Death of Louisa Nörenberg 1909

Modern technology has opened up vast resources, especially for those of us that love to research our ancestors. Microfilmed records are available as digital images online. Computers are learning to read cursive handwriting. New indexes are published online every week on genealogy sites.

The internet removed barriers to physical resources; it also opened doors to the worldwide, genealogy community. Facebook users, who live in other hemispheres, translate old documents for one another. Cousins collaborate across international borders via messaging apps. Find a Grave volunteers photograph grave markers 1500 miles away. Electronically, fellow researchers are just a few clicks away.

Norenberg Research

In 1986 I became hooked on genealogy when a volunteer translated Russian documents for me. Nearly 40 years later, I still have questions about my Germans-from-Russia ancestors.

The Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (SGGEE) has been very helpful in my search. They maintain an excellent, members-only section of their website with many indexed records, like the death of my great, great grandmother Louisa Nörenberg.

But how can I get a copy of the actual record from the Archives in Lutzk, which is in the war-ravaged country of Ukraine?

A few clicks away

Through the SGGEE, I found Alex Brzhezytsky, a fellow SGGEE member from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. In turn, he connected me with Роман Федоров (Roman Federov), a researcher in Ukraine.

• We exchanged email addresses.
• I sent my request.
• Roman determined which Ukrainian Archive held the record.
• I wired the money.
• Roman sent my copy via e-mail.

Five Weeks

From my first request to obtaining a copy was only 5 weeks.

Five weeks is a very short time to receive a document that is housed in a foreign country 4500 miles away.

Louisa Nörenberg, Record 387

Louisa Nörenberg, Volodymyr-Volynsky Parish, record 387 (State Archive of Volyn Region, Lutzk, Ukraine)

details of record 387, left and right pages

On 25 September 1909 at 4 o’clock in the morning in the village of Elisabetpol died of consumption (tuberculosis) Louisa Nörenberg, née Schröder, a widow to her already deceased husband Michal Nörenberg. She was born in the town of Rawa of Piotrków Governorate, 67 years old, female burial #198. Her body was buried by cantor G. Koss on 27th September of this year in the parish cemetery of Elisabetpol.¹Russian to English translation by Мария Голик of the Genealogical Translations FB Group, February 6, 2024.

What Else Can We Learn?

Louisa’s son, Konstantin, emigrated to the U.S. earlier in 1909. Was she already sick when he departed?
Is Louisa’s birth record findable?
Can we find the names of her parents?

SOURCES

• 1
  Russian to English translation by Мария Голик of the Genealogical Translations FB Group, February 6, 2024.