The Birth and Baptism of Jan Markiewicz

Posted on September 16, 2006 by Steve

The last Birth and Baptismal Record that I found for the children of Tomasz Markiewicz and Franciszka Piątkowa was for a son Jan.

The Birth and Baptismal Record for Jan Markiewicz

Birth and Baptismal Record for Jan Markiewicz

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Birth and Baptismal Record for Jan Markiewicz – 1889 .  The record states:

42 .  Braciejowice – Markiewicz Jan

This happened in the village of Piotrawin on the 15th / 27th day of February 1889 at 6 o’clock in the afternoon .  Tomasz Markiewicz appeared in person, age 30, a house owner in the village of Braciejowice, in the presence of Stanisław Piątek from the village of Brzeliow, age 21, and Franciszek Turski from the village of Braciejowice, age 48, house owners – and he presented to us a child of the male sex, stating that it was born in the village of Braciejowice on this date, the 15th / 27th day of February of this year, at twelve o’clock in the day – of his lawful wife Franciszka nee Piontkowa, age 25 .  To this child at Holy Baptism performed on this date was given the name of Jan, and his godparents were the above-mentioned Stanisław Piątek and Agnieszka Turska .  This document was read to the declarant father and to the witnesses, all of whom are illiterate, and signed by us.

Rev. C. Trembiński, pastor of the Piotrawin Parish - Keeper of the documents of the civil state

The Birth and Baptismal Record shows that Jan (John) was born at 12 Noon on February 27, 1889 in Braciejowice, baptized at 6 PM on the same day in Piotrawin, his father was Tomasz (Thomas) Markiewicz, his mother was Franciszka (Frances) Piontkowa, his godparents were Stanisław (Stanley) Piątek and Agnieszka (Agnes) Turska, and he was baptized by the Rev. C. Trembiński.

Of particular interest is the fact that Stanisław Piątek was the godfather .  He may be related to Franciszka, the mother .  I’m not sure about the spelling of Stanisław Piątek’s village – I couldn’t find it on a map .  Also of interest is the fact that Franciszek Turski also appears as a witness in the Birth and Baptismal Records for Michał and Stanisław Markiewicz .  The godmother, Agnieszka Turska, may be related to Franciszek Turski, who appeared as a witness at Stanisław Markiewicz’ baptism.

According to this record, Tomasz Markiewicz was 30 years old, indicating that he was born between 1858-1859, and Franciszka Piątkowa was 25 years old, meaning that she was born between 1863-1864 .  Combined with the ages in other baptismal documents, Tomasz was born between 1857-1859, and Franciszka was born between 1862-1868.

There is one unusual notation on the original document – located in the left margin, just below the name of the village and the name of the child .  It says:

= February of this
CT k

This notation indicates that the priest left the words “February of this” out of the written document and these words should be inserted in the document where he has indicated two strokes (looks like and equal sign) and a vertical slash between two words on the 8th line, towards the left hand side .  The letters “CT” are the priest’s initials and I think the “k” stands for ksiądz – the Polish word for priest .  I’m not absolutely sure that the letter “k” follows the priest’s initials, but I’m not sure what the marks after the “CT” would be otherwise.

Copyright © 2006 by Stephen J. Danko

Posted in Markiewicz, Piątkowski | Tagged | 2 Comments

The Birth and Baptism of Michał Markiewicz

Posted on September 15, 2006 by Steve

A year before the birth of Wawrzyniec Markiewicz, another son was born to Tomasz Markiewicz and Franciszka Piątkowa – Michał (Michael).

