Three Generations of Dolls

I've put a new wig on my baby doll twice now-- she's over 50 and deserves to look nice. Her name is Betsy Lou and my parents gave her to me when I was two years old. I took her in to a doll hospital about 7 years ago because I had misplaced her original blue and white pinafore dress and I wanted to display her. The lady who owned the job, said she wasn't of value, but cleaned her up, put on new hair and outfitted her in a beautiful winter outfit.


A couple of years later I decided to restore my mother's and grandmother's dolls. Each doll was in pieces and looked like they were beyond repair. Again I was told the dolls were worthless and that I shouldn't bother to fix them up. When I finally had the money to repair them, the doll hospital had closed. A few years later I searched the Internet.




I found Debra's Dolls in New Jersey. She did an excellent job in restoring the dolls. I now have three generations of dolls to display. I wish I knew my mother's and grandmother's doll's names, but I never asked--and when mom and grandma were alive, the dolls were just doll pieces in a box.




Anyway, grandma Bessie (Ginkens) Bear's doll on the left is an Armand Marseille German Bisque Doll made in Thuringia, Germany, circa 1885-1905 (with original clothing); the doll on the right, Ila (Bear) Geyer's doll, is an Ernst Heubach #312 marked with sunburst and "Kapplesdorf, circa 1920." I'm sure glad that I found Debra.

Surname Breakthrough: Bear / Behr / Baehr

My paternal grandmother's surname, Bear, was always a bit of a mystery.

We knew from my grandmother that her grandfather spoke German, so we could assume that the origin of the surname was German, but Bear is not a German surname. The spelling must have been changed somewhere along the way. Where did it change? What was the original spelling?

German surnames that could be interpreted as Bear are numerous. There's Bar, Behr, Bähr/Baehr, Bär/Baer, and Beer to start with. Then you also need to include possibilities like Bayer, Baier, Beyer and Beier.

My Bear ancestors can be traced back to 1825, but then we hit a brick wall:

Ila Iola Bear (1913-1992)

Samuel Lewis Bear (1881-1939)

Samuel Rupley Bear (1856-1937)

Samuel Lewis Bear (1825-1864)

Samuel Lewis Bear was born on October 24, 1825 in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. On January 6, 1849, he married Mary Rupley in Hampden Township, Cumberland County, PA. They shortly thereafter moved to Peoria, Illinois and later settled in Plano, Appanoose, Iowa. He died on April 6, 1864 in Benicia, Solano County, California, during the Gold Rush. We have no idea who the parents of Samuel Lewis (or Mary Rupley) are.

Then, a clue: my aunt recently spent a week with her uncle (my grandmother's brother) John Bear in Missouri and he remembered being told that Bear was at one time spelled with an "H". That would bring the original spelling possibilities down to Behr and Bähr/Baehr. So far, this hasn't led to any breakthroughs, but it's given us a new lead.

So how common is Behr and Bähr in Germany? I decided to enter them at the Surname Research Center of Ancestry.de (site is in German).

The Behr surname distribution map

There are approximately 11,696 people with the surname Behr living in Germany now. This is higher than average for a surname in Germany. It is the 628th most common name in Germany and is concentrated in the Hamburg-Harburg-Luneburg area of north Germany, which can be seen as the darker green cluster towards the top of the above map (view the Behr surname distribution results - in German).

There are approximately 7,664 people with the surname Bähr living in Germany now. This is also higher than average. It is the 1,002nd most common name in Germany and is concentrated in the Rhein-Neckar and Ortenau areas of southwest Germany (view the Bähr surname distribution map and results - in German).

The origin of Behr is Bähr. The origin of Bähr could be from the nickname "Bär" (bear) for a strong and/or courageous person or house, it could have been shortened from a longer surname beginning with "Ber-" (e.g. Berwein), or it could originate from the nickname "Eber" (boar).

Writing to German parishes

Back in January, I sent a letter to the rectories associated with what I felt were the three most likely parishes that my great great grandfather, Frank Geyer, could have come from. I picked these three because, after looking in the German white pages, I found that there were a fair number of people with the last name Geyer or Geier, and Freund (his mother's maiden name) living in the parish. These three rectories were: Johannesberg just north of Aschaffenburg (PLZ 63867), Johannisberg in Geisenheim (PLZ 65366) and Fulda-Johannesberg (PLZ 36041). Clicking on the links will take you to the answer received from the rectories. PLZ stands for Postleitzahl, which is the zip code.

