The Official Blog Of Hungary Exchange

     Many are familiar with the Reformed and Roman Catholic baptism index collections at FamilySearch.org, however not all are aware that there is further beneficial information on these indexes other than the genealogical content. The indexes include source material to aid in viewing the actual image. In this article, I will explain the process in locating the digitized images for these baptisms and I will be using my 2x-great-grandfather's baptism index as an example. [All images to the right can be clicked for further enlarging.]      On the right side of the index, you will see what is listed as the "GS Film number". "GS" stands for Genealogical Society, which is otherwise known as the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Take the newly-found microfilm number and search for it in the microfilm catalog at FamilySearch.org. This search will result in the exact catalog title being found; click on that title and continue onward to review wh...

A recent request for guidance in the Hungary Exchange group on Facebook sparked my curiosity about the accuracy of the Hungarian baptismal indexes available at FamilySearch.org. I helped verify the location of her ancestor's place of birth and while reviewing the document I noticed that quite a few of the baptisms on the page had been indexed incorrectly, including the specific entry we were looking for. I decided to copy & paste the index from FamilySearch spanning three pages from the Roman Catholic parish of Fehér-Gyarmat, Szatmár megye and then transcribed a correct version of what actually appears on the original documents. I have made my corrections in RED BOLD text below. FAMILYSEARCH MINE PAGE 31 Child: Gyula Gyula Baptism: 6 January 1880 6 January 1880 Father: János Pálvék János Pálvik Mother: Zourzainna Kajas Zsuzsánna...

The theme of today's tip is:  'Notes' On A Record The one thing I will always emphasis on, is reviewing the actual parish records. A great deal of information can be uncovered about the family simply by just looking at their baptismal, marriage and death/burial records. One thing that is always a pleasant surprise, is later-written notes indicating a marriage, death and even possibly a name change. The remainder of this article will be the examination of the various 'notes' that can appear on church and civil records. I hope it makes you pay close attention to the entirety of your family's records. Alföldi Juliánnának törvényes férje Nácsa János él ugyan: de 2. év óta [olta] nem laknak együtt. Jegyzette Szalai István, lelkész This excerpt was taken from the 'comments' (észrevételek) column on a baptismal record from 1854 in the Reformed parish of Szentmihály in Szabolcs megye, Hungary. It states that mother of the child was the same...

Ancestry announced two days ago a partnership with FamilySearch, that would add an additional 1 billion records to Ancestry's holdings via FamilySearch. Here is the press release: PROVO, Utah, Jan. 21, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ancestry.com announced today an extension of their collaborative efforts with FamilySearch International that will make more than 1 billion additional records from 67 countries available on Ancestry.com. These already digitized records, provided by FamilySearch, are in addition to the agreement the two largest providers of family history resources announced a few months ago that will help digitize, index and publish an expected 1 billion global historical records never before published online from the FamilySearch vault over the next five years.  These additional records, which are already digitized collections, represent a significant expansion to Ancestry.com, which hosts the largest collection of global records available online. The records also add t...

The theme of today's tip is: Hungarian Churches in America! As any genealogist with European ancestry knows, or should know, it's that church parish registers are the most important records in the aspect of family history. No matter when they arrived in America, whether it was the turn of this past century in the early 1900's through Ellis Island, the 1880's through Baltimore, Maryland or even the 1600's to the colonies, the most important records to continue further research are church records. These church records documented the baptisms, christenings, marriages and deaths of our early family, and if you're lucky the presiding clergyman was very anal-retentive about the details in the records. That very anal-retentiveness, or lack thereof, could be the reason you have absolutely no leads on the next generation of your family or it could very well give you clues and hints to the next generation. Today, I'm going to highlight the First Hungarian Reform...

This is the beginning of a new theme that's going to be published here, on The Official Blog Of Hungary Exchange . The purpose of this new theme is to offer advice and tips to Hungarian genealogy researchers out there, with information ranging from beginner, intermediate and advanced. Each new post will highlight one specific tid-bit of helpful information to help you find your ancestors. The theme of today's tip is: Town Names ! As always, it's extremely important to be very thorough with your research and the records you're working with. The most important part of researching in the Hungarian parish registers is to read through the entire  record. There may be tiny pieces of information that could send you on possible leads, if you're stuck at a brick-wall. A perfect example for this is my own 3rd-great-grandmother, Mária Tóth. According to her marriage record (top image), her birthplace and residence were "Tiszadob 3". Looking for a baptism record...