Steve’s Genealogy Blog

I’m getting ready for my annual fall research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  I’ll spend two full days at the library with nothing to distract me.

I have two major goals this trip:

1.  Niedziałkowski Family Records:  review the microfilms for the Krasne and Szwelice parish records that document the church records for my Niedziałkowski ancestors.  I intend to better document the records I already have so that I can properly cite my sources.  I also intend to look for additional records for the siblings of my ancestors.

2.  Skowroński Family Records:  look for the ancestral village of my Skowroński relatives.  I previously reported that I found 12 villages named Grądy in the Łomża Gubernia.  I intend to examine as many records as I can find to try to find the ancestral village of Aleksander Skowroński, the immigrant ancestor of several of my first cousins.

I found that the Family History Library holds microfilm records for the following relevant parishes:  Długosiodło, Jelonki, Wąsewo, Krasnosiek, Lubiel, Rajgród, Nowogród, Wąsosz, Wiskitki, Wizna, and Wyszków.  The Family History Library does not have microfilmed records for Rzekuń or Nowa wieś.

Because some of these films are in the vault, I called the Family History Library to order the vault films so that they will have them available while I’m in Salt Lake City.

I also have several minor goals:

1.  Examine the marriage indexes and the Marriage Records for the Graig and Hillis families of Otsego County, New York.  Dick Eastman recently reported that the Family History Library has microfilm copies of many New York State Marriage Records from 1908 to 1935.  I didn’t know that!

The Graigs and the Hillis’ are the ancestors of my sister’s husband, and I have been working on these family lines for the past few years.  The Family History Library holds the Otsego County Index to Marriages from 1908 to 1935, Marriage Licenses, Consents, and Affidavits from 1908 to 1915, and Marriage Records from 1908 to 1926.  I think I should be able to find marriage documents for anywhere from six to twelve of the Graig and Hillis marriages.

2.  Examine the typescript death records (index?) for Schoharie and Otsego Counties 1918-1953 for Graig and Hillis names.

3.  Review the information I have for the Markiewicz family from Braciejowice to verify the source citations in the documents I previously discovered.

4.  Examine the records of the Orthodox Church in Troki (Trakai), Lithuania to see if this might be the parish in which my mother’s mother lived.  I had to order vault films for this parish.

That’s a lot of ground to cover in two days!

STAMFORD – Gladys Graig, 76, died at the Hospice Inn at St. Peter’s Hospital surrounded by her loving family Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2006, after a brief illness.

She was married in Jefferson in 1948 to her loving husband, Vernon A. Graig, who predeceased her in 2001.

Gladys was a loving wife, caring mother and devoted grandmother.  She was very dedicated to her family, who loved her dearly.

She is survived by her sons, Gary A. of Mesa, Ariz., Thomas A. (Bobbie) of Stamford, and Jeffrey A. (Barbara J.) of Albany; her grandchildren, Andrea, Gary, Emily, Keith, Kyle and Lukas; a brother, Bernard Hendricksen of Mesa, Ariz.; and many nieces and nephews.

Friends called at the Hall Funeral Home, 40 Main St. (corner of Liberty Street), Stamford, Sunday between 2 and 5 p.m.

Funeral services will be at noon today, Nov. 6, at the Stamford Trinity Church with Pastor David Nuss officiating and Mary Louise Hendricksen and Deacon Schemerhorn assisting.

Donations may be made in memory of Gladys to the Stamford Trinity Lutheran Church or the Hospice Inn, care of Community Hospice at 445 New Karner Road, Albany, NY 12205.

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the hall Funeral Home under the direction of William A Tari.

SOURCE:  Gladys Graig Obituary, The Daily Star, Oneonta, New York, 6 November 2006, page 5.

I’m flying back to New York today to attend the funeral of Gladys Graig.

I met Gladys about 17 years ago, shortly before my sister Barbara married Gladys’ son Jeffrey.

Gladys was born in 1930 in Brooklyn, Kings Co., New York, the daughter of Norwegian immigrants Telef Henricksen and Gerda Sofie Larsen, both from Aust-Adger, Norway.  She married Vernon Arthur Graig in 1948 in Summit, Schoharie Co., New York.

Gladys is survived by her brother Bernhard; three sons, Gary, Thomas, and Jeffrey; four grandsons; and two granddaughters.

She was predeceased by her husband Vernon in 2001, and by her sister Elsie Andresen in 2004.

After her husband’s death, Gladys moved to Arizona, but she visited her family in New York every summer.  This year, she arrived in Albany in early July, and I was able to spend a few hours with her before I had to fly back to California at the end of my vacation.  Shortly before she was due to return to Arizona, Gladys was diagnosed with cancer.  She spent the last few weeks of her life surrounded by her family and loved ones.

I knew Gladys as a kind and thoughtful woman.  Knowing I was studying Polish, she sent me a copy of the Polish National Anthem along with a note that read “The next time I see you, I expect you to sing this for me”.

I will miss her.