Upcoming Meetings & Speakers

The Pommern Special Interest Group is excited to announce the topics and speakers for our upcoming meetings.  As always, our meetings are open and free to the public.  Please come by to say hi and listen to a great speaker!  Meetings are at 2 p.m. at the Immigrant Genealogy Library (1310-B West Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA)

April 6, 2014- Gena Ortega –“Advancing your History through Social Networking”

Gena Philibert Ortega holds a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (Psychology and Women’s Studies) and a Master’s degree in Religion. Presenting on various subjects involving genealogy, Gena has spoken to groups throughout California and in Utah as well as virtually to audiences in the United States and Europe. Gena is the author of over 100 articles published in genealogy newsletters and magazines. Her writings can also be found on her blogs, Gena’s Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. She is also the author of the books, "Putting the Pieces Together" and the "Cemeteries of the Eastern Sierra" (Arcadia Publishing, 2007). Gena serves as Vice-President for the Southern California Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

July 14, 2013 - Linda E Serna - "Genealogy as Detective Work."

Biography—Linda Serna Posted on GSG Website

I have been involved with genealogy in researching and writing family stories for 30 years. In addition, I was privileged to work as a genealogist for the PBS Genealogy Roadshow program. Currently, I am a member of the Southern California Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (SCCAPG), the Genealogical Speakers Guild (GSG), the California State Genealogical Alliance (CSGA), the Polish Genealogical Society (PGS-CA), and the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America (GSHA-CA) as well as being Vice President of Programs for the Orange County California Genealogical Society (OCCGS).  Over the last 5 years, I've written and given several presentations on various topics for different groups in California and New Mexico, as well as teaching the Intermediate/Advanced class at my home group about twice a year.  I am always in the process of writing new presentations. My loves, in addition to public speaking, include history, writing, and traveling.  I especially like seeing how individual family stories fit in and make up the fabric of history.

October 14, 2014 - Tom Underhill - “Dead Man tell No Tales”

Tom Underhill is an Author. Graphic designer. Public speaker. Tom Underhill is the publisher and senior designer at Creative Continuum, a book design and publishing company specializing in high-quality, short-run books. During the last several years, Tom and his company produced more than 400 family history heirloom books, printed more than 9.75 million pages and scanned more than 12,000 photographs.Tom has spoken on diverse topics at regional, national and international venues. He is the lead architect for My Life Story, an initiative to find a fun and easy way to help people record their personal and family memoirs. The author of nine books, his latest book, Hypergratification: Teens, Porn and Online Addiction, helping youth survive online life is co-authored with Dr. Craig Georgianna. This comprehensive book helps teens and their parents deal with and work through the harsh reality and consequence of porn and video game addictions.

A Brief History of Pomerania

A Brief History of Pomerania

Written by Gene Mass

(Posted here with his permission)

The earliest inhabitants of Pomerania were Germanic tribes that migrated southwards from Scandinavia prior to 100 B.C.  By the fifth century A.D., these tribes, known as the Goths, Vandals, Germanii, and Teutoni, had migrated westward and the area was settled by Slavic tribes that entered from the east.  The Slavic tribes included the Pomerani and Polani, who settled in the areas that became Pomerania and Poland.  The German name Pommern comes from the Slavonic word, Po more, meaning "along the sea".  The Pomeranian Slavs were later referred to as the Wends.  In about 995, Pomerania was conquered by Boleslaus I, the first King of Poland.  However, wars between the Poles, Danes, and Germans for possession of the area were fought with varying results for more than a century.  In 1122 the Poles were victorious over the pagan Wends and Duke Boleslaw III introduced Christianity to Pomerania.  He also invited the first German settlers into the area.

Pomerania became a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire in 1181 when Bogislaw I swore his allegiance to Frederick I (Barbarosa), the German King and Roman Emperor.  Thus began a Greif dynasty that continued for the next four centuries, with the crown passed down from generation to generation through inheritance.  The last Pomeranian Duke was Bogislaw XIV who reigned until his death in 1637.  With no one to inherit the crown, the electors of Brandenburg assumed control of Pomerania.  During the 13th century, surnames began appearing and by 1400 they were in fairly common use throughout Germany.

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, tens of thousands of immigrants from the Rhineland, Westfalen, Niedersachsen, Holstein, Mecklenburg and Holland colonized Pomerania, establishing German villages among the Wend inhabitants and introducing trade.  The immigrants, who were welcomed by the Pomeranian Dukes, provided the necessary skills and tools needed to clear the forests, drain the marshes, build dikes and roads, and farm the land.  They introduced the iron plow and the 3-field rotation system of farming.  Eventually, the German language and culture dominated the country and by the 1400's the Wends of Pomerania disappeared completely as a result of intermarriage.

