Wait…what?  Julie’s working on her own genealogy?  Yes, it’s been quite some time since I’ve been able to work on my own family history, much less blog about it.  Sadly, I’ve been sitting on this find since May 2014, yikes!  But today, with actual free time (I know, shocking!!), I decided to work on my ever-growing pile of “stuff” accumulated from various research trips over the last few years.  It’s a neat find and I thought I’d share it with my genealogy buddies.

Over the last few years (when I have time, that is), I have been working on a few of my German lines, using German records both in the United States and abroad.  Stepping into this land of records is challenging due to the fact that the language AND the handwriting/text is foreign.  While I don’t have total command over this obstacle yet, I continue to grow.  Heck, I found this tiny little notice about my second great-grandfather’s death, despite the fact that his name was spelled wrong.  How often have we overlooked a short notice in a newspaper that’s written in our native tongue?  (I’ve got my hand raised!)  What’s more, I haven’t seen this newspaper clipping (or much else in German script) for almost a year, and I could still glance at it and find what I needed!  Boy, if I can do it, anyone can!!  Though I’ll admit, I had my cheat-sheet with me, that has all of my surnames shown in the German script used in the newspaper so I could easily identify them.  I blogged about doing the same thing for German handwriting while perusing German church records (see Tip for German Research – Write it Out…in GERMAN!).

Anyway, when I ran across the notice, I wasn’t even sure it was for my guy since the name was spelled incorrectly to the point I thought it was someone else.  But I read the age and the residence, and I knew it had to be him (my memory can be quite good sometimes, other times, not so much).  Before I spent the $0.25 to make the copy (yes, I’m on a budget!), I pulled out my Kindle Fire to double-check the age and residence details using my Families app:  age, off by a year, no biggie; residence, check!  Although this find didn’t really add any information to what I already knew, I think it’s pretty neat to have.

So here it is, the tiny little highlighted area in a long paragraph with a string of death notices (there are 25 in all).  Below is a transcription of the blurb in English, and below that, a translation to English.  Again, if I can manage to find this little nugget, there’s hope for everyone with German ancestors!

STOFFEL, Charles STOFFEL Death Notice

English Transcription:  Charles Stoppe, 48 Jahre alt, No. 190 De Kevon Str.

English Translation:  Charles Stoppe [sic, Stoffel], 48 years old, 190 DeKevon Street.

Source:  “Todesfälle [Deaths],” Chicagoer Arbeiter-Zeitung [Chicago Workers Newspaper], 12 November 1902, p. 4, col. 6.