* * * * * * * * * G E N     D O B R Y ! * * * * * * * * *

Volume III, No. 4. 30 April 2002.
Copyright (c) 2002, PolishRoots(tm), Inc.
Editor: William F. "Fred" Hoffman, E-mail: WFHoffman@prodigy.net

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CONTENTS

   Welcome
   Genealogical Short Cuts
   Letters to the Editor
   Two Superb New Websites!
   Humor
   Upcoming Events
   More Useful Web Addresses
   You May Reprint Articles...

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*** WELCOME! ***

to the latest issue of GEN DOBRY!, the e-zine of PolishRoots(tm). If you missed previous issues, you can find them at http://polishroots.org/gendobry/gendobry_index.htm.

Be sure to visit the PolishRoots site and take advantage of the numerous sources featured there to help you with your research. A particularly valuable feature is the page for searchable databases:

   http://polishroots.org/database.htm

For instance, one is allows you to search a database of Defenders of Lwow buried in the Lyczakowski Cemetery. It has over 1,000 names and includes some American flyers from the Kosciuszko Squadron during World War I. For more information take a look at its page:

   http://polishroots.org/lwow_defenders.htm

You can also keep track of recent additions to the site at this address:

   http://polishroots.org/news.htm

Zapraszamy!

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*** GENEALOGY SHORT CUTS***

by Alan J. Kania <ajkania@attbi.com>

[Editor's Note: Alan posted this note on <Poland-Roots-L@rootsweb.com> on 15 April 2002. I loved it, and thought it was worth reprinting. If you saw in on Poland-Roots-L, you might want to read it again; if you didn't see it, I beg you, read it carefully! There is a lot of good advice, and good sense, in these words!]

I've only been on this list for less than a couple of years but I've learned some terrific short cuts for those of you who want to cut right to the chase and skip all the time-consuming research that everyone tells you to do.  My short cuts have been distilled down to one simple statement:

     THERE AREN'T ANY SHORT CUTS.

Your ancestors spent hundreds of years (as you will personally learn if you stick with the research) to develop the family legacy that you now enjoy. You may enjoy the surname and knowledge that your family has given you across the generations (sometimes with modifications), but they were the ones who lived the lives that added to the character you also enjoy.

Searching for phone numbers may put you in touch with a few relatives who may or may not know your family. Learning where they lived can be done more efficiently by doing your domestic research first.

a. Buy a copy of _Polish Roots_ -- that will give you the guidelines of what you need to do your ACCURATE research first. It's by by Rosemary Chorzempa, published by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1993, ISBN 0-8063-1378-1, generally runs less than $20, and is available in many bookstores, brick-and-mortar as well as online.

b. Spend some time contacting the town halls (or better yet, go spend a family vacation visiting them) and spend a few days going through birth, marriage and death records to find ACCURATE information about your family members -- starting with your yourself, your parents, your siblings, etc.

c. Get your grandparents (or great grandparents) naturalization papers. The _Polish Roots_ book will tell you how, the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormon) Family History Centers and Website <http://www.familysearch.org> will help you with that. The Immigration and Naturalization Services Website <http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/index.htm> will also help you. But YOU will have to do the work. As a result, YOU will get primary documentation.

d. Search for census information. You'll have to go to a NARA location to view the microfilm, or order one through your library or Family History Center. Even if your film is not indexed, it's worth your while to even read through each and every page of your relative's community to find them. There's some great information there. The census reports are online (for a small fee) through <http://ancestry.com>.

e. Then backtrack to find the steamship manifest. It will tell you even more information about where your relatives actually came from.

f. Once you've laid the groundwork for your search -- THEN you can start searching for relatives in Poland through parishes and other sources to get church or synagogue records, land records, etc.

For those of you who want to pull open a bud to see the bloom, your relatives are going to probably give you the most inaccurate information. Memories fade and change rapidly. If you do your research first, you'll have a foundation of what your family's legacy really is, not Uncle Stash's fleeting memory of what he thought it was.

My grandmother lived on a street in Buczkowice, Poland, where most of her relatives still live. By doing my research in this country, I've been able to tell THEM more accurate information about the family than they even knew!

Stop looking for short cuts and start doing your research at home. Come to grips with the realization that you have stepped over the line into a lifelong commitment that you can hopefully pass on to a second generation to continue the research. The only way you'll be able to do that is to lay the accurate groundwork with some good ol' fashion library research and letter writing.

It will be worth it.

