June 2016

One of my goals since I retired in 2015 was to spend serious time on family research and find sources to document our German Fischer family history. For that purpose in June, I spent a few days at the Allen County library in Fort Wayne IN. The library has a genealogy center that boasts to be the second largest collection of resources in the US. One type of resource is family histories and they have thousands! One shelf is devoted to Fisher families from Adam to Zachariah. However, no Jacob or Henry Fischer family history yet!

In browsing these Fisher family stories, I learned the following interesting tidbits:

• Fischer, in German, meant a person who earned a livelihood by fishing. So several Fisher family histories have included a family crest (usually involving a fish).
• One Adam Fischer family history tells of the family being elevated to baron status by the local king, however the son killed one of the king’s deer. This was a hanging offense at that time and place. However, the son was not hanged, but was sent to America circa 1741.
• It seems that there may be Fischer character traits that we inherited as mentioned in a summary of various Fischer families.  The Fischers’ were slow and deliberate in decision making, hardworking, a closeness to the soil and great affection for animals. Also mentioned were dry humor, enjoyment of the outdoors and fishing and travel fever (wanting to see beyond the next hill).

In Fort Wayne, I also attended a genealogy conference focused on German immigrants (Palatines to America) and the related research resources. I learned that the Philadelphia Historical Archives is where most early Pennsylvania German newspapers and family journals would be found. That will be on my next road trip. When our ancestors arrived in the 1600’s or early 1700’s, there were less records kept and less government documents to use. The shipping records in Rotterdam were destroyed so we have to rely on  U.S. records for our research. The earliest official Pennsylvania census was 1790 and our family is thought to have arrived in 1730 or earlier. Most Germans who arrived at that time were described on the passenger list as being Palatine (whether they were actually from the Palatinate region or not.) Early church records of marriages may indicate the actual German village or region of birth.

Since Germany was not a country then, but a collection of duchies or small kingdoms; you have to identify the village and parish they lived in. The church parish records were the only detailed records at that early time. The area along the Rhine River was also often the site of wars and destruction. These wars led residents to consider escaping by emigrating (often without permission/documentation) to America.

One of the exhibitors at the conference, Family Tree Tours, conducts small group tours that include a day or two in the village of your ancestors. However that is the $64 million question – where did they live Wuerttemberg? The region of Wuerttemberg is noted in family stories recorded by Ruth Mabel Dreibelbis Vitz in 1936 research and documented in The Fisher Family, Descendents of Henry Fisher booklet. The sources for her research are not given. So, I am thinking of going on the Germany tour in Sept. 9-19, 2017 even if I haven’t pinned down the town they came from. Check out their web site and consider joining me: http://familytreetours.com/tours/group-tours

My previous research at the Naperville Family History library included early Illinois land records from the Bureau of Land Management. In looking for our pioneer ancestors Solomon and Jacob Fisher, who came to Rock Grove Illinois in 1839 we think; I found their land purchases registered in the Land Office in Dixon IL. On July 1, 1845 certificates of register record payment by Solomon Fisher for 160 acres in sections 25 & 26 of Rock Grove Township. On October 1, 1845 certificates of register record payment for 240 acres paid by Jacob Fisher, and certificates of register and payment by Solomon Fisher for an additional 240 acres in sections 25 & 26. On March 1, 1848 Jacob Fisher registered payment for an additional 40 acres in section 26. January 1, 1849 Jacob registered payment for an additional 40 acres in section 28. (Next local trip is to the Rock Grove Township office to view early land records and perhaps take photos of the property today.)

My direct descendant of Solomon Fisher is Henry Fisher who married Hannah Potthast Nov. 2, 1876. One of his children, Elmer Jerome is the grandfather to my family. Elmer’s sister, Susan Luella Fisher, married Roy Cross. I scanned a photo of the couple and two of their children Robert and Kenny Cross.

(Below)

This is a Sept. 11, 1984 photo of my dad, Elvin Fisher when he planted some corn seed from Georgia. The 9 ft. tall corn that resulted made the Freeport Journal-Standard news! I think it wasn’t the seed, but the fertile planting location (a former pig lot). There’s that farming heritage.

I hope to write each month of my progress in documenting our Fischer Family history. This will keep me on track and I hope will be of interest to you. If you have been doing research, please share what you have discovered. I hope you are inspired to write your family stories and share photos. If we identify photos, scan and share them, it helps us all and is available for the future generations. Time flies and memories fade so let’s do it now!

So many ancestors and so little time,

Elaine Fisher