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***** 3.0. BEGINNING YOUR RESEARCH IN THE USA *****
Latest update: 24 February 1997 (Links updated)
***** 3.0. BEGINNING YOUR RESEARCH IN THE USA *****
keyword: FindBegin
*** 3.1 Finding the Village of Origin
keyword: FindVillage
If you do not know your ancestors' village of origin, a good starting point would be to ask
all relatives for any clues. Interview them and check the attic and basement for old shoe
boxes full of papers and pictures.
Often the name of the village is remembered only vaguely. Its spelling is unknown, or is
spelled phonetically.
The locality catalogues of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) can help in
tracking the village
of origin. The LDS is the largest holder and compiler of genealogical information on the
planet. Many of their
collected items are available for use (for a nominal fee) at a local Family History Center
(FHC). (Consult the
yellow pages of your telephone book under Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to
find the FHC nearest
to you.)
Villages often were known by at least three names. One name could be in German, another
in Hungarian, and
a third name in Serbian or Serbo-Croatian. For example, Molidorf is the German name,
Molyfalva is the
Hungarian, and Molin is the Serbian name for a village which was also spelled Molledorf,
Mollydorf, and
Mollyfalva. (See FindHome)
Locality catalogues are available at any LDS FHC (Family History Center). Call
801-240-2331 in the USA for
information.
The LDS's locality catalogue is a big help. Villages are listed alphabetically, and the lists
include
province/county, and alternate spellings.
In Hungary, as with all the countries under discussion, most of the pertinent record are
arranged by locality.
Hence, you must determine the exact place name.
The gazetteer used by the library to catalog the Hungarian collection is Janos Dvorzsak,
comp.,
Magyaroszag Helysegnevtara (Gazetteer of Hungary) (Budapest: Havi Fuzetek,
1877) (Vol. 1,
FHL# EUR REF/943.9/E5d or microfilm 599564; Vol 2, microfilm 973041).
This gazetteer is also part of the Family History Center's (Branch Library's) Core
Collection: microfiche
6000840. Microfiche 6000840 is a set of 19 microfiche and is available at all Family
History Centers. It lists
807 villages in the three counties that make up the Banat in the year 1877. Many of the
villages have more than
one name. The names are generally Hungarian but German names are also included.
This usually applies, although not for every case, when the prefixes Deutsch/Nemet,
Magyar, Szerb,
Gross/Nagy, Banat, and Kis are used. In fact, the "Gazetteer of Hungary" usually puts this
prefix in
parentheses adds it as a suffix to the root name. Thus Kisorosz becomes Orosz (Kis-), and
you find it listed
with the O's. Also, for many cases compound names are show both hyphenated and
non-hyphenated.
The gazetteer identifies the churches that the residents of a particular village attended in the
year 1877. For
example it lists Charleville as having 787 Roman Catholics and Seultourn (Seulteur,
Szeultour) as having 869
Roman Catholics and they attended the church in Szent-Hubert, which had 1376 Roman
Catholics. If a village
had its own parish church the religion is in bold capital letters. However, this gazetteer is
only valid for 1877.
For example, the Szent-Hubert records contains entries from Heufold (Heufeld, Nagy
Toszeg) and Masztort
(Kis-Toszeg) for the years from 1771 to 1790. After that the data is in the Heufold
records.
*** 3.2 Searching Immigration Records
keyword: FindVoyage
If you know the year your ancestors immigrated into the United States of America (USA),
the USA National
Archives can make a search and copies of the immigration lists. The village of origin is
usually listed there,
and you may also find a relative's name and location in the "old country", and similar data
for a relative already
in the USA.
Most of those lists will have the Hungarian name for the village, and given names will be
"Magyarized".
Although united with Austria under the Habsburg monarch, Hungary was an independent
nation after the
1860's.
The National Archives and Records Administration has eleven (11) regional offices. For a
list of where they
are, and what areas they cover, write for: General Information Leaflet Number 5 Revised
1990 National
Archives and Records Administration Washington, D.C. 20408
*** 3.3 Books To Help You Get Started
keyword: FindBooks
A longer list of books and publishers is available in a separate FAQ Publishers"
within the Banat HomePage on this FEEFHS web site. You can also retrieve this list by
e-mail. to do so, you must send e-mail to
majordomo@sierra.net
with the message body
get banat publishers
Address Book For Germanic Genealogy by Ernest Thode, RR 7 Box F Kern
Road
Marietta, Ohio 45750-9437
Handy Guide To Hungarian Genealogical Records by Jared H. Suess The
Everton
Publishers, Inc. P.O. Box 368 Logan, Utah 84321
Handy Guide To Austrian Genealogical Records by Dagmar Senekovic The
Everton
Publishers, Inc. P.O. Box 368 Logan, Utah 84321
All three are available through Everton Publishers (1-800-443-6325). No endorsement of
these products is intended.
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