Dear G W, I can only state that the names you have given should all be capitalized. The last names, I mean. I am searching for RADZISZEWSKI from Ciechanowiec and RADZIWON from Bransk, and Siemiatycze. Yours in genealogy, Sharon _SharonVA10@aol.com_ (mailto:SharonVA10@aol.com) .

SharonVA10@aol.com wrote: > I can only state that the names you have given should all be capitalized. > The last names, I mean. I want to point out that this isn't a requirement of this list. :-) Some folks prefer surnames in all caps. It makes the surnames stand out from the rest of the message. GWill65074@aol.com wrote: > On my grandmothers baptismal record it states that Stanley was > born in Plock, Polonia. On the 1900-1920 federal census' it > states they immigrated from Ger. Poland. I have benn trying to > determine if Plock is the town he was born in or the Province. The Pl~ock (the L has a slash through it) referenced on the baptismal record could indicate the province, but I doubt that since woj. pl~ockie only existed from 1975-1999. It probably refers to either the city, the county seat, or the parish where your g-grandfather was born. There's no way to know which without further information. However, I'm fairly certain that the Pl~ock you're thinking of was in the Russian partition of Poland from 1815-1920. > I am also trying to locate where I can find their > naturalization papers in hopes that they will narrow my > search down. If your ancestors became citizens after 1906, yes, the declaration of intent (DI) and the petition for naturalization will list the exact town where they were born. It will also include that of his/her spouse, if married, and the place of their marriage. Post-1906 naturalizations are a gold mine of info. After 1906, applications for citizenship could only be filed in a federal court, so they would be held at the federal level. The regional branches of NARA have microfilm of the records pertaining to their specific regions, and the NARA in Washington, D.C. has microfilm of all regions. I believe the INS also has copies of naturalization applications. What does it state for citizenship status on the census records? Al means alien, Pa means "first papers" were filed, and Na means naturalized citizen, in case you're not familiar with the abbreviations. > One last question please, if I can determine where to search for the > polish records for my Bartkowskis, i.e. the LDS films, will they be > very hard to research? Don't let the language barrier intimidate you. It's not as difficult as it may seem. I don't understand Polish, but with a couple of research guides and a Polish dictionary, I was able to understand the content of my ancestors' parish records with no more trouble than deciphering the priest's handwriting. Do keep in mind, though, that there was no standardized spelling for surnames "back then." Bartkowski may have been written as Bartkoski in some records while being spelled Bartkowski in others. Also, in Polish, when referring to a female the surname will end in an A instead of an I. If your ancestor was from the Prussian or Austrian partition of Poland, the records will be either in Latin or German. From what I've heard from other researchers, they are often written in a "table" format. There are lots of guides on the web to help you understand the language. However, the handwriting may be another matter! <g> Old German Script can be a chore to decipher, but it's definitely worth the effort. There are also charts and handwriting samples on the web to assist you. If they were from the Russian partition, the records would probably be in Polish - until 1868. After that, the Russian government required all records to be kept in Russian. There are research aids available on line to help with this too. Here are a couple of URLs to start you off with: http://www.rootsweb.com/~polwgw/trans.html http://pgsa.org/refdesk.htm#Translation Regards, Marie Pol-Mazowieckie list admin