official records and not so official records!

100 years old "grandma Barney"

"The translation of the German Baptismal Certificate certified that Caroline Bertha, the daughter by marriage of the shepherd Heinrich Moldenhauer and wife Johanna.  (the former Johanna Siewert)"
"September 1, 1875 be born at the town of Klein Schumeck Valdi near the city of Osterode Province, East Prussia.  Caroline Bertha Moldenhauer has been baptized at the local church of Schumeck Valde near the city of Osterode, East Prussia Germany.  At the date of 26th of September 1875."
Schumeck Valde 15th of August 1887
City of Osterode, East Prussia Germany
Rev. Dalkowski
Pastor at the church of Schumeck Valde."
We print the above information for the official record only.  Actually, Bertha Moldenhauer never used the name (Caroline) so from hereafter she will be referred to only as "Bertha". Also, Bertha used the date of September 18th as date of birth so this will be also considered officially correct.
Bertha (Moldenhauer) Barney was born September 18, 1875 in Klein Schumack Valde, Province of Pommer, Germany.  This town is located between the District of Stolp and the city of Lauenburg, Germany.
In October 1881, her parents, Henry and Johanna Moldenhauer, came to America bringing with them their children; Julius 8; Bertha 6; and Leo 1 1/2 years of age.  Their destination was Chaska, Minnesota.  There were nine more children born in this family.

I am very fortunate that I have a record that states my great, great Grandmother was baptized with one name and went by another name.  When you are searching for family members do you use more than one name option?  Did you know that you can abbreviate names, shorten names and even use one or two letters when you are searching for your family?  Don't discount the information that you find just because the name on the record you find may be different than what you have in the family bible!
You have to keep in mind that digital records are all transcribed by a human that may or may not be able to read the original writing.  I did a little transcription a few years ago from the war of 1812.  There were many entries that I had to literally guess the letters or even just put a question mark in place of a letter.
Searching for family can be very difficult.  If you enjoy puzzles, it can be a whole lot of fun when you come across a golden nugget that gives you the full picture of the family!