Rent a Car or Take the Train?

From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman):

This series of posts, continued from last week, outlines our preparation for a German trip to research beyond church records. Before embarking on a research trip abroad, you want to make sure you’ve done your homework. The next step, outlined in this post, is determining whether to rent a car or use the train.

 

Considerations for Renting a Car

 

For our past two trips to Germany, we have opted to rent a car. We found it to be economical, as we split the cost between us, and we were traveling to different parts of Germany. None of the trips were so long and we enjoyed driving through the small German towns and were in the countryside rather than in the city. Being able to transport our luggage in the car was convenient. 

 

Trains cover a large geographic region better than a car, but you do have to ensure that there is adequate rail coverage for the area where you are staying and can get to the train station. We have successfully used the Uber service in Germany. 

 

Cars can be a hassle in the city because there may be limited parking and as we found even with a small SUV can be a challenge to park (see accompanying photograph) and adds to the overall cost as parking can be expensive. Renting a car can be stressful as German roads have unfamiliar road signs and frequently changing speed limits. Germany does have speed cameras and issues tickets, which you will receive through the car rental agency after they receive it and can add to the rental cost.

Considerations for Taking a Train

 

If you are planning to be in one location for your entire trip or you plan to only be in large cities, the train is a good option for you. If you will stay in one city, you can buy a ticket at the airport to your destination city. If you have multiple German cities, consider the German Rail Pass. If you will travel to multiple European countries, consider your pass options on the Eurail website. 

 

Explore the Eurail website carefully. It explains everything you need to know about passes, schedules, train types, etc. Use the scheduler to help you plan your train travel. It is important to understand that purchasing a single ticket or a multi-day pass merely gets you on the train. You may also reserve a seat for an additional charge. Some trains require a seat reservation. Others highly recommend it during peak hours. The scheduler, mentioned above, will advise if a reserved seat is required or recommended.

Gen 1: Mary Jane Beal - Court Record for James Henry

What are the origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl?

We continued our Biehl research project with the end goal of identifying the German origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl. I continued research on the first generation, which is Mary Jane Beal. You can find that post here.

 

Court Records

 

Last week we identified at least one tract of land that James Henry purchased from the Federal Government, but there were additional tracts that we were not sure were for our James Henry or for another same-name individual. I decided to try FamilySearch’s full-text search, which is a game changer for researchers. Elizabeth Shown Mills had discussed the need on many occasions of reading the records page-by-page. This may still be necessary, but this full-text search can help locate some of those items quicker.

To try it out, I decided to search for James Henry, and I located a 14 January 1850 court record that discussed the West Fork Road, which named both James Henry and his likely father-in-law Peter Beal. They were numerated adjacent to each other in the 1850 census that was taken in June. Below is the transcription:

“[page] 86

January 14^th 1850

And now on this day came the commissioners appointed at the last term of this court to view and mark out a portion of the West Fork road and made their report which ^is in words and figures as follows Towit In obedience to an order to us directed we William H Campbell John Robinson and Ewin P Craig Commissioners appointed by the county court of Washington County to view and mark a portion of the West Fork road after being duly sworn as the law directs commencing near the house of Nathan Caughmans on the land of Alfred Caughmans thence about one quarter of a mile to the land of Conrod Yous then over the land of said Conrod Yous about one quarter of a mile then over vacant land then over the land of James Henry about one mile then over vacant land then over the land of Peter Beal about one mile course about north east generally making about four miles then over vacant land then over the land of William D Shons about half a mile then over the land of Joseph Webb about half mile then over the land of Quiller Hutchins one half mile then over vacant land then over the land of Anderson Hutchens half mile to the house of Anderson Hutchens from Peter Beals to Anderson Hutchens about four miles course about North West withe [sic] undersigned reviewers believe that the public convinience [sic] will be much benefited by the above road being continued and kept in repair and we also deem it of public utility.”[1]

 

We’ll be continuing research on James Henry until we have completed reasonably exhaustive research on him, but using this full-text search is another tool in our toolbox that can help us research more efficiently and locate some great finds!

 

Future Research

 

Future research will include:

 

·      Search for additional marriage records for James Henry. He married Alphurnia Peerson in 1894.

