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

Copyright (c) 2004, PolishRoots(R), Inc.
Editor: William F. "Fred" Hoffman, E-mail: <wfh@langline.com>

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CONTENTS

   Welcome
   Expanding Your Research Parameters
   Letters to the Editor
   New Book on Finding Chicago Ancestors
   Michigan Catholic Polish Heritage Insert
   Polish Trivia Questions
   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(R). If you missed previous issues, you can find them here:

   http://polishroots.org/gendobry/gendobry_index.htm

If you are among those who'd like Gen Dobry! in PDF form, this issue is available for downloading here (or will be within a few days):

   http://www.polishroots.org/gendobry/PDF/GenDobry_V_10.pdf

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*** EXPANDING YOUR RESEARCH PARAMETERS ***

by Paul S. Valasek <paval56@aol.com>

After performing active genealogical and historical research for over 25 years, I am amazed at what materials and information are out there just waiting to be "discovered." I am also amazed at how many times people will look at something I've found and say, "Boy, were you lucky!" To that remark I have to hesitate and say, "It's not just luck, but some hard work, and most of all, a recognition of what you're looking at."

Case in point: when looking through the films of the_ Dziennik Chicagoski_, locating bits and pieces of articles about Haller's Army, one can easily get lost in the pages and pages of news events, social stories, advertisements, and even the classifieds. Yes, it's all in Polish, but a picture is a picture in any language -- and sooner or later your Polish improves if you look at it long enough.

Yes, I get frustrated at not being able to read each article with the clarity one would like. But being able to pick out certain key words, and applying the time frame of the article, you start to put pieces together of what took place in the past, looking at it from a distance rather than being a part of it. (It's the old story of seeing the trees from the forest, or the forest in the first place from the trees.)

Even though the following article from the _Chicagoski_ has some minor relevance to my project, what I noticed immediately were the names and addresses of individuals. No need to be fluent in Polish to recognize a name and a street in your home town. BUT, now comes the problem: I found these names, maybe I find them of limited interest, but what if some other researcher happens to need someone in this list? Granted, its only a name and an address, but for 1921, any address would be nice in many situations.

Now the question of getting out the word is to be considered. I have information, what do I do with it? Many genealogical societies have newsletters for their membership, which can be very important; yet they are limited, as the information only goes out to the membership. Now that the Internet is a fact of life, there's the place it should go. And of course, we at PolishRoots are trying to do just that. We have a worldwide audience. True, we're limited mainly to English; but as most of the world will be speaking English or Spanish as second languages, we should be fine with that.

I encourage everyone who reads this to try the same thing. In your researching, you will sooner or later find names which, though perhaps not relevant to you at the time, may be important to others who have no idea that information exists or where to find it. Pass along the information, pass along the knowledge. At this point the only cost is one's time in typing up an article for _Gen Dobry!_ and sending it to our editor, Fred Hoffman <wfh@langline.com>. He is always looking for interesting and educational materials. Why not consider sending some of that which is undoubtedly sitting amongst your papers, or in church books, lodge anniversary books, high school yearbooks, newspaper and magazine articles, letters, diaries, journals, photo albums, memoirs ... you name it, it's out there.

If writing is something you don't care to try, beyond signing your name, consider a donation to PolishRoots so that other materials may be found, obtained, and added to the site. We work strictly off of donations; time, effort, and money are always welcomed. And as you try it yourself, you'll soon learn that your skill at Polish or German or Latin improves; you make contacts with folks who may share a common topic with you; and, most of all, you've contributed to the expanding knowledge base which we simply call the Internet.

Here, as an example of what I'm talking about, is the information I mentioned above, which I found in the _Chicagoski_. I think all I need to add is that each ticket to the banquet cost $10.00; and I want to thank Jerry Kucharski for translating the text of the article from Polish to English.

====================

Polish Banquet Purchasers for Hungry in Poland.

