2. Getting Started Accessing Hungarian Family History Information in the U.S.
2. Getting Started Accessing Hungarian Family History Information in the U.S.
From the late-1820s through 1895, the only mechanism in Hungary for recording vital information (births, marriages,
and deaths) were the church registers. Microfilm copies of many of these church registers are readily available
in the United States. In order to have the best chance of success using Hungarian church registers of the 19th
century, you ideally need four pieces of information about each ancestor who immigrated to the U.S. They are:
|
|
|
|
If you do not have the necessary information to get started, you will have to use other resources to accumulate this basic information. Discuss your ancestry with your oldest living family members. Search through old letters, scrapbooks, family Bibles, etc. Check out U.S. information sources such as church registers, civil death records, and census records. But, the final link to the "old country" will likely be the ships' manifests identifying your immigrant ancestors.
To learn how to access these, read my articles numbered 2 and 3 on Using the Ellis Island Website.
In 2007-8, I wrote a series of articles on Your Roots in Historic Hungary for Magyar News OnLine. The URL of this on-line magazine is www.magyarnews.org . Click "Read Article" below to view the text of the article in a new browser window. Click on links to figures to see the figures or to go to suggested sites. These will appear in the same window, therefore you must use your browser's BACK control to return to the previous content. When done with an article, simply close the window (or tab) that contains it.
| 1 | Starting the Search for your Roots | Read Article |
| 2 | Using the Ellis Island Website -- Part I -- Content | Read Article |
| 3 | Using the Ellis Island Website -- Part II -- Mechanics | Read Article |
| 4 | Using the Family History Library (FHL) Website | Read Article |
| 5 | Using Your Local Family History Center (FHC) | Read Article |
| 6 | A Review of Some Essentials | Read Article |
After reviewing the pertinent article(s) here are the links to the two websites. There's no better approach to learning than doing. Try out these websites and get familiar with their operation. As you get further into your research, you will visit them often.
Once you have all the basic information described above, do a Place Search in the Family History Library catalog to see what microfilms (and possibly other resources) are available for your ancestors' hometowns. To do that search online, go to the Family History Library Catalog website:
The Getting Started webpage was last updated on 27 Oct 2011.