The birth and baptismal record for Michal Markiewicz

Birth and Baptismal Record for Michał Markiewicz

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Birth and Baptismal Record for Michał Markiewicz – 1890 .  The record states:

117 .  Braciejowice – Markiewicz Michał

This happened in the village of Piotrawin on the 22nd day of July / 3rd day of August 1890 at one in the afternoon .  Tomasz Markiewicz appeared in person, age 31, a house owner in the village of Braciejowice, in the presence of Piotr Fatz, age 29, and Franciszek Turski, age 52, house owners in the village of Braciejowice – and he presented to us a child of the male sex, stating that it was born in the village of Braciejowice on this date, the 22nd of July / 3rd of August of this year, at six o’clock after midnight – of his lawful wife Franciszka nee Piontkowa, age 25 .  To this child at Holy Baptism performed on this date was given the name of Michał, and his godparents were the above-mentioned Piotr Fata and Agnieszka Makosiowa .  This document was read to the declarant father and to the witnesses, all of whom are illiterate, and signed by us.

Rev. C. Trembiński, pastor of the Piotrawin Parish - Keeper of the documents of the civil state

The Birth and Baptismal Record shows that Michał (Michael) was born at 6 AM on August 3, 1890 in Braciejowice, baptized at 1 PM on the same day in Piotrawin, his father was Tomasz (Thomas) Markiewicz, his mother was Franciszka (Frances) Piontkowa, his godparents were Piotr (Peter) Fatz and Agnieszka (Agnes) Makosiowa, and he was baptized by the Rev. C. Trembiński.

The surnames of the two women are feminized .  The masculine form of the surname Makosiowa is probably Makosz, and that of the surname Piontkowa (or Piątkowa) is probably Piątek .  One of the named witnesses was Franciszek Turski, who was also a witness for the baptism of Stanisław Markiewicz.

At the very top of the document, the page number in the record book is noted – page 355 .  Also, there is a stamp .  I’m not sure what the first word is, but the second line says “Nowo Aleksandryski” .  The villages of Braciejowice and Piotrawin were in the Nowo Aleksandryja Powiat, Lublin Gubernia, Kingdom of Poland, Russia.

According to this document, Tomasz was born in 1858-1859 and Franciszka was born in 1865-1866 .  When considering their ages in the three previous baptismal records, Tomasz was born between 1857 and 1859, and Franciszka was born between 1862 and 1868.

Copyright © 2006 by Stephen J. Danko

Posted in Markiewicz, Piątkowski | Tagged | 5 Comments

The Birth and Baptism of Wawrzyniec Markiewicz

Posted on September 14, 2006 by Steve

Among the records from the Piotrawin parish that I found at the Family History Center yesterday was the birth and baptismal record for Wawrzyniec Markiewicz, born a few years before Stanisław and Antoni.

The baptismal record for Wawrzyniec Markiewicz

Birth and Baptismal Record for Wawrzyniec Markiewicz

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Birth and Baptismal Record for Wawrzyniec Markiewicz – 1891 .  The record states:

2 .  Braciejowice – Markiewicz Wawrzyniec

This happened in the village of Piotrawin on the 28th day of July / 9th day of August 1891 at twelve in the day .  Tomasz Markiewicz appeared in person, age 32, a house owner in the village of Braciejowice, in the presence of Stanisław Jakobik, age 26, and Andrzej Lejwoda, age 34, house owners in the village of Braciejowice – and he presented to us a child of the male sex, stating that it was born in the village of Braciejowice on the 26rd of July / 7th of August of this year, at ten o’clock in the morning – of his lawful wife Franciszka nee Piontkowa, age 23 .  To this child at Holy Baptism performed on this date was given the name of Wawrzyniec, and his godparents were the above-mentioned Stanisław Jakobik and Katarzyna Lejwoda .  This document was read to the declarant father and to the witnesses, all of whom are illiterate, and signed by us.

Rev. C. Trembiński, pastor of the Piotrawin Parish - Keeper of the documents of the civil state

The Birth and Baptismal Record shows that Wawrzyniec (Lawrence) was born at 10 AM on August 7, 1891 in Braciejowice, baptized at 12 Noon on August 9, 1891 in Piotrawin, his father was Tomasz Markiewicz, his mother was Franciszka Piontkowa, his godparents were Stanisław Jacobik and Katarzyna (Katherine) Lejwoda, and he was baptized by the Rev. C. Trembiński.

