This is a picture of me with my daughter (then 2) and my son (then 1) at the Hluchanek House located in the Czech Village at the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center in La Grange, Texas. My husband took the picture and was holding our other son (then 0 years old). I really feel a…
Author: Kate Challis
Why should you look for village of origin records in the country of arrival?
So, you have a vague clue about a village of origin, say in the village “Hradiště.” You look up Hradiště on the Czech Parish finder and discover that there are over 20 different places with this name. But you don’t know which Hradiště is your Hradiště. Since so many of the Czech parish records are available online now, should…
Search for records in the bride’s home village
I have recently been doing research on some Klečka ancestors. I solved a problem using some basic knowledge about Czech customs in family migration. Here are two general pieces of knowledge that I have discovered in my experience researching my Catholic Czech ancestors. 1. Marriages often took place in the village of the bride. 2….
Can Catholics be Odd Fellows?
Yeah, I know some Catholics who are odd fellows, but can they be Odd Fellows? 😉I tried to research this online, but was not coming up with very many conclusive answers, so I decided to post my question on the Transitional Genealogists Forum. This forum is a place where professional genealogists and those en route to becoming…
Finding Czech Parish Records: Moravian-Silesian Region
I gave a presentation today at the Czech Heritage Society – Harris County Chapter for their Summer Genealogy Meeting. It was called “Finding Czech Parish Records: Moravian-Silesian Region.” If you click on that link, it will allow you to view and download my presentation. Feel free to share this with anybody who might find it interesting…
Long lost gold: “Centennial History of St. John the Baptist Parish, Ammansville, Texas 1890-1990”
I was recently hired to work on redesigning and enhancing Arabic 041 (the first year High School Arabic class) for BYU’s Independent Study. It has been a really fun project, and between that and our upcoming move to Iowa in two weeks, I have had very little time to work on family history. Because I…
Czech Land Record Transcription Process
I want to publicly pat myself on the back for correctly transcribing and translating page one (of two) of a 1799 Czech land record written in German current script, in Czech. This record is like a cross between a deed and a will; it has lots of information about the land, and who was going…
Find-a-Grave and giving back
Hey! So, a lot to write about. Today I went to the 3S Genealogy Symposium hosted by the Friench Simpson Memorial Library in Hallettsville, TX. There were some excellent speakers, and I learned a lot. Enough for several blog posts. During the break, I went to the Hallettsville City Cemetery. I have some collateral lines…
Genealogy look-ups at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church of Fayetteville, TX
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church is one of the earliest Czech Catholic churches in Texas. It is a valuable repository of Czech genealogical records that I am excited to use. From to the Fayetteville County History site: Many Czech and German immigrants settled in this area in the mid-1800s. After many years without the services…
Search Strategy: Finding the Parish of a Village of Origin in the Czech lands using only online tools
So you have a name of a village in the Czech lands. You know that records must exist somewhere. You learn that they have likely been digitized and are available online, as part of a massive movement of many of the state and local archives in the CR to promote accessibility. The end goal is…