Research Help
I'm not sure if I should post this here or in the Austro-Hungarian Research group, but I'm trying to find the names of Henry Meyer's parents.
Henry was born in Bavaria on 26 March 1826. I'm not sure when he came to the United States. He was married in 1861 to Armina Watson in Buchanan, Iowa. They had 4 children. Henry died 27 October 1897 in Hazleton, Iowa and is buried in Fontana Cemetery.
Thank you
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You'll need to do more digging in the US before you can start looking in Germany. Unfortunately the Meyer surname is very common, so it's no help in localizing an area to search. Also, saying he was born in Bavaria doesn't narrow it down much, because there were two parts to Bavaria at the time of his birth - the first is pretty much the area we know as Bavaria today, but the other is the area known as the Pfalz (Palatinate) to the west and not geographically contiguous.
So in the US, you need to look at local church records. Often immigrants belonged to a church that spoke their home language and the church records may be recorded in German. If Henry was Lutheran/Protestant, then the church records might list his home town in Germany.
Secondly, you need to see if there was a German-language newspaper in the area and at the time he lived in Iowa. Ethnic newspapers often had more details about "their" people than English-language newspapers. Look for an obituary that might have origin details, or articles about associations he might have been a member of. Here are links to Iowa digitized newspapers, but keep in mind that the German-language newspapers might not be digitized.
https://history.iowa.gov/history/research/collections/newspapers/iowa-digital-newspaper-project
https://guides.lib.uni.edu/c.php?g=668054&p=4696290#s-lg-box-wrapper-28210232
And here's a list of the German-language newspapers in Iowa -
Look for a county history book - these were popular in the late 1800s and might mention the Meyer family. Here's one for Buchanan County - https://www.loc.gov/item/21012144/ The county historical society might also be helpful regarding early settlers.
Look at Henry's neighbors and see where they came from. If several were originally from the same place, it's possible Henry emigrated with them.
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