Iabsi.com
Title
Eastern Slovakia Research Strategies
Description
Bill Tarkulich has been actively researching the region of North-Eastern Slovakia since 1998. His quest escalated in 1999 upon the passing of his father, Michael, who was the son of Rusyn immigrants. As with so many Americans, the family history was filled with great voids of information. Bill started his research with very little information, no birthplace, no country, no immigration information, no family records. There was also no clear understanding of the ethnicity or religion of his grandparents. All he had to go on was some sounded-out place-names "Za-boy-ah", "Car-potty", "Ga-lick-see-ah" and a few glancing comments, "we were just hill people from the mountains."
Through the selective use of US government documents, he was able to identify the names of their villages and then determine which country. After this, he discovered the Mormon's holdings, which included the village church books. You can imagine the feeling the first time the church books were opened and he saw his family surname in 200-year-old records for the first time. Nearly a spiritual experience.
The next step on the journey was carefully crafting a "blind letter" to people in the communities of Slovakia with his surnames. With the help of a priest to translate, he sent the letter off, shortly after Thanksgiving, 1999. To his delight and surprise, in January, 2000 he received two replies which were the start of a wonderful series of correspondence.
Languages
English
Contact
- Andover Business Solutions, Inc.
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- LEXINGTON MA
- United States 02420-1806
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- (781) 862-7575
