Pomerania was then part of Prussia and is now part of Poland. Poland was partitioned at the time and the western parts were under the control of Prussia. When Prussia unified with the other duchies and principalities in the region they formed Germany.
Some of the databases are down (it's Saturday night in Europe already so they're down for maintenance) so I can't pull up the Bremen and Hamburg lists or the Prussian Archives right now. But I'll venture to guess from the American census and birth records that most of these families settled in the Midwest, particularly Wisconsin.
Prussians were primarily Poles, though some were from as far west as Berlin. Yet most Prussians we find in records will be recorded as "German Poles". They were primarily Catholic, though some were Lutheran. A few were also evangelical, but it wasn't common. Most evangelicals were from southern Germany near Switzerland. Catholics were extremely clannish when they arrived in the US. They tended to settle in towns where other Poles from their town had already settled. They brought over generation after generation to the same town. Most of these towns would have been considered "labor centers", whether they were in the lumber or mining industries. Prussia was primarily agricultural and lumber-centered in the late 1800s. These people weren't fishermen or skilled tradesmen on the most part. They were from tiny parcels of land that shrunk with divisions among every generation of children (think of it as a patchwork quilt and every child got an equal percentage...then their kids divided each of their pieces until everyone had a tiny square of grandpa's farm). They wanted land and were willing to work hard to get it. The Midwest was heavily involved in lumbering at the time and were clear-cutting lands. If you were willing to buy 50 acres for $20 and clear out all the stumps and stones yourself you had 500x more land than you ever could have hoped for back in Prussia.
As a result, the first place to search for your immigrant ancestor is in land records where he settled. Find out where he lived, how much land he bought and to whom he left it all. Look for his probate records.
If you know he arrived ca. 1881 it was at the height of Prussian emigration. He probably left from Bremen. You can either search the Bremen files when they come back up or visit your local library to find a series of books called "Germans to America". They're indexes of German passenger records and are broken down by day, month and year.
I don't know if he left from Hamburg because he probably lived much closer to Szczezin (Stettin) which wasn't that far from Bremen, but you also don't give his first name, so I can only guess. Here are all of the Zietlows who left from Hamburg (they just came back up)
Name: Alb.E Zietlow
Alb.E Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1869
Abfahrt: 4. Nov 1896 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Bertha Zietlow
Bertha Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1877
Abfahrt: 22. Jun 1905 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Bertha Zietlow
Bertha Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1877
Abfahrt: 23. Mrz 1910 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Emilie Zietlow
Emilie Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1877
Abfahrt: 23. Jul 1908 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Ewald Zietlow
Ewald Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1874
Abfahrt: 30. Aug 1904 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Georg Zietlow
Georg Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1878
Abfahrt: 20. Okt 1910 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Georg Zietlow
Georg Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1878
Abfahrt: 31. Mrz 1906 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Herbert Zietlow
Herbert Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1905
Abfahrt: 22. Jun 1905 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Herbert Zietlow
Herbert Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1905
Abfahrt: 23. Mrz 1910 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Hildegard Zietlow
Hildegard Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1907
Abfahrt: 23. Mrz 1910 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Ida Zietlow
Ida Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1875
Abfahrt: 30. Aug 1902 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Joh.A Zietlow
Joh.A Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1902
Abfahrt: 30. Aug 1902 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Marta Zietlow
Marta Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1882
Abfahrt: 20. Okt 1910 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Martha Zietlow
Martha Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1882
Abfahrt: 31. Mrz 1906 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Nina Zietlow
Nina Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1886
Abfahrt: 3. Jun 1909 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Paul Zietlow
Paul Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1876
Abfahrt: 6. Mai 1900 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Robert Zietlow
Robert Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1875
Abfahrt: 30. Aug 1902 - Hamburg
Weiter: Alle Informationen anzeigen...
