Keeping in touch or reconnecting with their Slovak heritage is one of the many reasons people join the SASW. Many of our members want to learn more about their family’s past, but are not quite sure how best to get started. The SASW hosts a monthly genealogy meeting on Zoom to help our members with their questions about conducting research and to share knowledge. To learn more, please contact us at info@dcslovaks.org.

Here are a few helpful tips to get you started doing genealogical research:

1. Start with yourself and work backwards.

2. Talk to your older relatives. Get the stories about their lives and who/what they remember. Ask the relatives if they have any photos, certificates, heirlooms, etc. These stories will give you clues to help in your research. Write down what they tell you!

3. Write down what you know. Fill out a 5 generation pedigree chart noting your direct ancestors, and a family group sheet for each family.

4. Focus on one ancestor at a time to research. What do you want to know about that ancestor? Where would you likely find that information?

5. Try to find out where (city and state; address, if possible) your ancestor lived in the United States and when. Write this down!

6. Set up a free account at FamilySearch. Look for your ancestor in the U.S. census for each decade, starting with the 1950 census, then the 1940 census, then the 1930 census, continuing back in time. The census will give you many clues for further research. Note each detail!

7. Determine which church your ancestor attended in the United States. Church records, especially marriage records, may give the names of your ancestor’s parents and/or the village where they were born.

8. Search for your ancestor’s naturalization papers, if they became a U.S. citizen. These naturalization papers may also give you the name of the ship they came to the U.S. on and the village they left in Slovakia.

9. Search for the Ship Passenger Manifest of the ship your ancestor came to the U.S. on by searching the Ellis Island Passenger Search website at: https://www.statueofliberty.org/discover/passenger-ship-search/ or by using Steve Morse’s one-step website at: https://stevemorse.org/

10. When you have completely researched your ancestor’s life in the United States, you will need two important pieces of information before you are ready to research them in Slovakia: their name in the Old Country, and the name of the village they left.

11. When you have these two pieces of information, you are ready to search the Slovakia Church records and the 1869 Hungarian census of Slovakia, both available through Family Search.

12. Join the monthly SASW Slovak genealogy meetings on Zoom to help answer your questions and to learn tips about where and how to research.

Who Do I Think I Am? Finding Family in Slovakia
Pam Anderson, Owner of Anderson CoGen, Franklin County, PA

Religious Records of Slovakia on FamilySearch with Mary Ann Evans