The Church figured prominently in the early colonization with various ecclesiastical institutions receiving or buying vast areas.  The Cistercians, the most prominent monastic order, established monasteries as early as the 1170's in Pomerania.  One, the monastery of Kolbatz, acquired huge land holdings in Hinterpommern and by 1313, owned 53 villages.  Intermixed among these possessions were the large estates of the princes and nobles, including both the native Slavs and the German knights who began arriving about 1235. 
Pomerania, like the other German states, was greatly affected by the Reformation.  Lutheranism took root in Pomerania in 1525 when Stralsund adopted Martin Luther's teaching.  Nine years later, the Lutheran Church of Pomerania was established when the Diet at Treptow on the Rega prepared the basis for its formation.  A plattdeutsch (low German) version of the bible was printed the same year and in 1536, the dukes of Pommern accepted the Lutheran faith.  However, the hostility between the Catholics and the Protestants continued unabated despite the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 which was intended to settle the religious issue in Germany. In 1618, the Thirty Years War began primarily as a civil war between the two religious factions.  In the summer of 1630, the war took on a political objective when Sweden entered the war.  King Gustavus Adolphus, a Protestant, was concerned about the growing power of the Roman Emperor Ferdinand.  The war continued for another 18 years until 1648 when the Treaty of Westphalia was signed.  As compensation for its role in the war, Sweden was awarded control over Stettin and Vorpommern.  Brandenburg retained control of Hinterpommern.  

The Thirty Years War took a heavy toll in Pomerania with possibly one-third of its people killed and whole villages and farms completely destroyed.  In the early 1700's, Pomerania again became the battleground for conflicts between Russia and Sweden.  It ended in 1720 with the Treaty of Stockholm, which ceded part of Hither Pomerania as far as the Peene River to Brandenburg-Prussia.  Following the defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna gave the remaining part of Swedish Pomerania to Prussia in 1815.

When King Wilhelm I became the first emperor of a united Germany in 1871, Prussia had become a powerful military nation that occupied the northern two thirds of Germany. It extended from the Netherlands and Belgium on the west to Russia on the east.  In 1945, after World War II, Prussia ceased to exist as a German state and Pomerania was partitioned again at the Oder River.  Hinterpommern and Stettin (now called Szczecin) became part of Poland and all of the Germans fled or were expelled from their country.  Vorpommern, the area west of the Oder-Neisse Rivers, became part of East Germany.  In 1990, Vorpommern became part of the reunified Germany and was included in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. 

Sources:

This brief history of Pomerania was originally published by Gene Maas on his family genealogical website, http://www.genemaas.net/Pommern.htm. Two books by F.L Carsten, "The Origins of Prussia" (1954) and "A History of the Prussian Junkers" (1989); and one by H. W. Koch, "A History of Prussia" (1978) served as primary references in preparing this article.  A more extensive history can be found in article by Dr. Ludwig Biewer entitled, “Kleine Geschichte Pommerns”. the translated which appears on Heinz Radde’s site at http://grosstuchen.cwsurf.de/HistoryPomerania.html.

Attention: We Need a New Editor!

We are presently looking for a new editor starting with the fall 2014 issue of the DPL. 

The editor of Die Pommerschen Leute has notified the Pomeranian Special Interest Group (PSIG) of the Immigrant Genealogical Society that she will be resigning after the publication of the Summer 2014 issue of DPL. Consequently, the PSIG is looking for a volunteer who would be willing to accept the position of editor beginning with the Fall 2014 issue. The editor solicits and ...edits publishable articles and stories that deal with the history of Pomerania and the culture, traditions and way of life of its people. The editor completes the layout and design of approximately 10 pages of content for each of the 4 yearly issues. The "Die Vorfahren" section of DPL has its own editor who oversees its content and submissions. 

All of the editorial duties can be accomplished over the Internet, so the editor can be based anywhere in the USA or abroad. Software used has been MS Publisher. The new editor could begin working immediately with the outgoing editor to get oriented, and would have the next 8 to 10 months to work on the Fall 2014 issue. This is a great opportunity for anyone who would love to direct the editorial content of a quarterly publication concerning the history and culture of the Pomeranian people. 

Please contact Toni Perrone, the president of PSIG at tperrone2@verizon.net. She will discuss the duties and responsibilities required of the editor.

January Speaker & Meeting

Our January meeting will take place on January 12, 2014 at 2pm at the Immigrant Genealogical Society Library at 1310-B W. Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, CA.  Parking is available in the back of the building.

Our speaker for January will be Butch Hibben.   Butch Hibben serves as assistant director of the Corona Family History Center. He has a life long interest in genealogy that began when he helped his grandmother typing the family Group Sheets and Pedigree Charts for the family's Book of Remembrance. He was introduced to the Living Legacy Project in 2011 and now assists others in preserving their family heritage. His topic is "Living Legacy Project - Creating Your Life's Story."

Everyone is welcome!