_Dziennik Chicagoski_, January 29, 1921

Because everyone has the money for the cost of a ticket, why not attend the banquet and support the Hoover Fund for the hungry in Poland. The following are a list of the first persons who have already bought tickets for the banquet and thus hastened help to the patient suffering children in our Homeland, Poland. Namely:


Bara, Michal, 1020 Noble Str.
Bara, Jozefa, 1020 Noble Str.
Bardonski, Jan, 1352 W. Division Str.
Borysiewicz, Dr. M., 1551 W. Division Str.
Busch, Alexander, 2129 Logan Blvd.
Busch, Eugenia, 2129 Logan Blvd.
Busch, Wlodzimierz, 2129 Logan Blvd.
Busch, Jan, 4016 Milwaukee Ave.
Busy, J., 1152 Noble Str.
Cislak, B., 1112 Milwaukee Ave.
Cyganowski, A. J., 5212 Irving Park Blvd.
Danisch, Wojciech, 1025 Milwaukee Ave.
Drzymala, M. A., Milwaukee and Ashland
Duzewski, Waclaw, 948 Noble Str.
Dybowski, Jan, 1421 W. Division Str.
Giese, Teodor, 1178 Milwaukee Ave.
Gogolinski, Dr. W. E., Milwaukee and Emma
Griffin, D. J., 1001 Milwaukee Ave.
Idzikowski, M., Ob.
Klucznik, M., 1256 Noble Str.
Knoch, A., 1077 Milwaukee Ave.
Kopielski, St., 1001 Noble Str.
Krechniak, Jan, 1368 W. Huron Str.
Krenz, Stan, 1049 Milwaukee Ave.
Kruszka, Jan, 3514 N. Hamlin Ave.
Kuszewski, Jan, 1352 W. Division Str.
Lenard, Ignacy, Ob.
Lipkowski, L., 1080 Milwaukee Ave.
Lipkowski, W., 1088 Milwaukee Ave.
Lisowski, A., 1137 Noble Str.
Makarski, Joz., 1121 Noble Str.
Nowak, H., 3227 Emerald Ave.
Nowak, Henryk, 3227 Emerald Ave.
Nowakowski, F., 3281 Wrightwood Ave.
Nowicki, J., Ob.
Odalska, Pani J., 1121 Milwaukee Ave.
Odalski, M. J., 1121 Milwaukee Ave.
Odalski, Z. J., Ob.
Pietrzykowski, M., 924 Noble Str.
Rapala, St., 1055 Noble Str.
Rutkowski, Leonard, 1729 W. 18th Str.
Skiermanski, M., 5247 Cullom Ave.
Sobota, Jan, 928 Will Str.
Sowinski, St., 1117 Noble Str.
Struzynski, Kaz., 3227 Emerald Ave.
Szalapski, Jozef, 1051 Milwaukee Ave.
Tlusty, Jozef, 950 Will Str.
Uczciwek, Hipolit, 1244 Noble Str.
Warchalowski, Dr. A., 1053 Milwaukee Ave.
Wieczorowski, W., 1057 Milwaukee Ave.

Continuation of the offerings tomorrow. Work of the committee is going full strength. The committee is working non-stop. The public support and ready purchase of tickets, are the only exceptions which are lacking. (Signed, the Committee)

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*** LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ***

Subject: Correction, and Polish Researchers

Just wanted to make a correction. In my Letter to the Editor that was in the latest issue of _Gen Dobry!_, my first name is Cathy not Lena.

Also you mentioned some researchers in Poland ... I decided to go with Krzysztof Malczewski, whom I had contacted through Stanley Diamond. Chris got back with me and I have mailed him all the information that I have on my grandparents and he will do the research for me. He also gave me the information on his fees and why and how he charges what he does.

I was really pleased and am looking forward to the work Chris is doing for me.

I have also used Michal Marciniak and he was very helpful. He was not expensive and followed through on all that he found for me. He sends me postcards of Poland and we have had a nice relationship. I consider him a friend. He does research for me on my father, and Chris will do my grandparents -- in both cases they are from different parts of Poland.

   Cathy Duprey <rcduprey@peganet.com>

   [Editor -- Sorry for getting your name wrong! I've been corresponding for years with a lady named Lena Duprey, and when I saw the surname Duprey my brain automatically filled in the blank with "Lena," not "Cathy." My mistake -- you'd think I'd know better, considering much of my work involves getting names right!

