Category Archives: Case Studies

Verify All the Names: A Case Study

Posted on by
4

The church marriage record was clear: Theodoros Dimitrios Kouris married Dimitroula Chatzakou, daughter of Ioannis, first marriage for both, on April 24, 1875:

Finding this record [1] for one of my Agios Ioannis families meant that I now had the name of Theodoros’ wife and the mother of his children. Everything seemed to line up:  the wedding was in 1875 and the first child was born in October 1878, although the birth (if it was a first birth) was a tad late for that time period. I entered the information in my database and to online trees at FamilySearch, Ancestry and MyHeritage. Almost immediately, hints for records in Massachusetts popped up for the children. Not unusual – many families immigrated to America in the early 1900s. I checked one of the hints, a marriage record for son Apostolos, and noted with curiosity that his mother’s name was written not as Chatzakou, but as Pantazou.

Well, the two surnames sort of sound alike. I wondered if this was a clerical error (misunderstood the name?) or a mistake on the part of the child (some are unsure of their mother’s maiden name!).

Checking further, I saw that the Pantazou surname in U.S. records was found for other children in the family. Clearly, there was a disconnect somewhere.

Because this family is not related to me, I was not planning to research this line further. (My goal is to get the Greek records online so that descendants can make the leap from the U.S. to Greece). But I felt it was important to alert other researchers to the discrepancy, so I added this note in the profiles for both Theodoros and Dimitroula: Dimitroula’s surname, according to her Sparta marriage record, is Chatzakou. However, there are records in the U.S. giving her surname as Pantazou. Either there are two Theodoros Kouris’ in Massachusetts — one married to Chatzakou and one to Pantazou, OR her surname changed in the U.S.

Before moving on to extract another family name from Agios Ioannis records, I did make one additional entry for Theodoros: I marked him as deceased and in the place field, I put “Of Massachusetts, United States.” The word “of” signifies that this was a guess, as I did not have proof of the fact.

This entry proved to be a mistake for me and a red flag for Theodoros’ geat-granddaughter , Niki, who had been researching her family and found my note in an online tree. In an email to me, she wrote:

I want to clarify another piece that you aren’t aware of. Theodore never came to the US. His wife and all of their children came around 1909….except for Nikoletta, who stayed back to care for her father, Theodore, who was blind, and unable to travel at that time. In 1920, Dimitroula returned to Agios Ioannis and planned to travel with Theodore and Nikoletta back to Boston, to join the rest of the family…However, Theodore died unexpectedly, very shortly before they were scheduled to sail. Dimitroula and Nikoletta came without him, in the summer of 1920. The ship record shows only their two names. So you might want to modify your note about Dimitroula’s surname discrepancy since Theodore was never in the United States.

Oh my! Grateful for this clarification, I quickly corrected Theodoros’ death place to Agios Ioannis.

Niki had initially contacted me a few weeks ago when she found the marriage for Theodoros and Dimitroula Chatzakou online at MyHeritage[1]. She knew her great-grandmother was Dimitroula Pantazos, and the record naming Chatzakou was mystifying. Looking further and searching on “Pantazos,” she found and then sent me another marriage record which was indexed as: Theodoros D. Kontis and Dimitroula Pantazos, daughter of Anast., married October 29, 1876. She commented: “Could it be that the handwritten record from 1876 was translated incorrectly, into Kontis instead of Kouris?”

We outlined the issues:

  1. The handwritten Greek in both marriage records was too scribbly for either of us to clarify whether the name was Kouris or Kontis.
  2. This second marriage record shows it was Theodoros’ second marriage [B] and Dimitroula Pantazou’s first marriage [A].
  3. Their marriage occurred in October 1876, exactly 18 months after Theodoros’ marriage in April 1875.
  4. If this record was indeed for Theodoros Kouris, then his first wife [Chatzakou] would have died shortly after marriage [perhaps in childbirth?].
  5. With Georgios born in October 1878, he and his siblings would be the children of Theodoros’ second wife, Pantazou–making the 1878, exactly two years aftermarriage, birth more realistic for the times.

Clearly, the answer lay in the clarification of Theodoros’ surname. A quick message to Gregory Kontos at GreekAncestry resolved the mystery: both marriage records were for Theodoros Kouris; the second record was transcribed incorrectly.

