Community Chat

[nagrom]

I have tried to research but came back with nothing. My father was born in Yugoslavia and came to the states when he was five. His mother never spoke English and died when I was six. No one is left to fill in any information. My dad never would talk much about his mother. Has anyone been successful in tracing a difficult genealogy?

[redtabby]

If you know the town/village where he was born you can go to https://familysearch.org/catalog-search and enter the location name to see if the Family History Library has any civil or church records from the area. Copies of microfilms can be rented and sent to your local Mormon church family history center, you do not have to be a church member to use the library. Of course the records will be in the local language, or if they were Catholic maybe in Latin. You can also search at familysearch.org for individuals, I do not know how much has been indexed from that area. The local family history center may be a good place to visit, they are attached to the LDS church and staffed by volunteers so hours are limited.

If you belong to Facebook there are probably groups for genealogy in the area that you can join and ask for help and advice.

The place to start is talking to any living relatives that you may still have, then gather all documents like death certificates, marriage records, church records.

Cyndi's List at http://www.cyndislist.com/eastern-europe/ will provide you with other resources including groups and professional researchers.

[MikafromTopeka]

A branch of our family is Mormon so if I need that information it's a phone call away.

Good luck on your search.

[nagrom]

Unfortunately, I do not know the town or village where my dad was born. All I know is what was posted. My dad never talked much about his early years. I think because he came to the states at age 5 he did not remember. His brother was 6 and no knowledge there either. We only got his naturalization papers after he passed so no history on them either.

I will try to see the links you posted and possibly get something out of them.

Thanks

[redtabby]

Did you look at http://ellisisland.org/ for his immigration record? I am assuming that he emigrated in the 20th century, and often birthplace or last place of residence was included in the detail. The site is free to join, the only cost would be for a certificate. You can even view the original ship manifest. Did he immigrate before or after World War II?

Oh, did you ever get a copy of your grandmother's death certificate? That may have her birthplace and her parent's names.

[nagrom]

He immigrated in 1918 just after WW1 ended. He was five years old. There is no documents in his estate to check numbers. He never spoke of it and I think no memory from that time. I will check out Ellis Island info. Because Yugoslavia no longer exists I do not know which country he was be under. Thanks for your help. I will try the next step

[Financialgrl]

Back in middle school we were supposed to question our parents to do a paper on our ancestry. I know both parents' sides were of German descent but that's about it. I remember questioning both parents at the time and learned little. I have two friends that have siblings that have done that DNA test where you do the cheek swab and they can tell you not who your ancestors are specifically but where your family roots are (what region your ancestors are from). I may do that at some point.

[nagrom]

Redtabby, the Ellis Island website was most helpful. Thank you so much. The information I had was not as accurate. My dad came over in 1921 when he was seven. His mother's name was Wilhelmina not Minnie. His father came over just before WW1 broke out leaving his wife with one child and pregnant with my dad. I was able to find their originating city to determine which country it would be today as Yugoslavia does not exist nowadays. I can even order copies of the ship's manifest and passenger records. I have waited years for some answers and a little piece of history is coming together. My grandmother never spoke English so nothing could be learned from her. She passed when I was six.

Btw we used to have a silver tabby and loved him to pieces. Alas he is gone now and allergies prevent me from having another but sure loved my tabby.

[Luma2]

You may know more than you think, and with those details, we might be able to help you more. Sounds like you know year of arrival and port of arrival - so could find passenger records. You probably also know birth dates, marriage dates, death dates. You may know religion and what church they attended for church records. If you have naturalization records, you know where they lived, so can look for census records for more facts. If anyone was in the military, there are military records to search for etc. And remember spelling of surnames was often very inconsistent.

[nagrom]

I have his military discharge papers and naturalization records but had no other information until today. Some of the old information wasn't accurate so it is good to clear that up. Don't have any idea of his religion when he came over. Still a mystery but some of the pieces are staring to fall in place. Looks like my grandfather was not alive when they came over or passed shortly afterward. That is still a big question. I don't know the state where my grandfather lived or if it was the same as my grandmother. All I heard was that he died. Will research more. I really appreciate all the help from everyone. Thanks again.