Well, it's finally occurred to me that I should post the letter that I sent out! I've translated the text after each paragraph. For help with translation, try LEO English-German dictionary or Babel Fish Translation. I also included a 15 Euro donation with each letter. My husband, a native German speaker, helped with the composition of the letter.

---------------------------------------------

*my name*
*my address*
*my telephone number*
*my email address*

An das katholische Pfarramt
Johannesberger Strasse
36041 Fulda-Johannesberg

/ to the Catholic rectory
/ *address of rectory*

*date*

Sehr geehrter Herr Pfarrer,

/ Dear Mr. Priest

mein Name ist Christina Geyer. Ich bin US-Bürgerin und lebe seit einigen Jahren in Deutschland. Meine Vorfahren waren auch Deutsche, die in die USA ausgewandert sind. Ich weis, dass sie aus einem Ort namens Johannesberg (o. Johannisberg) stammen, aber ich weis nicht welches Johannesberg. Können Sie mir eventuell weiterhelfen? Über meinen Ururgroßvater weiss ich bis jetzt folgendes:

/ my name is Christina Geyer. I am a US citizen and have lived for several years in Germany. My ancestors were also Germans who emigrated to the USA. I know that they came from a place named Johannesberg (or Johannisberg), but I don't know which Johannesberg. Could you possibly help me? About my great-great-grandfather, I know the following:

Er hieß Franciscus Geyer und wurde am 16. April 1862 in Johannesberg, Deutschland geboren. Er wanderte am 23. 09. 1876 zusammen mit der Familie seines Onkels (Bruder der Mutter) Josef Freund aus. Wir wissen, daß die Mutter Maria Anna Geyer geborene Freund 1866 gestorben ist und sein Vater Vitus Geyer (o. Geier) wieder heiratete und in Deutschland blieb. Franciscus hatte eine Schwester (Elisabeth Geyer) und 5 Halbbrüder, die auch in Deutschland blieben. Die Familie ist katholisch.

/ He was named Franciscus Geyer and was born on April 16, 1862 in Johannesberg, Germany. He emigrated on September 23, 1876 together with the family of his uncle (brother of his mother) Josef Freund. We know that the mother, Maria Anna Geyer nee Freund, died in 1866 and his father, Vitus Geyer (or Geier) remarried and stayed in Germany. Franciscus had a sister (Elisabeth Geyer) and 5 half-brothers, who also stayed in Germany. The family is Catholic.

Könnten Sie mir mitteilen, ob Sie es für möglich halten, dass diese Personen in Ihrem Johannesberg gelebt haben? Wenn Sie Verwandte meiner Familie kennen, wäre ich Ihnen dankbar, wenn Sie ihnen meine Adresse geben könnten, damit sie mit mir Kontakt aufnehmen können, falls sie möchten. Ich wäre Ihnen auch dankbar, mir eine Kopie von möglichen Dokumenten mit Informationen zu meiner Familie zuzuschicken. Falls solche Unterlagen nicht in Ihrer Pfarrei sind, könnten Sie mir bitte die Anschrift des zuständigen Archivs mitteilen.

/ Could you tell me whether you think it is possible that these people lived in your Johannesberg? If you know relatives of my family, I would be grateful if you could give them my address so that they can contact me if they would like. I would also be grateful if you could send me any copies of documents with information on my family. In case these documents are not in your rectory, could you please send me the address of the archives where they are located.

Für Ihre Mühen möchte ich mich mit der beiliegenden Spende für Ihre Pfarei bedanken.

/ For your efforts, I would like to thank your rectory with the enclosed donation.

Mit freundlichen Grüssen,

/ Sincerely yours,

*my signature*
*my name*

The search for Johannesberg, part 2

We know my ancestors come from Johannesberg, but since every place with a St. Johannes (St. John's) Church could have at some point gone by this name, we've been unable to figure out exactly which town in Germany my ancestors came from.