A few points to consider from this case study:

  1. NEVER trust a name index!
  2. ALWAYS review the original record. If it’s in Greek and unreadable to you, someone else can help. Upload to the Hellenic Genealogy Geek Facebook page or send to Greg Kontos at GreekAncestry.
  3. Search a variety of records to verify information. In this situation, looking at U.S. records for several of Theodoros’ children revealed the same mother’s name. This raised the chances that the children were correct, and the possibility that there was either an error in the marriage record or a second marriage for Theodore.
  4. Document facts that don’t correlate, and make sure those notes are attached to each individual that is affected.
  5. If you are making an assumption, state what the assumption is and why you are making it. I did not do this for Theodoros’ death place when I listed it as Massachusetts.
  6. Theodoros had two wives with the same first name, which caused incorrect assumptions. The children’s baptismal records in the village church book gave their mother’s name as only Dimitroula (no surname) which caused me to assume that the Chatzakou record was correct.
  7. Niki kept looking for information and changed her search terms to “Pantazos” which led her to finding her great-grandparents’ marriage record and the incorrect transcription of Theodoros’ surname. If she had not kept looking, the mystery would have remained.
  8. Just because “this is the way it was” don’t assume that is true in your situation. I assumed that Theodoros had come to the U.S. with (or before) his children, which was the pattern for Greek men at the turn of the century. In this case, that was not the case. The mother came with the children, and the father remained in the village–a complete reversal of the norm.
Family of Theodoros Kouris and Dimitroula Pantazou, about 1902
Anna, Theodoros, possibly Anastasios (standing), Nikoletta, Dimitroula Pantazou, possibly Harry

[1] See Sparta Marriages 1835-1935 online at MyHeritage.com

Two Marriages, or One?

Posted on by
9

What are the chances that there are two men named Ioannis Konstantinos Laliotis living in Magoula, both of whom married women named Georgitsa Giannakopooulos (father Paraskevas) living in Theologos? Although this seems improbable, the documents should answer the question. But in this case, it wasn’t that easy.

Let’s dig in.

In the Metropolis of Sparta Marriage Index Books, we find that a marriage license was issued on June 28,1898: Entry #237, Ioannis K. Laliotis of Magoula, Sparta; his first marriage (A) & Georgitsa Par. N. Giannakopoulos of Theologos, Sellasia; her first marriage (A).

Metropolis of Sparta Marriage Index Book 1894-1899; Page: 150; Year:1898, Entries: 234-246
Available on MyHeritage at this link.

There is additional documentation in the form of the priest’s letter to the bishop, requesting permission for the marriage. In this document, we see the groom was age 22 and the bride was age 19.

1898 Priest’s letter requesting permission for marriage; same URL as above

In books where both the license date and the marriage date are given, there is usually just a one or two day difference between the date the license was issued and the date of the marriage. In this case, there is no marriage date given. Possible reasons: (1) early books do not have a column for a marriage date to be written; (2) the bishop’s letter agreeing to the marriage, and the priest’s response giving the date of the ceremony have not survived; (3) the marriage never took place. In this last scenario, it is quite unusual for a license to be issued and a marriage not to occur.

Let’s look at the second set of documents. In the Metropolis of Sparta Marriage Index Books, we find that a marriage license was issued on April 20, 1900; Entry #105, Ioannis Laliotis of Magoula, Sparta, (no father given); his first marriage (A) & Georgitsa Par. Giannakopoulou of Theologos, Sellasia; her first marriage (A).

Metropolis of Sparta, Marriage Index Book: Sparta, Oct. 1899-Sept. 1907;  Year: 1900, Entries: 85-108
Available on MyHeritage at this link.

There is additional documentation in the form of the priest’s letter to the bishop, requesting permission for the marriage. In this document, we see the groom was age 25 and the bride was age 22. HOWEVER, there is an indexing error in this record on MyHeritage: Giannakopoulou was transcribed as Giannopoulou.

Priest’s letter dated April 16, 1900, requesting permission for marriage; same URL as above

Looking at the “bare bones” information in these documents, we can easily discern that:

  • The 1898 index book entry gives Ioannis’ father’s initial (K), and a fuller description of Georgitsa’s father as Par. N. The 1900 index book entry does not give Ioannis’ father’s initial or the initial “N” for Georgitsa’s father. And, Giannakopoulou was transcribed incorrectly as Giannopoulou. Without their father’s names or initials, and with the transcription error, these could easily be two different couples.
  • The 1898 index book entry shows this is the first marriage for both the groom and the bride.
  • The 1898 priest’s letter gives the groom’s age as 22 and the bride’s age as 19.
  • The 1900 index book entry shows this is the first marriage for both the groom and the bride.
  • The 1900 priest’s letter gives the groom’s age as 25 and the bride’s age as 22.