   -- Alan Kania

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*** LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ***

Subject: The 1930 Census

I contacted my local Family History Center here in South Carolina for information on ordering/renting the microfilms from the 1930 census. Because they said I needed the official microfiche number they had me contact the Family History Library support number in Salt Lake City. Here I was told that the census would not be available to the Mormon Library until this fall. Thought your readers would like to know this. Their best shot at seeing the new census would be if they are located near one of the 12 branches of the National Archives or if they go to the actual city that they are researching. Most city libraries will be ordering copies of their own city census.

   Sandy Dimke
   <dimke@hargray.com>

[Editor's Reply: Good point! When putting together the last issue, with its note on this census, I never thought to include info on where to access it. But Sandy is right, it's not yet available at Family History Centers. The National Archives <http://1930census.archives.gov/> is the most reliable source, but as time goes on it will be available elsewhere, as well.]

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Subject: "Who Do You Believe?" and Some Questions

I enjoyed your article "Who Do You Believe?" in the recent issue of _Gen Dobry!_. It appears to me that anyone who does not accept the advice of a learned and respected authority suffers from a personality trait often associated with people of Polish descent -- stubbornness. Norm Davies, in his book _God's Playground_, suggests that stubbornness may be built into the Polish psyche as a result of 125 years of resistance against foreign oppressors and their petty administrators.

Getting to the point of your subject, I think that we genealogists are historic detectives who are constantly seeking clues or make assumptions to link one fact to another. There are times when we are faced with contradicting facts or we cannot validate a particular fact but follow a lead that it may suggest or we may assume in order to keep our investigation open. To me, the important thing is to recognize the lack of validation but keep the search alive.

In this regard, I have several general questions that may be of interest to others. I'm not sure that _Gen Dobry!_ is the appropriate forum, but I value your opinions and those of your learned readers. I have had conflicting answers from others to the following questions:

    1. In early 19th Century Poland, would having as many as four or more children without the benefit of wedlock be considered as usual behavior and acceptable conduct by the Catholic Church and/or the community?

    2. Would the Catholic Church ever deny the Sacrament of Baptism because the child was illegitimate?

    3. Were the words "deacon" and "priest" used interchangeably then, unlike now? Could a deacon be a pastor? I have a record showing an individual as "pastor of the church" in town A and later as a "deacon of the church" in town B. I am trying to determine if the individual was defrocked or if he never was a priest.

I appreciate any help you may give.

   Bill Rutkowski
   <ImogeneRut@aol.com>

[Editor's Reply: I'm glad you liked my article, but where on earth did you get the notion Poles are stubborn? ;-)
   As for the answers to your questions, I would think having several illegitimate children would provoke deep indignation from Church authorities and most members of the community; but I'm not entirely sure what they could do about it if a woman was prepared to ignore ostracism and social pressure. My understanding is that the Church would never condone denying Baptism to any child, regardless of illegitimacy. As for "deacon" and "priest," I believe this may refer to the Polish word _dziekan_, which is cognate with our word "deacon" but is usually better translated "dean," in the meaning "a priest appointed to oversee a group of parishes with a diocese." A dean can also be the head of the chapter of canons governing a cathedral or collegiate church. Thus becoming a _dziekan_ would be a promotion for a priest, rather than a demotion or defrocking. Those are my thoughts, but I welcome comment from others who can shed more light on this.]

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Subject: Surname Confusion

Just want to respond to the surname mixup. On a naturalization document of my family "Falgorzyce" was written, but the village was actually "Chwalgorzyce." The "F" and "Chwa" sound alike to foreign ears. I had to search the Poland map with a magnifying glass to find the place and realize that it was misspelled on the document. That was my experience.

   Christine <5143carm@email.msn.com>

[Editor's Reply: fascinating! Of course the original question was whether Poles ever interchanged Chw- and F-; but it's interesting that foreigners could write Chw- down as F-. Now that I think about it, however, the Ch- is often pronounced as a very light guttural, so light that it could be dropped. And the v-sound of Polish W is clearly very close to the sound of F. So yes, Chw- could be turned into F-, either by Poles centuries ago or by non-Poles more recently!]

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*** TWO SUPERB NEW WEBSITES!! ***

We always try to bring to your attention Websites we hear of that might help you with your research. Two particularly outstanding sites have recently opened up, ones that serious researchers will use a lot!

