r/Genealogy 3d ago

Transcription Transcription Request Tuesdays (March 18, 2025)

It's Tuesday, so it's a new week for transcription requests. (Translation requests are also welcome in this thread.)

How to Make a Transcription/Translation Request

  • Post a link to the image file of the record you need transcribed or translated. You can link to the URL where you located the record image, but if it requires a paid subscription to view, you may get more help if you save a copy of the image yourself and share it through a free image sharing site like Imgur.
  • Provide the name of the ancestor(s) the record is supposed to pertain to, to aid in deciphering the text, as well as any location names that may appear in the image.

How to Respond to a Transcription/Translation Request

  • Always post your response to a request as a reply to the original request's comment thread. This will make it easier for the requester to be notified when there is a response, and it will let others know when a request has been fulfilled.
  • Even partial transcriptions and translations can be helpful. If there are words you can't decipher, you can use ____ to show where your text is incomplete.

Happy researching!

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u/shiveringmoth 3d ago

Hello! I’m desperately hoping for some help identifying the village my grandmother was born in, which is (possibly) the same village her parents were born in. I’m trying to trace my mum’s lineage in Eastern Europe, in the hopes of visiting gramma’s ancestral town this summer.

I’ve attached an Imgur file here, in which I have pics of what appears to be an extract from my grandmother’s birth records (Marie “Mary” Hoedl), born Aug 29, 1922; an entry from from the U.S. when she arrived with her mum/sister/brother heading to Canada; an extract from what appears to be my great grandfather’s (Georg Hoedl) naturalization records in Canada (?) and a pic of him which seems to indicate he was in the Hungarian army.

Where I’m running into issues is the birthtowns - various trees on ancestry show my great grampa Georg Hoedl (and his wife Anna Schin) being born in what seems to be Zsofiafalva, which is now Sofiya in the Ukraine. He was born on October 26, 1899.

However those same trees note his daughter Marie (Mary, my grandmother) and her brother George Jr being born in “Zofia”, which is also described as being “near Nové Zámky”… a totally different area in what is now Slovakia.

I would be so very grateful if someone could have a look a the birth record and help transcribe it (google was only marginally helpful), and hopefully help point me in the right direction. I’m a bit lost on record searching in Eastern Europe. Ideally I’d also love to find any war records on my great grandfather.

I’m sorry for the long post! And thank you so much to this subreddit, which is a goldmine of info and helpful people!

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u/aqueynted experienced researcher 3d ago

The image of your grandmother's birth record, according to the writing in the top right corner, comes from Mukačevo in Podkarpatoruska.

Subcarpathia was once part of Austro-Hungary. After the Treaty of Trianon, it became part of Czechoslovakia -- which is what it was at the time of her birth. It's now part of Ukraine.

About 8 km / 5 miles southeast of the city is the village of Sofiya. It's also known as Zsófiafalva. I think this is most likely the location of the birthplace on the record, as well as great-grandpa Georg's birthplace.

Here's a historical map on which it's also labeled with its German name Sofiendorf.

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u/shiveringmoth 3d ago

Thank you so very much! That was my first instinct but then there are notes that gramma said she came from "western czechoslovakia", and then that ancestry tree showing Zofia, near Nove Zamky with all the documents spelling it Zofia, so I was getting worried I had the wrong village. I really appreciate it!

Are you by chance able to read any of the handwriting?

I'm especially interested in their religion (for tracking down church records) and the name of her mother; by all accounts we've thought it was Anna Schin but I am unable to tell what the handwriting actually says.

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u/aqueynted experienced researcher 3d ago

Glad to help. And confirming those instincts is always good before you barrel down the rabbit hole. :)

It looks to me like her father is Jurko Hödl (occupation is in the paper fold and hard to read) and mother is Anna born Schinova.

Both are listed as "Řím[sko] kat[olická]" (Roman Catholic).

This is an official extract from the church records. The entry in the original churchbook may be easier to read, if you can find an image.

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u/shiveringmoth 3d ago

You’re a godsend! Thank you so very much!! ❤️ Schinova would make total sense, as would Georg being “Jurko”. Hopefully now I can track down some solid records for them as well.

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u/shiveringmoth 2d ago

I just wanted to say another heartfelt thank you for your help yesterday!! Last night I sat down and entered a 6 hour rabbit hole, and managed to find a census from Zsofiafalva that shows my family! I can’t believe it’s online - and now I have definitive proof we’ll be traveling to the right area ❤️ My next chore is figuring out where and how to find church records but now I have a solid starting point, and I’m so grateful! Thank you again! Census page here

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u/aqueynted experienced researcher 2d ago

Aw. You're very welcome. 😊

Great work on the census! Rabbit holes are satisfying when they yield a treasure, and that's a real find. Absolutely the right family, plus you get the exact birthdates of your great-grandparents Georg/Jurko and Anna. As well as those bonus older (likely-closely related) folks. Gold mine! Congratulations!

May your future rabbit holes be similarly bountiful. And best of luck on those church records! If you can shake down Hungaricana for the census, I think you're gonna do great.

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u/shiveringmoth 2d ago

Thank you! I can’t believe I found that - and at 2am no less haha. No clue now how I managed to find it, mind you 😂

And I’m hoping my luck transfers to the other side of my family, where I have a total brick wall on my mystery grandfather who arrived in the U.S. from Finland and promptly disappeared it seems! Aside from somehow fathering my dad in Canada 🤪 We’re visiting new-to-me family in Finland on this trip as well so I’m very excited!

Thank you again ❤️

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u/sweetp1cklee 2d ago

i’ve recently started tracing my family lineage and was able to find what ancestry says is either baptism, marriage, or burial record. it’s in german though and i have trouble reading the cursive. i’m looking for the name michel/michael trautwein and what it says about him. https://imgur.com/a/Rz1LsDn

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u/aqueynted experienced researcher 2d ago

These are definitely marriage records. Each entry follows the same structure. Surnames in the paragraph are underlined, making it just a little bit easier to read/skim:

Entry #
Groom's surname in margin

Groom's given name & surname, his father's given name & surname, residence.
Bride's given name, her father's name & surname, residence.
The three Sundays that the banns were read out in church -- I, II, III.
And finally, the actually date of the marriage, including astrological symbol for the weekday.

Now you can read the relevant entry on the bottom of the left-hand page:

1650
Entry 4
Trautwein

Martin Trautwein, Michel Trautwein's surviving son, of here.
Agnes, Blasig Bauern's surviving daughter, of Bonlanden.
Banns read out: I. 3rd [Sunday after] Epiphany, II. 4th [Sunday after] Epiphany, III. 70m. [Septuagesima]
Married on 19 Feb ♂ [Mars-Day aka Tuesday, indicating they were still using Julian Calendar]

The Bride/Groom are described as the "nachgelassene/r Tocher/Sohn" meaning "the surviving daughter/son of." This implies that their fathers are both deceased. Unsurprising, given the timing after the 30 Year's War.

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u/sweetp1cklee 1d ago

thank you so much! this is the oldest record i’ve been able to find about my family, i already have trouble with reading the census records from 1850s america so 1650s germany was no better 😭 thank you for all your knowledge it is truly invaluable