Can anyone help me track down the Klausner line?

kleheannbradshaw1

I have a relative that was born in Austria/Hungary but immigrated to the US in 1911. I know that he was born in Austria/Hungary in 1893 because he put that as his birth place on census records years later. I can't seem to find any records of his parents. Can anyone help me find them or where I can look?! Thank you so much!

Julia Szent-Györgyi

You have a clue to his birthplace already attached to his profile (https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/L811-HVN), on his WWI draft registration card: "T Besterze". Another important clue is on the 1920 census, which identifies both his and his parents' mother tongues as Hebrew. Combined, these clues point to Tapolybesztercze, which was a village in Sáros county (right on the border with Zemplén county), Hungary, and is now Bystré, in Slovakia. On earlier maps it's generally labeled Bisztra, and at least one map notes its Hungarian name as Tapolybisztra. Its Jewish residents were recorded in Hanusfalu (later Tapolyhanusfalva, now Hanušovce nad Topľou), for which FS has films of the registers -- but unfortunately, the one that includes 1893 births is not online, because the second half of the film contains some Greek Catholic marriage registers up to 1952, which fall well into of Slovakia's 100-year privacy protections. Unless/until FS divides up multi-part films like this and starts enforcing access restrictions separately for the parts, I don't know how you can look at these records, short of showing up in Salt Lake City.

(I suppose you could try the Family History Library's lookup service. You don't know a page or image number, but you have a specific date and a name, and they may be willing to check whether there is such a name on or around that date.... I think you can get the instructions by searching for "lookup service" in FS's help files.)

The 1869 census has a bunch of records from a "T. Bisztra" filed under Zemplén county's Varannó district. This is the district directly adjacent to the location of Tapolybesztercze and Hanusfalu, and the district does not include any place named Bisztra or Besztercze (that I can find in any gazetteer or map), so I'm pretty sure these records are actually from Tapolybesztercze in Sáros county. There are two families in this place indexed on JewishGen as Klausner:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS54-BSR4-5?i=440&cat=385993

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS54-BSR7-T?i=486&cat=385993

Of course, skipping back to 1869 like this is rather putting the cart before the horse. Perhaps you could pursue the Ohio marriage record: it may name parents, or at least confirm the birthdate and place. (I know nothing about Ohio, so I can't help there.)

Julia Szent-Györgyi

My translations of the two census households, just in case they turn out to be relevant:

House-number 35.

House: one floor, one room, pantry.

Livestock: two cows.

I. 1. Jósef Klauser, male, born 1832, Jewish, married, taverner, birthplace Hungarian T. Bisztra, local, present over one month continuously, can read and write

2. his wife Erzsó Baier, female, born 1842, Jewish, married, birthplace Sáros Hanusf., local, present, can read and write

3. his/her daughter Hani Klauser, female, born 1863, Jewish, birthplace Bisztra, local, present.

House-number 58.

House: one floor with attic; one room, pantry, hall, kitchen. Further places: cellar, stable, shed.

Livestock: one cow.

I. 1. Mosko Klausner, male, born 1820, Jewish, married, taverner, birthplace Hungarian Bisztra, local, present, cannot read and write, note: humpbacked

2. his wife Lina Klausner, female, born 1824, Jewish, married, birthplace Bisztra, local, present

3. Eliás Klausner, male, born 1859, Jewish, birthplace Bisztra, local, present

4. Rózi Klausner, female, born 1840, Jewish, divorced from husband, day-laborer-woman, birthplace Bisztra, local, present, can read and write

5. her daughter Lina, female, born 1864, Jewish, birthplace Bisztra, local, present

6. her son Mosko, male, born 1867, Jewish, birthplace Bisztra, local, present.

Julia Szent-Györgyi

I'm afraid your question is unanswerable without a whole lot more detail: in 1893 and 1911, "Austria-Hungary" could refer to very nearly half a continent, and residents in all parts of it could have German-derived surnames like Klausner.

najensen

Have you looked at draft cards? That's how we made a breakthrough on our Austria-Hungary line.

Annette Unrau Adams

Hi, I saw your post/query, and thought I would give you a little direction on how to proceed. Currently, the only information that can be worked with, is the surname, Klausner, his arrival date, 1911, and then a birth year of 1893 from a census record, and a general place of Austria/Hungary. To better assist you in your research question, the full name of your ancestor, where your ancestor lived during the year of the census record you mentioned and other identifying information would help us distinguish your person. You could also provide a marriage or death date.

I have a few more suggestions for you: what you really need is the place he was born in the Austro-Hungarian empire. Depending on the year of the census record you found your ancestor in, you will get different clues for the years prior and afterwards up to 1940. The 1920 census will be your most useful census, in that it may tell you the year your ancestor naturalized. If it does, you know that you can search for these records, which are invaluable.

Your best bet is to do a census survey to glean a little more information about him. And if you are in luck, if you can find him in the passenger arrival lists, you might see where he was going, and who was left back home, including a home town name. With a little more information, we can better assist you.

Here is the U.S. Immigration Records page on the FamilySearch research wiki to give you some ideas on which records might answer your question. I would love to see what information you do have, because there are some great resources to assist you in your search.

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/U._S._Immigration_Records:_Finding_the_Town_of_Origin#Passenger_Arrival_Lists

kleheannbradshaw1

Thank you so much for all of your help!!! So here is a little more information

• Name: Harry A Klausner (Sadly, don't know that middle name)
• Birth: 22 October 1894 - Austria/Hungary
• Immigration- 1911
• Marriage to Mali Licht (Her name varies depending on the record but this is the most reliable I have found so far)- 1 January 1919 in Canton, Ohio
• Death- 23 May 1969 Canton, Stark, Ohio

Thank you again for all of your help