The first one is for those with roots in Eastern Galicia. It is the creation of Matthew Bielawa, Vice-President of the Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut and the Northeast, and is located here:

http://www.halgal.com

Here's what Matt <BielawaM@sacredheart.edu> said in his note announcing the site:

> I am happy to announce my new website devoted to
> the Genealogy of Eastern Galicia / Halychyna! 
> The site focuses on genealogical study for those
> researching their Polish (and Ukrainian) roots in
> Eastern Galicia /Halychyna / Western Ukraine.
>
> As you may know, the region of Eastern Galicia,
> which is now a part of Ukraine, was home to over a
> million ethnic Poles before World War II.  Large
> concentrations of ethnic Poles, though not restricted
> to, were found in Lwow, Tarnopol, Skalat...
>
> There is some information valuable to Western Galicians
> (Krakow-Tarnow-Sanok) researchers, as well--such as
> tutorials on finding, reading, and understanding
> Vital Records.
>
> I invite you all to visit the site...and keep coming back
> for updates and new information!!

Matt has impressive on-site research experience, as well as considerable knowledge of the languages involved. His site is sure to be bookmarked by many with Galician roots.

The other site I wanted to mention is not actually new; but it has recently been expanded enormously, to the point it might as well be new. It is the Website of Miriam Weiner's Routes to Roots Foundation:

   http://www.rtrfoundation.org

Now this site consists of a 275-page book and a searchable database (by town name) of archive documents for towns in Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Moldova and Ukraine based upon the archival holdings of the foregoing countries.

There is so much information available here that I strongly urge you to TAKE A MOMENT AND READ THE INTRODUCTION!!! Otherwise it's like swimming in the middle of the Pacific: you'll drown in the sheer quantity of material around you. If you take time to familiarize yourself with the contents of the site and how to use it, you will find yourself using this site again and again.

Matt and Miriam deserve our thanks for the enormous amount of helpful material they've made available to us. I believe it's fair to say you can repay them in two ways: 1) use their sites, and 2) don't pester them with questions unless and until you're SURE you've made every effort to find the answer for yourself!

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*** HUMOR ***

[Recently a frequent contributor to one of the Polish Gen lists mentioned she was going to Poland soon. This proved to be a mistake –- she was overwhelmed with requests from people who said "While you're over there, could you do me a favor?" Alan J. Kania <ajkania@attbi.com> was tickled by this and sent her this note as an ironic comment on these requests she was getting. I thought it was a scream, and hope you get a kick out of it. But I also hope it'll make you think twice about asking people to "do you a favor"!]

Hi,

Heard you're going to Poland -- I was wondering if you could do me a favor:

1. Would you research my ancestors? Someone in my family told me they were born in Poland, but it could be Lithuania, or maybe Austria, or was it Hungary? It's a small country, I'm sure that wouldn't be much of an imposition.

2. While you're there, would you look up my uncle? I think his name was Stanislaw -- that's an unusual name so you shouldn't have any trouble finding him. I forget his last name, but I remember it ends with -ski, or was it -wicz or something. Like I said, it's a small country.

3. And if you could find my great-aunt's marriage certificate -- they got married in a little church in the southern part of Poland -- I think it was a church in the middle of a farm town. There aren't too many churches around there, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find. If it helps, I think they were Catholic. It must be a marriage certificate because someone said my family was banned from Poland -- must be the marriage banns, right?

Aren't you thrilled that you let the list know you are going to Poland? LOL

   -- Alan

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*** UPCOMING EVENTS ***

[Note: It's always a good idea to check the PolishRoots Events Calendar, as it contains more info than we have room for here: <http://www.polishroots.org/coming_events.htm>]
__________

July 14 - 18, 2002

2002 INTERNATIONAL ROOTS CONFERENCE

Dearborn Michigan

Hyatt Regency Dearborn
Fairlane Town Center

Plans call for this to be the premier national genealogical conference for family historians tracing their European roots. Already signed up are 25 speakers, and 2,000 attendees are expected! It's not a minute to soon to make plans to attend. For more information visit the Website:

   http://www.rootsconference.com

Don't miss it!

__________

July 19 - 21, 2002

DISCOVERING OUR LINKS TO EUROPE:
AN INTERNATIONAL GENEALOGICAL CONFERENCE

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

July 19th - 21, 2002

This event is being hosted by the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society (SGS), in conjunction with the Federation of East European Family History Societies (FEEFHS), the Bukovina Society of the Americas (BSA), the Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (SGGEE), and the East European Genealogical Society (EEGS). It is anticipated that it will attract an audience of several hundred people.

A call for papers, along with additional information on the Conference, can be seen at the EEGS site:

     http://www.eegsociety.org/CallForPapers.html

__________

August 7 - 10, 2002

FGS 2002 Conference

Ontario, California

Contact: Phone 888-FGS-1500
         Website http://www.fgs.org
         E-mail: fgs-office@fgs.org

__________

January 17 & 18, 2003

GENTECH 2003
PHOENIX, ARIZON
The Phoenix Civic Plaza.