I didn’t have much trouble with the surnames in this record, partly because I recognized the surnames immediately .  Most significantly, two of the people mentioned in this document have the surname Lejwoda .  After immigrating to the United States, Stanisław Markiewicz married Antonina Lejwoda .  Antonina may even have been related to the Andrzej and Katarzyna Lejwoda named in this document.

According to this document, Tomasz was born in 1858-1859 and Franciszka was born in 1867-1868 .  When considering their ages in the two previous baptismal records, Tomasz was born between 1857 and 1859, and Franciszka was born between 1862 and 1868.

Copyright © 2006 by Stephen J. Danko

Posted in Markiewicz, Piątkowski | Tagged | 2 Comments

The Children of Tomasz Markiewicz

Posted on September 13, 2006 by Steve

When I originally translated the baptismal records for Stanisław and Antoni Markiewicz, I transliterated the mother’s surname as Piontkowa .  However, the names in these documents should be translated into the same sounds in Polish, not necessarily the same letters .  The correct Polish translation of Franciszka’s surname is Piątkowa, and Piątkowa is the feminine version of the surname Piątek.

I received an email from Walter, a descendant of Tomasz Markiewicz and Franciszka Piątkowa .  Walter told me that his great-grandmother’s surname was Piatek, which is the English language version of Piątek .  (All of this is probably confusing if you can’t see Eastern European characters on your computer, but the Polish spelling of Franciszka’s surname includes an “a-ogonek”, that is, an “a” with a little hook underneath.)  Thus, I’m fairly certain that I’m on the right track here.

So, with the added confidence provided by Walter’s email, I stopped off at the Family History Center (FHC) in San Bruno today after work to look through more of the church records from Piotrawin parish where Stanisław and Antoni were baptized.

In the Piotrawin baptismal records, I found what appear to be several children of Tomasz Markiewicz and Franciszka Piątkowa:

  • 1895 – Antoni Markiewicz (reported yesterday)
  • 1893 – Stanisław Markiewicz (reported the day before yesterday)
  • 1891 – Wawrzyniec Markiewicz
  • 1890 – Michał Markiewicz
  • 1889 – Jan Markiewicz

There was also a baptismal record for a child that was born to Tomasz Markiewicz and Marianna [Fotow], suggesting that Tomasz may have been married twice .  This child, the daughter of Tomasz and Marianna, is:

  • 1885 – Petronella Markiewicz

I also found a marriage record for Tomasz Markiewicz and Marianna showing that they were married two years before the birth of Petronella .  Thus, the Tomasz and Marianna in this marriage record are likely to be the parents of Petronella .  The question that remains, however, is whether the Tomasz in this marriage record was also the husband of Franciszka Piątkowa .  Unfortunately, I did not find a marriage record for Tomasz and Franciszka in the Piotrawin marriage books.

Finally, I checked some of the death records, where I found the following deaths:

  • 1890 – Michał Markiewicz
  • 1892 – Jan Markiewicz
  • 1892 – Wawrzyniec Markiewicz

These names and death dates are recorded soon after the births of the first three children of Tomasz and Franciszka, and might be the records of the children’s deaths.

At this point, much of what I have recorded here is speculation .  I’ll need to translate the records I’ve found to see if the names, dates, and ages are consistent with the relationships I’ve proposed here .  I’ll also need to search for some additional records to learn the names of the parents of Tomasz Markiewicz and Franciszka Piątkowa.

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The Birth and Baptism of Antoni Markiewicz – 1895

Posted on September 12, 2006 by Steve

After finding the Birth and Baptismal Record for Stanisław Markiewicz, I searched for the records of other children born of the same parents .  I found one fairly quickly – Antoni Markiewicz.

Antoni Markiewicz, son of Tomasz Markiewicz and Franciszka Piontkowa, was born on 03 January 1895 in Braciejowice, Nowo Aleksandryja Powiat, Lublin Gubernia, Vistula Land, Russian Empire .  He was baptized on 06 January 1895 in the parish church in Piotrawin, Nowo Aleksandryja Powiat, Lublin Gubernia, Vistula Land, Russian Empire.

