[Research Library Cross Index] [ Duncan Gardiner's HomePage]
[Ethnic, Religious and National Index] [Location (Address) Index]
[Map Room] [Master IndexPage] [FEEFHS FrontPage] [Website Index]

U.S. Sources Checklist
Czech and Slovak Ancestry Research

by
Duncan B. Gardiner, Ph.D., C.G., A.G.
(Certified Genealogist, Accredited Genealogist)
12961 Lake Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio 44107 USA
(216) 221-9460
© copyright 1996 by Duncan Gardiner, all rights reserved

Latest Update: 20 April 1998 (New eMail address)

Editor's Note: This was one of the printed notes provided by Duncan Gardiner for his lecture at a Sacramento German Genealogy Society workshop in September 1995. Most of it applies equally well to the conduct of any genealogy research in America.

All records connected with an ancestor's death: Church records: Civil vital records: Probate records:
Other court records: Land records: Military records, military pension records
U.S. and state censuses, mortality schedules: Immigration records: Published sources: A history of Czechs in America: Jan Habenicht, D jiny ech v americk ch. Written around the turn of the century, it mentions many early Czechs in the U.S.

Family sources: Passenger lists: The sources most likely to give a European town of origin are in bold face. This is a list of the major items to search. The location of each of these types of records varies from locality to locality.

If research on your direct ancestors does not uncover a town of origin then widen your search to include the immigrant ancestor's brothers and sisters and their children. Remember that immigrants almost always first arrived in an American community where they had either cousins or acquaintances from their European home town. If city directories and (especially) censuses show a neighbor came from the same country as your ancestors, find out what town the neighbors came from it may be your ancestors' home town as well.

If you are lucky, you may locate a distant cousin who has preserved a document (a baptismal certificate, a family Bible or photograph with an inscription, for example) showing the town of origin. Finding such a contact depends on researching immigrants' brothers' and sisters' descendants.

I would also suggest you consult two books on Czech and Slovak genealogy which will give more complete information on sources: My book German Towns in Slovakia and Upper Hungary (1991), available from me at the above address for $17 postpaid. It contains information about correspondence with Czech and Slovak city halls and archives as well as a section on personal research in the archives; Daniel Schlyter's book, A Handbook of Czechoslovak Genealogy (1989), was available from Genealogy Unlimited, P.O. Box 537, Orem, Utah 84059-0537 (Now out of print, but available in many libraries)

If you are at a dead-end in your research, you may want to contact me or another experienced genealogist for a consultation on the next steps.

Duncan B. Gardiner, Ph.D., C.G., A.G.
12961 Lake Avenue
Lakewood, Ohio 44107-
USA
Telephone: (216) 221-9460
eMail Address: duncan@en.com


0 - 0 - 0

[Research Library Cross Index] [ Duncan Gardiner's HomePage]
[Ethnic, Religious and National Index] [Location (Address) Index]
[Map Room] [Master IndexPage] [FEEFHS FrontPage] [Website Index]