Center for Archival Collections Bowling Green

Here is a excellent research tool for those doing research in Northwest Ohio at BGSU. Center for Archival Collections 5th floor, Jerome Library Bowling Green, Ohio 43403-0175 419-372-2411 http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/cac/page39984.html Counties: Allen, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Huron, Lucas, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert, Williams, Wood, Wyandot. Spent many hours here and it is a excellent resource for those doing research in Northwest Ohio.

Hungarians in Toledo

I would love to help the person that left a comment about their family in Cleveland. Please contact me via my website www.derekdavey.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Hungarians- Toledo

An important immigrant group to Toledo and Northwest Ohio were the people that came from the area in Central Europe known as the Magyars. This area stretched from Poland to the North to Belgrade in the southern region. The area would also encompass the large area known as Transylvania. (No Dracula jokes) With the redrawing of borders after the first World War much would have been considered Hungary would have changed. Many large populations after this time would live in Romania, Slovakia and northern Yugoslavia. Some groups prior to World War 1 would be misidentified as Hungarians. The largest group of this ethnic group 1.7 million came to the United States starting in 1880. Many would locate in the Birmingham neighborhood in Toledo. In 1900 there were almost 17,000 people living in Ohio that claimed this nationality. By 1920 the number would increase to 73, 181. The primary group of immigration was males under the age of 30. Almost 90% of them were literate, but would take dangerous jobs that involved using their hands. This job areas in Toledo included automotive, glass and railroad industries. They tended to only come to the United States temporarily and over 50% would return to their homeland. Many would come back or just stay. The religion of the Hungarians in Toledo was Catholic. Their home church in town St Stephen's Catholic Church. The early population of this church was almost all Hungarian. This is a valuable place to check for church records for people of this nationality. The church was the center of their socialization activities. It would later become the center of their fraternal organizations. In Toledo a popular event was the Grape Harvest Festival and the Easter egg sprinkling. These groups and events played a important part of the assimilation of Hungarians into the fabric of Toledo. Family units in Hungarian early life extended beyond the immediate family. It was referred to as the "sib" and included aunts, uncles, cousins and godparents who might not be relatives. A common practice after 1910 was for Hungarian families to take in recent immigrants primarily males. The husband and the boarders would work outside the home while the women would take care of the chores necessary for maintaining a household. The diet would lean towards meat and very few dairy, fruit or vegetables. Wonderful opportunities exist for more understanding of Hungarians genealogy. Great strides have taken place in many parts of the United States to get a better understanding of this group. There heritages are being preserved and new resources are being discovered daily.

Upcoming talks at OGS library

August 3 Derek Davey presents "Researching your War of 1812 Ancestors" 10 a.m. OGS library August 10 Derek Davey presents "Using FamilySearch for your Free Research" learn what FamilySearch has available for records and how to navigate their website. 10 a.m. Must preregister. Location: 611 State Route 97 West (South side) Bellville OH 44813-8813 (419) 886-1903

Ohio Genealogical Society- Lucas County Chapter

The Lucas County Chapter OGS will meet this Saturday 21 June 2012 at 2:00 p.m. at the Main Branch of the Toledo Lucas County Library. Bill Priest will present part 2 of Cemetery Preservation with examples from Ankney-Blaine Cemetery in Paulding County, Ohio and Lutheran Home Cemetery in Monroe County, Michigan. Bill will explain how to transcribe cemeteries and how to photograph tombstones. He will show tips on taking the best possible photos, and how to crop, skew, resize and change lighting and contrast with photo software.

Probate Court- Guardianship Records

A gold mine for information is in the case of the process when a father dies with minor children or a wife has died and her family leaves money where she had surviving minor children. Both of these scenarios provide a source of genealogical related data that may not be found in any other source. When the father died the court's of the county appointed a guardian for all children under 18 that survived in a household. This occurred even when the mother survived. It was felt that the women were not able to take care of the children so a man was appointed to make the decisions. The papers filed were included in the deceased Probate records. The court establishes the date of death of the individual, age of children with birth date, full name of children and name of guardian. I have seen in cases prior to the normal filing of vital records this to be a gold mine of data. In one situation I was able to get the exact date of death for a individual prior to 1860 along with children's birth dates going back into the 1830's. Each year after the guardianship was established the court reviews the case to make sure that the children are getting proper care. This generated more paper work on the children. The second scenario that would fall into a guardianship proceeding is when the mother has died and money is being left to the children from the mother's side of the family. Here again the children are identified along with birth dates and the mothers death date. Connection to the person leaving the money is also established. This is a outstanding way to establish the maiden name of a wife. Court records are a overlooked resource when doing your family research. Irony it can provide valuable information about a family unit that can be found no where else. Make certain to check for Guardian files on your family members when a parent died with minors. These records were filed also even when the person may not have left a will. Good luck with your search and please give me your input.