The Birth and Baptismal Record for Antoni Markiewicz - 1895

The Birth and Baptismal Record for Antoni Markiewicz – 1895

SOURCE:  Parafia pw. św. Tomasza Ap.i św. Stanisława B. M. (Piotrawin, Nowo Aleksandryja Powiat, Lublin Gubernia, Vistula Land, Russian Empire), “Akta urodzeń 1850-1896 [Records of Births 1850-1896],” page 160, entry 2, Antoni Markiewicz, 06 January 1895; filmed as Kopie księg metrykalnych, 1810-1915; FHL INTL microfilm 2,328,765.

Click on the image above to view a higher resolution image. Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Birth and Baptismal Record of Antoni Markiewicz. Translated from the Russian, the record reads:

2 .  Braciejowice – Markiewicz Antoni

This happened in the village of Piotrawin on the 25th day of December / 6th day of January 1894/5 at one in the afternoon .  Tomasz Markiewicz appeared in person, age 37, the owner of a house in the village of Braciejowice, in the presence of Stanisław Kań from the village of Piotrawin, age 40, and Jakub Pastwaski, from the village of Braciejowice, age 41, the owner of a house – and he presented to us a child of the male sex, stating that it was born in the village of Braciejowice on the 23rd of December / 3rd of January of this year, at 4 o’clock after midnight of his lawful wife Franciszka nee Piontkowa, age 32 .  To this child at Holy Baptism performed on this date was given the name of Antoni, and his godparents were the above-mentioned Stanisław Kań and Leokadia Barfiska .  This document was read to the declarant father and to the witnesses, all of whom are illiterate, and signed by us.

Rev. C. Trembiński, pastor of the Piotrawin Parish, keeper of the documents of the civil state

The Birth and Baptismal Record shows that Antoni was born at 4 AM on January 6, 1895 in Braciejowice, baptized at 1 PM on January 3, 1895 in Piotrawin, his father was Tomasz Markiewicz, his mother was Franciszka Piontkowa, his godparents were Stanisław Kań and Leokadia Barfiska, and he was baptized by the Rev. C. Trembiński.

As with the Birth and Baptismal Record for Stanisław Markiewicz, I had a little trouble with the surnames – Kań, Pastwaski, and Barfiska .  Other than those names, I’m very happy with this translation.

Note that when Stanisław was born two years earlier, Tomasz was 35 .  In this record Tomasz is 37 .  Thus, Tomasz’ age is consistent between the two documents .  Tomasz was therefore born in about 1857-1858.

When Stanisław was born, Franciszka was 28 .  In this record she is 32, having aged four years in the space of only two years .  Still, having a narrow range for Franciszka’s year of birth will be helpful in finding other records about her .  Thus, Franciszka was born in about 1862-1865.

Copyright © 2006 by Stephen J. Danko

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The Birth and Baptism of Stanisław Markiewicz

Posted on September 11, 2006 by Steve

Several weeks ago, I reported on the immigration and naturalization of Stanisław Markiewicz, the grandfather of my cousin’s cousin .  To put this another way, Stanisław’s daughter Bernice married Edward Skowronski .  Edward Skowronski was the brother-in-law of two of my uncles:  Joseph Danko and Michael Danko.

In the immigration and naturalization records, I learned that Stanisław was born in the village of Braciejowice in the Russian Partition of Poland .  By consulting a gazetteer, the Słownik Geograficny Królestwa Polskiego (Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland), I discovered that the village of Braciejowice belonged to the Roman Catholic Parish in Piotrawin .  Thus, the baptismal, marriage, and death records for Stanisław’s family should be in the record books maintained by the Piotrawin parish.

