Hi Barbara Does the Polish word "gorale" mean anything to you? Well, it means "highlander" and your ancestor was very likely one. In the 19th Century the village of Maciejowa had 416 Greek Catholic residents who worshipped at the wooden church in Maciejowa, 99 Roman Catholics who worshipped at Nawojowa, and 51 Jewish residents who worshipped at Nowy Sacz. Texts of that period refer to Maciejowa as a "Ruska wies" or "Ruthenian village". The earliest known mention of the village was made in 1229 AD. Neighboring Labowa, a little more than a mile to the east, was a bit larger with 783 Greek Catholic residents who worshipped at the masonry church in Labowa and 79 Roman Catholic residents who also worshipped at Nawojowa. I am not entirely sure, but I believe that this area was populated by the Gardloki highlander group. This group was frequently lumped together with the Spizacy highlander group for enumeration purposes and the total population for both groups in 1851 was 20,530. Today, they would probably be referred to simply as being "Lemko". Here's some information on the various highlander groups that lived in Galicia in the 19th Century: http://spuscizna.org/spuscizna/highlanders.html Because of their relative isolation in the valleys and meadows of the Tatra Mountains, the various highlanders groups each developed their own distinctive style of dress and often had particular peculiarities of language. Hence, they could be "grouped". Nearly all of the highlanders were of either East Slavic or West Slavic origin, but there were a few pockets of non-Slavic Cossaks and Wallachians up in the hills as well, usually much farther to the east.. The West Slavic highlanders tended to be Roman Catholic while the East Slavic highlanders tended to be Greek Catholic. And all of this leads us to the rather famous Gorale's Lament or "Goralu Czy Ci Nie Zal": http://spuscizna.org/spuscizna/ezine-3-1.html Is that satisfactory for today? Cheers! Dennis ----- Original Message ----- From: "Barbara K McLeroy" <bmcleroy@genevaliberty.com> To: <galicia@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 9:07 AM Subject: Re: [GALICIA] REMAK SURNAME > > Dennis, > I would like to say thank you for such an informative, and eloquent reply. > The information you provided is useful for all of us researching our > Galician roots. Would you care to offer some insight into the history of > Maciejowa? Thank you for all the knowledge you share. Regards. Barb > Starynchak > > ********************************* > 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 >

OK, Dennis, so if my grandmother came from Halbow/Halbiv, to which of the highland groups would she have belonged? Her family was Greek Catholic. Thanks, David Wargo ---- Dennis Benarz <benarz@hotmail.com> wrote: > Hi Barbara > > Does the Polish word "gorale" mean anything to you? Well, it means > "highlander" and your ancestor was very likely one. > > In the 19th Century the village of Maciejowa had 416 Greek Catholic > residents who worshipped at the wooden church in Maciejowa, 99 Roman > Catholics who worshipped at Nawojowa, and 51 Jewish residents who worshipped > at Nowy Sacz. Texts of that period refer to Maciejowa as a "Ruska wies" or > "Ruthenian village". The earliest known mention of the village was made in > 1229 AD. > > Neighboring Labowa, a little more than a mile to the east, was a bit larger > with 783 Greek Catholic residents who worshipped at the masonry church in > Labowa and 79 Roman Catholic residents who also worshipped at Nawojowa. > > I am not entirely sure, but I believe that this area was populated by the > Gardloki highlander group. This group was frequently lumped together with > the Spizacy highlander group for enumeration purposes and the total > population for both groups in 1851 was 20,530. Today, they would probably be > referred to simply as being "Lemko". Here's some information on the various > highlander groups that lived in Galicia in the 19th Century: > http://spuscizna.org/spuscizna/highlanders.html > > Because of their relative isolation in the valleys and meadows of the Tatra > Mountains, the various highlanders groups each developed their own > distinctive style of dress and often had particular peculiarities of > language. Hence, they could be "grouped". Nearly all of the highlanders were > of either East Slavic or West Slavic origin, but there were a few pockets of > non-Slavic Cossaks and Wallachians up in the hills as well, usually much > farther to the east.. The West Slavic highlanders tended to be Roman > Catholic while the East Slavic highlanders tended to be Greek Catholic. > > And all of this leads us to the rather famous Gorale's Lament or "Goralu Czy > Ci Nie Zal": http://spuscizna.org/spuscizna/ezine-3-1.html > > Is that satisfactory for today? > > Cheers! > > Dennis > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Barbara K McLeroy" <bmcleroy@genevaliberty.com> > To: <galicia@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 9:07 AM > Subject: Re: [GALICIA] REMAK SURNAME > > > > > > Dennis, > > I would like to say thank you for such an informative, and eloquent reply. > > The information you provided is useful for all of us researching our > > Galician roots. Would you care to offer some insight into the history of > > Maciejowa? Thank you for all the knowledge you share. Regards. Barb > > Starynchak > > > > ********************************* > > 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 > > > > ********************************* > 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