Unusually Informative Church Record From Galicia

While doing research for one of my clients, I stumbled upon a birth record that is a true treasure for any genealogist. It was a Greek Catholic baptism record from 1840 from the village of Stara Sól, Galicia (now Stara Sil, Ukraine), held at the Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine in Lviv.

Just this one record provided names for four (!) generations of the family I was researching. Such document alone can be the basis of a decent family tree. Let's have a look at it.

Baptism record of Baptism of Anna Solska

Translation from Latin

Date of birth: 9 (th of December, 1840)
Date of baptism: 9 (th of December, 1840)
Name: Anna
Religion: Catholic
Sex: female
Legitimate/Illegitimate: legitimate
House No. 139



Father: Joannes Solski, farmer, son of Elias Solski and Anna Plytycz, daughter of Peter Plytycz and Catharina Miklasiewicz











 



Mother: Catharina Zatwarska, daughter of Michael Zatwarski and Tatiana Hrycaj, daughter of Stephanus Hrycaj and Anna Łycan

















Godparents: farmers of Stara Sol Ioannes Zatwarski, Helena, daughter of Peter Gurkas, potter Adalbertus Mariansky(?), Catharina, daughter of carpenter Georgius Turczyn.

So, not only do we have the child's parents' and all four grandparents' names, but also the names of maternal great-grandparents. Pretty good, isn't it?

Note, by the way, how the first names are Latinized (Joannes for Ivan, Elias for Illya etc.), while the last names are spelled in Polish. Also, it is interesting that denomination is not specified - Greek or Roman Catholic. It seems that the differences between the two were not accentuated. Unsurprisingly, intermarriages between Greek and Roman Catholics in Galicia were very common.

Now, as much as I would like all records from Galicia to be this informative, I must admit that this is rather an exception, than a rule. As you can see from this FamilySearch Wiki page on Austrian Poland Church Records, records from this region used to contain more limited information. I am guessing, it was up to the particular priest how much detail he was willing to record.

I just love finding such little gems! 

Top Online Genealogy Resources for Carpathian Ruthenia

In this post I share my selection of online resources for ancestor research in Carpathian Ruthenia. The region also has names in various languages: Kárpátalja in Hungarian, Закарпаття (Zakarpattya, literally Transcarpathia) in Ukrainian, Podkarpatská Rus in Czech and Slovak.

This is no surprise, given that this land has been part of multiple countries throughout its turbulent history. Here is just a brief chronology of the jurisdiction changes:

1526 – 1867 Habsburg monarchy or Austrian monarchy
1867 – 1918 Austro-Hungary
1772 – 1918 Hungarian Kingdom (Austro-Hungary)
1919 – 1939 Czechoslovakia
1939 – 1944 Hungary
1945 – 1991 Soviet Union, small areas in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania
1991 – now  Ukraine, small areas in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania

A popular joke about the border changes within a single human life

All this creates certain challenges for those with ancestors from this area.

Hopefully, this post will help you get started and succeed in your family research. I will keep updating this post with new links, so it is worth re-visiting later. 

Primers

FamilySearch Wiki page on Carpathian Ruthenia
FEEFHS Carpatho-Rus' Resources
Researching the People from No Mans Land, The Carpatho Rusyns of Austria-Hungary, Thomas Peters, 1996
Tom Peters: Researching Carpatho-Rusyns
Genealogical Primer on Lemko.org


Online Maps

Hungarian Kingdom (1782–1785) - First Military Survey
Hungary (1819–1869) - Second military survey of the Habsburg Empire
Habsburg Empire (1869-1887) - Third Military Survey (1:25000)Habsburg Empire (1869-1887) - Third Military Survey (1:75000)
Military Survey of Hungary (1941)Habsburg Empire - Cadastral maps (XIX. century)

Gazetteers, Town Locators

Magyarország helységnévtára tekintettel a közigazgatási. Dvorzsák, János, 1877. Downloadable from FamilySearch here.
A Magyar Szent Korona Országainak Helységnévtára, 1913. Downloadable from FamilySearch here.
Carpatho-Rusyn Villages on The Carpathian Connection
Root Seekers Guide To The Homeland on Carpatho-Rusyn JewishGen Gazetteer

Databases Online 

Databases on Carpathian Reflections (registration required)
Vital Records Surname Index (4818 Individuals with 844 Surnames)
Rusyn Genealogy Index (various resources for Rusyn and Lemko genealogy)
A Dictionary of Lemko Surnames (with references to the native towns) 
Hungaricana (Hungarian electronic archives unified search)
Hungarian online databases (includes early censuses from 18th century)

