view all in-coming passenger records from 1865 - 1922 in the comfort of your home. Unfortunately they are not yet indexed like the Ellis Island records but at least you no longer have to go to a library to order in microfilms.7. The Ships List - Information on passengers that migrated to the Americas from Europe, and also to and from other ports around the world. Most listings predate the arrival of Germans from Russia in North Amerciac but there are a few.
8. Castle Garden, the New York port that handled most incoming passengers prior to Ellis Island. Extractions are in progress.
9. Indirect Passage from Europe - A description of the shipping systems used by our immigrants to make their way to North America.
CANADA Vital Statistics and Archives
1. National Archives of Canada
- 1901 Canada Census
This site has images of the censuses, but no indices. An index of the files for the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan can be found on the Alberta Genealogical Society site.- Canada Census Indexing Projects
Indexing of the 1901 census is complete. The 1911 census is in progress. 1906 and other census type projects are also underway.- 1906 Census for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba
This site has images of the censuses, but no indices.- 1915-1932 Canadian Naturalization. The Canadian Naturalization databases contain references to about 200,000 people who applied for and received status as naturalized Canadians from 1915 to 1932
2. All Provinces - Looking4kin Site - Links to each province from Just Genealogy.
4a. Red River Valley Echo - birth, marriage, and death announcements 1941 to 2004 in this newspaper serving southern Manitoba but focusing on the Rhineland Municipality.
U.S. Vital Statistics and Archives
1. National Archives and records Administration
The US Census for most years is available at regional data centers shown at several locations in the United States, where they can be viewed for free. General information about all cesuses from 1790-1930 is available from the National Archives websited.
You can also view a complete index of all USA censuses (1930 and earlier), and also actual images of the USA census records at Ancestry.com. Some of their information is free, but you will need to be a member at that site to see the actual records.
NOTE that many public libraries in the USA offer free access to all of the Ancestry.com databases while actually in the library. Many USA libraries also offer web access, in your home (to library card holders) for Heritage Quest, which has all actual USA Census records available for viewing (again for 1930 and earlier).
Local USA and Canada "Family History Centers" that have Internet access also have free access to Ancestry.com.2. All States - Looking4kin Site - Links to each state from Just Genealogy.
5. South Dakota Birth Records
Contains information such as file number, name on the record, date of birth, county of birth, mother's name, father's name, file date. Individuals can search the site by any of the items individually or can complete many of the items to look for a specific record. Also back up on the site to get info about other types of records.6. Berrien County, Michigan Census Index
Extracted by Eugene Jenkins, this list attempts to pull out all those people who claim German from Russia origin. Many Volhynian Germans lived in this county.
Poland Vital Statistics
Please refer to special links on our Archives Records page for information about the Polish Archives.
North American Parish and/or Cemetery Records
On our parishes / cemeteries page, you will find links to a variety of North American parish and cemetery records of a general nature as well as some specific to locations where Russian Poland and Volhynian Germans are known to have settled.
German War Dead
German Military Grave Registration Service - This service maintains 2 million war graves in over 640 cemeteries. It assists in grave identification and restoration. It also provides assistance in determining the fate of German war dead. The form of the input on the opening screen is:
Nachname (Surname)
Vorname (Given name)
Geburtsdatum (Birth date)
Todes-/Vermisstendatum (Death or missing date)
Geburtsort (Birth place)The note at the bottom suggests that if you want to find all persons in the death and missing database that were born at a certain location, do a search with only the birth place entered.
The button at the bottom of the opening screen is: Suche beginnen (Begin search)
NOTES:
1. You only need a surname to do a search, but you may want to add more data if the name you search is a common German name.
2. The first time you visit this site, you may or will be asked to fill out a questionnaire in order to gain the "cookie" that your computer will need for the next visit to avoid this questionaire.The required fields in the questionnaire are those with an asterisk following the line. Those lines are:
Vorname (Given name)
Nachname (Surname)
Strasse/ Nr. (Street and number)
Land/ PLZ/ Ort (Country/ Postal Code/ City)The check boxes after the above entry fields are your reasons for coming to this site. You can check none or all of them (go to our Translation Aids web page if you want to know what they are). When the form is complete, press the button at the bottom of the screen to process the form. You will next be taken to one last page that thanks you for supporting the National union German military grave registration service. Press the button, and you will finally be in the database, where you will be able to make searches wtihout any further distractions.
People receiving Danish Citizenship 1776 to 1960
Immigrants to Denmark - This is an online database covering those people who received Danish citizenship between 1776 and 1960. This includes significant numbers of Germans originally from Volhynia and especially Russian Poland.
The search fields are as follows:
Efternavn = Surname
Fornavn = Given name
Bopæl = Place of residence (in Denmark)
Erhverv = Occupation
Fødelokalitet = Place (or region) of birth
Fødeland = Native land
Only one of these fields is needed for the search, but it would probably not make much sense to search by other than "Efternavn", "Fødelokalitet", and "Fødeland". When searching by "Fødeland", one has to use the Danish country names:
Germany = Tyskland
Poland = Polen
Russia = Rusland
The search results are shown as follows:
Efternavn (see above)
Fornavn (see above)
Erhverv (see above)
Fødelokalitet (see above)
Fødeland (see above)
Fødselsår = Year of birth
I DK fra = (Residing) in Denmark from (year)
Bopæl, lokalitet = Place of residence, locality (in Denmark)
Amt, region = County, region
Lov af = Date of statute or act (by which the person received
citizenship)
Tillæg = Appendix or addendum
Løbenr. = Serial number
Bemærkninger = Remarks
The "remarks" section gives information about different matters, such as how and/or why the person came to Denmark - name of spouse, if any - how many children, if any - etc.