I've heard back from another of the Catholic rectories I wrote to back in January and it's just another Johannesberg eliminated - this time near Aschaffenburg. See my first response (and elimination) here.

Liebe Frau Geyer,

in unserer Pfarrei sind nur Unterlagen ab 1868 vorhanden. Ich konnte auch keine Unterlagen von später geborenen Halbgeschwistern names Geyer finden. Die Daten von Diözesan-Archiv und Matrikelabteilung in Würzburg lege ich bei.

Translation:

In our parish are only documents dating from 1868. I could also find no documents for half-brothers and -sisters named Geyer born later. I attach the address and opening times of the Diocese Archive and Register Department in Wuerzburg.

BallinStadt opens in Hamburg

On July 5, BallinStadt, Albert Ballin's "Emigrant City" on Veddel Island in the Elbe River in Hamburg, reopened. Albert Ballin was the General Director of BallinStadt, which was constructed between 1898 and 1901, and enlarged in 1906/1907. The newly rebuilt facilities give you a chance to relive the experience of the over 5 million people, who left Germany through the port of Hamburg between 1850 and 1934 to start a new life in the United States.

The nicely put together website, available in German and English, gives details on BallinStadt, describes the materials located at the research center there, links to other online emigration records in Europe, and gives links for further research on German ancestors.

If you're planning a trip to Hamburg and have German ancestry, sounds like this is a worthwhile stop. It is currently open Monday through Sunday from 10am - 6pm, with last entrance at 5pm.

Frank Geyer obituary, George Geyer interview

Received from Vernon Capps:

- Copied from newspaper clipping of his death notice March 30, 1938

FRANK GEYER; Born April 16, 1862 at Johannisberg (Johnsberg) Germany and died in Wellman, Keokuk County, Iowa, March 29, 1938. ( A Tuesday )

The only son of Vitis and Mary (Fruiend) Geyer, and a sister Elizabeth. At age of five years his mother died (1867) and his father remarried and five sons from this next marriage. Religion was Catholic and then Methodist.

Sailed to America, September 23, 1876 and landed in New York City, New York on October 6, 1876 where he stayed for six months working in a brush factory in the day time, and attending school at night.

Came to Kalona, Iowa with his Uncle Joseph Fruiend in Richmond, Iowa. Lived in and near Wellman, Iowa, except for five years near Pipe Stone, Minnesota ( Area- Five miles South of Pipe Stone; then six and one-half miles north) years 1899 to 1904.

Funeral Services was held at the Methodist Church in Wellman, Iowa. Conducted by Rev. Hann, Thursday afternoon at 2:00 O'clock, March 31, 1938. Interment at Bunker hill Cemetery, and later reburied in Wellman, Iowa in 1951.

- George Geyer told this story to Elloise and Vernon Capps while visiting them in South San Francisco, California. Oct, 1967.

Frank Geyer as a child carried wood for fires while living with is Uncle. He worked as a shoe repairman in New York. He learned the trade in Germany. He came to Richmond, Iowa with a Cousin Frankie Fruiend who stayed with the Deweys. Frankie had a sister who married Joe Dewey. He worked with a man on the Prairie there called Custard. He then came into Wellman area and stayed with the Bulls family. In the Bulls family were; Dave, Al, Dan, Grant and a sister named Sis. Frank Geyer was a catholic, but left that faith in Richmond, Iowa.

Frank Geyer had a big farm, 200 acres and raised good gardens. Before they planted gardens or trees on their farm, they used to go to the Griffiths to get their fruits and vegetables. When George and John were little, they remember that their Mother would let the neighbors help themselves for free to the gardens and fruits that they raised and took care of.

Typewritten notes from Vernon Capps

Places named Geyer

On our recent vacation, we happened, mostly by chance, upon two places related to the surname Geyer. First, on our way up to Berlin, we decided to stop in Bamburg for lunch and sightseeing.

Residenzschloss Geyerswörth

First, it was a pleasant surprise to find ourselves driving on a street called Geyerswörth (this translates as something like, "Geyer's Place") as we headed towards the old city center. Then, as we pulled into the parking deck next to the Tourist Information Center, we were greated by a large overhead sign reading "Parkhaus Geyerswörth."

