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Post by suzanne on Nov 16, 2005 18:00:01 GMT -7
The other Welcome thread I was posting in was getting so long, I thought I would just start a new one.
Jim,
Thanks for the Morse webpage link. There's a lot of information there!
Well, I went to the Ellis Island site and, oh my gosh, I found the record for my grandfather!!! And I think I may have found the record for my grandmother, although the last name spelling and city of origin do not match the info I have. It lists her as coming from Czechoslovakia, from a city (Bardios) whose name did not even come up on Google it. So I'm not sure if this is her, although I know place names have changed much since then.
But this is a start. At least for my grandfather, I know his date of arrival in the US, although no parents' names were listed.
Thanks for all your help!
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nancy
European
Posts: 2,144
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Post by nancy on Nov 16, 2005 18:10:36 GMT -7
Suzanne, I am glad you started a new thread - I was going to suggest a "suzanne" thread. And very glad you have already had some success. But be careful about accepting the first results you find (as for your grandmother)- if the name AND city of origin do not match, then perhaps the record is actually for someone else. My cousin thought he had found his father, and was surprised to read that "he was the butcher on the ship" (cousin's dad really was a butcher.) I researched it further and discovered that this same-name-guy really was part of the ship's crew, and traveled back and forth a few times each year - and was at sea when my cousin was conceived (and really, this was not his father). Nancy
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Post by rdywenur on Nov 16, 2005 18:19:12 GMT -7
Glad of your success. I go to those boards and am at a total loos of where to get the information I need. I seem to go in circles and this drdives me nuts. Maybe someone can give me good tips to start. Oh I have no patience for reading through tons of dialogue. I just want to be able to enter some info and come up with a hit. I etiher get nothing or it takes me to a site written in Polish and I haven't a clue what to do there. I would really like to see what is out there. Maybe then I can get the ball rolling for our family tree. I am currently trying to find my uncles family. He has passed away but he had a wife and two children and lived in UK. Not sure where and do not have his wifes or childrens names and my mom does not remember anything. It would be nice if we could locate children, my cousins and possibly his wife if she is still living.
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Post by suzanne on Nov 16, 2005 18:21:57 GMT -7
Nancy, Yes, I am skeptical of the record for my grandmother. I need to get more info before I can be certain this is her or not. But there's no doubt that the one for my grandfather is the right one. For one thing, his last name is a very unusual one.
I will look on the web for a list of historical Czechoslovakian cities, and see if the one they mentioned for her is near Hungary at all...
Rdywenur, It's hard not to go in circles when doing this kind of research! Especially if you don't have names, which is the problem I may potentially be facing, if I try to go back to my great-grandparents or earlier.
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Post by gardenmoma on Nov 16, 2005 18:47:23 GMT -7
Suzanne...Great!
This is a nice way to start your search...every little bit helps to inspire confidence.
The thing to remember about researching one's ancestor Make haste slowly!
GM
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Post by suzanne on Nov 16, 2005 19:03:41 GMT -7
"Make haste slowly" - now there's a good quote! I like that one.
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nancy
European
Posts: 2,144
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Post by nancy on Nov 16, 2005 19:07:34 GMT -7
I will look on the web for a list of historical Czechoslovakian cities, and see if the one they mentioned for her is near Hungary at all... One of the best sites for finding old European villages is www.jewishgen.org/ShtetlSeeker/LocTown.asp(use the soundex system). I entered the name Bardios, and there are similar village names in Czech, and also in Hungary, but I suspect you will have to keep digging. It will be most unusual if you enter names and the correct info pops up on the internet, but there really are a lot of people and resources out there now to help you. I wrote an article about my own process, if you care to have a look: nancy.polishsite.us/index.html
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Post by suzanne on Nov 16, 2005 19:24:00 GMT -7
Thanks for the link and for looking. None of the names that popped up rings a bell, and the Soundex system returns so many results that at this point, I can't narrow them down. But that's still a useful site to bookmark.
I had read your article, Nancy, and what an amazing experience you had! Including finding living relatives (something I don't expect to be able to do, in my case).
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Post by jimpres on Nov 16, 2005 20:54:03 GMT -7
Suzanne, Great news. My parents last name was spelled wrong on Ellis and the Ship manifests as well. As was the town they came from. So just proceed to check out the information. Good luck you did well.
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Post by suzanne on Nov 17, 2005 7:19:50 GMT -7
Jim, Yes, I noticed there were lots of misspellings & typos on that manifest. Not much of a surprise, considering that many passengers did not speak enough English to communicate with the guy who recorded all this info, and the guy recording this info was just some clerk who probably had no knowledge of European geography or any language other than English! Theis potential record for my grandmother still intrigues me. I read the whole 2-page manifest spread, and under place of birth, it lists "Eperioch, Czechoslovakia" when her place of birth is actually Eperjes, Hungary. The spelling of "Eperioch" certainly does not look like any kind of E. European place name and I am wondering if this is a gross misspelling. I need to find out if Eperjes (today a town about 170 miles SE of Budapest) was ever part of CZ. When she was born, it was known, as far as I know, as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. I don't know exactly when Czechoslovakia became known as a country proper.
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Post by jimpres on Nov 17, 2005 8:17:11 GMT -7
Your exactly right about the misspellings. Not many clerks could get the cz, sz, dz combinations correct. Most 'z's were written an s. I believe Czechoslovakia was established around 1918 and existed until 1992 when it became the Czech Republic.
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Post by suzanne on Nov 17, 2005 8:32:55 GMT -7
Jim, Yes, that's what I was thinking, that CZ was officially a country right after WWI (as was Poland, I believe). I have emailed the webmaster of the Rootsweb Hungary page to see if she knows anything about historical Hungarian/CZ borders around that time and let you all know if I find out anything helpful.
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nancy
European
Posts: 2,144
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Post by nancy on Nov 17, 2005 9:12:35 GMT -7
Probably Kai (in this forum) can help also - he knows a lot about Slovakia.
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Post by jimpres on Nov 17, 2005 9:19:44 GMT -7
Suzanne,
Your right Poland was officially recognized after WWI. Until then it was occupied by Russia, Austria and Prussia. Because of that some the church and civil records are in Russia, German, Polish and Latin (for some older records). If you google CZ you will find lots of history and maps.
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Post by suzanne on Nov 17, 2005 18:45:24 GMT -7
I've found a few historical maps of CZ, but no city names that resemble what I'm looking for. I'm now trying to find a map or list of cities that were Hungarian prior to WWI and then Czechoslovakian thereafter (preferably with both Hungarian and Czechoslovakian names). I'll post any helpful links I should find, for others' reference.
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