I have to say I like this photo. It looks so German and I can tell it is in front of a Restaurant. Is it in front of a mountain? The buses....For some of these people in the picture, this was a new form of transportation. I don't know who they are but to me they look like they are relatives from my Grandmothers side. Esp the one in the middle looks like her Aunt or maybe an uncle? I don't know. I really like this group shot though. Wonder who they are and where they were.

Wade Siblings.
 Used Recolor to colorize photo. Think it turned out very nicely. It brought the old black and white photo to life.

Not sure about doing this Blogger thing. Doing it every day will not be a happening thing. That much I can tell. Been trying to educate myself on research. I think I could definitely trace families who have American roots. The Census's are so wonderful for the most part. Going back on the Wade side of the family, I don't run into as many roadblocks. Lots of questions and it seems some people disappeared from the record. For example Mr. Wade had a great Aunt who showed on the census in 1910? Adina. Unusual first name, but I can not find any thing else concrete about her. Such a mystery to me. Did she get married?????..... looked in the New York and Massachusetts marriage licenses, or at least what they have. Tried looking for Obituaries in those states. Tried finding when people died in his family. Some have  clear evidence of when they died but others....nothing. I know as an amateur genealogist, the information is somewhere. Just got to wonder when it will become digitized, and if it will happen in my lifetime.
         If you happened to stop by and read this I thank you. If anyone has any Wade information related, I do hope you will share,

Family Picture

In this photogragh,is Kathe von Brand (geb. Mannewitz) with my great-grandfather. my great aunt is sitting next to my Oma who is sitting with the doll. The other 2 unindefied persons are other relatives. One I do know is an aunt.

I have been researching more things. Still no luck on finding concrete links to the German families,

*Note, the man that I thought was my Great Grandfather is not him. My Oma said to me he is an Uncle. I found the death certificate of my great grandfather and he died in 1920, when my grandmother was only 3 and a half months old. It was a wonderful find to find the documentation but....now I wonder who he was.

I love Class photos for some reason. I love this one because my Oma is in here. She is in the second row, and she is the second child on the left. Gotta love the hat that the teacher is wearing. I do not see any boys in this class. It is the only class picture I have of my grandmother. It would be nice to know which school this is also, but I believe that might always be a mystery.

        The next picture is of my Grandfathers class. He is in the middle. I love his teachers look also. I was thinking I was told he was in high school there? But since the German learning stages of schooling are different, I am not quite sure where he was. Looks as if he is about 17 in the picture. But he was schooled in Bernburg, and studied in Berlin for his Doctorate which he had when he was married to my Grandmother.

Class Photo in Berlin 1926. perhaps 1927

A Class Photo with my Grandfather

Introducing my Great grandparents on my Grandfathers Side

Paul Stapf

This is Paul Stapf also. I guess in Germany, it is not the way to say Senior or Junior. I am unsure if there is any formality to this. I know that they lived in Bernburg. And that he did something at the soda factory maybe.I know my family lived with them after the war. I am thinking they moved there during the war.

Auguste Hedwig Stapf nee Nettling

My mother said that my Great Grandmother was mean. They only had one child that I am aware of, and that was my grandfather. I wish I knew their birthdays and death dates and also where they are buried. And if there are any other photographs. I have a couple pictures.Also being able to trace back more in terms of Geneology would be nice. The Nettling I did find was from the 1700's and was an artist. Coincidentally we have strong artistic abilities. My nephew is a tattoo artist and my aunt is very talented as well as my mother and myself. 

So my aunt remembers their address. Neinburger Strasse 11. Shame Google maps hasn't got Street view for Bernburg. My grandfather never saw them again after they left East Germany.  

A picture of my Oma with her sister Ulla and her mother Kathe. Ulla was married  to Ernest (Ernie) Brackertz. I know Ulla's birthday was January 7th and I think she was 7 years older than my Oma, which would mean she was possibly born in 1913. My great mothers birthday was sometime in November.  Have no idea how old she was when she had my grandmother. I believe I was told she died possible in 1964, maybe. Again just have clues but can't find out anything. 

I wonder if joining Ancestry.com , the international version would be better for finding more info. I have tried using the Google, German version and spelling as if it were the German version. Despite me not knowing how to speak or write German. I do have a small understanding of what I read. I would never be able to ask a question in the language or send an email. 