The nearby Schloss Geyerswörth, or Townhall Castle Geyerswoerth, was the home of the well-known Geyer family of Nürnberg (Nuremberg), who settled in Bamberg in the 14th century. In 1580, the palace was taken over by the bishop of Bamberg and over the years, many alterations and renovations have been made, so there is not much left visible of the original home.

Schloss Geyerswörth (Geyerswoerth Palace)

Tourists are encouraged to climb the tower for the view of Bamberg, the keys are available from the Tourist Information Office. The courtyard is often host to concerts (Feierhof Geyerswörth blog - in German/auf Deutsch).

The entrance to the courtyard of Schloss Geyerswörth

Berg und Bingestadt Geyer

A few days later, on our way from Dresden to Karlovy Vary, I noticed a sign that we were entering the Erzgebirge, or Ore Mountains. I remembered from looking up the origin of the name Geyer on Ancestry.de that one possibility was a town of Geyer in the Erzgebirge, so I quickly whipped out the map book and found that the town was almost directly on our route.

That's me at the city limits

(27 weeks pregnant with the next Geyer descendent)

Geyer is a small town of approximately 4,000 residents located about a half hour to the south of the city of Chemnitz in the German state of Saxony. The city is almost completely surrounded by the Geyersche Wald (Geyer Forest). The first mention of Geyer is in 1381, but there was mining going on in this area far earlier. It is from this mining that it has its status as a Bingestadt ("Binge" city). A "binge" (link in German) is a large area of sunken earth created by the collapse of a mine.

Postdistanzsäule (postal distance column)

The postal distance column located in the town square gives the postal delivery time between Geyer and various other cities in the year 1730. For example, the delivery time between Geyer and Leipzig was 24 hours ("St." stands for "Stunden", meaning "hours"). The columns were erected in many Saxon towns on the order of the Saxon Kurfürst (elector) August "Der Starke" (August "the Strong"). The obelisk carries the Saxon-Polish double coat of arms for Kurfürst Friedrich August I of Saxony, who was also King August II of Poland. The posts became obsolete starting in 1840 after a new standard of measurement was developed. Click here for a closer look at the Postdistanzsäule

The Wachturm (watchtower)

The square base of this 42 meter (138 feet) high former military post and watchtower, was built around 1395. The tower's octagonal upper section was added on between 1561 and 1564. It continued to be stocked and kept as a military post and watchtower until 1947. It is now the location of the local history museum. Next to the tower are markers listing the names of soldiers from Geyer who lost their lives in battle. There was no one named Geyer listed on these, and since the surname distribution maps I examined previously also did not show a large concentration of Geyers in this area of Germany, I can only conclude that if this is the origin of some Geyers, they moved out of the area a while back.

The view of Geyer from the base of the watch tower

The visit to Geyer was a bit sad. It is clearly one of the still very run-down towns of the former East Germany that suffers from high unemployment and a lack of money. But renovations have been made to the historic buildings and the town seems to be working hard to advertise the skiing and hiking in the area. For more photos, there is also a nice photo album of the city on it's website (in German/auf Deutsch).

Surname Research on Ancestry.de

The Ancestry.com German site, Ancestry.de, has some new added features. One interesting one uses data from the phone book to map the (current) distribution of surnames.

Wo in Deutschland ist mein Familienname verbreitet?

Neben dem Ursprung des Namens, ist auch die geografische Verbreitung eines Namens interessant für die Familienforschung. So können Sie Gebiete in Deutschland finden, in denen es wahrscheinlich auch Aufzeichnungen über Ihren Familiennamen gibt oder erwandte von Ihnen leben. Lassen Sie sich hier die Verbreitung Ihres Familiennamens in Deutschland anzeigen.

At the Namenforschung (Surname Research) Infocenter, enter your Familienname (family name) under the Verteilung (distribution) tab to get to the Surname distribution map. Enter your family name under the Ursprung (origin) tab to get the origin of your family name (this will be in German). Here are my results for Geyer.

Verteilung (Surname Distribution)

Geyer:

Der Name Geyer kommt insgesamt 5495 Mal in 419 Distrikten vor. Es gibt schätzungsweise 14648 Personen mit diesem Nachnamen. Dies liegt über dem Durchschnitt für alle deutschen Familiennamen. Er liegt damit an 468. Stelle der häufigsten Namen.