Thus far, it appears that these are, indeed, two different couples. BUT, my suspicions were raised because the difference in ages corresponds to the difference in the two license dates; and I know the demographics of the families in these villages.

  • I have the Town Registers for both villages. In Magoula, there is only one Laliotis family and only one Ioannis, born 1876, who is the son of Konstantinos.
  • In Theologos, there are many Giannakopoulos families; however, there is only one Paraskevas Nikolaos Giannakopoulos and only one Georgitsa Par. N.
  • The Sparta Town Register, Family #245, recorded the family of Ioannis and Georgitsa, and provided the marriage date of April 20, 1900  in Theologos. There is no other Laliotis-Giannakopoulos family named.

So, how could there possibly be two marriages?

I believed the answer lay in the priest’s letters. I cannot read old Greek script so I asked Gregory Kontos of GreekAncestry.net to review them. He said that the the priest’s letter dated 1900 contains unusual language: “this will be the first (or the second) marriage for the couple.” That’s strange wording! Although a license was issued in 1898, that marriage did not occur. Greg gave possible scenarios such as: an issue with the dowry, or possible migration if the groom left the area temporarily, with the marriage postponed until he returned in 1900. Anything could have happened to delay the nuptials.

Analyzing this situation led me to several conclusions:

  1. A marriage license does not equate to a marriage occurring.
  2. The documents associated with the marriages are important! If you cannot read them, ask Greg at Greek Ancestry, or find someone who can decipher the handwriting.
  3. Even though I can’t read all the words in the handwritten document, I must study it anyway. When I saw the bride’s name indexed as “Giannopoulou,” I looked for the name in the document to verify the transcription. To me, it looked like “Giannakopoulou.” I was right!
  4. I must find, and correlate, any and all possible records that exist for a family. A Male Register records how many men of the same name lived in the village, and their years of birth. A Town Register provides the names of the father, mother, and children. If I have a marriage license, is the couple found in the Town Register? This depends on the timeframe of the marriage, as Town Registers were created in the mid-1950s in Sparta; however, there are many fathers and mothers born in the late 1800s that are listed.
  5. You have to know your village and its families. I knew there was only one Laliotis in Magoula, and that raised “red flags” when I found two licenses for Ioannis Konstantinos.

Expect the unexpected! That’s the challenge of research–especially in Greece.

Follow the Records, Part 3: Men With the Same Name

Posted on by
1

It is the bane of every family historian:  sorting out men with the same name who lived in the same location at the same time, and sometimes married women who had the same given names. For Greek researchers, this issue is exacerbated due to naming traditions which almost always ensure that several men in a village—because they are named after their grandfather–have the identical baptismal name and surname. Fortunately, our naming traditions usually provide the father’s given name as well. Examples:  Nikolaos Stamatakis, of Georgios (Νικολάος Σταματάκης του Γεώργιου) and Nikolaos Stamatakis, of John (Νικολάος Σταματάκης του Ιώαννου). We now know that the father of the first Nikolaos is Georgios and the second is John.

But what happens when we are searching in records where the father’s name is not given? This usually is the case in older documents, such as 1844 or 1872 Voting Lists. One research strategy is to look at the ages of the men as a means of differentiation, but we already know that Greek ages can be notoriously inaccurate and many years off. Another strategy is to pinpoint an exact location, but what about families who moved between villages? Or the cases when a man married a woman, moved to her village and took HER surname thus losing his surname and becoming a “xxx…gamvros” (unusual, but we do see this in names like Stratigamvros). And  to all this, let’s throw in the real possibility of clerical errors—or even misinformation given by the informant.

What then?

I was faced with this exact situation. My research question was:  Which Nikolaos Papagiannakos in Agios Ioannis, Sparta, was the father of my great-grandfather, Panagiotis Nikolaos Papagiannakos?

I consulted several sets of records (Mitroon Arrenon, Voter Lists, Town Registers, Marriage Records) and documented every Nikolaos Papagiannakos, giving each a unique identification number. And I paid careful attention to the names of their sons.

