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→Determine the place of origin
(Created page with '==Introduction== This article will briefly introduce you to the essential sources and strategies needed to discover your ancestors from Romania. Beginning research on families …') |
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Modern Romania consists of territories with varied historical backgrounds. The westerncentral area includes Transylvania and part of the Banat, formerly part of the old kingdom of Hungary. The eastern and southern areas include the historic Romanian principalities of Moldavia and Walachia. The eastern coastal area of Dobrudja belonged to Bulgaria under Turkish rule until 1878. | Modern Romania consists of territories with varied historical backgrounds. The westerncentral area includes Transylvania and part of the Banat, formerly part of the old kingdom of Hungary. The eastern and southern areas include the historic Romanian principalities of Moldavia and Walachia. The eastern coastal area of Dobrudja belonged to Bulgaria under Turkish rule until 1878. | ||
==Locate the ancestral home== | |||
Once you have identified your family's place of origin in Romania you will need to | |||
determine its correct spelling and county. Maps can be very helpful, but gazetteers are | |||
of even greater value. A gazetteer is a geographic dictionary, a book that lists all | |||
localities and gives sufficient information to uniquely identify a specific locality. The | |||
gazetteer of modern Romania is Indicatorul Localitatilor din Romania [Index of Localities of Romania], written in Romanian; Bucuresti: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste Romania, 1974. (FHL book Ref 949.8 E5i; also on microfilm 1181561 item 1). The western area of Romania, called Transylvania, was formerly under Hungarian rule. For these areas you may need to use the old gazetter of Hungary to determine the former Hungarian spelling as well as the nearest parish or synagogue. Use Magyar Helsegnevtara [Hungarian gazetter] by Janos Dvorzak, Budapest: "Havi Fuzetek," 1877 (FHL book Ref 943.9 E5d; also on microfilm vol. 1 on film 599564, vol.2 on film 973041). | |||
==Find your ancestor in the records== | |||
The earliest vital records were kept by churches. In Hungary, Walachia, and Moldavia these church records started in the mid 1700s. Civil registration records were kept and maintained by the Orthodox churches beginning in May 1831 in Walachia and in January 1832 in Moldavia. In December 1865 civil registration in these Romanian principalities was assumed by civil authorities. Dobrudja had become part of Romania in 1878; fifteen years before Bulgaria began civil registration in 1893. Civil registration in Hungary started in December of 1895, which means that the principal source for earlier research in Transylvania and the Banat must be church records. Some vital records of Romania; especially those of the German and Hungarian minorities, are now kept in archives in Germany and Hungary. Some records have been destroyed. | |||
Many are scattered in many small archives and private collections; some have been | |||
microfilmed and are available through the Family History Library. To determine whether | |||
the records you need have been microfilmed, check the Family History Library Catalog. | |||
The Family History Library has not microfilmed records at the Romanian State Archives. By law vital records are kept in local civil records offices and parish offices for seventy-five years; then they are transferred to the State Archives in Bucharest or the district capital. Genealogical research may be possible by correspondence. It is necessary, however, to write information requests in Romanian. Use the [http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp letter-writing guide]to compose your letter and send it to the appropriate address. | |||
[[Category:Romania]] | [[Category:Romania]] | ||