Description:
This register is kept entirely in Hungarian. The birth dates overlap with another birth register from the Târnăveni area. It appears that this book became a sort of community register book - the births recorded rarely sequential and, in fact, the earliest birth recorded is 1812, but this was clearly entered much later, probably in the 1860s. Similar to the other birth register labeled as Târnăveni, virtually none of the births recorded here took place in Târnăveni, rather the families lived in the surrounding villages or, as it functioned as a register of community members, old and new, there are also individuals listed born in as far flung locations as Poland, Galicia, Timișoara. Local villages occurring with particular frequence are Adámos, Ersabetváros, Kis Kaján, M. Nemeti, Szasz Dánya, Erdőszentgyorgy, K. Szentmárton, Balavásár, Radnoth. The final page of the birth register is signed in Erdő Szentgyorgy (Sângeorgiu de Pădure), so this register must have moved locations several times. Information recorded includes: name and birthdate; gender; legitimate or illegitimate; father's name, place of resident and occupation; mother's name; father's place of birth; mother's place of birth; child's place of birth; midwife; circumcision or naming ceremony date, place, and officiant; death date (generally not completed); and other notes. Partway through, the book begins to record only individuals from the area around Sângeorgiu de Pădure and details as the parent birthplaces are no longer recorded. These pages appear to have been recorded at an entirely different time and by an entirely different hand, perhaps they were separated out from the book. The entries here begin in 1823 and end in 1886. The marriage register also does not contain any entries from Târnăveni, rather from villages and small towns throughout the region. The entries are not all chronological. Recorded here are: bride and groom names, birth dates, birthplace, and age; where and when the wedding was announced and took place; who officiated and witnessed; and other notes. These entries are of interest as the names and positions of local leaders begin to appear - officiants are rabbis, cantors, or butchers and often their place of residence is listed, ie. David Bäumel, rabbi of Mediaș. The death register section again appears to have been recorded in two different places, perhaps pages were removed and returned. Some pages record deaths from around Sângeorgiu de Pădure and others from around Târnăveni, though again all individuals are in fact from villages surrounding Târnăveni. Information recorded is: name of the deceased; profession; place of birth and residence; gender; marital status; age; cause or circumstance of death; date of death; place of death; name of surviving family members.
Provenance:
These registers were maintained by the respective Jewish community and/or local municipality and collected in the 1950s by the National Archives. There are no details provided for the individual registers; presumably the rural registers were collected and stored by the Jewish community of Târgu Mureș sometime around the turn of the century and then these were subsequently transferred in mass to the National Archives. This would explain why they are catalogued under Târgu Mureș rather than the name of the respective village or town.
Bibliographic Citation:
Colecția registrelor confesionale de stare civilă, jud. Mureș ; fond nr. 1 ; inventar nr. 1 ; nr. 955 ; Arhivele Naționale ale României, Direcția Județeana Mureș