Why You Should Re-Examine Your Documents

There are times when we find documents and we seem to miss a few specific clues. We may be excited about our new find, or rushed for time and don't fully analyze all the wording. Whatever the case, it really does pay off to look over your documents and records every now and then. I do this every-so-often and find things I happen to have over-looked. I know I'm probably not the only one out there! Here is a great example that happened to me only a few days ago.

I was reviewing a few documents I received from a cousin around April 2010, that pertained to my noble Porkoláb family from Tiszadob, Hungary. The document is called "kihallgatás", which translates literally to mean "interrogation". The document is more of a testimony than it is an interrogation. On the second page, it explains in full detail the fourth testimony for the Porkoláb family by a Mihály Rácz. With-in this testimony, Mihály Rácz talks about an aged Márton Porkoláb with the nickname "szakálas" (bearded) and an István Zákány, from another known noble family living in Tiszadob. On the last few lines it states the following in Hungarian: "az öreg szakálas Porkoláb Mártonnak - kinek felesége Zákány leány vólt". This means "the aged 'bearded' Porkoláb Márton, whose wife was the daughter of Zákány".

"Szakálas" Porkoláb Márton lived before the time of recorded church records, in Tiszadob. So other than this document that list's his wife's (partial) name, she would've been lost to history forever. She has never been mentioned in any known document that I have for the Porkoláb family.

It really does pay to look over your previously found documents!