Genealogy
Interested in researching your family tree?
The Internet has made genealogy research easier and more accessible than ever! There is a veritable information cornucopia available at the reach of your fingertips. Start with interviewing your relatives. Information they provide may give you a lot of insight not found on records. It can help you understand the motivations, personalities, and dynamics in your family's past-information you will not be able to find public records. Collect interesting family stories. Document your interviews by recording or writing facts down. Then dive into research on internet, set some time up for library visits. Study maps, Google locations on Internet to get the feel of the topography and present status of the location. Travel across the globe to take a look at your grandfather's house from the comfort of your chair.
If you need help with the language, contact our organization. There should be someone who can help you in this area.
Make sure all information you incorporate into your tree is accurate. If you put garbage in, you get garbage out! If you come across trees without citations, suspect a sloppy research. People may include an individual they wish to be in their tree without having much proof. Verify all citations before incorporating a new individual into your tree.
Another difficulty is that public records before 1900 may be written in German, Czech Slovak or Latin. Sometimes name spelling may vary depending on which language is used.
Depending on the holder of the last name ending of the name changes depending on whether the holder is a male or a female (eg: Novák/Nováková).
The following websites will help you get started on your journey to discover your family tree:
Several areas are free, including Social Security Death Index. Millions of records from around the world. Family tree library. How to lessons. World-wide subscription nearly $300. Shorter terms available.
Genealogical search engine operated by Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints. Free service. Billions of records on file on digital, film and hard-copy. Some holdings in Salt Lake City may be checked out on loan.
Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International
Mostly free service, limited personal research available from staff, quarterly newsletter queries accepted from members.
Czechoslovak Area Genealogy Club of Southern California
The search engine is used for individuals and events. Free but tedious because so much information is listed. You need to understand the "how's and why's" of their indexing system.
Search engine with emphasis on historical media. Mostly Military with emphasis on operational reports, cruise books, wartime ledgers, and reports.
John Kracha (Krejča) is a long-standing member of our cottage and has helped many members of the community perform brief genealogy checks. He can research immigration and census records of one's ancestors via the internet. If the ancestor's village in former Czechoslovakia is known, John can provide helpful information on how records may be retrieved. This research is free and is based on John's availability. You can contact John via e-mail at: hcsr93@gmail.com
The following website is just for fun. It is not very accurate, but it shows you the number of individuals with your surname living in each region of the Czech Republic. Click on the following link and enter your surname in the box.
https://www.kdejsme.cz/
Happy tree growing!!!
