by Lisa A. Alzo
Since so many Hungarians have united in marriage with people from Polish, Czech, and/or Slovak heritage, both in Europe and in the United States, I wanted to read this book, which is very informative and has loads of information, some of which even the very experienced genealogy researcher might find helpful.
For instance, On pages 134-135 we learn that there was such a thing as PARISH CENSUS and POPULATION REGISTERS.
A parish census is different than the usual birth, marriage, and death records because it is a census of all the people in the parish, even if maybe that year they had no sacramental going on.
A population register is different because in some European countries a person was required to register their PLACE OF RESIDENCE, and these records can give you the person's name, birthdate, and birthplace, as well as family relationship, parents' name and marital status.
There are extensive website and publication lists in the back of the book. There are also lists of commonly encountered words in Polish, Czech, or Slovak when you're trying to read typical genealogy records. There's an example of a Polish CIVIL Marriage record which was brimming with detail (once translated) from 1863; It mentioned the age and occupations of the witnesses as well as their marital status, that the marriage was religious, and that the newly-weds stated that there was NO PRENUPTUAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THEM!
Although the author finds forums valuable, I never have. I've wasted a lot of time on them reading pleas from people who expect to find relatives, not through genealogy, but because they are social networking, and these people rarely give the kind of details that would convince the researcher that there's a connection. They think their surname, which may be difficult to spell or pronounce is so unusual or that there is a village in common is all someone needs to know. I also wonder at the personal information being given to the world that is and should be private in this pursuit. Finally, once or twice I read something on a forum that triggered some interest, but by the time I had my research to the point where I was more convinced of a connection, that person's contact link or e-mail was no longer good, or I never heard back from them anyway. Sometimes I think forums are just full of inexpert or lazy people.
All in all, this is book worthwhile your time!
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