Searching Ukrainian ancestors is not an easy task. John D. Pihach, author of Ukrainian Genealogy, recognizes the difficulties in researching in the once Soviet controlled section of Europe. The cold war meant any request for family information, no matter how innocent, was treated with suspicion. Naturally, things got better after the Ukraine gained independence in 1991. However, North American Resources are still not as widely available as they are for researching other parts of Europe.
Pihach doesn’t try to help readers find these sporadic resources. Rather, he focuses on helping the reader find the resources available in Europe. He does cover some American resources that are specifically Ukrainian; especially, as they relate to the immigration process. The primary focus of this book is to help Canadian and United States citizens discover and research their Ukrainian roots through resources available in the old country.
Despite not covering much in the way of North American resources, this book offers a thorough examination of the topic as it extends into Europe. The early chapters cover research basics as well as U.S. and Canadian church records. Immigration is vetted in chapter five. The remaining chapters look deeper into topics related to documents and records, locations and maps, land records, and other overseas resources.
Researching records in a foreign language is difficult enough at times. At least for the Germanic and Latin language, researches deal with nearly identical alphabets. This does not hold true, however, with most Eastern European countries. The Cyrillic alphabet looks, well, foreign. One nice feature to the book is the transliteration of names. The introduction discusses how this was accomplished for this book. There is also a section on reading older handwriting, which will likely prove valuable to most researchers.
If you have Ukrainian ancestors, then look over the contents listed below. You will likely find this book the perfect starting place for researching your Ukrainian ancestors.
Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations
List of Illustrations
Introduction
Chapter 1: Beginning Your Research
- Practical Suggestions
- Beginning at Home
- Genealogy Books
- Genealogical Societies
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
- Libraries
Chapter 2: Historical Preliminaries
- The History of the Ukraine
- Immigration to North America
- Books, Publishers, and Bookstores
Chapter 3: Names
- Name Variations
- Given Names
- Origins
- Table of Transcriptions, Equivalents, and Diminutives
- Surnames
- Origins and Root Meanings
- Surnames Derived from Given Names
- Surnames Derived from the Place of Residence or Origin
- Surnames Derived from Occupations, Professions, and Social Status
- Surnames Derived from Individual Characteristics
- Endings
Chapter 4: Church Records in Canada
- Background
- Locating Records
- The Ukrainian (Greek) Catholic Church
- The Roman Catholic Church
- The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada
- The Russian Orthodox Church
- The Romanian Orthodox Church
- The Independent Greek Church
- The United Church and the Presbyterian Church
- The Baptist Church
Chapter 5: Church Records in the United States
- Background
- Catholics
- Orthodox
- Protestants
- Locating Records
- The Ukrainian (Greek) Catholic Church
- The Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Church
- The Roman Catholic Church
- The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A.
- The Orthodox Church in America and the Russian Orthodox Church
- The Presbyterian Church
- The Baptist Church
Chapter 6: From Europe to North America
- Home Sources
- Passenger Lists and Immigration Records
- Passenger Lists in General
- Hamburg’s and Other Ports’ Passenger Lists
- Other Immigration Records
- Postwar Refugee Records
- Steamship Photos
- Naturalization and Citizenship Records
- Church Records
- Census Returns
- Homestead and Land Records
- Vital Records
- Vladimir Kaye’s Dictionaries, and Other Publications
- National Registration
