translations 03/19/23


Translating documents is one of the most difficult tasks in my genealogy research.  I have three Nationalities in my ancestry. My paternal grandparents were both from Poznan, Poland. My grandfather was a first generation American, and my grandmother immigrated at age 19. There is a choice of languages in their documents. The document can be in Polish, Russian, German, or Latin. I do not speak any of those languages. I can look for key markers, like birth, marriage, and death.  I can pick out the ancestors name and maybe glean their parents name, but I either way I  have to find a translator, if I can tell which language it is, or rely on google translate.  The handwriting can also be a challenge when you are trying to get a word translated.  It needs to be spelled out!

My maternal grandfather’s family was from Germany. My great grandfather came to the United States at age 12 and spoke German and English. Those family records are in German or Latin. The old Germanic text is difficult to read. My maternal grandmother was a first generation American  and grew up speaking French and English.  The records from Canada, or New France are the best I have found.  They recorded everything and I can find birth (baptism) marriage and death records. Most of these records are in French, but occasionally I find some Latin as well.  I can pick out key words and dates easily, but oh, the handwriting! The church records were handwritten by the parish priest, and some of them had truly horrific handwriting.  Some documents have translations. La  France has translations and original copies, but for a limited time in New France. That website has been very helpful.

I have been able to locate microfiche for both churches my maternal grandparents grew up in, and am trying to locate church records for my paternal grandparents.  That poses another problem as many microfiche  records are blurry and hard to read.  The local library has a lot of films that I can access for my maternal side, but I haven’t been to the library in the county that my paternal side resided in.

It is a challenge and keeps me busy!  If only I spoke French, German and Polish!


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