·      Continue search for all real estate, both local and Federal, that James Henry owned in Washington County, Arkansas. He owned $300 in 1850 and $1,000 in 1870. Start a table showing the land transactions, both in and out, to ensure all transactions are captured.

·      Find maps for the time and place.

·      Determine if there are records for Friendship Baptist Church in Springdale, Arkansas. Determine if there are extant records for First Baptist Church of Springdale.

·      Locate the extant applicable agricultural censuses for Arkansas.

·      Identify all of James Henry’s ten children.

·      James Henry served in the Mexican War and his widow, Alphurnia, received a pension. He may have had a pension too since he was feeble and helpless prior to his death. His tombstone notes his service from 1847–1848 in the Ark. Mounted Inf. Vol.

·      Who were the parents of Harvey Webb, nephew, in 1880?

·      Was Luke Henry in 1900 the stepson of James Henry?

 

Next up: Continuing the research on Mary Jane Henry and her husband, James, as noted in “Future Research” above.

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[1] Washington County, Arkansas, Court Records, 1835–1878, vol. C, 1848–1856, pp. 86–7, entry for West Fork Road, 14 January 1850; image 71 of 644, DGS no. 7,899,278, item 1, FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City, Utah. Emphasis added.

Hotels in Germany

From German Girls Genealogy (Teresa Steinkamp McMillin & Debra A. Hoffman):

 

This series of posts, continued from last week, outlines our preparation for a German trip to research beyond church records. Before embarking on a research trip abroad, you want to make sure you’ve done your homework. The next step, outlined in this post, is booking hotels.

 

Hotels

 

When planning your trip to Germany, once your schedule is planned for the archives where you will be researching, next is to determine where you will be staying and booking those hotels.

 

Identifying hotels includes prioritizing locations near the archives. Next week we will cover whether to rent a car or use the train. If you will be using public transportation, you will want to prioritize locations near public transport. Using public transport such as the S-Bahn or U-Bahn will ensure you avoid parking fees and traffic, especially when staying in cities.

 

There are differences between hotels in Germany and the United States. Air conditioning is rare in older hotels and hotels in smaller towns. Depending on the time of year of your visit, that may be a consideration. Free Wi-Fi may or may not be available. Older hotels may also not have an elevator. On our last trip, we had two hotels where we had to pull our suitcase up a flight of stairs or two. One hotel we stayed at had an elevator that stopped between floors, so you still had a small flight of stairs to mount before getting to your room.

 

Room set-ups are different in Germany. If you need two separate beds, pay attention to the options offered. A Doppelzimmer (double room) means two people will be in the room. It does not equate to two separate beds. A double bed typically means two separate mattresses in one frame. When travelling with a friend or colleague, see if a Zweibettzimmer (2-bed room) is available. An Einzelzimmer (single room) is a room for one person. And bedding does not include a flat sheet, only a comforter. Hotel rooms may be smaller, including bathrooms and showers, especially in older hotels. 

A trend that is evident in both hotels in America and Germany is the move to wall-mounted shower gel that is supposed to also be used as shampoo. This is an effort to reduce single-use plastics. Some hotels offer shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel, but most of the time we only found shower gel and conditioner. The hotels that we stayed in all provided hair dryers. Remember that if you use curling irons or other heating devices, you need a special electric converter. If you don’t have the right converter, you will have a problem, such as burning up the converter!

Speaking of electricity, most hotels require that you use your room card to turn on the electricity. Typically, it was a card slot where you put your room key when you enter the room.

 

German hotels usually include breakfast (mit Frühstück), or one is available for an additional fee. Breakfast usually consists of different types of food options than what you find in America, such as meat, cheese, and a variety of bread. Sometimes eggs are included, but not necessarily bacon, potatoes, or oatmeal. American chain hotels, such as a Hilton, offer more of a typical American experience.

 

Hotels may or may not have parking available. Some have very limited parking and the spots may be small … very small. We had to climb out the back of the car when we parked at one hotel.

One thing that surprised me with hotels in Germany was that the rooms had working windows. That is something that you don’t find in America.

 

If you are memorializing your trip in photos, don’t forget to take them as soon as you enter your room as that is the best that it will look!

 

Next week we’ll talk about renting a car or taking a train.

Gen 1: Mary Jane Beal - Federal Land for James Henry

What are the origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl?