Germans in Toledo- The Newspapers

As in most of America the German population played a important factor in the population growth in Toledo, Ohio.  The language barrier provided a opportunity for the establishment of German newspapers to cater to the local population.  This leads to a new place to locate information on your ancestors.

When searching our family history the general assumption is the information about our ancestors will appear in the English speaking newspaper in their community.  For recent immigrants and non English speaking ancestors this is not the case.  We often overlook researching our ancestors in the local ethnic newspapers.  In the history of Toledo there were five German newspapers.  These papers played a important part in the lives of Germans in Toledo as well as staying in touch with their German homeland.  It is here that you will find the records of births, marriages and deaths.  They often did not get covered in the English speaking paper.  It often took generations to learn the English language.  Blending into the English speaking population often took decades.

The newspapers that were published in German, time period and location of copies are as follows.

Toledo Express- 1856- 1913  Toledo Public Library Local History Room microfilm
Toledo Freie Presse- 1888-1889 Toledo Public Library- Local History Room microfilm
Toledo Herold- 1907 Toledo Public Library- Local History Room microfilm
Toledo Volksblatt- 1907-1910- Toledo Public Library- Local History Room microfilm
Wochenliche Expree- 1867-1873- Toledo Public Library- Local History Room microfilm- 1918-1936, 1937-1943 Bowling Green State University- Great Lakes Archives microfilm

The information you will find in these newspapers could be the key to locating origins of your German families back in Germany.  Remember that the term German often applied to the language and not the place of origin.  Included in these groups would be people that came from Alsace-Lorraine, Austria, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Russians.  The common denominator between all these groups is that they spoke some form of German and were often lumped together with the people that came from Germany proper.  They were often identified by the area within Germany they came from as well.

The language barrier for us can be difficult, but many language word translators exist on the internet.  They identify the common words like birth, marriage and death in German and translate to English.  By no means do you have to know how to read German.  Just like the English written newspapers of the time the events of the time appeared in the same sections and often the same pages from day to day.

In the upcoming weeks I will be working on the other language groups and the papers that existed in this area.  As always I look forward to your input.  Don't be afraid of leaving comments.

Genealogy Class Lakeside Ohio

I will be teaching "Genealogy A to Z" all week in Lakeside, Oh. If you are in the area please join us. On Tuesday of this week I will be speaking to the Rotary club in Willard, OH. Thank you for your continued support.

Civil War GAR Genealogy

Thought people might be interested in a recent article I did. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art177148.asp

Sandusky Rotary Club

Looking forward to talking to Sandusky Rotary Club on August 9th at 12:30 pm. at Castaway Bay. Would love to see you there. Speaking in Lakeside next week starting on the 9 July 2012 at 3:30 pm.

Free Genealogy Websites- Part 2

Let me clarify that sections of these websites are free.  Some sites charge a nominal fee.  Still have value though when you use the free areas.

11. genserv.com

–        Over 21 million individual listings.

–        Some databases need a small fee.

12. ingeneas.com

        Free passenger lists for Canada. Must order the actual record for a fee. 

13. rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bwo/

        Free look ups from people offering this service.

14. archives.gov/research/arc/

         Lists Dawes rolls, WW II Draft registration, Casualty list, Indian Bounty Apps, Criminal Case files

15. ellisisland.org

         Must register to access. List of passengers between 1892-1924

16. freebmd.org.uk/

         Lists vital records between 1837-1983. England and Wales Vital Records.

17. geonames.usgs.gov/

         Over 2,000 names and helps with locating ones that do not exist anymore.

18. castlegarden.org

        Immigration information between 1830 to 1890. Port of New York

19.  geneanet.org

        Primarily based on French records across the world.

20. lva.virginia.gov/

        Lists land grants from 1623-1992.Digital images of 6,000 + bibles. Searchable index of wills pre 1800. Digital library of Virginia

Have some fun with these websites.  More to come in the upcoming weeks.