My Great-great-great-great-Grandfather Ultman Jergins is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Huntsville, Walker Co., Texas. We have always been told that he was born in Rodanier, Prussia April, 1789. I have found no records for a town by that name. I recently received a headstone photo from a kind volunteer. It has the name of the town, but I can't read it all. I have attached the photo hoping someone else will recognize it. I sincerely appreciate any help deciphering it!!! Cathey

What a pity the kind person did not try to mark out the letters with something! It is really almost impossible to decipher all the letters but perhaps someone who knows of the place might recognise it. In case nothing better comes along you might try progenealogist.com/german/prussia/pru-r.htm. There is a list of place names and you could look at those starting with Rad, which seems clear although it could be Red, and see if you could connect any of them with some other information you have, e.g. there is Radomen, Radem and Radzien aqmongst others. Hope this suggestion might help - but also hope someone really knows!

Hi !
I would like to try :
I read BODENEIM. The correct spelling would be with -h- = Bodenheim. This place exists twice in germany but only one of them in the former prussia. It is :Lommersum - Bodenheim Kreis / district :Euskirchen
Meyers Orts- und Verkehrslexikon edit 1912/13 :
Lommersum ,distr. Euskirchen,Prussis, rhineland, administrativ district : Koeln, Local Court:Euskirchen,...Bodenheim 3,4 km distance, 178 inhabitants
LDS :http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/fhlcatalog/supermain...
You can find Lommersum on google maps. A few hundert meter south is Bodenheim.
kath. parish / kath. Kirche St. Pankratius
Walramstr.12
53919 Weilerist
germany
0049 2251 2313 tel
0049 2251 57296 fax
pankratius@pfarrverband-weilertwist.de

Ask for the baptism entry of your ancestor. I hope this is the right place.
Good luck.

sorry, correct mail : pankratius@pfarrverband-weilerswist.de

Thank you so much for your suggestions. Someone else suggested that the stone reads Radumein and that the correct village would have been Radomin.If said that Radumein may be the English spelling for Radomin. I don't know, but I believe that Ultman's American wife had no idea how to spell it and that the stone carver put what he heard her say on the stone, either that or she wrote it down for him that way. Whatever it is we know it isn't the Prussian spelling. I don't write or speak German so I don't want to discount yours or any one else's suggestions. There is an LDS library just 20 miles from me so I think that I will take everyone's suggestions and see if they can help me get the records I need. Thank you for suggesting the baptismal record. I would never have thought of that because I've never done research for Ultman Jergins and his family outside the United States. In fact, I have a feeling that when he came here, that immigrations, if there was such a thing then, changed the spelling. His German may not even resemble Jergins. I've heard that it may have been Yuergins, Yergins, Juergens and several others. I am grateful for your help. Cathey