Looking for best way to find information/records
I have names, dates, parents, etc, and I'm now trying to find all the records/family tree for this family. I'm looking for Stephen (Stjepan) James Matosec's birth 1896/baptism 1896/marriage to Mary/Merie Stempi (born 1903) records from Zagreb (I believe St. Mark's Church). He was the son of Michael Matosec (Mikala) (born Sept 20, 1859 in Croatia) and Suzana Benko (born Sept 20, 1862 in Croatia).
Answers
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Here is Stjepan's baptism:https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G99X-693W?i=467&cc=2040054&cat=468887
Other records available on FamilySearch:https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/468887?availability=Family%20History%20Library
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Thank you for this. Do you know how to find a birth certificate of his? As for the second link, is that a place I just start digging and looking for information on him? I'm new to this. Do you think I'd find an emigration card? Thanks again. Heather
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I don't think you'll find a "birth certificate".
You won't find anything more recent than 1903 in the second link.
You might find an emigration or naturalization record on FamilySearch. When searching, you can use the wilcard character * to replace a string of letters. For instance, you might search for St* for first name, Mat* for last name. The * can go anywhere in the name, you can have more than one * in a name.
For instance, using Stj* for first name, Mato* for last name, I found this:https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89S8-KRRF?i=253&cc=2018318&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3A2CS2-TJ4
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Thank you so much, that's amazing. Thank you for your help! Very much appreciated!
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Going into a bit more detail: the reason you will not find a birth certificate is that no such thing exists. That's not how most of Europe did (or does) their vital records. The birth/baptism register entry that Christopher found is the vital record. People can get an extract from the register, if they need a piece of paper to show to officials elsewhere, but nobody keeps track of those or collects them centrally or anything like that.
Speaking of the register entry, I notice that the remarks column says something about 28 Sep 1910(?) and New York (maybe 401 E 81st St?). That may bear some looking into, keeping in mind that not everything is indexed (i.e., searchable by name).
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Thank you. So I guess this is my next question, "The birth/baptism register entry that Christopher found is the vital record. People can get an extract from the register, if they need a piece of paper to show to officials elsewhere"...how do I get that to prove he was from Croatia before leaving in 1907? Thanks for your further details and help! It's been a lot. I don't have much family left, so on my own putting pieces together. Even trying to find his marriage certificate is proving difficult.
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"28 Sep 1910(?) and New York (maybe 401 E 81st St?). " He has a 1910 census in New York, after they left in 1907.
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Prove to "who" that he was from Croatia? The ship manifest gives his birthplace as Croatia.
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You prove that he was born in Croatia using the register-book entry. (Or, more specifically, the image of it found online on FS.) Nothing more authoritative exists, nor can exist.
(I cannot think of a genealogical-research scenario where it makes sense to ask for an extract of a document that you're sitting there looking at. The only situation I can think of where a certified extract may be needed, despite the document/image being freely available online, is if you're applying for citizenship or something similar, and the bureaucrats want a piece of paper to stick in your file.)
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Ok, yes, I guess I was wondering if when I apply for Croatian citizenship, if they'll accept that baptism record image, or if I had to request a certified one from Zagreb.
Thank you
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