Wow! More than I could have hoped for and some more terrific suggestions. I'll get on this and now have plenty to work with. You're a really great bunch! :O) Thank you! Shirley Message: 2 Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:34:32 -0400 From: Mary Snow > Subject: Re: [COOK-CO-IL] I need suggestions.. To: [email protected] Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Hard to verify hearsay story. Would still have to find all documentation with name used. Is he listed in Ancestry's border crossings? What was his first name? Wife? Any dates of birth, death, marriage? Not listed at Cook County's Declaration of Intent page; can contact the Clerk's office or Great Lakes NARA. Was there a death certificate for him? Declaration of Intent site: http://198.173.15.34/NR/default.aspx Any relation? Szeremeta, Angela Patronski, John 7-19-1914 St. Adalbert Church http://www.pgsa.org/CzuchMar.php If he married in the Catholic church, he would have provided his baptismal record from his church in Poland. LDS pilot site: http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=home Mary [email protected] wrote: > I have recently located my daughter's great uncle and found some astonishing news. I have been trying to research her Szermeta line with zero luck. He now tells me that his father came into the country via Canada and without papers. He was 'given' the name Szermeta and doesn't know their real Polish name. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I might approach this ? Anything at all would be helpful and appreciated. > ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:18:47 -0800 From: judy petersen <> Subject: [COOK-CO-IL] Fwd: I need suggestions.. To: cook county mailing list <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Listers, I mistakenly sent this directly to Shirley along with another suggestion of finding a Polish American mailing list or message board for help. I'm forwarding it to the Cook List in hopes that someone will know more about the newspaper than I do & can point her in the right direction. Judy in Alaska ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: judy petersen <> Date: Jul 22, 2010 11:05 AM Subject: Re: [COOK-CO-IL] I need suggestions.. To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Another suggestion, Shirley. The Polish American community in Chicago could speak to this better than I can, but I think there was a Polish American newspaper in Chicago which now has an obit index, similar to the one Czechs have with our "Denni Hlasatel". If you have no other leads to the original surname, check the obits in that newspaper, possibly available on microfilm. If it's like the Denni Hlasatel index, it is organized by surname & then death date, & you order the microfilm by death date. You could even scan thru the "S" names for similar sounding names. Also, I think there is a Polish American genealogy society in IL or at least in the nation. It might help to join them or see what they have to offer. Again, Judy in Alaska Message: 4 Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:42:17 -0400 From: Mary Snow <> Subject: Re: [COOK-CO-IL] Fwd: I need suggestions.. To: cook county mailing list <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed PGSA: http://www.pgsa.org/Research/directory.php Newspaper is Dziennik Chicagoski; obituaries to order and translation at site. Mary judy petersen wrote: > Listers, I mistakenly sent this directly to Shirley along with another > suggestion of finding a Polish American mailing list or message board for > help. I'm forwarding it to the Cook List in hopes that someone will know > more about the newspaper than I do & can point her in the right direction. > Judy in Alaska > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: judy petersen < > Date: Jul 22, 2010 11:05 AM > Subject: Re: [COOK-CO-IL] I need suggestions.. > To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > > > Another suggestion, Shirley. The Polish American community in Chicago could > speak to this better than I can, but I think there was a Polish American > newspaper in Chicago which now has an obit index, similar to the one Czechs > have with our "Denni Hlasatel". If you have no other leads to the original > surname, check the obits in that newspaper, possibly available on > microfilm. If it's like the Denni Hlasatel index, it is organized by > surname & then death date, & you order the microfilm by death date. You > could even scan thru the "S" names for similar sounding names. > > Also, I think there is a Polish American genealogy society in IL or at least > in the nation. It might help to join them or see what they have to offer. Message: 6 Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:42:31 -0400 From: Mary Snow <> Subject: Re: [COOK-CO-IL] I need suggestions.. To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed The SS-5 letter can be used to order the Social Security application. The application includes place of birth, names of parents, including mother's maiden name. WILLIAM SZEREMETA 28 Nov 1892 Jan 1973 80 60650 (Cicero, Cook, IL) Death certificate for William can be ordered through Cook County Clerk's office. 1973-01-06 Chicago Tribune (IL) William Szeremeta, beloved husband of Mary, nee Liss; loving father of Helen Bourne, Edwin [Mae], Erwin [Elaine], William R. [Joan], the late Casimir and the late Eugene; 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Funeral Saturday, Jan. 6 at 10:30 a.m., from Kulasik Funeral Home, 4860 W. 31st., Cicero, to St. Mary Church. Interment St. Joseph Cemetery OL 2-2005. Eugene Raymond Szermeta's birth certificate can be downloaded from the LDS pilot site for your daughter. http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#searchType=exact&placeId=250&alivePlaceLoc1=Cook%2C%20Illinois%2C%20United%20States&surname=Szermeta&p=recordResults 1962-09-09 Chicago Tribune (IL) Eugene R. Sermeta, 39, of 137 S. Scoville av., Oak Park, died in Palm Springs, Cal., yesterday. He was temporarily working at the naval ordnance laboratory in Corona, Cal., as an electronics expert. He was employed by Apogee Electronics corporation, Oak Park. He is survived by his widow, Frances; two sons, Robert Ryde and John; three daughters, Frances, Nancy, and Christine; three brothers; a sister, and a grandchild. 1962-09-11 Chicago Tribune (IL) Services for Eugene Szermeta, 40, of 137 S. Scoville av., Oak Park, will be held at 2 p.m. today in the chapel at 6901 Roosevelt rd., Berwyn. Mr. Szermeta, an electronics worker at the Apogee corporation of Oak Park, died Friday in Palm Springs, Cal. Surviving are his widow, Francis; three daughters, Frances, Nancy, and Christine; a son, John; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Szermeta; three brothers, and a sister. According to the 1930 census, William was from Russian occupied Poland, immigrated in 1910; 1920 census indicates b. Poland, immigrated 1912. In 1920, he indicated he had applied for citizenship papers and by 1930, he indicated he was a naturalized citizen, so that avenue is open for you. There are several Szermeta and Szeremeta names in Ancestry's Canadian border crossing list. Szeremeta families are found in the Canadian census. Google search productive for Szeremeta Genealogy as well as Szermeta Genealogy. It could be that the name he was 'given' was William, since this is not a Polish first name; William was frequently used by Poles with given name Boleslaw. The Szermeta and Szermeta surnames are found in the Polish 1992 and 2002 employment census. 1992 http://www.herby.com.pl/ Click on "S?ownika Nazwisk Wsp??cze?nie w Polsce U?ywanych", then type Szerem* and Szerm* 2002 http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/ Search Szermeta and Szeremeta Google translate for those websites: http://translate.google.com/ Surnames website: http://www.surnamenavigator.org/ Regards, Mary ------------------------------ Message: 8 Date: Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:26:06 -0400 From: <[email protected]> Subject: [COOK-CO-IL] Szermeta To: <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Mary and Judy, Some really good ideas! I'll pursue those and see what pops up. Thanks to all of you and if anyone has anymore ideas, I'm all ears. :O) Shirley ------------------------------ To contact the COOK-CO-IL list administrator, send an email to [email protected] To post a message to the COOK-CO-IL mailing list, send an email to [email protected] __________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word "unsubscribe" without the quotes in the subject and the body of the email with no additional text. End of COOK-CO-IL Digest, Vol 5, Issue 187 ******************************************