Name: Willy Zietlow
Willy Zietlow
Geburt: ca. 1898
Abfahrt: 30. Aug 1902 - Hamburg
2007-02-24 11:16:51
·
answer #1
·
answered by GenevievesMom 7
·
2⤊
0⤋
I agree that most emigrated to Wisconsin, but they were Germanic, not Poles, which is why the descendants were driven out after WWII when Pomerania was given to Poland by the Allies. They spoke Plattdeutsch (Low German) , and most were Lutheran, not Catholic as in S Germany. Many Pomeranian records are online, including some of the church books. You can find some on Familysearch.org and others on the Prussian web sites. Many of us have posted our family trees on Ancestry.com as well. There are several Pomeranian interest and cultural groups….and, as a matter of fact, I am taking a trip to old Pomerania with a group from Hartford WI this May!
2015-02-17 15:17:29
·
answer #2
·
answered by Tigeredge 1
·
0⤊
0⤋
http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/index.html
Here is a list of mailing lists (free) that you can subscribe to, which FOCUS on different localities. Am sending the main page, since it may be of help for other lines. Click on Germany, and there are even more specialized lists.
Networking with others who are searching the same area, will enable you to ask questions. There are usually persons who have already "found" what you may need (maybe even related).
2007-02-24 08:26:50
·
answer #3
·
answered by wendy c 7
·
0⤊
0⤋
A brief history of Pomerania, Prussia
http://members.aol.com/pommern1/
Rootsweb - Zietlow Worldconnect databases
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?surname=zietlow&given=
Rootsweb - SSN index Zietlow
http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?lastname=zietlow&firstname=&nt=exact
Rootsweb - US Census - Zietlow
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/census/cgi-bin/census.cgi?surname=zietlow&fname=
William Zietlow/John Zietlow - Wisconsin
http://www.marion.k12.wi.us/mhs_web_page/Site%20Pages/Publications/ashestoashes/Letters%20Y-Z/ZietlowWilliam.html
Surnames found in the Stramehl church records included:
Zietlow
http://www.geocities.com/regenwalde/b-villages.htm
Family Search - go to advanced search and enter
Zietlow as the surname and country - Germany
State - Prussia
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp
OR CLICK THIS:
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/ancestorsearchresults.asp?standardize=N&last_name=Zietlow
German genealogy - msn group
http://groups.msn.com/GermanGenealogy/homepage.msnw
Zietlow Message Board - Rootsweb
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.zietlow/mb.ashx?o_xid=0040862147&o_lid=0040862147&o_xt=40803744
Zietlow Message Board - genforum.genealogy.com
http://genforum.genealogy.com/zietlow/?
o_xid=0040862147&o_lid=0040862147&o_xt=40862147
Where Zietlow's lived in 1920
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/fact.aspx?fid=7&ln=Zietlow&fn=
Zietlow Graves
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GSfn=&GSmn=&GSln=Zietlow&GSst=0
Pomeranian ancestral items that have been published
in the quarterly newsletter Die Pommerschen Leute (DPL) started in 1982.
http://cefha.org/de/pom/dv/dv-151.html
Amber Zietlow Family Tree
http://www.genealogy.com/users/z/i/e/Amber-Zietlow/TREE/207260001tree.html
Zietlow
1990 United States Census Statistics
Individuals with Surname Zietlow - Less than 0.001%
Surname Rank 58907
http://www.onlinegenealogy.com/GI_cat_people.cfm?CAT=58907&parent=799&TID=CBD5B594-5004-A832-176727029318963A&t
Zietlow search - geneanet.org
http://search.geneanet.org/result.php3?lang=en&name=zietlow&place=&country=&source=&x=44&y=9
These Same Hills (Hardcover)
by E. R. Zietlow (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0007E0W16/ref=dp_olp_2/102-1260627-9745717
A country for old men and other stories
by E. R Zietlow
http://www3.addall.com/New/compare.cgi?dispCurr=USD&id=88473&isbn=0917624025&location=10000&thetime=20070224135251&author=&title=&state=AK
2007-02-24 08:28:56
·
answer #4
·
answered by $Sun King$ 7
·
0⤊
0⤋
Seig Heil!
Use google.
2007-02-24 08:20:00
·
answer #5
·
answered by The Fallen Angel 2
·
0⤊
0⤋
does this mean your a pomeranian?
2007-02-24 08:21:27
·
answer #6
·
answered by RUSSELLL 6
·
0⤊
0⤋