I checked the Family History Library’s (FHL) catalog and, luckily, the FHL had microfilm copies of the parish records from 1810-1915 .  I ordered two of these films through my local Family History Center (FHC) .  After two trips to my local FHC to view the films, I found the Birth and Baptismal Record for Stanisław Markiewicz .  Unfortunately for me, the record was in Russian.The Birth and Baptismal Record for Stanisław Markiewicz

Birth and Baptismal Record for Stanisław Markiewicz - 1893

Birth and Baptismal Record for Stanisław Markiewicz – 1893

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Birth and Baptismal Record for Stanisław Markiewicz – 1893 .  The record states:

64 .  Braciejowice – Markiewicz Stanisław

This happened in the village of Piotrawin on the 7th/19th day of April 1893 at four in the afternoon .  Tomasz Markiewicz appeared in person, age 35, the owner of a house in the village of Braciejowice, in the presence of Maciej Zagozdon from the village of Grabwiec, age 36, and Franciszek Turski, from the village of Braciejowice, age 56, the owner of a house – and he presented to us a child of the male sex, stating that it was born in the village of Braciejowice on the 6th/18th of April of this year, at 6 o’clock after midnight of his lawful wife Franciszka nee Piontkowa, age 28 .  To this child at Holy Baptism performed on this date was given the name of Stanisław, and his godparents were the above-mentioned Maciej Zagozdon and Zofia Pietrasowa .  This document was read to the declarant father and to the witnesses, all of whom are illiterate, and signed by us.

Rev. C. Trembiński, pastor of the Piotrawin Parish, keeper of the documents of the civil state

The information I already had on Stanisław indicated that he was born either on April 23, 1891 or April 20, 1892 in Braciejowice and that his father’s name was Tomasz Markiewicz.

The Birth and Baptismal Record shows that he was actually born at 6 AM on Tuesday, April 18, 1893 in Braciejowice, baptized at 4 PM on Wednesday, April 19, 1893 in Piotrawin, his father was Tomasz Markiewicz, his mother was Franciszka Piontkowa, his godparents were Maciej Zagozdon and Zofia Pietrasowa, and he was baptized by the Rev. C. Trembiński.

Stanisław was the 64th child baptized in Piotrawin in 1893 .  You’ll notice that two dates are given for his birth and baptism .  The earlier date is based on the Julian Calendar and the later date is based on the Gregorian Calendar .  The Gregorian Calendar is the one we use today, but the Julian Calendar was still the official calendar used in Russia at the time of this baptism.

Some cautions about the transcription and translation: I might not have spelled all of the surnames correctly, since the Polish names were translated into Russian and I translated them back into Polish .  Also, I might not have correctly spelled the name of the village Grabwiec mentioned in the document; I have not found this village on a map .  Further, the surnames of the women are the feminized versions of the surnames .  The actual surname of Stanisław’s mother might actually be Piątek or Piętek and the surname of his godmother might actually be Pietras.

This is the first of the Markiewicz family records that I found .  I think I’ve found a few others, and I still have a couple of weeks left to view the microfilms before they’re sent back to Salt Lake City.

Copyright © 2006 by Stephen J. Danko

Posted in Markiewicz, Piątkowski | Tagged | 2 Comments

The Final Day of the PGSA Conference

Posted on September 10, 2006 by Steve

I woke this morning to rainy skies in the Chicago area .  The weather made me a little worried about my drive back to Midway Airport, especially since the trip from Midway to Schaumburg on Friday took much longer than I expected .  With that in mind, I checked out of my hotel room before heading down to the final presentations.

The two final lectures of the 28th Annual Conference of the Polish Genealogical Society of America (PGSA) were both presented by Ceil Jensen .  Ceil’s lectures are always entertaining and packed with useful information, and I was sure not to let my mind wander lest I miss something important .  Having spent many years as a school teacher, Ceil observes everything going on about her, and she’s sure to notice anyone not paying attention .  Still, I haven’t yet seen her assign anyone to detention for not paying attention in her genealogy lectures!

Ceil’s first lecture of the day was entitled Sto Lat: A Plan for finding 100 Years of Ancestors .  The lecture was based on her forthcoming book Sto Lat: A Modern Approach to Polish Genealogy to be published by the Polish Genealogical Society of America .  Ceil mentioned that a study of our Polish ancestors starts with vital records, the Social Security Death Index, and the US Census.