Records Online

FamilySearch catalog for "Kárpátalja"
FamilySearch catalog for "Podkarpatska Rus"
FamilySearch catalog for "Zakarpattya"

Hungarian feudal tax lists: Urbéri tabellák, 1767-1773


Archival Catalogs

Catalog of metric records of Transcarpathian region (in Ukrainian)
Archival Guide of the Beregovo Branch of the State Archives of Transcarpathian Region, 1918-1945 (in Ukrainian)
A guide on Church and State Registries at Transcarpathian State Archives (In Hungarian)
Some records can also be found at State Archive in Prešov, Slovakia, Satu Mare Regional Archive, Romania, and National Archives of Hungary.


Dedicated Websites

Carpathian Reflections (record transcriptions for members only)

Lemko Genealogy (primers, indexes, links, focus on Poland)

Carpatho-Rusyn Knowledge Base (research tips, indexes)

The Carpathian Connection (focus on Slovakia)

Carpatho-Rusyn Genealogy Web Site (immigration, name patterns)

Various Resources

Causes of deaths in Transcarpathian records  (based on Munkács Greek Catholic records)
Jewish Memoir Bibliography on Transcarpathia
Rusyn Language Resources for English SpeakersThe Carpatho-Rusyn Heritage 
Lemkotran - Carpatho-Rusyn to English translation engine  
DNA Project on FamilyTreeDNA

Blogs   

Carpatho-Rusyn Research Center Blog
Carpatho-Rusyn Cultural Center
The Carpatho-Rusyns of Pennsylvania
Maybe you’re Rusyn? blog post on Kerry's Genealogy Research Blog
 
Societies, Facebook groups

Carpatho-Rusyn Society (members only), their Facebook page
MACSE, Hungarian Society for Family History Research
Carpatho-Rusyns Everywhere FB group
The Carpatho-Rusyns of Pennsylvania Facebook page

Top Online Genealogy Resources for Bukovina, Austro-Hungary

Following up on my post on Galicia online resources, I have selected a list of useful links for researching another region of Austro-Hungary, Bukovina.

In 1775 – 1849 Bukovina (German: Bukowina/Buchenland, Ukrainian: Буковина, Romanian: Bucovina) was an integral part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria within the Habsburg empire. Since 1849 it was a separate administrative unit, the Dutchy of Bukovina. In the interwar period Bukovina was under Romanian jurisdiction. After WWII Northern Bukovina was part of Soviet Union, and after 1991 - Ukraine, while Southern Bukovina is in Romania.

Bukovina divided between Ukraine and Romania

Here is my selection of online resources I recommend for Bukovina family research. (I will be updating this post with new links, as new websites and online research tools constantly keep popping up).

Primers

FamilySearch Wiki page on Bukovina 
Foundation for East European Family History Studies page on Bukovina 
Himka, John-Paul. Galicia and Bukovina: a research handbook about Western Ukraine, late 19th and 20th centuries, 1949-, Alberta.

Online Maps

On Mapire:
Bukowina (1773–1775) - First Military Survey
Distrikt Bukowina (1773–1776) - First Military Survey
Galicia and Bucovina (1861–1864) - Second military survey of the Habsburg Empire
Habsburg Empire (1869-1887) - Third Military Survey (1:75000)
Note: cadastral maps on Mapire do not include Bukovina!

Bukowina map from the Austro-Hungary First Military Survey

Maps of Czernowitz, Bukovina and Surrounding Areas on Ehpes
Bukovina Religions Map ca. 1900 on Gesher Galicia
Maps of Bukovina and region on JewishGen 
Maps on Jewish Galicia and Bukovina 
Old maps of Bukovina on Wikimedia
G. Freytags Karte der Bukowina (1915)
 
Gazetteers, Town Locators

Gemeindelexikon der im Reichsrate vertretenen Königreiche und Länder, Vol. 13 Bukovina
Bukovina villages, towns, cities, and their Germans
JewishGen Gazetteer

Austrian Gazetteer of Bukovina, 1907.

