As you start this walk-through Tour, you should be viewing the Home Page. If not, please use vertical scroll bar or the page up key (or use the Back key of your browser a sufficient number of times) and move to the top of the Home Page.
We are assuming that you will be viewing the Giering Family Trees Web Site while perusing this document. We also assume that you are viewing the top of HOME PAGE. If not, please go back to the preceding paragraph.
Now that you are viewing the Home Page of this multi-page web site. Immediately below the title (Giering Family Trees) and subtitle (HOME PAGE) is the "Main Menu". This five option menu allows one to traverse to one of the three main pages from this home page or to the main SEARCH ENGINE page. This Main Menu also appears on each of these four main pages. Note that the HOME PAGE option has a different color combination. This indicates that the page being viewed is the home page. When this Main Menu is viewed on one of the other main pages, that page's option will then have a different color combination.
Immediately following the four-item MAIN MENU is a eight item HOME PAGE MENU.
Since you are reading this document, we can assume that you arrived at it by clicking on the "Beginning Information" option on the Home Page Menu. While we will be using the Main Menu in this tutorial, please familiarize yourself with the options of the Home Page Menu for future reference. Then return to the Main Menu.
There are three basic document types found on this web site: Individual/family worksheets, family tree chart pages and the support/help pages. Each of these have a "main document" for that type; these main pages are the subject of three of the Main Menu choices. Two of the three will be the subject of discussion in this tour; the third (the support/help pages will not be discussed in this tour as it is believed that all visitors will know what is contained in them.
The first of the two basic document types that will be discussed is the set of chart pages. Using your mouse place the arrow on the "Offspring Chart" option and click.
The document page you are now viewing is the OFFSPRING MAIN CHART page. It also has a copy of the Main Menu, but the Offspring Chart option is not available (it is a different color combination) as you are now on that main page. Immediately following the Main Menu are the six main Chart Page Menu items. While you should be familiar with these items, we will be discussing most of the contents of these options during this tour. Note the option "FINDING THE START OF THE NINE FAMILY TREES". Click on that option!
Note that there are nine names on a menu. Each of these nine names represent the start or root of one family tree. Eventually it is believed that all nine will somehow be interconnected into one composite family tree. In the meantime, they are separate. Note the third item: "Ludwig (Wurttemberg & New castle, Pa.)". Click on this option.
This is the first page of the set of pages that includes the complete (as far as we currently know it) family offspring tree starting with both LUDWIG (AKA Louis) and his unnamed brother; this is the root of this family tree. He/they come(s) from some town (the question marks) in the state of Wurttemberg, Germany. Following the line to the right from Ludwig one finds the list of his offspring. We know of seven children. Of the seven children, we know of further offspring for four of them; for an additional child (Sophia) we know her married name (Higgs) - arrow down to see this information, but have no information about her children (as yet). Note also that, while we know of the third child, we know only her married name - no other information.
Use the horizontal scroll bar or the right arrow and move to the right on this chart page. One of Ludwig's children for whom we have offspring information is Rachael. Follow the line to the right from her name and the list of her offspring is found (it may be necesary to use the vertical scroll bar or the down arrow to display the complete list). Note that above that list is a number and a name. We will discuss the number later in this tour. A non-Giering name over an offspring chart indicates that the children in the chart are from a union in which the children bear that name. In this instance Rachael married a man with a surname of STROBEL. You will note that she had eleven children. On only four of them: Lillian, William, Edna and John do we have further information. However the page is not wide enough to continue this family tree. Please note the link identification to the right of William's name (H45). This is the link to the continuing page for this family tree. Click on this link.
The page now being viewed is a continuation of the previous page. Specifically the point displayed is the offspring for William (note the H45) link). When tracing a family tree backwards, this link identification enables one to journey backwards to a previous page until the root of the tree is located.