One of the most important pieces of information Polish genealogists need in order to find their ancestors in Poland is the name of the ancestral village, but even if we know what the name of the village was, we might still have difficulty finding the village on a modern map .  Finding villages that might have disappeared from the map, or village names that were later changed, or even the names of villages that were misspelled in our ancestors’ records presents a challenge that may be resolved by consulting Shtetl Seeker .  Shtetl Seeker provides a Slavic language-based Soundex that can result in success when the normal English-based Soundex fails.

Ceil also mentioned this blog and Jasia’s blog in her lecture .  Thanks for the plugs, Ceil!

The final lecture of the conference, also presented by Ceil Jensen, was on Maps for Genealogy: Old, New and Electronic .  I had attended an earlier version of this lecture at the United Polish Genealogical Societies Conference in Salt Lake City this past April, but Ceil’s lecture today presented a lot of new information .  One good point that Ceil made in her lecture was that maps of the appropriate time period are crucial to understanding where our ancestors lived, where to find other records concerning our ancestors, and why our ancestors migrated to the places they did .  One valuable resource for finding maps of the appropriate time period is Google Earth .  With Google Earth, a free, downloadable application, a researcher can find maps of various time periods for the places the world over.

Help with finding maps of various places around the globe for different time periods may be obtained by placing a request with the Library of Congress Ask A Librarian service .  With this service, the best results will be obtained by providing information that is as specific as possible, with the exact name and time period of the place and the latitude and longitude of the place in question, if possible.

An excellent set of 1907 maps of Russia-Poland, The Illustrated Geographic Atlas of the Kingdom of Poland can be viewed on the PGSA website.

Military Maps of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from about 1910 are available .  These maps cover Galicia, the Austrian Partition of Poland, and include regions adjacent to Austria-Hungary, including Russia, Prussia, and others .  By clicking on the appropriate section of the index map, researchers can view a very detailed map of the selected region.

A map of German-Poland is available online in the collections of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in An Atlas of the German Empire .  Kartenmeister can provide the corresponding German and Polish names for villages in the Prussian Partition of Poland.

Finally, for maps of Poland today, visit http://mapa.szukacz.pl/ .  Type the name of the Polish village or city in the box under Miejscowość and click on the Pokaż button.

So much information was presented at the PGSA Conference, and I can only relay a small amount of that information here .  if you have further questions, leave a comment or send me an e-mail .  I’ll try to answer your questions directly, but if I don’t know the answer I can let you know how to contact someone else who may be able to help.

Well, I have to be honest, because of my concerns about the weather and my flight schedule, I skipped out on the last 15 minutes of Ceil’s lecture on maps .  I suspect she noticed me trying to slip away through the door of the lecture hall, and I’ll have to apologize profusely the next time I see her (and I’ll probably have to make reparations by volunteering at the UPGS Conference in 2008, which Ceil is co-chairing with Linda Ulanski)!

I drove through the rain and reached the airport, where there was quite a long line of cars trying to reach the rental car return location at Midway Airport .  One of the airport workers told me that this kind of traffic jam always happens on a big football weekend .  No. 1 ranked Notre Dame hosted No. 21 ranked Penn State on Saturday, September 9, so that might have been the game in question.

Final Score from Saturday’s Game: Notre Dame 41 – Penn State 17.

Copyright © 2006 by Stephen J. Danko

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The Second Day of the PGSA Conference

Posted on September 9, 2006 by Steve

Saturday at the conference was pretty much full of lectures with a few hours for meals.

Most of the lectures I attended today were presented by Mikołaj Petraszak Dmowski, a guest lecturer from Poland who present five hours of lectures on the Polish Nobility .  I can’t say that I now completely understand the Polish nobility and how to research them; I can certainly say I’ve learned enough to want to learn more.

To start with, I know from various church records that my Niedziałkowski ancestors are listed as “owners of a part of the village”, indicating that they were landed gentry .  My Chotkowski ancestors (who are also ancestors of some of my Niedziałkowski ancestors) are listed in the church records as “Nobles” .  Thus, I have some reason to be interested in the Polish nobility.

