Does anyone know how to find Birth records or Christening records from Austria-Hungry?

Question

Michael Kaschak
Born: 1860
Mestisko, Austria-Hungary
Died: 3 feb 1949
Streator, LaSalle County, IL

I have this information from a death certificate but I can find no trace of His parents. Does anyone know of a way to find birth certificates or Christening records or any other documentation that would show his parents information? Him and his brother migrated to the US but their parents and sister stayed behind and I've run into a dead end for this branch of the family.

The first name could also be Mikal because I know he "americanized" his last name to Kasko and he may have done the same to his first name. Either way, I cant find any parental infomation from Austria.

He migrated Before the war in 1900 and was married in the US. I have Ellis Island records but it doesnt have parental information on it either, just his name, his brothers and his soon-to-be wife.

As for contacting the churches in the area, that would be a good idea if 1. it wasnt a small town with a population of like 35 with no phones and 2. I dont speak the language unfortunatly.
If I could find the church I might be able to write a letter but theres no guarentee that they wont just look at it and toss it because they dont understand the language.

Answer 1

Mestisko is now in Slovakia. The LDS have most of the Slovakian church records filmed. You wouldn't have to contact the parish itself, just order the film and start searching.

If you need some help researhing in that area of Europe, contact the Czech and Slovak Museum in Iowa: http://www.ncsml.org/

Answer 2

Here's my suggestion - get in touch with churches in Mestisko to see if they can provide you baptismal records.

Do you have any papers from him? Given his age, did he live in Austria during or just before WWII? Or, did he have any offspring living there during WWII?

I ask because my mom's parents both lived in Germany during WWII. I'm sure the policy was the same in Austria, which was...each of my grandparents had a booklet tracing their ancestors back many generations. Specifically, I think our families records were traced back to the late 1600's / early 1700's. The booklet listed names, occupations, place of birth and religion. Why? Because the Nazi's wanted to make sure you did not have any Jewish ancestry.

So, we have these booklets that from our grandparents and you can learn a great deal about your ancestors at a quick glance. All the information in those booklets was the product of the Nazi's exhaustive research of church records, baptismal records, etc. I know this because my brother and I inherited these books and have them in a safety deposit box.


Ok, based on your added info, the only little added piece of advice I could add is - if he emigrated to the US in 1900, do you have any additional information from there? Did he spend any time in NY? In Queens, in Glendale specifically, there is a larger German community. Many of those Germans are what are known as (ok, here my spelling is way off) - Gotche Germans (pronounced Gah chey ah). These are Germans of Austro Hungarian descent. My buddy maried a German girl who was from that part of Queens and whose parents are Gotche Germans. I also dated a girl years ago whose mother was a Gotche German and who had originally lived in Glendale. You might want to try to contact any German-American clubs in Glendale and see if they might help.

Sorry, but that's all I can think of at this point. Good luck with your search.


What about Michael Kaschak in Binghamton, NY? Any relation????
http://preview.ussearch.com/preview/newsearch?&searchLName=KASCHAK%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&searchState=NY&searchCity=Binghamton%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&searchFName=MICHAEL%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&adID=619200D752&adsource=9&TID=0&cid=people&searchtab=people

Answer 3

Good luck, my grandmother has been trying for over 40 years now to trace her grandparents family back. I'd suggest figuring out what language is spoken in the parish, and trying to find someone who can at least write in that language. German should be easy, but if it's some Eastern European language, sorry you may need to try and do a literal translation yourself; hopefully it will be close enough.

Answer 4

Have you gotten all the info for the brothers? Death & Marriage especially. A church record of his marriage should also have parental info.