———

Subject: Voting

In the last issue of _Gen Dobry!_, I wrote about my father. Being that the election is only a few days away, I thought about what I had asked him many years ago and what he said to me about voting.
 
My father never became a citizen, so he could not vote. I asked him many times about it, but he would always dodge the issue. About two years before he died, we were sitting around talking, and I got on the subject about Poland and government. He said to me that Poland was a beautiful country, but very poor. As for people in elected office, he had a very low opinion of them, and said that one day we could lose what we have because of not taking the risks that need to be taken to protect our country and the people.

He believed that one must sacrifice and never change your opinion to please others. In other words, if you can look in the mirror and like what you see, good; if not, then there is a problem. My father had common sense. He told his children to stand up for what they believe in. And if you get kicked in the head, pick yourself up and hold your head high.

Food for thought.

   Cathy Duprey <rcduprey@peganet.com>

   [Editor -- Thanks for another note that some may find timely.]

———

Subject: Worsten Genealogical Society?

Are you familiar with these [Worsten Genealogical Society genealogical mailing lists for Greater Poland and Kujavia, Galicia, Lithuania-Belarus, etc.]? I'm always suspicious that there may be an ulterior motive, like compiling a mailing list for other purposes.

   Ed Achtel <Achteles@idcnet.com>

   [Editor -- The lists Ed asked about are all available at http://www.worsten.org. I have heard of this organization -- every once in a while, for some years now, I have run across mention of them. But I haven't heard enough to get a handle on what they're all about. The fact that their home page is largely in Esperanto is a little out of the ordinary! To their credit, they make a commendable effort to accommodate people speaking English, French, Polish and other languages. I don't blame Ed for being a little suspicious; you can't be too careful.
   I'd like to believe Worsten is legit, since their home page has a very impressive list of regional interests. I looked through some of their pages, and they offer quite a bit of free information, such as the "Pattern of a letter to namesakes in Poland" at http://www.worsten.org/pollando/letermodeloj/namesake.htm. It's not bad, though I notice they make sure to insert a little blurb about themselves into that letter! Still, a person could drop that and use the rest of it, if he wished. I also browsed some of their info for Lithuania, and it was pretty good. So I'm not sure what to make of them.
   Can anyone tell us personal experience with this organization? I think it's worth a closer look, but don't feel I know enough about Worsten to give it a thumbs up or thumbs down.

———

Subject: Bill Dzierzek, Monte Cassino

   [Editor—In the last issue we had a note from John Askham <john@askham48.freeserve.co.uk> asking for help finding a Sergeant Bill Dzierzek who was in the Polish 2nd Corps involved in the capture of Monte Cassino. Here is a reply:]

I've let John know by copying him that he should join the Kresy-Siberia Group. We have lots of resources at our group's site that he and his wife could utilize. He could also write the Ministry of Defense in England for records. This is off the top of my head.

Here is the link to join: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kresy-Siberia/

Also I cannot remember if Polish Obituaries, a spinoff from Tina Ellis's PBS, Poland Border Surnames, is still running. Even if the Obituaries list is no longer in operation, it is invaluable and may still be searched at Rootsweb.

   Eve Jankowicz <Eve5J@aol.com>

   [Editor—Thanks, Eve, for trying to help John. As for the Obituaries spinoff from the PolandBorderSurnames list, it's still listed at  http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/POL/PolandBorderSurnames-OBITUARIES.html, and the archives can be accessed there. It shows the last notes posted were in June 2004, and there were only 4 of them; so it may have run out of steam. No question, though, the archives are a valuable resource.]

———

Subject: The Settling of Poland's Eastern "Frontier"

Here is a half-baked idea for a future issue of _Gen Dobry!_.

How about an article from yourself, Paul or someone knowledgeable about the settling of Poland's eastern "frontier" -- the origins of towns and settlements along the easternmost rivers and Carpathian foothills: who, when, and why. Polish-Americans raised on a diet of the stories of the settling of the American West might be especially taken with knowing how these areas became populated, and why they're so ethnically mixed. It would help us understand the background, and possibly would encourage reading of works such as _Fire and Sword_, etc.