According to Mikołaj, Poland was a democratic country, but the benefits of democracy only applied to the szlachta, or noble classes .  The peasants were simply peasants, and the peasants did not enjoy the benefits of democracy.

The szlachta apparently originated as the warrior class who protected Poland from her enemies .  By the 14th century, the szlachta were essentially synonymous with knights .  Eventually, the szlachta evolved into a privileged social class, and in order to be admitted to the szlachta, one must either prove his noble birth or be declared noble by the King or the Polish Sejm (the Polish Parliament).

Because of a significant number of peasants and merchants who pretended to be szlachta, those who claimed to be members of the noble classes eventually had to prove their claim .  There was good reason to have a claim to be a member of the noble class .  At several times throughout history, when the King of Poland wanted an agreement from the szlachta regarding his successor, the King granted the szlachta new privileges, including reductions of taxes, the inviolability of the nobles’ property, and a guarantee against the arbitrary arrest of the nobility.

Several reference works discuss the nobility in Poland and provide genealogies for those families .  Church records for the Polish population seldom extend further back than the late 18th century, but the genealogies of the nobility extend much farther back in time.

Some useful resources for researching the Polish nobility include:

  • Sławomir Górzyński. Nobilitacje w Galicji w latach 1882-1918. Wydawnictwo DiG. Warszawa . 1999.
  • Elżbieta Seczys. Szlachta wylegitymowana w Królestwie Polskim w latach 1836-1861. Wydawnictwo DiG. Warszawa. 2000.
  • Kasper Niesiecki, S.J. Herbarz Polski . Lipsk edition. 1839-1846.
  • Adam Boniecki. Herbarz Polski; Wiadomosci Historyczno-genealogiczne o Rodach Szlacheckich . Warszawa. Gebethner i Wolff . 1899-1914.

In addition to the lectures on Polish nobility, I also attended a lecture on Cemeteries: Look High and Low, Above and Below! by Jeffrey Bockman .  In this lecture, Mr. Bockman discussed how to find cemeteries, what to do when cemeteries are moved, what to do when cemeteries are no longer active, and what cemetery iconography can tell you about the person who’s buried there .  some helpful hints when doing cemetery research are: remember that the cemetery office is running a business, be considerate if they are busy, and be considerate of grieving families.

Finally, one of the highlights of the conference was the annual awards luncheon with performances by the Lajkonik Dancers .  This year, there was even a Polish selection at lunch (roast pork with bigos, potatoes, and pierogi).

One more half-day of the conference to go, and then I head back home!

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The First Day of the PGSA Conference

Posted on September 8, 2006 by Steve

I woke up at 5:15 this morning to catch my flight to Chicago .  Pretty much everything went smoothly – no traffic to the airport, the plane was on time .  My plane was scheduled to arrive at 3 PM and the conference began at 4 PM, so I decided to carry my luggage on the plane so I could get to the conference as soon as possible .  Unfortunately, security screening seized my toothpaste.

Since this is a Polish Genealogy Conference, while on the plane, I got myself in a Polish genealogical mood by reading The Peasants – Autumn by Władysław Reymont .  This book is the first volume of a four volume historical novel on the peasants of Poland .  Each volume relates the lives of the peasants in a Polish village through a different season .  In 1924, Reymont won the Nobel Prize for Literature for this work.

A year ago at the PGSA Conference, Ceil Jensen presented a wonderful lecture on The Peasants, and after I returned home, I spent some time trying to find copies of the books .  The books are currently out of print, but I finally found a complete set of used copies and, after just the first two chapters, I found that I’m really interested in finding out what happens to these people!  Their lives were probably very similar to the lives of my father’s ancestors (now, my mother’s ancestors – that’s another story entirely!).

Now, admittedly, I’ve only read the first two chapters .  I spent the rest of the time on the plane napping .  The plane arrived at Midway Airport on time; I picked up the rental car, and then entered Chicago rush hour traffic .  From the time the plane landed, it took me an hour and 45 minutes to reach the hotel .  I checked into my room (the front desk clerk kindly provided me with toothpaste to replace the toothpaste seized at security in Oakland), checked into the conference, and found that I had missed most of the first lecture on The Importance of the National Archives.

