Searching for foreign records

By DONNA MURRAY ALLEN

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 19, 2001

As a fledgling genealogist, I was ecstatic to discover a picture of my Slovak great-grandfather standing by a directional sign in the old country.

Ha! That photo, taken during his only visit back to Czechoslovakia, would confirm exactly where in that country he came from, provided, of course, that I could get someone to supply a translation.

Copies were mailed to anyone I thought might help along with this poignant appeal: This is where my great-grandfather was born. Do you know where this place is located?

Not one person answered. I understood why when I showed the picture to a language professor who spoke fluent Slovak. The sign read: post office.

I eventually got my answer. A packet of information, sent to me by a relative whose interest in genealogy had waned, contained a copy of my great-grandmother's baptismal certificate.

That prompted me to write to the Czechoslovakian Embassy -- it was one country then -- asking for help in tracing my roots. I sent a copy of the certificate as well as basic information about my great-grandfather, figuring he and my great-grandmother were from the same place.

Amazingly, Dr. Peter Kartous, director of the Department of Slovak Archives Administration in the Ministry of Interior, replied. Ultimately, he helped me trace the lines of both great-grandparents back to about 1800, complete with certified pedigree charts for each line and copies of many birth, baptismal and death certificates. It took about a year and cost less than $300.

I can't promise a foreign embassy will come to your rescue. Genealogy has become so popular since the advent of the Internet that government offices are sometimes mobbed with requests. I can tell you that knowing where in the "Old Country" your ancestor came from is essential to successfully searching foreign records.

Sounds logical, right? Unfortunately, logic doesn't stop some researchers from merely plucking a person off a passenger ship list and claiming the immigrant as their own as long as the name's the same, the age is right, and the time frame fits.

A dozen men named John Kelley -- the second most popular name in Ireland -- all about the same age may have emigrated from Ireland around the same time. There's no way of knowing which one is yours, since passenger ship lists seldom indicate the person's home town.

Overeager rooters also employ the "jump-back" system. Even though they are third- or fourth-generation Americans, they skip the American research and head straight for the foreign records. They may track Johannes Snyder from the Pfalz area of Germany back 300 years but wind up with no documentation proving they're descendants.

The only way to be sure you're connecting the right dots is by methodically researching your lineage, going back one generation at a time until you identify your original immigrant. Along the way, you should look for clues that tell you precisely where the ancestral home town was. Citizenship papers, especially after 1906, marriage license applications, church records, notes from family records, military service and pension records and obituaries are possible resources.

Keep in mind that the face of Europe changed drastically through the years. You may need a crash course in geography. Czechoslovakia, for example, was created in 1918 from parts of Austria and Hungary. A piece of the country was ceded to Russia after World War II. More recently, Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

American census records say my great-grandfather was born in Hungary. His citizenship certificate says it was Austria. He was actually born in what is now Slovakia. The documents I got from Kartous ended the confusion.

Interested in joining the Daughters of the American Revolution or the Daughters of the American Colonists? Check out http://www.nsdac.org and http://www.fssdar.org. The latter is the Florida DAR chapter site. Betty Chapman, a state DAR board member, is active in both organizations. She invites readers who want more information to e-mail her at: bettychap@gateway.net.

-- Donna Murray Allen welcomes your questions about genealogy and will respond to those of general interest in future columns. Sorry, she can't take phone calls, but you can write to her c/o Home & Garden, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or e-mail her at rootscolumn@aol.com.

-- Going out of town? You can read Donna Allen's column online at http://www.sptimes.com. Click on Home & Garden or type "genealogy" in the search box.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright