Research update

I still have not received notification about the Trusinskis records arriving in Oakdale. I think that there will be some very interesting and useful information in those records. Their usefulness will be limited, however, because I think they are going to be primarily in Russian. It takes much longer for me to identify names and it is very, very difficult for me to gather much more information from them. *sigh*

I have received another communication from the gentleman from Germany. He is originally from Latvia, and, like my father and his family, left Latvia when he was very young. He has extensive knowledge of the Gangnus family line and it seems may have some that might overlap with some other areas in which I am researching. For example, he mentions an "Alexander Till" and his marriage to someone. I will be curious to find out more about this particular Till, because I have one that was born in the same year (Eugene Alexander Till) but I have specific records about him having another marriage at a preceding time. Maybe there was a second marriage or, more likely, it is some other Till. The Till line that I have amassed thus far is from Johann Samuel August Till who had 9 children. I've only established a line from one of those children! From that child (August Theodor Till) who had 11 children, I have found three who have been married and a couple who had died when they were young. Of those three marriages, I have only one that continues another generation. That one has 7 children all of which were married at some point.

My point is that there are a lot of Tills out there for which I have been unable to find information. So, who knows who this "Alexander Till" may be...

Speaking of Tills, I have a death record for August Theodor Tills second wife, Katharina Elisabeth Puls. The record lists her as being married, not widowed, so that means that August T. Till was still alive at that point! Also, it lists her birth place as Riga, so that is where I must look to find more Puls records. As a part of my research, I am trying to play closer attention to "witnesses" in birth records. If they appear, that means that they must still be alive, which helps me in establishing a death date for said individual at a later point.

Other than the obvious limitation of how far I can go back in time to find records, I am going to have to figure out how to go about finding when these Tills (and others) left Latvia for Germany and elsewhere... I really, really want to find a link to some Tills who are currently alive in Germany -as does my Dad! In fact, it seems as if that is the goal in which he is most interested.

Another two Latvian surnames found in tree!

I've since found individuals with the last name of "Puls" and what looks like "Kerstein". They married into the family name "Till". I found them by examining church records from Latvia. Let me know if you know of a link between any of these three names and Latvia! We may be related and you could help continue to compile our family tree!

Looking for people with these surnames...

After you read this, if you want to contact me, post a comment and I will contact you. The comment won't actually be posted, because I have to "approve" the comments before that can occur, so don't worry about your email being published!!!

The surnames below are from my family tree and had a presence in Latvia upto and, some, after World War II. I know some of them left Latvia and lived in Diplaced Persons Camps in Germany after World War II. The names with the "s" on the end are the Latvian spellings. Some chose to return to Latvia, some stayed in Germany, while others moved to Australia and (my closest relations) to the US. Most of these families would identify themselves as German families who lived in Latvia prior to WWII. If you are aware of anyone -of course, including yourself- who has a similar family story and one of the last names listed below, please post a comment on this page and I will promptly get back to you. Any information you share will NOT be published here without your permission! Indeed, even if you gave your permission, I might only add first names or maiden names or additional surnames about which I am as of yet unaware. If you live in any of the regions cited, and you know of a good online database of births and deaths, send me note so that I can find some of these people! Finally, spellings are approximations, so if you know one that is very close, but not listed here, please let me know! Thanks for your help!!!

Trusinskis
Truschinski -lots in Germany
Trusinski
von Trusinsky
Porins -two specifically in Austrailia that I know have since passed away, Leontina and Vilis
Porin
Gangnuss- Helmut, Helmuts; in Australia. Is about 65 years old. Helmut! Email me!
Till -Johan (died in 1968 in Heidelberg), Ella (died in 1977 in Berlin), Eugene (died sometime in East Germany, but was born in 1884); Johan had two children named Valentine and Waltraut; Eugene had two children (found so far) and married Carolina Gunter, who died in 1936 in Latvia. They had children named Leontina and Oda Till. Amandus Till (Tils), who died in Latvia in 1950, had three children, Johan, Anna and Marie.
Tils -same as above
Til -same as above
Balodes -may be a very common name in Latvia
Balode
Murman- Otto, born in late 1800s, married Ella Till
Ahrens- Anna, married to Ernst Till, died in 1929, but had two siblings, Eward and Alexander.

Weigart -Mary, died in Germany around 1970; had siblings named Michael, Lizette, and Edward. She had other siblings, though they died in Latvia and were named Julia and Andres
Weigarts -same as above
Wihgert

UPDATE: I have more information than listed above. Contact me if interested!

Of course, the vast majority of these people have long since passed away, but maybe some of their descendents may find this and help make some connections!