Holly and I attended the 2017 International Germanic Genealogy Conference in Minneapolis MN 28-30 July. Almost 700 persons met to celebrate their German ancestry and too share tips and technology that will find and document ancestors. Forty countries were represented at this first annual conference.
What a great event it was–tired and happy we headed for home by way of Billings (Huntley, Montana. We had stopped at North Platte, Nebraska on the way. Actually we held two book fairs and then sold book galore in Minneapolis.
The exhibit hall at a large conference of genealogists is even more valuable and informative than the actual sessions with speakers delivering specific instruction.
I bought a map of the Kingdom of Bohemia, printed in London, England 1794. In English! It is quite detailed and shows the boundaries surrounding Bohemia, where ethnic Germans clustered in settlements. The term “Circle” appeared many times–and I asked around for a definition of what was meant. Turns out that it was translated for kreis or county. Who knew that one of the meanings of circle was a jurisdiction equivalent to the county?
The next conference will be scheduled in July, 2019 in Sacramento, California.If you get a chance to attend, don’t miss it. You will be so glad you attended. Your favorite genealogist, Arlene Eakle http://arleneeakle.com
PS Our Eakle ancestor came to America in 1740 as a German-speaking immigrant. He spelled his name Ekell--a Norwegian patronymic from the distant past. Yet, a German when he came. There is some evidence that he could have come from Lichtenstein. We just don’t know for sure. His wife was from Hessen and they traveled on the same boat.