In article <336802AA.6B79@columbia.edu>, Mark Felton <mkf9@columbia.edu> writes: > Hi. I'm new to using the newsgroup but was keyed into this in the > hopes of finding some help on my family history. At this point > my research is broad: a family name "Herko" from eastern Europe > (maybe the Ukraine or the Slovakian region of the former Austro- > Hungarian Empire?). Any ideas or tips in my research efforts? > I'm also looking for two towns, named "Mattamorish" (sp?) and > "Kamuenke"(sp?) Thanks. Re the place names: Could the first be Maramarosh? This is the name of a county, not a town, in former northeast Hungary; today that area is on the border between northwest Romania and southwest Ukraine. The second looks like the Slavic Kamionka/Kamianka, which means "stone" and is a common placename. There are several in Slovakia and Ukraine; do you have any better idea as to where yours might be? I couldn't find any in former Maramarosh county, but there's one in Ukraine about 30 miles to the north of the old county border--the village of Kamjanka, just southeast of Skole (which is about 20 miles southwest of Stryj). This village was in former Stryj county in Austrian Galicia, but it was close to Maramarosh. Joe armata@vms.cis.pitt.edu