Thank you for all the good information that comes up on this site. I really learn a lot. I've decided to narrow my genealogical focus and just spend time trying to locate my grandfather. I know from DNA who my great grandmother was and where/when she died. I know the other siblings. I know one male sibling came to the US and I have some information from his family, but all they provided was that when the mother died, he was taken by an uncle and later he went to America. The other brother (my grandfather) disappeared "never to be heard from again." Well, he may never have been heard from again, but he came back to the village where he was born long enough for my father to be born (illegitimate I assume) in 1897, and he may been around long enough for him to claim my father and change his name his own name in 1908. I have not been able to document who changed my father's last name. I have the name change record from Budapest, but the background information was lost in a fire. The birth record shows his father as his mother's first husband, but alas, he had gone to America. I am looking for the best ideas to do some searching. I have no family history to draw from as my grandmother died in 1917. I'm at a brick wall and it seems that there are so many possibilities for research, I don't know where to start. The area is Lugos, Romania (Hungary), the village Vecsehaza (also Wetsche nstein and now Pietroase mare) My father was named Ferencz Mach, but his father was Ferencz Wagendorf (also Wag) 28 Sep 1897 His mother was Anna Turasek (Durasek, Duratschek) If someone knows a contact in Lugos, I would be interested in hiring them check some records there. Thanks for you ideas. Sharon Aller, Seattle ----- Original Message -----