Die meisten Personen mit dem Familiennamen Geyer wurden in Kreisfreie Stadt München gefunden; der Name kam 85 Mal im Telefonbuch vor.

Die wenigsten leben in Kreisfreie Stadt Amberg, mit 14 Telefonbucheinträgen.

Um die Karte herunterzuladen, klicken Sie mit der rechten Maustaste auf einen leeren Bereich der Karte und wählen "Bild speichern als...".

Translated, this says:

The surname Geyer is found 5,495 times in 419 districts. It is estimated that there are 14,648 people with this surname in Germany. This is higher than average for a surname in Germany. In 468 places, it is the most common surname.

The most people with this surname were found in metro-area Munich, where the name is found 85 times in the telephone book.

It is least common in the area of Amberg, where it appears only 14 times in the phone book.

To download the map, right click on the picture and choose "Save picture as...".

Distribution of the surname Geyer in Germany

On the map, gray stands for "less than 1 occurance", dark yellow for "up to 60 occurances" and dark green for "more than 120 occurances". The map uses absolute occurances, so the high population areas also show increased surname occurance. On the map above, the darker green areas are Munich and Berlin. It might be more interesting to see a map based on percentage of population.

We also aren't sure that this is the original spelling of our surname. The other possibility is Geier:

Geier:

Der Name Geier kommt insgesamt 4806 Mal in 409 Distrikten vor. Es gibt schätzungsweise 12816 Personen mit diesem Nachnamen. Dies liegt über dem Durchschnitt für alle deutschen Familiennamen. Er liegt damit an 560. Stelle der häufigsten Namen.

Die meisten Personen mit dem Familiennamen Geier wurden in Kreisfreie Stadt München gefunden; der Name kam 85 Mal im Telefonbuch vor.

Die wenigsten leben in Kreisfreie Stadt Delmenhorst, mit 33 Telefonbucheinträgen.

Translated, this says:

The surname Geier is found 4,806 times in 409 districts. It is estimated that there are 12,816 people with this surname in Germany. This is higher than average for a surname in Germany. In 560 places, it is the most common surname.

The most people with this surname were found in metro-area Munich, where the name is found 85 times in the telephone book.

It is least common in the area of Delmenhorst, where it appears 33 times in the phone book.

Distribution of the surname Geier in Germany

Interestingly, this map shows heavy distribution in the Neckar-Odenwald area and Main-Tauber area (the new dark green area in the southwest quadrant). This is just south of the city of Aschaffenburg.

Ursprung (Surname Origin)

The source and history given here is from the Duden Surname Dictionary.

Geyer:

»Geier.

Geier:

1) Übername zu mhd. gir >Geier< für einen habgierigen Menschen. Vgl. den Beleg Chunr. Geyr (Regensburg a. 1347).

2) Auf einen Hausnamen zurückgehender Familienname. In Köln ist ein Haus que dicitur Gyr [welches man Geier nennt] i. J. 1197 belegt.

3) Vereinzelt Herkunftsname zu dem Ortsnamen Geyer im Erzgebirge (Sachsen).

The source of the name Geyer is the name Geier. The source of the name Geier could be:

1) Taken from middle-high-German "gir" meaning "Geier" (German for vulture), to denote a greedy person. See Chunr. Geyr (Regensburg a. 1347)

2) From a house. In Cologne there is a house que dicitur Gyr [which people called Geier] from the year 1197.

3) From a place name in the Ore Mountains in the German state of Saxony.

For help with translation, try the German-English dictionary at Leo.org, or for translated large chunks of text or whole webpages at a time, try Babel Fish Translation.

Geyers in Germany, the search for Johannesberg

In my search to find which Johannisberg my great great grandfather Franciscus "Franz/Frank" Geyer came from in Germany, I recently sent letters out to the Catholic churches in the three most promising looking Johannesbergs. I've received my first answer (from St. Johannes Church in Geisenheim), which does not look promising, especially since the churches older documents are in the Limburg Archdiocese, which I've already visited.