Use the Navigation keys (or the scroll bars) to surf through this chart page of the family trees chart. You will note that there are no link notations on the right margin of this page as there were on the preceding page. That's because the top of this family tree is located on this page. Note also of the four offspring (of Rachael) for whom we had additional information - there were four horizontal lines from Rachael's offspring chart to this page - we see offspring information for only two of them. In the other two instances, Lillian married a man named Houston (H42) and Edna married a man named Cromie (H47). We hope to identify offspring, if they exist, in the future. Please note that the identification number over the set of offspring for WILLIAM(J) is 017_099. We will be discussing this later in the tour.
While perusing this chart page, you will note a series of vertical lines on the left edge. These chart pages are designed to be printed and then glued together to make a large composite chart. Since the printed version will not allow for linking, these lines trace from one page to another - in both directions.
When you have perused this offspring chart to your satisfaction, we are ready to proceed. We wish to return to the main chart page. Normally (and don't do anything yet), we would use the BACK key of the browser three times to get back to the main chart page menu, from which we can make use of the Main Menu. There is, however a "quick and dirty" way to get back he Main Menu. We draw your attention to the top of the chart page being visited, there is a link to "Main Chart Page". By using the mouse arrow and clicking on this link, one immediately traverses to the Main Chart Page and the Main Menu is available. Click on this link.
We are again visiting the Main Chart Page and notice that the Main Menu is again available. This time we want to select the "Index of Names" menu item. Click on it.
Now the screen displays the "Index" main page. Please note that again the color combination for the "Index of Names" option is of a different color indicating that this is the page currently being visited. In addition to the Main Menu and immediately below it (press the down arrow a few times) is the "Main Index". This main index is merely a list of the twenty-six letters of the alphabet. Every name for which we have any information is listed in the index. All of the names are grouped by the first letter of the name and each person is listed as many times as that person has names (other than the name Giering). For example Rachael (Giering) Strobel, whose offspring chart we saw a few moments ago, is really RACHAEL FREDERIKA Giering. She can be found under FREDERIKA and STROBEL as well as under RACHAEL.
To find the group of names with the same starting letter, click on that letter in this main index. For this tour, click on the letter "R" (for Rachael) and visit the list of names starting with that letter. Note that Rachael Frederika is the first name in the list. By clicking on that name, you will visit the detail summary (we call it a worksheet) of the information known about Rachael. Click on her name.
The page now being visited is Rachael's worksheet. It starts with her name at the top (it is her Maiden name) followed by her identification number (015_039). If you are interested in how this identification number is constructed and its meaning, that information can be found through the Home Page Menu on the Home Page (we will be discussing more on this identification number later in this tour). The next line identifies the last date a change was made to this page (AKA worksheet). The complete catalog of changes made to any given page is available by viewing the document source information - see your browser documentation for this feature.
Use the down arrow to move down on this page. The next item (pink colored background) is information on parents. At left of center are the two parents of the Principal for this worksheet: Rachael and on the right are the parents (if known) of the spouse. Ludwig and Christina are Rachael's parents and Wilhelm and Louisa are Herman's (her spouse) parents. We draw your attention to the fact that Ludwig was 49 years of age and Christina was 35 when Rachael was born. The worksheet for these two people is found at/with identification number 014_025. This is a link and one can view that worksheet by clicking on that identification number. There is no worksheet identified for Herman and Louisa as they are not part of the Giering Family. In those instances where spouses (non-Gierings) are known and there is information available at some other web site, the URL for that information would be listed here.
The next set of information (background color is yellow/gold) deals with the principal (the person for whom this worksheet is being constructed) and that person's spouse. In both cases the name is listed with the statistics on that person (in worksheets for more recent individuals, the statistics information would include, if known, the E-Mail address. In the center is the marriage and possibly (if necessary) divorce information. While most of the acronyms are known, POI stands for PLACE OF INTERMENT. As much detail as is known about the burial site, to include lot and space number etc. is listed here.
Next comes the children (this section of the worksheet has a background color of green). They are listed in groups of five children and, where the information is known, they are listed in chronological birth order. Below each child's name is either 1) the set of statistics for that child OR 2)the worksheet page number (the child's Id) of the unique worksheet for that child. Generally the only time when both pieces of information are present is when no information on the child is known. If only the statistical information is known, only those items are present and no page number is available as none exists. If information beyond statistics is known, only the page number link is displayed and the statistcal acronyms are not displayed.
