Roger P. Minert

Minert provides a brief introduction to how and when German surnames and place names changed both in Europe and later in the New World. Although knowledge of the German language or linguistics and phonetics is helpful, Spelling Variations does not require the reader to have those skills. Every German vowel and consonant is described along with its IPA notation followed by specific changes that the family historian can expect to encounter. This allows one to trace names both forward and show more backward in place and time. The Old High German Sound Shift (OHGSS) is referenced and maps show where those changes occurred as well as where they did not take place. This can help narrow down the probable ancestral family home.

There is an Annotated Bibliography, a Glossary and an Every Name index. A few black and white photographs appear a bit over-exposed but they are unimportant to the text. The book is marred by some typesetting problems and one instance of referring the reader to a non-existent Section 3.3.8 instead of 3.3.6. Somehow page 85 of the index was printed on the back of page 83 leaving page 84 out of sequence. The dark blue cover makes it a bit difficult to read the book description and blurbs on the back. show less

This book systematically teaches how to read the handwriting in old German records. It has examples of the most common types of records, with images. Each one is partially transcribed, translated, and analyzed to show how to extract vital information from similar records. It also has chapters on Latin and French, which can be useful for certain areas and time periods. My only quibble is that the script is mostly printed in a computer font—easy when you're first learning, but quite show more different from the wide variety of handwriting you'll encounter in actual records. show less

Very useful for deciphering old church records.

I started with reading the chapter: The East German Mission, because I heard some of this story by the son of Herbert Klopfer (father of W. Herbert Klopfer). For about 7 months I was aware that W. Herbert Klopfer had a story of his own escape from Germany, but it wasn't until October 18, 2015 that I had the opportunity to hear him tell it. As I read this account which includes his father, I just kept saying "Wow."

Before reading this account, I read: show more target="_top">http://mormonhistoricsites.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/The-Fate-of-the-LDS-Ea...., which is by the same author as this book.

This book can be read online at:
https://rsc.byu.edu/book/harms-way

(2024-08-04 Updated a dead URL) show less