   Margaret Sullivan <hjmcs@optonline.net>

   [Editor -- Thanks for the suggestion! It's a good one. I'm afraid I don't know enough about this subject to write this article, and Paul doesn't feel he's quite up to the task, at least so far. But I would definitely like to print something on this -- it's a question of finding someone who can write about this, or has written about it, and will let us use his or her article.
   [In the meantime I found a couple of Websites with some general info on the settlement of the Carpathians: http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages/C/A/CarpathianMountains.htm and http://www.rusyn.org/?root=rusyns&rusyns=geo. I'm mentioning them because some of our readers might find these sites valuable for various reasons. They offer a rather nice selection of information on the area's geography, economy, etc. The Rusyn site has some good remarks by Paul Robert Magocsi on the difference between Rusyn and Ruthenian.
   [As for an article, I'd welcome suggestions from anyone willing to tackle the subject, or who can point us toward something along these lines.]

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*** NEW BOOK ON FINDING CHICAGO ANCESTORS ***

   [Editor -- While I don't want to make a habit of shilling for book publishers, there's no denying that sometimes I get word of forthcoming books you'd probably like to know about. In such cases I like to pass the word on. Whether you choose to look into buying the book is, of course, entirely up to you:]

Greetings from Lake Claremont Press!

I am pleased to announce the December 2004 publication of _Finding Your Chicago Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide to Family History in the City and Cook County_ by Grace DuMelle. No matter where you live, if you have Chicago ancestors, this is the book to have.

_Finding Your Chicago Ancestors_ gives you the "how" as well as the "what," showing you step by step the sources for answering the questions most asked by those exploring their family history:

   - When did my ancestor come here?
   - Who were my ancestor's parents?
   - Where did my ancestor reside?
   - Where is my ancestor buried?

_Finding your Chicago Ancestors_ is written especially for beginners by a professional researcher on staff at the Newberry Library in Chicago, one of the country's best places for family history research. Grace DuMelle shares techniques and resources that save you time and frustration -- everything from operating a microfilm reader to playing by bureaucrats' rules.

Elizabeth Daniel
Lake Claremont Press
Chicago, IL
<elizabeth@lakeclermont.com>

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*** MICHIGAN CATHOLIC POLISH HERITAGE INSERT ***

   [Editor -- On the Posen mailing list Joseph Martin posted this note, which may interest some of our readers:]

Those who are researching Polish families in Detroit might be interested to know that the _Michigan Catholic_ has published a Polish Heritage insert in its October 1, 2004 issue. It is a 16-page color section with the Black Madonna on the cover. The issue includes articles on the historic seminary at Orchard Lake with Fr. Joseph Dabrowski, Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish in Sterling Heights, Mount Carmel Parish in Detroit, the Felician Sisters from Poland, names of Polish priests who have served from 1854 to 2004, Sweetest Heart of Mary Church, St. Albertus Church, St. Josaphat Church, the Black Madonna. I do not have any information about availability of extra copies or pricing. Here is the contact information.

The Michigan Catholic
305 Michigan Avenue
Detroit MI  48226
(313) 224-8000 phone
(313) 224-8009 fax

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*** POLISH TRIVIA QUESTIONS ***

   [Editor: In the last issue we gave 5 questions from a Polish trivia game PolishRoots Vice President Paul Valasek <paval56@aol.com> came across. The answers to those questions appear below, followed by this month's questions, the answers to which will appear in the next issue. We want to thank Tom Bratkowski for permission to reprint these.]


Answers to the Questions in the September Issue:

  — Q. Which king of Poland moved the capital from Krakow to Warszawa?
  — A. King Zygmunt III Vasa

  — Q. What Polish king owed his election to support from Empress Catherine II of Russia?
  — A. King Stanislaw August Poniatowski

  — Q. How many Polish kings were assassinated?
  — A. None

  — Q. Which Polish dynasty ruled for more years, the Jagiellonians or the Piasts?
  — A. The Piasts

  — Q. What Polish king was killed at the Battle of Varna?
  — A. King Wladyslaw III

————————————————————————————————————————

Questions for October

Subject: Traditions

  — Q. What is the Polish duck soup called?

