I’ve been working on a transcription project with my friend, and today while trying to find an objective explanation for why I was choosing square brackets [ ] in some places and parenthesis ( ) in others, I ran into a genealogy standard that goes completely against all my reasoning and logic having to do…
Category: Transcription Tips
Watch out for that final a!
I was doing some research for my own Frenštát ancestors. Here is a link to this 26 April 1784 birth. A very quick glance with my tired eyes, and at first I saw, “Johann Chodurin.” I should have noticed three things: 1. There is a third little nožičky – what looks like a final “n” is…
Were my ancestors virgins when they were married?
I’m working on a transcription of a Czech marriage contract from 1794. Here is the paragraph: Ve jménu nejsvětěšjí trojice, Amen.Dnes níže psaného dne a roku staly se smlouvy svatební stalé, a v ničemž neporušitedelné, mezi dobře zachovalým mládencem panem Francem Michnou vlastním synem P: France Michny městianína Frankštadseho jakožto ženichem strany jednej, a dobře zachoval[o]u…
Franz Waschiczek Nro. 3 Vratimov: Hlavní Kniha (Ledger) record, first page
http://vademecum.archives.cz/vademecum/permalink?xid=78ea28f5d14a405d9330eca92a42ac57&scan=13 Here is a page I transcribed from the Hlavní Kniha pro obec Vratimov, taken from the Velkostatek Velké Kunčice č 27. Hlavní Kniha means Ledger. This is a page from the ledger for the town of Vratimov, which is in the Estate of Velké Kunčice. The inventory number for the Opava Archives is 27….
Ancilla
I found this record where my ancestor is described as “honesta ancilla.” I had not ever seen that before, so I thought I’d blog about it. Here’s my transcription: 4 Augustus [1744]hujus copulatus honestus Georgius Jurassek adolescens colonus ex Ribarzeritz et honesta ancilla Elisabetha Francisci Sperka propria filia ex Starzitz testes Mathias Wesselka ex Chlebowitz…
Do you want to inherit…goat cheese?
I am translating a land record and I saw something that made me laugh. “jedne hever dvoje šýrý” Google translate had this coming up as: “one two jack cheeses.” To me, this sounded like “pepperjack cheese.” Yum yum. But I was seriously confused. It doesn’t really make sense to inherit…cheese. Especially because this was listed…
Church Record Sunday: Jan Valum-Ann Rekelna Marriage in Merklín,1698
Here is a direct link to the original image. Transcription Z Merklýna 23 9bier [1698] Potvrzen jest Wstavu [v stavu] smateho Manželstvypocztívy Mladenecz Jan Valum, S Anau RekelnauSmiedkome Waclaw Kottna, Josef Jelynek,Potvrzeni oddnajuzti hodneho P. Patera Ssymona Janotyv Pýesnelyzch. TranslationIn Merklín 23 November [1698] [I] confirmed in the state of marriageHonest lad Jan Valum with An[n]…
Beide von hier
Here is a phrase that I ran into recently in the parish registers. I kept wondering, “What the heck? I keep seeing h-i-e-r in the place where the village name is supposed to be. But on a different record, this guy was from the same town, Zábřeh. Did he suddenly move?” Uh, no. “hier” is…
You should translate the notes!
Yesterday, Blanka Lednícka wrote an excellent blog post about marriage notes in Czech Parish registers. She proved to me that the notes that sometimes are included in marriage registers should not be overlooked. They may contain valuable information about marriage banns, birth certificates, or church dispensations. I admit, I am guilty of frequently overlooking this…
Church Record Sunday: “Defecit a fide” Stamp
I found a really interesting parish record the other day for Czech town of Vítkovice. Here is a direct link. Here is an image of the whole record. And here is a close up of what I found so interesting: It is a stamp that says: “Defecit a fide,manet sine confessione.Regimen distr.deto [date?] ___________________” This…