European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 28, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Continued from the cover gun exhibit inside a former East German  scum a \ a Quot a a visa less Jeannie Palmer talked her Way into East Germany six years ago after tracing her Hicri Tage to a town there. Colleen Pustola had to uproot her family tree when she Learned her grandmothers accounts were Somcy that colourfully embellished. Connie Claydon upon finding Distant cousins in a tiny German Village near the Swiss Border was toasted  the towns Leader at City Hall. A i prefer the. Term family historian to Genca legit because it Conno tates a wider scope not just names and dates Strung out on a Chart a says Rcd Mann a military family member living in Kaiserslautern  began looking 13 years ago while living in Meadford likes . Family bibles talks with older relatives and birth and death certificates led  believe her family came from the United kingdom. Pennsylvania census records from 1900 confirmed her great great grandfathers Rodgers her Maiden name and Richards came from England and Wales ail were Coal miners who emigrated during the Industrial  London Rcd Mann obtained their birth certificates which led her to the Smalley Parish in Derbyshire county. Later she received a letter. From a woman in England who had read in a family history society newsletter of her interest in the., Rodgers name and the Parish in Derbyshire a was it turned out her husband and myself Are seventh cousins. They still carry the name  invited Toast and a festival last june celebrating the Parish a i met a lot of sixth and Sev Cath cousins which was really fascinating Quot red Mann says. On that family line she a gone Back to the late Gal Wedmann take notes of the information on a Pedigree. Sas Lynda Davidson 1500s or Early 1600s. A for just Ordinary people that a about As much As you can expect. If you re descended from a wealthy landed family you May be Able to push it  Jeannie Palmer did no to let an essential document like a visa keep her off the family Trail. Six years ago she was so excited to have found that her grandmother Anna Schwarz came from Fric Sau in the former Der that she and her husband headed to the Border not bothering with document formalities. Guards Toldt her she needed a. Visa / . Y . A a \ a i insisted we did no to heed one Quot says Palmer who lives near Worms. A a we  have gotten in and to this Day 1 done to know How we did that. We were so  a they found Church documents in a private Home and in them her grandmothers name. A it just jumped out at me a Palmer recalls. That Day she got birth records of her grandmother and her grandmothers older sister. She also found the birth records of three of her grandmothers Brothers who died As infants. The mar Rigac records of her great grandparents were. There  a. \ y. A Colleen Pustola a military family member in Baum other who teaches genealogy credits her Detroit grandmother with arousing her interest in genealogy. She says she w As never close to her grandparents because the military family she grew up in travelled so much a because i did hot know  grandparents this is  Way of getting to know  family 1 feel like i missed a lot As a child a she says. I ironically her grandmother s colourful accounts of the Bower up Slola a Maiden name clan were w a off track a she told me the family coat of arms w As physically in Michigan that we had a pure blood Indian grandmother and that we had an Irish line i set but to meet the grandmother to find the Irish line and i wanted to see that coat of  Pustola soon discovered her grandmothers Sto pics were Woven More from family legend and hearsay than facts. ,.y a i have since found out our Irish line is probably not Irish but German the pure blood Indian grandmother Isnit our grandmother in the direct line and that physically in Michigan coat of arms Isnit in Michigan. The family traditions Are All shot. I think  family is a Little irritated  for finding that stuff out.�?T�?T. Pustola is presently researching her husbands Eastern european lineage ancestry which has roots in Poland and Russia. Diane Bollert a genealogical journey through the archives eventually took her to the town of Suhl in what was formerly East Germany. A census records in the United states and Canada revealed that her husband s family had come from this Border town which specialized in gun making. About 18 months ago she found a retired lutheran pastor who verified the census information. His letter contained the names births christening and marriage dates of  members. A it was  first breakthrough on the Eastern. Side a says bolter.  couple who live in Buchholz has returned to Suhl several times since the unification of Germany doing More research and photographing the town. A they the ancestors worked in a gun factory. We went to a museum and photographed guns they May have made a she says. Neither she nor her husband Speaks German and they found no one who spoke English. A we were determined. We pointed a lot a she  4 a sunday april 21, 1991