From: St.Johannes d. Täufer
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2007 11:07:14 AM
Subject: Ahnenforschung

Sehr geehrte Frau Geyer,

bezugnehmend auf Ihr Schreiben vom 2. Januar 2007 teile ich Ihnen mit, dass ich bei der Durchsicht unserer Kirchenbücher- rückwirkend bis 1875 im Sterbejahr 1940 eine Anna Jos. Geier geb. 28.12.1883 in Königstein verst. 29.9.1940 in Johannisberg (Ordensfrau genannt Schwester Lucia) gefunden habe. Im Traubuch von 1941 von Kloster Marienthal (gehört zur Pfarrgemeinde Johannisberg) einen Gottlieb Geier geb. 14.11.1901 in Mainz Sohn von Wilhelm Geier und Maria Stövner gefunden habe.
Der Name Geyer erscheint nicht.
Sollten sie noch weitere Angaben suchen, wenden Sie sich bitte an das Bischöfliche Ordinariat, Limburg
- Postfach 1335, 65533 Limburg –

Ich wünsche Ihnen noch viel Erfolgt bei der Suche nach Dokumenten mit Informationen zu Ihrer Familie.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

I.Schüßler
- Pfarrsekretärin -

Translation:

Subject: Ancestor research
Dear Mrs. Geyer,

referring to your letter from 2 January 2007, I communicate to you that after the examination of our church book back through 1875, in 1940 Deaths, I've found an Anna Jos. Geier, born 28 Dec 1883 in Königstein, died 29 Sep 1940 in Johannisberg (she was a nun called Sister Lucia). In the Marriage Book of 1941, in the monastery Marienthal (belongs to the parish Johannisberg) I've found one Gottlieb Geier, born 14 Nov 1901 in Mainz, son of William Geier and Maria Stövner.
The name Geyer does not appear.
If you are looking for further data, please contact the Episcopal Chair, Limburg
- P.O. Box 1335, 65533 Limburg -
I wish you much success in the search for documents with information on your family.

Yours sincerely,
I.Schuessler
- Parochial secretary -

Emigration records of Baden-Wuerttemberg

I just found this well-made site of the Landesarchiv Baden-Wuerttemberg (State Archives), that includes a database of emigration records that can be searched. Unfortunately, Franz Geyer and Josef Freund, who emigrated in 1876 from somewhere in Prussia, were not in it, but maybe your ancestor is. The information in the database comes from the archives of Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Ludwigsburg, Sigmaringen, and Freiburg. Also on the website is an interesting section with short articles on the crossing and some famous emigrants from the area (such as John Jacob Astor).

Book Review: Finding Your German Ancestors

This book starts out with a short, uncomplicated history of the region known today as Germany. The same time period is covered in the Germany article on Wikipedia.com. Comparitively, Hansen gives a few more sentences on the early history than the Wikipedia article.

He then gives tips for locating your ancestor's town in modern day Germany (the internet page he gives no longer exists), names a few online German dictionaries (but not leo.org), and sends you to CyndisList.com for more internet sites. He explains that you will find a lot of spelling errors and variations in spelling in the records, and that you need to know the town before starting research in German records, as records were not kept on a National level until recently, so if you don't know the town name, you need to keep looking in US sources (he does not give any hints on where to look here).

The third chapter gives a brief summary of the different types of records available (brief = one paragraph). The rest of the book is mailing addresses of archives and genealogical societies.

Overall, the book did not provide me with much new information, but it only costs $6.95 (and I got it for $4). Sometimes it's nice to have something in your hand as opposed to on the computer screen, so I don't regret the money spent. There is the possibility that some of the info is out of date, as the book was published in 1999.

In regards to genealogy resources in Germany, I've found the soc.genealogy.german Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page the most useful resource thus far.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Title: Finding Your German Ancestor's: A Beginner's Guide (buy this at Amazon.com)
Author: Kevan M. Hansen
ISBN: 0916489833
Published: 1999 by Ancestry.com
Pages: 80
Cost: $6.95

Chapter 1: Historic Germany (16 pages)
Chapter 2: Research Tools and Tips (10 pages)
Chapter 3: German Genealogical Sources (12 pages)
Chapter 4: Church Records (13 pages)
Chapter 5: Archival Records (16 pages)
Chapter 6: Genealogical Societies (4 pages)