Preliminary Analysis of Papagiannakos Name in Agios Ioannis Records

  1. #1783 Nikolaos, born 1789
    Source: 1844 Voter List: N. Papagiannakos, age 55, native, landowner
  1. #862  Nikolaos born 1815; his son was Panagiotis Nikolaos GIANNAKOS (as given in Sparta marriage record) b 1841. Source:  1872 & 1873 Voter List  
  1. #2798 Nikolaos  born bef 1820; son was Ioannis #2797, b 1845
    Source: Estimated birth year as 25 years before birth of son in 1845
  1. #2796 Nikolaos  born bef 1812; son was Ioannis #2795, b 1837 in 1872 Voter list, age 28,
    Source: Estimated birth year as 25 years before birth of son in 1837
  1. #2792 Nikolaos born bef 1810; son was Ioannis #2791 b 1835 in 1872 Voter List age 37, in 1873 Voter List age 38
    Source: Estimated birth year as 25 years before birth of son in 1835
  1. #348 Nikolaos Panagiotis, b. 1872; son: Panagiotis
    Source: 1898 marriage record; he was age 26
  1. #104 Nikolaos  Ioannis, born 1867
    Source: Male Register:  Year: 1867; Line 8: Papagianakos, Nikolaos; father: Ioannis; born 1867  

That’s a total of 7 Nikolaos Papagiannakos’ in Agios Ioannis born between 1789-1867:

  • Only two have fathers identified: line 7 has Ioannis; line 6 has Panagiotis 
  • Lines 3, 4, 5 have sons named Ioannis
  • Lines 2 & 6 have sons named Panagiotis

My research question: which Nikolaos is my great-great grandfather, was answered:  it is line 2, Nikolaos born 1815.

But I got caught up in the records and kept going. I suspected a possible duplication of Ioannis #2797 & Ioannis #2795 in the 1872 & 1873 Voter Lists. Both have Nikolaos as their father; however, the ages were not one year apart. I wondered whether there was a clerical or typographical error in the ages as follows: 

  • Ioannis #2795 , worker:  in year 1872 he is age 35 BUT there no Ioannis age 36 in year 1873
  • Ioannis #2797, farmer:  in year 1873 he is age 28 BUT there is no Ioannis  age 27 in year 1872

Assuming these were the same person, then Ioannis Nikolaos Papagiannakos in 1872 was either 27 or 35, and in 1873 he was either 28 or 36.

A cousin in Agios Ioannis told me that there were two Papagiannakos families, but no one knew how they were related. I wondered if this was true, and the records proved that theory to be correct. As much as I wanted to sort out the two families, I simply could not do it. I was too invested in trying to “have it all make sense” and I doubted my ability to make correct assumptions. That’s when I asked Greg Kontos to help.

In one hour, he did what I was unable to do: examine the records with a critical eye in a dispassionate manner. He created a chart and allowed the data to reveal the answers:

Gregory Kontos of Greek Ancestry.net; March 14, 2022, page 1
Gregory Kontos of Greek Ancestry.net; March 14, 2022, page 2

Greg came to these conclusions (see detailed analysis below): 

  • The two Ioannis’ above (#2795 and 2797) were the same person; therefore, their fathers were the same Nikolaos.
  • Thus, the Nikolaos’ on lines 1-5 above were merged appropriately, giving us two Nikolaos Papagiannakos’ living in Agios Ioannis during that earlier period, both with sons named Ioannis:

1) Nikolaos, born 1789 and died by the time the 1872-73 Voter Lists were compiled
(found in the 1844 Voter List, line 1102)


2) Nikolaos, born 1815 (found in the 1872 Voter List, line 1925)

Naming patterns raise the possibility that these Nikolaos’ had the same grandfather, Ioannis, but without documentation we cannot make that assertion.

The Nikolaos’ in lines 6 and 7 above were a later generation.

Through this experience, I learned:

  1. Follow the records and carefully evaluate every piece of evidence
  2. Remove emotion from your analysis!
  3. It’s okay to make educated guesses and careful assumptions, but clearly label them as such
  4. Know when it’s time to call in the experts, then do it!

Gregory Kontos, GreekAncestry: Analysis of Nikolaos & Ioannis Nikolaos Papagiannakos Names in Agios Ioannis in 1800’s; March 14, 2022

1844 & 1873/73 Voter List Records Show:

  • There are two Ioannis Papagiannakos’, sons of a Nikolaos, living in Agios Ioannis in 1872 and 1873 Voter Lists.
  • There were 2 Nikolaos Papagiannakos’ in Agios Ioannis, both with sons named Ioannis. One Nikolaos appears in the 1844 and the other in the 1872 Voter Lists.

In the 1872/3 Voter Lists, there was only one Nikolaos Papagiannakos (birth 1815 according to Voter List) currently living in Agios Ioannis and being eligible to vote.   If there had been another Nikolaos Papagiannakos, he was either:

(1) dead by 1872; or

(2) born after 1851; meaning he was too young to be recorded in the 1872 Voter List, as a man had to be 21 years old to vote in 1872.  