- Military Records
- Obituaries and Funeral-Home Records
Chapter 7: Locating the Ancestral Home
- Gazetteers
- Administrative Divisions
- The Russian Empire
- The Austro-Hungarian Empire
- Poland
- Soviet Ukraine
- Hungary and Romania
- Maps
- Ukraine’s Oblasts
- Detailed Topographical Maps
- Josephinische Landesaufnahme and Franziszeische Landesaufnahme Maps
- Cadastral Maps
- The Cadastral Community Boundary Definition
- Feldskizzen
- Texts
- Indikationsskizzen
- Katasterkarten
- Updates
- Austrian Map Terms
- Aerial Photographs
Chapter 8: Regional History
- Regional History Books
- Statistical Publications and Church Schematisms
- Travel Guides and Travelogues
- Maps
- Metrical Records
- Archival Records
Chapter 9: Metrical Records
- Church Jurisdictions
- Record Keeping
- The Availability and Location of Records
- Greek Catholic Records
- Lviv Archeparchy
- Peremyshl (Przemysl) Eparchy
- Stanyslaviv Eparchy
- Mukacheve (Mukachiv) Eparchy
- Presov Eparchy
- Hajdudorog Eparchy
- Kholm (Chelm) Eparchy
- Roman Catholic Records
- Orthodox Records
- Accessing Records
- Conducting Research in Person
- LDS Microfilms
- Working in the Archives
- Archival Terminology
- Writing to Archives
- Sample Letters to Archives and Others
- Addresses of Archives
- Ukraine
- Poland
- Slovakia
- Romania
- Hungary
- Russia
Chapter 10: Working with Metrical Records
- Birth Records
- 1711 Birth Record, Orthodox, in Church Slavonic
- 1777 Birth Records, Greek Catholic, in Church Slavonic
- 1779 Birth Records, Orthodox, in Russian
- 1818 Birth Records, Greek Catholic, in Latin
- 1896 Birth Records, Orthodox, in Church Slavonic and Russian
- 1919 Birth Records, Greek Catholic, in Ukrainian
- Marriage Records
- 1784 Marriage Records, Greek Catholic, in Latin
- 1842 Marriage Records, Greek Catholic, in Latin
- 1896 Marriage Record, Orthodox, in Church Slavonic and Russian
- 1919 Marriage Record, Greek Catholic, in Ukrainian
- Death Records
- 1756 Death Record, Greek Catholic, in Latin
- 1831 Death Record, Greek Catholic, in Latin
- 1897 Death Record, Orthodox, in Church Slavonic and Russian
- Deciphering Unfamiliar or Difficult Handwriting
- House Numbers
- The Julian and Gregorian Calendars
- Words Lists
- The Names of Months
- Latin Genealogical Terms
- Latin Names of Occupations and Social Status
- Latin Terms for Causes of Death
- Ukrainian Genealogical Terms
- Russian Genealogical Terms (pre-1917 Spellings)
- Polish Genealogical Terms
- German Genealogical Terms
- Romanian Genealogical Terms
Chapter 11: Austrian Land Records
- Units of Measure
- The Josephinian Cadastre
- The Franciscan Cadastre
- The Stabile Cadastre and Updates
- Other Land Records
Chapter 12: Other Overseas Resources
- Confession Lists
- Revision Lists, Family Lists, and Censuses
- Austrian Military Records
- Works on the Nobility
- Emigration Records
Appendix 1: Languages
- The Ukrainian Alphabet and System of Transliteration
- The Russian Alphabet
- Differences between the Ukrainian and Russian Alphabets
- The Church Slavonic Alphabet
- The Polish Alphabet
- The German Alphabet (Current and Gothic)
- The Romanian Alphabet
Appendix 2: Other Ethnic Groups with Roots in Ukraine
- Polish Roots
- Jewish Roots
- German Roots
- Mennonite Roots
- Rusyn Roots
- Czech and Slovak Roots
- Russian Roots
Appendix 3: Useful Websites
- Churches in North America
- Catholic Websites
- The Ukrainian (Greek) Catholic Church in Canada
- The Ukrainian (Greek) Catholic Church in the United States
- The Roman Catholic Church
- The Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Church
- Orthodox Websites
- Protestant Websties
- Churches Elsewhere
- General Genealogy
- Genealogical Societies in Canada
- Government
- Canada
- Provincial Archives
- The United States
- European State Archives
Bibliography
- Genealogy
- Cartography and Toponymy
- Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and Languages
- National and Regional History
- Names and Onomastics
- Ukrainians in North America
Index
Order a copy of Ukrainian Genealogy from Family Root Publishing; Item #: UA01.