Master chimney sweep and his apprentice boy in Italy, from Wikipedia. My colleagues and I transcribed a parish record for an Italian chimney sweep in Choceň which I thought was fun an interesting. I had not considered Italian chimney sweeps in 1740’s Bohemia as a possibility. But apparently Italian chimney sweeps in Bohemia were not…
Month: November 2016
Politics on the Eve of the 2016 Presidential Election
I just thought it was sad that people kept stealing his signs so he had to chain them, and sadder still he couldn’t spell Hillary. I voted last Thursday to avoid the long lines. As I cast my ballot (which was for neither major party candidate), I felt like my contribution was a tiny drop…
The Šnajberk Genealogy Saga: PART THREE
Guest post by Lukáš SvobodaTranslated by Kate Challis and Lukáš SvobodaOriginal post found hereIt was like the genealogical version of Cimrman’s externism. Information about the Šnajberks is where we believe it is not, and is not where we believe it is. All through 2015 I did not want to face the facts, but now that…
“The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka
I can’t bring myself to fully discuss the ending of this book. It’s wayyyyyyyyy too big of a spoiler; it would ruin everything. So, no huge spoilers today. My sister Dot loves Kafka but I always associated him with long boring English classes where we spent hours and hours discussing characters and plots forced upon…
Beyond Matriky Records
Parish registers (matriky) are incredibly rich and detailed, but did you ever wish for more records to flesh out the details of the lives and events of your ancestors? Well, they exist. And we should use them, even if it means hiring a researcher to photograph them. Here is a tutorial about how to find…