In the 1844 Voter List, 28 years earlier, there was only one Nikolaos Papagiannakos (born abt 1789) living then in Agios Ioannis and being eligible to vote. Since he does not appear in the 1873/3 Lists, we can assume he had died by then.

Conclusion: there were 2 Nikolaos Papagiannakos branches (not more).

The 1872 & 1873 Voter Lists have 2 Ioannis Nikolaos Papagiannakos’ of Agios Ioannis but there was a typographical error:

Ioannis #2795 , worker:  Yr. 1872, image 431, line 1874 is  age 35 BUT no Ioannis  age 36 in Yr 1873

Ioannis #2797, farmer:  Yr 1873, image 481,  line 2061 is age 28 BUT no Ioannis  age 27 in Yr 1872

Based on the information provided, we can assume that these two men were the same person.   I merged these 2 into one, #2797, and amended birth year to: between 1837 and 1845.

Supposition: the 1844 Voter List Nikolaos, #1793, born abt 1789 and died before 1872 could be the father of Ioannis #2791, b. 1835, and Konstantinos #2799, b. 1838.

Supposition: the 1872-73 Voter List Nikolaos, #862, born about 1815 could be the father of Ioannis #2797, b. 1837; Panagiotis #9, b. 1841, and Panagiota #5511, b. 1853.

CONCLUSION:

The two Nikolaos Papagiannakos’ are:

1.            Nikolaos #1793, born 1789 died by 1872/3 (the one in 1844 Voter List)
2.            Nikolaos #862, born 1815 (the one in 1872 Voter List)

Proving or Disproving a Family Story: Follow the Records

Posted on by
5

Guest post by Georgia Stryker Keilman, founder, Hellenic Genealogy Geek website and Facebook group

For years, I was focused on proving a family story which prevented me from considering other options and records to understand the history of my maternal great-great grandmother, Marigo Fousketakis (maiden name unknown).  

Ioannis and Marigo Fousketakis

This is the story as told to me by my mother in the 1980s.  My great-great grandfather, Ioannis Fousketakis, was from Hania, Crete.  He was conscripted into the Ottoman Empire military.  During his service, in what is currently Turkey, he met a young woman and fell in love.  She sewed gold coins into the hems of her clothing and ran off to be married.  They ended up in Sparta, Greece and had four sons. 

My mother heard this story for the first time after her mother’s death in 1967 (over 100 years after the event).  My grandfather was visiting us and, over a cup of coffee, told my mother the story.  Why hadn’t her mother ever told her this?  My grandfather supposedly indicated it was because Marigo was “Turkish,” and my grandmother was ashamed to have this “Turkish” intermarriage in the family history.  My mother assumed that being Turkish meant that she was Muslim and had converted to Greek Orthodox to marry. 

Based on my mother’s assumptions, I made another assumption, that my great-great grandparents had fled from Turkey (Ottoman Empire) and went directly to Sparta.  This was based on the fact a Muslim woman could not marry a Greek Orthodox male in the Ottoman Empire. It was against the law, and she would have been executed.  I hoped I would be able to find some documentation regarding her conversion to the Greek Orthodox religion and a marriage record.  I was unsure of the approximate date.

I reviewed the Mitroon Arrenon (Male Registers) for Crete on the GAK website, looking for a birth record for Ioannis Fousketakis, and then did further research in the archives in Sparta.

Male Register (Mitroon Arrenon), Georgis Ioannis Fousketakis

·         Did not locate a record for the birth of Ioannis Fousketakis

·         Located Mitroon Arrenon for GEORGIOS, son of Ioannis – born 1848 in Agios Marinas, Crete (village near Hania).

·         Located Mitroon Arrenon for NIKOLAOS, son of Ioannis – born 1857 in Sparta, Greece

·         Located Mitroon Arrenon for my great-grandfather, ANASTASIOS Fousketakis, son of Ioannis – born 1874 in Sparta, Greece.

·         I also located the 1897 Sparta marriage record for EMMANOUIL Fousketakis, son of Ioannis – no birth date indicated.

There are 26 years between the births of Anastasios in 1874 and Georgios in 1848.

Based on this age difference I didn’t think that Georgios was in my direct family. Instead, becauseGreek male names can repeat, generation after generation, I assumed these records referred to a different branch of the family.  I totally ignored the Crete records that referenced Ioannis Fousketakis from Crete for years as not being “my Ioannis Fousketakis” because a child born in Crete didn’t fit into my family story. 

