Surnames Falis and Hatrack, beginning my research
Hello, I’m just starting my research on my grandparents.
I have their names, dates of birth, date of entry to US, and naturalization numbers. I’ve tried ancestry.com, but that site did not help me at all.
So, I’m back to square one and starting over by using the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society resources.
If anyone can provide advice or help, then please respond to my post.
Joseph Falis
Born 3/19/1880, born in Petrovice (not sure if Petrovice is spelled correctly)
Arrived 12/22/1902
Naturalization Number: 2159451
Elizabeth Hatrack
Born 5/20/1883, place of birth unknown
Arrived in US 6/20/05
Naturalization Number: 3500460
They settled in Wharton, New Jersey. He worked in Richard Mine near that area.
Too bad that I will never know how they met or anything about their travels to the US. My grandfather died before I was born, and my grandmother died when I was very young. She spoke very little english. My mother didn’t seem to know much either.
Best Regards, Richard
You don’t say what you are trying to find. If you want to know more about their life in the US, either Ancestry or FamilySearch.org should show them on one or more of the US Censuses. Don’t forget to look for siblings and/or children to improve your chances of finding them. Ask your siblings and other relatives for any information, too. Do you have death certificates for them? Have you located a marriage certificate or record? It helps to have a lot of info from US civil and church records before you search foreign records, as it makes it easier to confirm that you are finding the right family. If you wish to “cross the pond”, you need to know the birthplaces. Ancestry will only help with foreign records if you have a “World” membership, which is more expensive than the US one. Try searching the Church and Synagogue records for Slovakia or Czech on FamilySearch.org. Also check their online Catalog for records available on microfilm that you can have sent to your local Family History Center from Salt Lake for a small fee. Do a Place Search in the catalog for your granddad’s village.
It’s not easy, but it’s fun!
Good Luck.