Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Film review: 1867 Census of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Fritz BULL and his family left for America a couple of months before the 1867 census of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was recorded. Even so, I ordered microfilm for the town of Finkenthal, hoping to find his mother, Dorothea (SCHUKNECHT) BULL. She wasn't listed, either. (I later found out that Dorothea had died in 1865.) Some BULL family members remained, but the film didn't hold my interest. The quality was good, though, and I'm sure it would have made nice printouts. The handwriting was legible enough to make out 80-90% of the text. Someone with a better grasp of German would undoubtedly be able to transcribe nearly everything in these records, at least based on the reel of film I rented.

The 1867 census does not have as many useful details as the 1819 version, but it would still be worthwhile to order the film if your ancestors were living in Mecklenburg-Schwerin at the time. Again, these forms really put American census records to shame.

Title: Volkszählung am 3. Dezember 1867
Film number: 1974197
Film quality: 9/10

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