What is your Pomeranian Identity (Part 2)

 

In August 0f 2013 Anne Mareike Schönle the Historian at the Pommersches Landesmuseum in Greifswald asked our members the question -What is your Pomeranian Identity? Seven people from our face book page answered and their answers were sent back to Mareike. She has sent us a second request which I have posted below:

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen

I have already contacted you to get information about your Pomeranian
ancestors and to learn where descendants of Pomeranian settlers live today.
As I am preparing a media-project on the Pomeranians' culture (for our
new permanent exhibition) I am interested in photographs of your
ancestors and yourselves. I know that this is a great request to make of
you and a great responsibility. If you send me some photos, we will keep
and safe them in our archive, in case they are printed.
It would be a pleasure to hear from you.
Yours siuncerely
Mareike Schönle

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

Ich kontaktierte sie bereits, um Informationen über Sie und Ihre
pommerschen Vorfahren zu erhalten. Da ich ein Medienprojekt über die
Kultur der Pommern vorbereite (für unsere neue Dauerausstellung),
interessiere ich mich für Fotografien von Ihren Vorfahren und Ihnen
selbst. Ich weiß, das ist eine große Bitte und Verantwortung. Wenn Sie
mir Fotos zusenden, werden wir sie in unserem Archiv aufbewahren, wenn
sie gedruckt werden.

Ich würde mich freuen, von ihnen zu hören!
Mit freundlichem Gruß
Mareike Schönle

Anne Mareike Schönle
Historikerin
Pommersches Landesmuseum
17489 Greifswald
Rakower Straße 9

Tel.: +49 3834 8312 23http://www.pommersches-landesmuseum.de

October Pommern Special Interest Group Meeting - October 13, 2013.

The Pommern Special Interest Group will be having the October meeting on October 13, 2013 at 2 p.m. at the Immigrant Library (1310 Magnolia Blvd, Burbank, CA).  Parking is available behind the library.

Our speaker will be Alice Colby Volkert.  The topic will be "Through Their Eyes".  After using all the tried-and-true research strategies known, there are still some individuals that just can not be found! As far as researching individuals, we keep narrowing our field of vision until we have little hope of “seeing” anything new. But, if we stop and think about it and no longer try to use our own eyes, but turn around and use the eyes of the person we areinvestigating; we may “see” the solution. What did your mystery person see?

 
About Alice Colby Volkert:  Alice Colby Volkert is a professional genealogist who is involved in many aspects of genealogy.  She can research in any part of the United States. Alice enjoys being a coach, helping people make their own discoveries and organizing their data. She guides and assists people who want to 'do-it-themselves' or can do as much for anyone as they require. Alice was one of the researchers for the PBS television show "Genealogy Roadshow" airing September 23, 2013 on PBS.  She speaks at UGA, Expo and Jamboree Genealogy Conferences as well as local Family History Fairs and genealogy societies' meetings. Alice is on the board of the Southern California Chapter of the Association for Professional Genealogists. Alice is President of the Colby Family Association, the descendants of Anthony & Susannah Colby who arrived with the Winthrop Fleet. 

Clickable Links or Summer Issue

The Summer issue of the periodical Die Pommerschen Leute was mailed yesterday (August 14, 2013) to those that subscribe to it. Margret Ott, contributed the following article “Pomerania – Villages and Maps” that appears on pages 8-9. It has  a list of internet pages. For your convenience, this list appears with clickable links on our Facebook page and here on our blog.

 Villages in Polish Pomerania: kartenmeister.com

 Villages in German Pomerania gov.genealogy.net/search/index

 Village encyclopedias pommerscher-greif.de/geographie.html

 Preussische Provinz Pommern1856 www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~24746~950010:Preussische-Provinz-Pommern,-reduci

 Pommern 1905: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Provinz_Pommern_1905.png

 Mapster (downloadable Maps) 1890-1952 http://igrek.amzp.pl/index.php

 Topographic maps from some German locations http://igrek.amzp.pl/mapindex.php?cat=TK25GER

 Topographic maps from all Polish locations http://igrek.amzp.pl/mapindex.php?cat=TK25

 Maps of Poland today with even better aerial Pho-tos than Google http://mapy.geoportal.gov.pl/imap/?locale=en

 Map that combines both Google maps and historic maps (click into the square at top left corner), ex-cellent for preparing a trip, because you can see both German and Polish village names http://en.zamki.pl/?dzial=mapa

 Deutsche Fotothek, German topographic maps http://www.deutschefotothek.de/db/apsisa.dll/ete?action=viewPage&page=kartenforum-sachsen-messtischblaetter.xml

 Lovely and detailed maps from 1692-1709 from Swedish Pomerania at http://www.svea-pommern.de/

 More Maps at http://pommerscher-greif.de/geographie/articles/kartographie.html and http://pommerscher-greif.de/linkliste.html

Margret Ott lives in Germany and maintains the following websites (in German): www.schlawe.de and pommerscher-greif.de. Her e-mail address is ott@schlawe.de

Thank you for your contribution Margaret!