Hi Al, At least my father wrote down his mother's birthdate and place, which was Kuty, Slovakia, but only his father's birthdate and as I said before Galicia, A-H Empire. I have been searching for some informaion on him for about 18 years now, give or take, and nothing so far. We were also told we were from Austria. jo At 12:39 PM 4/9/97 GMT, you wrote: >Joanne Hollak <joanne@ICO.COM> wrote: > >>Hi, I am having the same problem. He also said on the census that he was >>Naturalized and I can't find records of that either. He didn't tell my >>father his village name, only Galicia, A-H Empire. No talking in the family >>apparently as we don't know anything at all. jo >> >> >> >> >>At 12:50 PM 4/8/97 -0400, you wrote: >>>I've often jokingly said that it is so hard to find information about my >>>immigrant grandfather >>>that it was almost as if he deliberately tried to hide. Maybe it's not such >a >>>joke! >>> >>> >Me too! > >My grandfather was also a coal-miner in Shamokin Pa. Later he worked >for the American Can Company in Harrisburg?. Whenever I asked him >about his parents, when they came to America, etc he would just smile. >Later when I was an adult he went as far as to say they were from >Austria and later still it became a more specific Galicia. Rings a >bell huh Joanne. But he never ever even told me my great grandmothers >or grandfathers names. > >My experience agrees with others here. They were secretive about their >past. Why I do not know. > >On the other hand, he loved to tell stories about his life in America. >He would show me all the blue flakes under the skin of his hands, >which was coal. Mostly though, he talked about American Can. He >worshipped them. Always praised them for how well they took care of >he and his family as an employee. Hum, I wonder if they still have >his employment records. > >Al Shurgalla > >