Dennis and List Members, My Grandmother, Natalia Poplawska, was the oldest of 8 children - all born in Galicia between 1886 and 1902. All were in the U.S. by June 1907. Her mother, Josefa/Josephine and the youngest 4 kids, Marya (Mary) age 11, Wladyslawa (Lottie) age 9, Michel (Michael) age 7, and Franc (Frank) age 3 (born 1902) were the last to arrive on 18 June 1907 under the surname Popiawska. The manifest states their last place of residence was Prezwork (Prezworsk) and that all of them were born there. Natalie's and William's places of birth are unknown, Anton (Anthony) was born in Grebow, and Joseph in Surochow, according to their manifests. I found the Naturalization registration for Frank and sent for it. He did file the intent, but was naturalized as a result of serving in the Army during WWII. Military papers show he was born in Majdan Zbydniowski, Poland. 1. What does Zbydniowski mean and how does it apply to the town name of Majdan? 2. Surochow, Przeworsk, Grebow, and now Majdan Zbydniowski: Any ideas on why this family would have moved so often to have their children born in so many different places? 3. From your special resources, as you have time, Dennis, would you be kind enough to tell me what you can about the town? Any thoughts and insights would be greatly appreciated. Dee Sager

Hi Dee The answers to your questions in order: 1. There are dozens of places named Majdan in Poland and it only made sense to differentiate them somehow. In this case, this village of Majdan added the surname Zbydniowski to keep it from being confused with all the others. It must have been quite an honor for Mr. Zbydniowski, whoever he was. 2. I only see only one major move of your family within Poland, from the Grebow area east of Tarnobrzeg to the Jaroslaw area with Surochow just to the east and Przeworsk to the west. 3. Nope, not gonna do it. There is no need to research Majdan Zbydniowski. The 1907 manifest has Przeworsk as Frank's birthplace, not Majdan Zbydniowski. Only the US Army thinks that Frank was born in Majdan Zbydniowski and we all know that "military intelligence" is an oxymoron. Keep in mind the overall situation in Galicia around 1900 - overpopulation issues, very few economic opportunities, and little chance of upward mobility. So what did a number of ethnic Poles in Galicia do? They migrated. No, not emigrated, migrated. They moved eastward to where there was still some arable land available. And when those dreams failed to come true, then they emigrated. A good example is the family of the husband of my grandmother's sister Aniela (Angeline). Aniela married Andrzej Balon here in Chicago but I often wondered how and where they first met. When I researched the Ellis Island records, Andrzej and his brothers appeared to come from the general area of Lwow. That's a long, long way from the village of Grabiny in Straszecin Parish. But, you see, that was only a fragment of the larger picture. Andrzej and Aniela were actually childhood sweethearts who met frequently at Holy Mass at our parish church near Debica far to the west of Lwow. But the economy was tough and available land was scarce around Debica, so the Balon family packed up and moved east to try their luck there. But fate always plays a part in any true love story and Aniela and Andrzej were miraculously re-united in Chicago some years later. Don't you just love a romantic tale with a happy ending? Pass out hankies for everyone. Dee, I always enjoy exchanging comments with you. If you still insist that I delve into Majdan Zbydniowski for you, I'll be happy to oblige. At the moment, I just don't believe it is necessary. Frank was born in Przeworsk. By the way, what was your great-grandfather's occupation? Just curious. And if you haven't already done so, you might want to research the records for Grebow Parish (sw. Wojciecha Biskupa aka Saint Adalbert Bishop). I think that Grebow is in reality your ancestral turf. Ciao, bella senorina! Dennis ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dee Sager" <dsager@hughes.net> To: <galicia@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, August 03, 2009 11:27 PM Subject: [GALICIA] Majdan Zbydniowski > Dennis and List Members, > > My Grandmother, Natalia Poplawska, was the oldest of 8 children - all born > in Galicia between 1886 and 1902. All were in the U.S. by June 1907. Her > mother, Josefa/Josephine and the youngest 4 kids, Marya (Mary) age 11, > Wladyslawa (Lottie) age 9, Michel (Michael) age 7, and Franc (Frank) age 3 > (born 1902) were the last to arrive on 18 June 1907 under the surname > Popiawska. The manifest states their last place of residence was Prezwork > (Prezworsk) and that all of them were born there. > > Natalie's and William's places of birth are unknown, Anton (Anthony) was > born in Grebow, and Joseph in Surochow, according to their manifests. I > found the Naturalization registration for Frank and sent for it. He did > file the intent, but was naturalized as a result of serving in the Army > during WWII. Military papers show he was born in Majdan Zbydniowski, > Poland. > > 1. What does Zbydniowski mean and how does it apply to the town name of > Majdan? > > 2. Surochow, Przeworsk, Grebow, and now Majdan Zbydniowski: Any ideas > on why this family would have moved so often to have their children born > in so many different places? > > 3. From your special resources, as you have time, Dennis, would you be > kind enough to tell me what you can about the town? > > Any thoughts and insights would be greatly appreciated. > > Dee Sager > > > > > > ********************************* > Need to contact the list manager? Write to Marie at > GALICIA-admin@rootsweb.com > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > GALICIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

1) Zbydniowski means nothing really! The word "Majdan" on the other hand comes from Turkish language and used to mean, in very, very old Polish, a village/town square or a main square on the military base/camp. The more recent and somewhat slang(ish) meaning is a bunch of assorted and rugged luggage or bags. As far as I know, word majdan is still used in Ukrainian meaning a town square. 2) The distance between the two farthest villages Surochów (east of Jaroslaw) and Majdan Zbydniowski (near Stalowa Wola) is abt. 90 km (55 - 60 mi). Not that far at all even in those times - especially that all were located along the excellent railroad route. Why they moved around so much? Most likely in search of employment. It would also indicate that they did not own their own farm or land, as the property owners usually stayed put for generations, but rather were either hired labourers, servants, trades people, factory workers, professionals (doctors, engineers, vets, etc), or a military personnel. My grandfather who was an officer in the Austrian Army, had moved around a lot from Vienna to Hungary to Bohemia to Galicia and every single of his 9 children was born in a different place in what is now 5 countries (what a nightmare for a genealogist!!) ella Toronto -----Original Message----- From: galicia-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:galicia-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Dee Sager Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 12:28 AM To: galicia@rootsweb.com Subject: [GALICIA] Majdan Zbydniowski ...... 1. What does Zbydniowski mean and how does it apply to the town name of Majdan? 2. Surochow, Przeworsk, Grebow, and now Majdan Zbydniowski: Any ideas on why this family would have moved so often to have their children born in so many different places? 3. From your special resources, as you have time, Dennis, would you be kind enough to tell me what you can about the town? Any thoughts and insights would be greatly appreciated. Dee Sager