Ah, but not all was lost .  Rather than worry about the lecture that was almost over, I simply took the opportunity to introduce myself to James Conroyd Martin, the author of Push Not the River and Against a Crimson Sky, two Polish historical novels published by St. Martin’s Press .  I purchased copies of both books on the spot and Mr. Martin kindly autographed them for me .  About a month ago, Jasia reported on her blog that she attended one of Mr. Martin’s lectures and book signings.

After meeting Mr. Martin, I explored the vendor area and picked up a copy of Following the Paper Trail: A Multilingual Translation Guide by Jonathan D. Shea and William F. Hoffman .  I thought this book was out of print, but I guess it’s back in print now, in a new hardcover edition.

Before the evening lectures, I made an appointment for translation assistance with Ola Heska, who provided 15 minutes of free Polish and Russian translation assistance .  She helped me finish up the translation of the birth and baptismal record for Stanisław Markiewicz, helped me a little with the birth and baptismal record for Stanisław’s brother, Antoni, and got me started on the translation of what appears to be the record for Stanisław’s father’s second marriage.

From there, I had a quick bite to eat and then attended the evening lectures .  In the first lecture, Professor Mary Patrice Erdmans gave an informative and entertaining lecture on The Grasinski Girls: The Importance of Oral History where she described how she recorded the oral history of her mother and aunts .  I need to do the same with my living aunts and uncles.

The final presentation of the day was by Ceil Jensen who spoke on Mariana: Matka, Żona, Córka, Siostra, Researching the Female Line – Mariana: Mother, Wife, Daughter, Sister .  In her lecture, Ceil mentioned the rule of thumb to look for a child every two years after a couple is married .  If a child isn’t born approximately every two years, perhaps the father was away, or perhaps a child died young .  That reminded me that my grandfather, Michał Dańko, left Poland in 1905 and my grandmother didn’t immigrate to America until 1909 .  Further, I know that one child died young and there was supposed to be a second child who died young .  I should apply this two year rule and see how well it predicts the time my grandfather spent away from the family and the deaths of the two children.

Ceil also talked about alien registrations, searching collateral lines, midwives, education records, and sacramental records, and ended with a beta version of an audio-video presentation where Ceil’s mother talks about her own mother in Polish .  Ceil’s presentations are always informative and entertaining, and this lecture was no exception .  Ceil is presenting several more lectures on Saturday and Sunday.

It’s now almost 11 PM here in Chicago (OK, it’s Schaumburg) .  I plan to read a bit more in The Peasants and then get a good night’s rest before the lectures tomorrow morning.

Copyright © 2006 by Stephen J. Danko

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Getting Ready for the PGSA Conference

Posted on September 7, 2006 by Steve

On Friday, I leave for the 28th Annual Conference of the Polish Genealogical Society of America (PGSA) in Schaumburg, Illinois (just outside of Chicago).

I’ve lined up a tentative schedule from the choices for concurrent sessions:

Friday

    • The Importance of the National Archives: Records Not Found on the Internet
    • The Grasinski Girls: The Importance of Oral History
    • Mariana: Matka, Żona, Córka, Siostra

Saturday

    • Polish Heraldry
    • Sources for Researching Polish Nobility
    • Polish Nobility
    • Cemeteries: Look High and Low, Above and Below!

Sunday

    • Sto Lat: A Plan for Finding 100 Years of Ancestors
    • Maps for Genealogy: Old, New and Electronic

My Saturday schedule is heavy on Heraldry and Nobility, since I’ve traced one of my grandfathers back to Polish Nobility .  I’ve been told that records were maintained for the nobility long before records existed for the commoners .  Who knows?  Perhaps I’ll find out how to trace this line back a bit further, before the churches kept baptism, marriage, and death records.

More information on the conference is available on the PGSA website.

Now, it’s time for me to pack .  I hope to see some of you at the conference!

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