"Digital Technology - The Ancestral Frontier"

Past conferences of GENTECH have focused on how to use technology more effectively in your genealogical research. You can get more information at the Website:

     http://www.agcig.org/gt03.htm

or at Gentech's site:

     http://www.gentech.org/

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*** MORE USEFUL WEB ADDRESSES ***

http://www.wokiss.wlkp.pl
   John Szaroleta <momszar@toast.net> posted a note to <Posen-L@rootsweb.com> mentioning this site with pictures of Wielkopolska or Great Poland. Posen-L owner James Birkholz added: "The part … of interest to us is the locations database 'Swiatowid':

http://swiatowid.wokiss.pl/cgi-bin/Swiatowide.cgi

   Only some of the locations have pages (in Polish) and only some of those have English versions. For an example, try Kornik. To get to it from the Indeks page, choose 'Poznanski' in the 'Powiaty Wielkopolski' section, and then click on the 'Kornik' coat of arms. After the Polish language page has loaded, you can click on the British flag for the English version."

______________________________

http://www.1911encyclopedia.org
   In the April 7, 2002 issue (Vol. 3, No. 6) of Avotaynu's fine e-zine _Nu? What's New?_, Gary Mokotoff mentioned this site, on which the contents of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica have been scanned and placed online. As Gary pointed out, old encyclopedias can aid researchers by presenting a perspective that may be completely foreign to us, but reflects things as our ancestors saw them; the articles may also mention people and events that are obscure now but seemed quite important then, and thus might turn up in your research and mystify you.
   I personally have already found the 1911 articles on Poland and Russia helpful in answering questions I had. Please note, however: Gary pointed out that there are a lot of scanning errors in the online version, but usually you can decipher the material. The sponsors decided to go ahead and get the info available as it is, and they intend to correct errors as they have a chance.
______________________________

http://fhh.hamburg.de/maps/english/map_index.htm
   Ceil Jensen <cjensen@HTDCONNECT.COM> posted a note to <Genpol@man.torun.pl> to let people know about this page on the Hamburg Website that offers free maps that can be downloaded. "They ARE selling large reproductions of the maps as well. But the free files are nice. The maps are in alphabetical order as well as in order of continents. You may download each map free of charge as a sample printout in screen size. It is then also suitable as a screen saver."
______________________________

http://www.libdex.com
   On the Galician discussion list <galicia@topica.com> http://topica.com> Val <vcon@ebtech.net> praised this site, Libdex, an index to over 17,000 libraries around the world. You can browse the index by country; if you want U. S. libraries you can go directly to: http://www.libdex.com/country/USA.html
______________________________

http://www.omniglot.com
   On <LithuanianGenealogy@yahoogroups.com> Janie <janie52001@yahoo.co.uk> told of finding "a great web site for others, like myself, who want to learn Lithuanian … Once onto the site click onto links then onto online courses and again click onto online courses then scroll down to Lithuanian. I found it to be an excellent site and it's free."
______________________________

http://thescreamonline.com/essays/essays2-1/silence.html
   Maureen Morris <mmorris@itsa.ucsf.edu> wrote to ask if I had read this essay by Danusha [sic] Goska. I found it very interesting, and thought you might like to read it, too.
______________________________

http://www.rootsweb.com/~inmarsha/info.htm
   On <Poland-Roots-L@rootsweb.com> JMM JR. <psujoe@earthlink.net> quoted George Morgan's column at Ancestry.com on "Helpful Bits of Information," a small document on the Rootsweb site that has three really useful items: 1) a collection of abbreviation commonly encountered in documents and records; 2) "List of Epidemics through Time," which may help you make a connection between an ancestor's deaths and an epidemic; and 3) a chart of naming conventions for children that may have apply in some cases. You can learn more at the site.
______________________________

http://www.lwow.home.pl
   Dr. Paul S. Valasek was alerted to the existence of this site by a reader of _Gen Dobry!_, Elizabeth (unfortunately I don't have her full name or address). It has information in Polish on the city of Lwow, Ukraine (Ukrainian name L'viv).

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YOU MAY REPRINT articles from _Gen Dobry!_, PROVIDED: (1) the reprint is used for non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) the following notice appears at the end of the article: Written by [author's name, e-mail address, and URL, if given]. Previously published by _Gen Dobry!_, Vol. III, No. 4, 30 April 2002. PolishRoots(tm): http://PolishRoots.org/.

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Copyright 2002, PolishRoots(tm), Inc. All rights reserved.