Research Strategy

Event and Nachträge Tables

What the Event Table is; why we are building it; how it helps identify and document the two Krückeberg immigrants from Schaumburg-Lippe?

✅ What the Event Table Is

The Event Table is a structured list of all genealogically relevant events found in the Schaumburg-Lippe Lutheran church records, including:

  • Baptisms

  • Confirmations

  • Marriages

  • Deaths/Burials

  • Communicant lists (if needed)

  • Residence indicators

  • House numbers (when they begin appearing)

  • Occupations (when given)

  • Patronymic/sponsor relationships

Each row corresponds to one recorded event, not one person.

✅ Why the Event Table Matters for Our Case

We have two Krückeberg immigrants:

1. Johann Heinrich Krückeberg

— emigrated 1849 to Adams County, Indiana

2. Carl Heinrich Krückeberg

— emigrated 1850 to Adams County, Indiana

The Schaumburg-Lippe parish registers (Petzen, Frille, nearby) contain multiple Krückeberg families, often:

  • with the same given names

  • living in the same village (Berenbusch, Petzen, etc.)

  • without house numbers in early records

  • without occupations in early records

So identities can sometimes easily get confused.

The Event Table solves this by letting us:

  • ✅ cluster events belonging to the same nuclear family

  • ✅ distinguish same-name individuals

  • ✅ track movement between villages

  • ✅ identify fathers and mothers even when not named

  • ✅ document all claims with proper citations

  • ✅ build a defensible lineage meeting BCG standards

✅ What Columns the Event Table Should Contain

These are the columns the event tables will contain:

| Event Type (B, C, M, D)
| Event Date (exact or circa)
| Name of subject
| Father (as written; normalized in parentheses)
| Mother (as written; normalized in parentheses)
| Residence / village (as written)
| House number (when available)
| Occupation (if present)
| Sponsors / witnesses (as written)
| Notes (abbreviations, ambiguity, ditto marks)
| Record Page

Optional advanced columns:

  • ✅ inferred identity

  • ✅ confidence level

  • ✅ link to other event rows

✅ How the Event Table Connects to Building the Pedigree

For each of the two immigrants, the Event Table allows you to:

Step 1 — Identify the correct baptism record

(eliminating others with same name)

Step 2 — Confirm parents through:

  • marriage entries

  • siblings’ baptisms

  • death records

  • sponsor networks

Step 3 — Tie family to:

  • a specific house number (later records)

  • village cluster (Berenbusch, etc.)

  • matching given names of children

  • matching ages in US census

  • matching Lutheran confirmation ages

Step 5 — Produce BCG-compliant proof

  • negative evidence documented

  • conflicting evidence resolved

  • citations for every assertion

✅ Why This Helps Our German Research

The Event Table becomes:

  • ✅ the research brief

  • ✅ the working hypothesis map

  • ✅ the evidence correlation tool

So instead of thinking:

“Please help me figure out which Krückeberg belongs to which family…”

We will think:

“Rows 22–41 appear to be the family of the 1849 emigrant, but rows 33 and 36 conflict due to residence wording. Please verify in archival material A12–K2.”

✅ Nachträge Tables

What is Nachträge?

Nachträge are later marginal notes added to entries in German church books (Kirchenbücher) that record additional life events—such as a person’s confirmation, marriage, death, or migration—made months or even decades after the original entry.

They serve to link multiple church records to the same individual and are essential for confirming identity across a person’s lifetime.

Purpose of the Nachträge Table

The Nachträge table records the marginal notes (Nachträge) found in baptism, marriage, and burial registers. These notes were added years—sometimes decades—after the original entry and often record later life events such as confirmations, marriages, deaths, or emigration.

Why the Nachträge is Important

Nachträge are critical identity evidence. They confirm that the child baptized in a specific record is the same person who later:

  • married on a particular date,

  • died in a particular year,

  • or underwent another recorded ceremony.

Because these marginal notes link multiple life events to the same individual, they strengthen genealogical proof and prevent mistaken identity—especially in villages where names repeat across families.