You will note that there are subsequent pages for Lillian (the third child), for William H., for Edna and for John Roy. These latter three are in the second group of five. No additional information is available for either Herman or Laura as they died in infancy. While additional information is available for Florence and Helen, it was not considered voluminous enough to start an additional worksheet (it is included in the commentary for this worksheet.
To indicate how the worksheet page number functions, note the page number for William H (in the second set of five children). It is 016_053 and is coded as a link. Click on that link and see the top of the worksheet for William H. Strobel. One could peruse this worksheet, however we need to continue the tour. To get back to Rachael's worksheet one could click on her page number found under her name as William's parent. An easier way, however, is the use of the back key of your browser. Either way return to Rachael's worksheet and page down in it until the SOURCE information (following the last set of children) is displayed.
The main portion of information for a person's (or a family's) worksheet is found in the three color coded sections. Following the children is any additional information known about the persons enumerated in the worksheet. The first of these is the SOURCE information. This should identify the various sources of the information contained in the worksheet and is designed to aid in future research whenever a conflict of information occurs. This source information will be as complete as possible.
Following the SOURCE is all known occupation information for any person listed in the worksheet. If resume's are available, here is where they are included. Later in this tour we'll see an example of an extensive employment history included at this location in another worksheet.
Next comes any address information. If multiple addresses are known (we'll see an example of this in a few moments), all of them are included. In this instance, all we know is that Rachael and Herman moved to New Castle in the year 1899.
EDUCATION information would include (in this case there is none) all educational background data.
If any medical information on any of the persons listed in this worksheet is known, it would have been included following the Education section and before the COMMENTARY.
The COMMENTARY is the "catch-all". Any information that does not properly fall into some other catagory or is too large to be included in the table can be included here. If the information is voluminous or important enough, additional catagories could and should be generated rather than being included in the COMMENTARY.
This finishes the demonstration of the worksheet document types included in this Web Site. We have seen two document types. While they are normally considered independent items, they are interconnected by links in both directions. Earlier we drew your attention to Rachael's Identification Number. Use the vertical scroll bar or the Page up key and move the display until you are viewing the top of Rachael's worksheet. Notice her identification number (015_039). You will note that it is coded as a link. Where do you think that link would take us? Let's find out. Click on the identification number.
VOILA!! We are back to the chart page and viewing that portion that displays Rachael's offspring (we may need to use the right arrow to fully display the offspring chart). The identification number on the top of the worksheet (no matter how one has gotten to the worksheet) will get the visitor to the offspring chart from which the complete family tree for the individual can be "walked" - in either direction. On the top of the offspring chart for Rachael is her identification number once again. Also once again, it is coded as a link. You guessed it! Clicking on this link takes the viewer to the worksheet (in this case back to Rachael's). Use the back key or click on the identification number and return to Rachael's worksheet.
Now it is time to view a few additional worksheets. Ones that contain some different types of information. To do so, we will need to access the index each time. On the top of each Worksheet, is a link back to the "Index of Names". Clicking on this link, takes you back to the main index (the twenty-six letters of the alphabet). Click on this link.
We are almost finished with the tour of the Giering Family Trees and Genealogical History Web Site. We hope the tour has been informative and that you are now familiar enough with the contents and design of the Web Site to make further use of it. One of the Home Page menu items is a link to a form that can be used to furnish additional or corrective information. WE ARE ALWAYS LOOKING TO ADD TO OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE FAMILY!
Now that you have become familiar with the Web Site, it is a good time to sign our Guest Book and, we might add, please give us your impression of this tour. To do so, use the main menu option and return to the Home Page. From there, select the "Guest Book" option from the Home Page Menu. and when finished, use the BACK key to return to the Home Page.
Thanks again for visiting our Web Site and a double thanks for taking this tour with us. Please enjoy your use of this Web Site. To return to the Home Page and continue to surf this Web Site, click here or return to the browser.
SINCERELY,
RICHARD (DICK) GIERING
Author