Lois Hemmeter Edwards, author of the “Beginner’s Guide to Germanic Genealogy” spoke at the Germanic Genealogy Society meeting this morning.

Husband and I both have German ancestry and needed a little kick in the Deutschland to give those lines some attention. Lois offered a step-by-step process for climbing a German family tree once an ancestor’s place of birth is known.

The information she shared applied to all German-speaking countries, not just Germany. Much of the process could be applied to all genealogical research, so everyone in the audience stood to gain something.

Lois suggested setting a specific goal, such as locating an ancestor’s baptismal record. She feels this record is “the key used to unlock the door to your immigrant ancestor” since such a record includes parent’s names and often the mother’s maiden name.

The time went quickly as Lois walked us through some best-case scenarios, worse-case scenarios, and finished with worst-case scenarios. And although my target ancestor falls into the last category, the morning was well spent.