The first time I heard the word Posen was when I asked my mother where her grandfather, Johann August Fredrick, came from. She said the only thing she knew was Posen, Prussia. Well, it is a start and better than just Prussia. Was Posen the town he came from as a few of my cousins believed or was it the Province? If it was the Province, then I had my work cut out for me.
It wasn't until I was contacted by a 'cousin', Michael, who lives in Germany and is a Fredrick, (or Fredrich as it was known in Prussia) that I knew for certain. It was the province. More specifically, the Bromberg area of Posen. Once that was discovered I went looking for information.
One of the websites that I found helpful with my Posen the Province research was the Posen-Official website of the Posen-L mailing list. It was so much more than a mailing list. It had information from the Prussian Province of Posen, which is also known as Posen, Germany; Posen, Prussia; Province of Posen; Poznan, Poland and a few other names.
A few of the highlights of this website included:
- Search Area
- Master Index-list of topics available on website
- Brickwalls-help for those pesky Posen ancestors or documents
- Surnames-browse surnames and see others who recorded them
- Places-church, court, military, and police districts are found here
- Tools-help with finding Posen communities
- Resource-area for more information and help
- Subscribe-where you can subscribe to the mailing list.
Unfortunately, in 2022, I can no longer find the website. Do any of my readers know what happened to it? I refer you to the Family Search wiki for now.
How wonderful for you to be able to find such a helpful resource! I'm still struggling to find where in south-west Germany my ancestors came from - very few clues. Thanks for posting - I clearly need to learn to do more digging!
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