We continued our Biehl research project with the end goal of identifying the German origins of Johann Nicholas Biehl. I continued research on the first generation, which is Mary Jane Beal. You can find that post here.

 

Federal Land

 

Continuing our research on James Henry, a search for James Henry in the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) database for James Henry in Arkansas returned two pages of results.[1] Knowing that my James Henry lived in both Benton and Washington counties, I extracted those results. The database contains links to the patent images, which I reviewed to get an idea if these patents are for one individual or several.

Accession	Names	Date	Doc #	State	Meridian	Twp-Rng	Aliquots	Sec #	County	Comments
MW-1116-167	Gunter, Calden Henry, John Henry, James	5/1/1855	79026	AR	5th PM	017N-033W	NW1/4	5	Benton	Note 1
AR0950.055	Henry, James	11/15/1854	5126	AR	5th PM	013N-029W	NW1/4SW1/4	6	Washington	Note 2
AR0950.061	Henry, James	9/15/1854	5132	AR	5th PM	014N-030W	SE1/4SE1/4	36	Washington	Note 3
AR0980.221	Henry, James	11/15/1854	6941	AR	5th PM	018N-030W	N1/2NW1/4	25	Washington	Note 3
AR0990.472	Henry, James	12/15/1856	7798	AR	5th PM	017N-031W 017N-031W	SE1/4NE1/4 NW1/4NW1/4	34 35	Washington Washington	Note 3
AR2480.088	Henry, James	12/15/1882	3079	AR	5th PM	017N-030W	SE1/4NE1/4	12	Washington	Note 3
MW-1110-110	Mashburn, George W L Henry, James	11/1/1853	44294	AR	5th PM	016N-031W	SE1/4	32	Washington	Note 4

 

Note 1: The patent indicates “John Henry Father and heir at law of James Henry deceased late a Private in Captain Hammonds Company First Regiment Missouri Volunteers. Not our James Henry.

Note 2: This is our James Henry as he sold this piece of land on 16 October 1854 to William Covington.[2]

Note 3: The patents for these tracts of land just indicate a patent to James Henry of Washington County, Arkansas, or just James Henry. Additional research will be needed to determine if it is my James Henry or a same name individual.

Note 4: My James Henry’s tombstone indicated military service in the Mexican War. This is a patent for military bounty land granted to “James Henry, Private Captain Enyart’s Company Arkansas Cavaly [sic].” James Henry assigned it to George W. L. Mashburn.

 

In addition to the research noted below, these results open up research in Federal land and then its subsequent disposal as well as military records. 

 

A great resource for this research is Family Maps of Washington County, Arkansas by Gregory A. Boyd. I’ll be using this to see where the land is located and identify the neighbors.

 

Future Research

 

Future research will include:

 

·      Search for additional marriage records for James Henry. He married Alphurnia Peerson in 1894.

·      Continue search for all real estate, both local and Federal, that James Henry owned in Washington County, Arkansas. He owned $300 in 1850 and $1,000 in 1870. Start a table showing the land transactions, both in and out, to ensure all transactions are captured.

·      Determine if there are records for Friendship Baptist Church in Springdale, Arkansas. Determine if there are extant records for First Baptist Church of Springdale.

·      Locate the extant applicable agricultural censuses for Arkansas.

·      Identify all of James Henry’s ten children.

·      James Henry served in the Mexican War and his widow, Alphurnia, received a pension. He may have had a pension too since he was feeble and helpless prior to his death. His tombstone notes his service from 1847–1848 in the Ark. Mounted Inf. Vol.

·      Who were the parents of Harvey Webb, nephew, in 1880?

·      Was Luke Henry in 1900 the stepson of James Henry?

 

Next up: Continuing the research on Mary Jane Henry and her husband, James, as noted in “Future Research” above.

 

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[1] Search for James Henry, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records (https://glorecords.blm.gov/results/default.aspx?searchCriteria=type=patent|st=AR|cty=|ln=henry|fn=james|sp=true|sw=true|sadv=false#resultsTabIndex=0&page=1&sortField=11&sortDir=0: accessed 25 January 2026).

[2] Washington County, Arkansas, Deeds, Liber I: 521, deed, James Henry et ux to William Covington, 15 January 1855; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 2025), image 289 of 635, DGS no. 8,197,821, item 1; FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City.