I think my great grandmother was a single child, but I don't really know..... I know she was born Mannowitz. Another rare last name. Can't find squat about it. My grandmother also spoke of the aunts she had. 

It was also said that Ulla was from a previous marriage. I wonder what her maiden name was if my Great grandmother had been married before.

My Great grandfather , Great grandmother pictured with Ulla perhaps in 1919. Kathe was pregnant with my grandmother in this picture.My great grand fathers name is Gustav Theoder Von Brand.

Something I didn't see

So, looking at the photos that I took of the book, I see the wedding dates of both sets of my Great-grandparents. This was new information. I had to work on the translation but I think I got it right. Still tried looking up information with this new clue, but again nothing is available to me yet. I know it is somewhere, just not out on the World Wide Web yet. Don't you love the symbol on the stamp? Not.  There is a swastika. 

March 21,1940 A Wedding in Berlin

Ingeborg and Paul Stapf

My Grandparents on their Wedding Day. Married March 21th,1940 in Berlin. My grandmother was 19 years old and my grandfather was 27. I remember her telling me that they had given Bibles to the newly wed in Germany. But instead they got a copy of Mein Kampf . I believe they married in the Courthouse at the time. Whatever is equivalent to a Courthouse in those times in Germany. But there again I don't have proof or do I????? I know my mother's birth is in a little official book along with my aunt's birth and their brothers birth and death dates. Was the marriage certificate in there and I missed it?

A pamphlet from the wedding party written by her Tante Else. My Oma's name is written there with my Opa's. There is a backside to this if I recall, but at the moment I don't know where I hid it at. Trying to find pictures, I realize that I should organize this stuff better. Too many scattered folders.

Some Background, as if you really wanted to know, but you might

And so it begins. Here is my mother and Daddy with me as a baby

When I was younger, we lived with my grandparents. One of my favorite things to do on a boring rainy Sunday afternoon when my grandmother had a free moment, was to sit down next to her looking at her pictures. She would tell me who everyone was and tidbits of history associated with them. I swore at the time I would never forget. After all she was the most special person in the world to me and how could I ever forget what she told me? Right? Hence 40
years later I realize I should have written it down. She passed away in 1982. A little over 8 months after my Opa died. I really thought I would have more time with her. When death comes, it doesn't usually come when it is convenient or when you are ready.


I have been trying to research my relatives for decades now. Ever since we got online service with the dial up modem in 1995, I have been searching . With my grandparents last name being Stapf, I thought for sure this would be easy. It is not a common last name , but yet I have not been able to pin point where the ancestors are in the digital world. Apparently there are no actual links to the persons that are on internet as far as Genealogy goes

 Onward to my grandmother.....I thought for sure I would be able to find something on her and her family. After all, her father was a Count. Their last name was Von Brand. But no links that I can find there either.

Problems in this thinking is that I only read and speak English. My German is minimal at best.  I know enough to sift through some articles or web sites. I now know that Brand translated to English is fire. Type in Brand and there are lots of pictures of fires.

That is only my mothers side of the family.

As far as my Fathers side. I have two. There is the one who fertilized the egg and then there is Mr. Wade aka Daddy. As far as Genealogy goes, I think I got somewhere with Daddy's, and his stories that he told kind of match up to what I found. I found a picture of some Field Marshall in England, who favors my father a lot. That was exciting!

As for the one who made my mother pregnant, he was one of the children of the families in El Salvador who sent his son to school in the US during the late 50's , early 60's. One of the 17 or 20 families who ran the country. I have a name, I have an old address and needless to say, no knowledge of the language there either. Figures I took French due to my grandfather insisting it was the language to learn. I didn't like it and gave it up after 2 years. I could find some things on the internet but there again nothing concrete. I even tried looking him up on Facebook and sent a message, but with no results on my end. I have no idea if he is still living or what on earth he looked liked. I have tried looking at several online yearbooks in the Washington DC area as far as colleges go, and always a brick wall.

It's as if no one really existed. I am sure as time goes on everything will be available to a point on the internet, but until then I have to sit and wait for it to happen. This is my contribution to making it happen.