  — Q. By Polish legend, where does St. George reside?

  — Q. Who by tradition is said to have painted the Black Madonna?

  — Q. By custom, with what foods is a visitor in Poland greeted?

  — Q. What is the Polish soup made from fermented oatmeal or rye flour and water?

Reprinted with permission from Polish American Trivia & Quadrivia, Powstan, Inc. If interested in learning more, contact Paul Valasek <paval56@aol.com>.

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*** UPCOMING EVENTS ***

   [Note: the PolishRoots Events Calendar at http://www.polishroots.org/coming_events.htm usually has more info than we have room for here. If you have an event coming up you want Polish genealogical researchers to know about, send as much info as possible to <Events@PolishRoot.org>.]

November 3, 2004

Polish American Research: Using Resources in the United States and Poland

The Newberry Library -- Chicago, IL

Second of two 2-hour in-depth sessions on research techniques for discovering your Polish Roots, Ancestry and Heritage held on two evenings at the Newberry Library, Wednesday November 3rd, from 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Gazetteers, maps, military records, and archives in Poland and North America will be discussed. Identification of lesser known sources will also be examined.

Hosted by Paul S. Valasek, VP-PolishRoots, Past President of PGSA, Polish Museum of America Board Member

Contact: The Newberry Library, 60 West Walton Street, Chicago IL 60610-7324, http://www.newberry.org or by phone: 312-255-3680.

==========

December 4 – 7, 2004

American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies'
36th Annual Conference

Boston, Massachusetts at the Boston Marriott Copley Hotel located at 110 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 10216.

The Preliminary Program for the nearly 200 individual panel discussions includes two panels relating to Rusyn topics and presented by noted Rusyn academicians on Monday December 6, 2004.

In addition to four days of panel discussions and meetings the Convention features dozens of exhibition booths which sell books, newspapers and other materials relating to Slavic history and studies. The public is also able to attend this AAASS Convention. Details as to cost of attendance and hotel accommodations are obtainable on their web site at http://www.aaass.org.

[Announcement from a note sent to all members of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society with e-mail addresses. See upcoming events at http://www.c-rs.org/evnt.htm.]

==========

March 31 – April 3, 2005

8th New England Regional Genealogical Conference
"New England Crossroads 2005"

The Holiday Inn By The Bay in Portland Maine

Four of the country's best known genealogists will be the lead speakers for this program: Tony Burroughs, Cyndi Howells, Elizabeth Shown Mills and Craig Scott.

Complete program details and a registration form can be found at: http://www.NERGC.org.

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*** MORE USEFUL WEB ADDRESSES ***

http://sumy.net.ua/History/map/
   On the Galicia_Poland-Ukraine mailing list Steven Swoyer <stephen_swoyer@yaoo.com> provided this link to a historical geography of Ukraine. This is the directory, from which you can choose 19 different pages with maps.
   He also provided a link to a detailed set of Austrian maps circa 1890, at http://lazarus.elte.hu/hun/digkonyv/topo/3felmeres.htm, noting that they are large files that can take a while to download. He gave this link for Soviet maps with more detail but with names in the Cyrillic alphabet: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/x-ussr/ukraine.html. Finally, this is a link to a Ukrainian road atlas: http://www.lemko.org/atlas/atlas.html. If you have Galician roots, these maps may be a huge help!