If Ioannis and Marigo had a son born in Crete, that would mean that the family story of the couple running away and going directly to Sparta from Turkey to marry would be incorrect.

Instead, if they came back to Crete, which was part of the Ottoman Empire, Marigo must have been from a family who was Greek Orthodox living in current Turkey which was also part of the Ottoman Empire. 

Lessons learned:

  • Consider the source of your family story.  My source was my mother, who heard the story from her father, who heard the story from his wife who was the granddaughter of Ioannis Fousketakis.  On reflection, it is not hard to believe that my grandfather could have embellished the story.
  • Follow the records, not the story.  I totally dismissed records that didn’t fit the scenario I was trying to prove.

NOTE: This is the second in a three-part series, Follow the Records. Read Part One here.

Follow the Records

Posted on by
2

Part One: Stratigakos

by: Georgia Stryker Keilman and Carol Kostakos Petranek

Trying to accurately identify one’s Greek family immediately after the Greek Revolution and during the establishment of the modern Greek state is extraordinarily challenging. Records are scarce, and those that have survived are riddled with inaccurate or conflicting dates and names. This is because the original records which survived were later organized and compiled–thus subjecting them to human error.

The Male Registers (Mitroon Arrenon) now found in Archive and Municipal offices are typed lists, not original handwritten documents. The 1844 Voter Lists remain in their original handwritten format, but the 1872 Lists are typed and arranged in alphabetical order. These compilations, done by people years after their origination, have resulted in typographical errors, inaccurate transcriptions of scrawled handwritten names, and duplication of records.

To complicate this further, individuals and families changed their names, used multiple names interchangeably (even in the same documents), or were recorded with their nicknames instead of their baptismal names. The universal celebration of namedays instead of birthdays led to the common practice of estimating ages, with most people completely unaware of their actual date of birth. In addition, movements of people to reestablish themselves in areas now freed from Ottoman occupation led to families being “lost” and not found in records.

Yet with all these challenges, we CAN find our families. This post is the first of three case studies in which Georgia Stryker Keilman and Carol Kostakos Petranek share their research challenges and detail the steps taken to arrive at solutions.

Case #1: Stratigakos/Stratigopoulos
(Georgia’s family)

Research Question: What was the given name of my great-grandfather’s father?

Georgios Stratigopoulos, my great-grandfather


Facts:

  • Georgios Stratigopoulos was my great-grandfather.
  • Georgios Stratigopoulos was married twice, both times in Agios Ioannis, Sparta. Neither of the marriage records indicate his father’s name.
  • Georgios Stratigopoulos is not listed in the 1872 or 1873 Election List for Agios Ioannis.
  • Georgios Stratigakos is listed as passing away 19 April 1921 – Death Records, Agios Ioannis, Agias Triadas Church Books. Father’s name was not listed.

Family letters received in 1960s mentions that Georgios Stratigopoulos had a brother named Panagiotis. Note: Panagiotis doesn’t show up in any records for Agios Ioannis.

The next step should have been for me to look for Panagiotis Stratigopoulos in a nearby village. I always meant to do this, but since I wasn’t keeping a To Do List, I forgot. Instead, I jumped at the first shiny object and went down a rabbit hole thinking that my great-grandfather was related to a Stratigamvros listed in the Agios Ioannis Voters List in 1844. Since the name Stratigamvros means son-in-law of Strati, and documentation of original name disappears, I assumed this could be a good reason why my great-great grandfather’s given name was not appearing on any records. I spent my research time trying to prove this relationship.

Stratigogamvros of Agios Ioannis from GreekAncestry.net

After consulting with Gregory Kontos, he did what I had meant to do – look for Panagiotis Stratigopoulos in a nearby village. He found Panagiotis in the 1872 & 1873 Election Lists for Parori (village halfway between Agios Ioannis and Mystras).

Line 1043, 1873 Voter List, Parori, Lakonia

The father’s name is recorded as Efstratios. That makes sense–Georgios’ oldest son was named Efstratios.

Parorio, Google Maps

Lessons learned:

  • Keep a research log.
  • Keep a To Do list.
  • Follow the research methodically, generation by generation. Don’t jump back making assumptions.
  • Keep an open mind and research possibilities such as a family member living in a nearby village.

Finding Panagiotis was the key to answering my research question: the given name of my great-grandfather’s father was Efstratios.