2018 In Review: My Accomplishments and Looking forward to 2019

Austrian National Holiday Celebration Gussing, Burgenland, Austria 2018

2018 was another interesting year researching and traveling! With more and more information being uploaded to the internet I've been able to make even more progress.

I had a chance this year to trace my Austrian family because Catholic Church records are now online for that country. The records are searchable at  http://matriken.graz-seckau.at/  Paying a researcher in that country to research the records costs 50 euros, and more an hours, which I could not afford.

From this website I found the birth record for my great-great grandmother Maria Bierbauer born 27 Nov 1849 in those records. I was able to trace lines of her family back to the 1600's. Her family migrated to Burgenland, Austria where the records don't extend that far back so my other lines in that area only go back to the late 18th Century. I also learned to read some basic German script writing as I was going through these records.

All of the records for my grandfather Rudolph Kapple stated that he was born in Hort, Austria and not Burgenland like his parents. I couldn't find a placed called Hort in Austria. I assumed it was a misspelling if it was in Austria. I also thought maybe Hort actually meant Ort, which could just be a word for town? For years I tried to find my grandfather's birth record in Burgenland. I looked at the local civil registration birth records, but nothing for him surfaced? This year I searched the records online again and discovered some of the birth records were recorded as much as a couple of years after the birth. I began searching beyond his year of birth. Didn't find anything this way either. I then went back to the register after realizing the names were written in Hungarian. Even though the Hungarian name for Rudolph appeared to be much different than the English and German spellings his parents names looked more similar. This year I finally solved that mystery and have my grandfather's birth record.

Rudolph's full name was Rudolph Christian Kapple or Koppel. Here his name was written in Hungarian

This record stated he was born in Hart, and not Hort, in Styria, Austria. I presented that information to the Burgenland Bunch group at Facebook. Someone at the group found my grandfather's birth record in the parish where Hart is located. 2018 has also been a great years for collaboration in the Facebook genealogy groups.

Rudolph's baptismal record from Styria Church book

I often check Ancestry.com for photos of my family. I've found a couple interesting ones this year. One picture I've been hoping to find has surfaced on Ancestry. I figured that since my great-great grandmother Mary Ann Browning nee Callahan lived until 1919 chances were good there were photos of her. One photo of her has been uploaded to Ancestry.com.

Ancestry shines when it comes to finding photos and documents attached to trees. Familysearch shines when it comes to the number or original records searchable online. I've spent many hours this year looking through original records now available online at Familysearch. Remember any records with a camera icon are searchable online either at home or at an LDS Family History Center.

2018 I also completed my goal of visiting all of the places my grandparents where born. In 2015 and 2016 I visited Granada, Nicaragua where my grandmother Graciela Forgey nee Del Castillo was born. In 2017 I visited Chicago where my grandmother Dorothy Kapple nee Mason was born. In 2018 I visited Jackson County Indiana where my grandfather Charles Lynn Forgey was born. I also visited Styria, Austria in 2018 where my grandfather Rudolph Christian Kapple was born. I paid a visit to Burgenland, Austria where many generations of my were born, and family lived. I started my journey to Austria in Germany where I also have roots.

2018 marked the first time this California native did courthouse research. I did some research at the courthouse in Brownstown, Indiana. I learned some new facts about my family and really enjoyed the seeing the original documents. I also learned the records can blacken your hands.

What do we have to look forward to in 2019? Record DNA sales should boost our number of cousins in the DNA databases. Expect to see 300 million more records which will be available at Familysearch. You can find out what's new at Familysearch by clicking on help then clicking what's new in the drop down menu. Familysearch is the site I will be spending most of my time on this year.

This year I will be packing my bags again and heading to my great-grandmother Helen Mullen's birthplace Ireland. I also plan on visiting the ancestral homeland of Spain, and Quebec, Canada where my great-great grandfather Peter Mason was born. I'm writing a book about my John Owens Indian Trader family I hope to finish in the next couple of months. The amount of information now online, especially at Familysearch.org., is helping me with this task.



I wish hope everyone has a productive 2019! Happy New Year!