How to Make Progress in Family History—No Matter Where You Are in the Journey with Réka Bakos

So, I started out with next to nothing in documents. I decided to start chronologically as all 4 grandparents (paternal Poland & maternal Hungary) came over “on the boat” from “the old country” from 1903 through 1921 as I discovered. I started with searches via familysearch.org (LDS-based) & ancestry.com (where I have built family trees) focusing on ships’ manifests – these supplied more bits of data to continue searches; US census results (1900 – 1940) brought the data forward. MyHeritage.com was later a better tool to work pre-immigration searches into Europe. Also, I was introduced the beginnings of DNA testing in 2008; initially it was just 12 markers of yDNA and the 2 HVR (Hyperviariable Region) of mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) – later expanded to 700 markers in yDNA and FMS (Full mitochondrial Sequence). Note that yDNA comes from the fathers to sons & mtDNA comes from mothers to children. atDNA (autosomal DNA) analysis came a few years later; I curate 17 samples of family members through FamilyTree DNA. As all communications was lost to the old countries before I was born, and with no sort of written correspondence, DNA matches have reestablished links to Europe – paternal cousins in Poland (including a 2nd cousin), a maternal (grandmother’s line) 2nd cousin in Hungary & 4 maternal (grandfather’s line) 4th cousins in the US & Hungary. I have since visited my cousins in Poland 3 times (2014, 2017, 2024), and visited the archives twice. Another trip to Hungary (cultural trip to Budapest in 2009) remains in the future – the maternal village is about as far from Budapest as possible within the current borders. My material is divided into maternal & paternal lines aranged chronologically as well as a separate DNA results section looking at yDNA, mtDNA & atDNA findings. HTH. Thank you for your inquiry.

I felt in part that I was “drinking from the fire hose!” That being said (not a criticism!), there much food for thought. I put my family material on hold in Q4 2020 after my Hungarian mother passed due to complications (READ: stroke) from COVID in another state (I was the executor of her estate – With offices shut down, I had to deal with phone-trees & e-mail never meeting anyone F2F). I was also writing volumes of material for my Japanese martial arts students in the wake of he COVID shut-downs, which I have continued to do. So I am inspired to review what I have (370 Power Point slides + several loose-leaf binders), identify the weak & thin spots, and prioritize my follow-ups.