More Letters to der Staats-Anzeiger

More translated letters to the newspaper der Staats-Anzeiger from my grandfather, Joseph John Merk, and his brothers-in-law (Eberles) were posted this week. These letters were written in the fall of 1911. This was about six months before Joseph Merk brought his family from Argentina to North Dakota. The Merk/Merck and Eberle letters can be viewed at the GRHS website by members of that group.

In The Valley of the Kutchergan

In the Valley of the Kutchergan, a book By Ida Katherina Bohn Senger, is the history of families who lived through difficult times in Alsace, France, then emigrated to South Russia just as did our Merck ancestors. Some folks who have read this book describe it as an easy to read description of their lives and the history of those times. The book is available from the North Dakota State University Library. More information is available at the link below as well as a review of the book. I intend to order a copy.

Research on the Internet

The internet is a fantastic tool for genealogy research. Folks readily share data which sometimes greatly expedites the process. For that reason, I have posted much of my database on genealogy websites, excluding information about living relatives. Here is a good example of feedback I received from someone who made a connection:

"Hello. What a surprise to see a name and a place both of which I have an interest. My family was from BEINHEIM and I very seldom find anyone with any connection to there. My ggggrandfather married a Catherine (name deleted) in Beinheim. My grandfather and his mother and siblings all came to Buffalo, NY by 1892. I have many records on the (name deleted) Family from Beinheim but have not been able to connect all of them yet. As of now I do not connect your (name deleted) to my family. But on the other hand I found information on your site to fill in some blanks and at least connect 2 of them. Magdalena (name deleted) is Madeleine in my records. I did not know her parents although I do have records on them. Francisci Ludovid (name deleted) is Louis in my records. It looks like your information comes from Latin church records where mine comes from civil records."

Beinheim is a village in Alsace where some of the Mercks lived in years before (and after) some emigrated to South Russia. It is an attractive small village very close to the Rhine River, much of which was destroyed during World War II. My research has found that a number of Mercks lived there after the family branched out to South Russia. We may have relatives still living there. This email correspondent has made five visits to Beinheim from his home in New York. He has remarked about how easy it is to get there from cities in Germany.

This email was not from a relative, but perhaps one day I may hear from a French Merck. I did receive an email from Andre Merck from near Strasbourg a couple of years ago, but have not been able to establish contact with him again.