_____________________________

http://www.wbc.poznan.pl
   On the Posen mailing list Steffen Priebe <SteffenPriebe@web.de> posted a note discussing this Website, where you can download a large number of fascinating historical publications in German, Polish, etc. They're scans of the original works, encoded be viewed with the DjVu browser plug-in, which you already have if you've bought the S?ownik Geograficzny CD-ROM; if you don't have it, the plug-in is an easy download here: http://www.lizardtech.com/download/dl_options.php?page=popular.
   To see what digitized works are available on the WBC Website, from the home page click on "Digital Library of Wielkopolska" in the left column, then on the next page find "Publications List" on the right (thanks to Ray Marshall for his note explaining this). There are 1,340 publications, so be patient. A number of notes discussed this collection, and if you're interested, you might want to read the whole thread at the Posen mailing list archive by searching here for "digitized books online": http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/?list=POSEN.
_____________________________

http://encyclopedia.fablis.com/index.php/Poland
   Paul Valasek told me about this link to articles on modern Poland in the Fablis Online Encyclopedia. The articles have a lot of good, basic info, and are a handy source for quick reference on the basics.
_____________________________

http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/newsletter/bnl_index.htm
   On the soc.genealogy.jewish mailing list, Fran Bock, editor of the Belarus SIG Online Newsletter, posted a note to call attention to new articles available at the above Website. Even non-Jewish researchers with Belarusian roots may want to take a look, considering how hard it is to find information on Belarus.
_____________________________

http://www.clusty.com
   Ray Marshall sent me an e-mail on the new search engine called "Clusty," available at this URL. He loves it because it clusters search results and makes it a lot easier to tell which ones are relevant. As he wrote, "One of the real problems is searching on a name and getting 3,625,841 hits, only 42 of which are of interest. I just did a search, my first one, on Marszalkiewicz, a relatively rare Polish name (there are over 800,000 Polish surnames). I was pleased to see a site with my one name come out as No. 1 on my list of 68 hits. But imagine my pleasure when I glanced over to the left and saw that [Clusty] had 'clustered' them by general subject matter.
   "This saves me a tremendous amount of work! Just by memory, I can tell what a lot of these hits are all about. [He provided a sample]. So you see, by having my results 'clustered,' I don't have to look at 54 of the 68 hits that I got, and probably within a couple of each category, I can remove some of the others. This is going to save me a lot of time."
_____________________________

http://www.avotaynu.com/nu/v05n18.htm
   The October 10, 2004 issue of _Nu? What's New?_, the free e-zine from Avotaynu, had several interesting articles, including an update on the latest portals at Steve Morse's site, and a thought-provoking piece called "On Privacy, Security (and Now, Terrorism)." The latter has some valuable observations on where genealogy is headed in an era of terrorism, an increased need for security, and questions about issues of privacy. This issue also mentions an online Russian-English translator at http://translation2.paralink.com.
_____________________________

http://www.stevenmorse.org/ssdi/ssdi.html
   On the soc.genealogy.jewish list Lisa Leopre posted several Websites offering searches of the SSDI database. The link on the Steve Morse site listed above is one, but she also listed these sites:

http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/fto_ssdisearch.html?priority=0000900

http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/ssdi

She added, "One thing to be aware of is, depending on how often the databases are updated, some of them may have more current information than others."
_____________________________

http://www.kmbropczyce.prv.pl
   On the Poland Roots list Debbie Greenlee <daveg@airmail.net> mentioned this site "for those with ancestral ties to the town/parish of Ropczyce in old woj. Rzeszów." Apparently this material was moved here from an old site. She notes it's all in Polish but there are photos.
_____________________________

http://thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20041004&c=1&s=ost
   This is an online article in _The Nation_ about how Poland is rethinking its support of America, and mentions shabby treatment of Poles seeking visas. I would think most folks who read _Gen Dobry!_ would be interested in this subject, although of course I'm sure some will disagree with the author's comments on the current administration.
_____________________________

http://travel.state.gov/visa/tempvisitors_novisa_waiver.html
    On the Herbarz mailing list, Imre v. Komarnicki <imre.von.komarnicki@comcast.net> gave this link to the U. S. State Department Website which lists the countries that are part of the Visa Waiver Program: He remarked "It was interesting to see the countries that were on this list as well as the requirements for becoming a VWP 'member.'" Those interested in the ongoing discussion of Poles and the visa situation may find the information given here enlightening.

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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. V, No. 10, 31 October 2004. PolishRoots(R): http://www.PolishRoots.org/.

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Copyright 2004, PolishRoots(R), Inc. All rights reserved.