Databases Online 

FamilySearch Catalog for Bukovina. Also search for your specific town (Tips on how to do it on A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Digital Images in the FamilySearch Catalog
Ehpes - Czernowitz/Bukovina Databases
Searchable databases for Czernowitz and Bukovina on GeneaSearch 
Bucovina Vital Records Database by JewishGen 

Databases on Geneasearch

Dedicated Websites

Jewish Galicia and Bukovina
Jewish Bukovina: Sources for Genealogical and Family History Research 
Ehpes website on Jewish heritage of Czernowitz/Sadagora 
Research Project on Galician and Bukovinian Jewry 
Jewish Bukovina and Transylvania
Czernowitz.de website dedicated to German heritage of Bukovina
Hungarian Bukovina project

Czernowitz Street Names

Plan of Czernowitz with the new street name, house numbers and elevation 
Nomenclature of Czernowitz street names (Austrian, Romanianm Soviet)
The Czernowitz Street Name Translator
Czernowitz & Suburbs City Directories

Plan of Czernowitz, with the street names and house numbers

Vital Records at Archives

Catalog of metric records at State Archives of Chernivtsi Region, Ukraine (In Ukrainian) 
Catalog of metric records at Suceava Archives, Romania (In Romanian)

Blogs

Czernowitz blog
The Ehpes Blog

The Ehpes blog

Facebook Groups, Societies

Bukovina Interest Group on Facebook
Bukovina Societies of the Americas
East European Genealogical Society

Top Online Genealogy Resources for Galicia, Austro-Hungary

This post is based on my recent presentations at the FEEFHS 2019 conference, where I talked in detail about the archival and online resources for Eastern Galicia.

Galicia (English: Galicia, German: Galizien, Ukrainian: Halychyna (Галичина), Polish: Galicja) was a multi-ethnic historical region, shaped as a province of the Habsburg empire.

Galicia was part of Poland in the inter-war period. It was occupied by the Nazi Germany during WWII. After the war, Galicia was split into Western and Eastern parts between Poland and Soviet Union. Nowadays Western Galicia belongs to Poland, while Eastern Galicia is part of Ukraine.

So, here is my selection of the best online resources to start with, when researching your Galician ancestors.

Primers

FamilySearch Wiki on Galicia
Foundation for East European Family History Studies page on Galicia
Himka, John-Paul. Galicia and Bukovina: a research handbook about Western Ukraine, late 19th and 20th centuries, 1949-, Alberta.

Online Maps

Mapire:
Galizien und Lodomerien (1779–1783) - First Military Survey
Galicia and Bucovina (1861–1864) - Second military survey of the Habsburg Empire
Habsburg Empire (1869-1887) - Third Military Survey (1:75000)

Mapping Galician Jewish Communities
GesherGalicia Map Room: Regional and cadastral maps
A guide on working with cadastral maps of Galicia.

Gazetteers, Town Locators

Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Połskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich (Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic lands), 1880.15 vols.
Bystrzycki, Tadeusz. Skorowidz mieiscowosci rzeczypospolitej polskiej
(Listing of Localities of the Polish Republic), 1934. 2 vols.
Gesher Galicia’s Galician Town Locator

Records and Databases Online

FamilySearch Catalog for Galicia. Also search for your specific town (Tips on how to do it on A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Digital Images in the FamilySearch Catalog)
Austrian Military records from Galicia, 1865-1930
Unified search of Polish state archives Szukaj W Archiwach Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw (AGAD) online records 
Database by Polish Genealogical Society Geneteka. A How-to guide.
Miltary records from Eastern Galicia, 1865-1930.
Military records: Ruthenian battalion of mountain riflemen, 1849-1850
Military records from Transcarpathia on Family Search
Western Ukraine Catholic Church Book Duplicates, 1600-1937: Indexes of baptisms and images of baptisms, marriages, and deaths for Catholics living in the parishes of Eastern Galicia.
The All-Galicia database by GesherGalicia: 
Galicia, Business Directory, 1891 
JRI Poland, Jewish Record Indexing Poland
Galicia, Ukraine, Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1789-1905: an index from Jewish vital records from Eastern Galicia. 
Stanislawow Census 1939

Dedicated Websites

Genealogy of Halychyna / Eastern Galicia 
Gesher Galicia 
Jewish Galicia and Bukovina 
Galicia Jewish Museum
Germans from Galicia 
Galizien German Descendants 
Galizien-Online 
Galizien Deutsche

Blogs

Forgotten Galicia Blog

Halychyna! Galicia! Galicja! Galizien! Gácsország!
Selection of Books about Galicia

Facebook Groups

Galicia Family History Group
Galizien German Genealogy Group