Oh, boy! That means three -- all named Marianna! Thanks, Debbie. Karen > Message: 4 > Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 15:16:52 -0600 > From: Debbie Greenlee <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [POLAND] death record > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > Karen, > > z domu Ulatowskiej would mean "from the house of" or her maiden name. > So while Jarecka is Marianna's married name, Ulatowska is her maiden > name. > > Debbie > > > Karen Carpenter wrote: >> Hi, >> I have a death record for my gggrandfather which lists under "Nomen, >> Cognomen, Status, conditio vitae patris" -- Marianna Jareckiej, and then >> what looks like Indoma Ulatowskiej or possibly zdomu. Could it be z domu >> or in house? Then would Ulatowskiej be the name of the home owner? >> >> I am having a terrible time determining how many wives, if more than one, >> my gggrandfather had. Records show the first name as Marianna on two >> possible wives. Could this Ulatowskiej be a third? >> >> Help! >> Karen >> >

Maybe this will help. http://www.ww2museums.com/article/4746/Soldau-Concentration-Camp.htm "The camp Soldau served several functions between 1939 and 1945: September 1939 - Fall 1939: POW camp. Fall 1939 - Winter 1939/40: 'Selbschutz' camp. Winter 1939/40 - May 1940: Transit camp. May 1940 - 14 January 1945: Labor and penal camp. 18 January - October 1945: NKVD camp." Google search: http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&site=&source=hp&q=soldau+labor+camp+wwii&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&fp=92d5e6d07d8a9acf Regards, Mary On 1/29/2011 3:05 PM, Vera Miller wrote: > I am in a disagreement with a German cousin. I believe my great-grandparents were in a labor camp at Soldau during World War II. Was this camp ever for people immigrating to Germany? I e-mailed Polish archives about Soldau and I never received a response. There is little information about Soldau on the Internet. > > > > Thanks, > > > > Vera > *

Vera, have you searched under Dzialdowo (Soldau)? Here are a couple of links that may help or lead you elsewhere: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldau_concentration_camp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzia%C5%82dowo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_labour_in_Germany_during_World_War_II Carole At 02:05 PM 1/29/2011, you wrote: > Hello all, > > I am in a disagreement with a German cousin. I believe my > great-grandparents > were in a labor camp at Soldau during World War II. Was this camp ever for > people immigrating to Germany? I e-mailed Polish archives about > Soldau and I > never received a response. There is little information about Soldau on the > Internet. > > Thanks, > > Vera

Hello all, I am in a disagreement with a German cousin. I believe my great-grandparents were in a labor camp at Soldau during World War II. Was this camp ever for people immigrating to Germany? I e-mailed Polish archives about Soldau and I never received a response. There is little information about Soldau on the Internet. Thanks, Vera

Mt. Elliott Association Cemetery Database I called Russ Burns, Director of historic Mt. Elliott Cemetery, to ask him your questions about the new online database. (http:// http://mtelliott.com/genealogy) He was very generous with his time. Here is the Q&A and additional information to help you in your research. Why are the births dates missing? The cemetery does not have that data. Can you correct a name that is misspelled? He will accept the correct version if you can verify it with another record and he will add it as a note in his Mount Elliott cemetery database. He cannot change the official record. If the data is for a different cemetery in the association, you need to contact them directly. Their office email is at the bottom of this message. He will also add death dates if you have an official document. There are free online databases that will help you verify dates. Family Search has two Michigan death record databases: Michigan Deaths and Burials, 1800-1995 and Michigan Deaths, 1867-1897 http://www.familysearch.org Description: Name index to death and burial records from the state of Michigan. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and Family History Centers. This set contains 1,355,265 records. Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed. The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later. Seeking Michigan Death Records, 1897-1920 http://seekingmichigan.org Seeking Michigan has digital images of death certificates Where is the data for earlier Mt. Elliott burials? There was a fire at the Mt. Elliott office and the records for burials from 1841-1865 were destroyed. Noted genealogist Mary Lou Duncan recreated the burial information using state and church records. Here monograph, Mt. Elliott Cemetery Burial Records 1845-1861, was published by The Detroit Society for Genealogical Research, Inc. in 1994. In 2001 Jim Tye, a Polish American researcher and genealogist published "Polish Catholic Burials 1866-1895". Both books are available at the Polonica Americana Research Institute (PARI). http://www.polishmission.com Have you found your family in the database? Why not thank the Mount Elliott Cemetery Association for posting this useful database online? Cecile Wendt Jensen Author Detroit's Polonia Detroit's Mount Elliott Cemetery Detroit's Mount Olivet Cemetery Sto Lat: A Modern Guide to Polish Genealogy MT. ELLIOTT CEMETERY 1701 Mt. Elliott Detroit, Michigan 48207-9998 Phone (313) 567-0048 Fax (313) 567-7109 Toll Free (800) 229-0048 [email protected] ALL SAINTS CEMETERY 4401 Nelsey Road Waterford, Michigan 48329-1057 Phone (248) 623-9633 Fax (248) 623-2311 Toll Free (800) 989-9633 [email protected] MT. OLIVET CEMETERY 17100 Van Dyke Detroit, Michigan 48234-3975 Phone (313) 365-5650 Fax (313) 365-6460 Toll Free (800) 989-5650 [email protected] GUARDIAN ANGEL CEMETERY 4701 Rochester Road Rochester, Michigan 48306 Phone (248) 601-2900 Fax (248) 601-1711 Toll Free (800) 275-9574 [email protected] RESURRECTION CEMETERY 18201 Clinton River Road Clinton Twp., Michigan 48038-2903 Phone (586) 286-9020 Fax (586) 286-2441 Toll Free (800) 989-9020 [email protected] THE PRESERVE 4401 Nelsey Road Waterford, Michigan 48329-1057 Phone (248) 623-9633 Fax (248) 623-2311 Toll Free (800) 989-9633 [email protected]

> I’m interested in finding photographs and more information on my ancestor’s family: his siblings, cousins, parents and grandparents. > > The ancestor is Ignace Josef Mąka (the Polish meaning of the name in English is “flour”: it is spelled in Polish with a hook on the first letter ‘a’---pronounced “Monka’). He was born July 25, 1891 in a hamlet (Lisewo) southeast of the city of Posen, and was baptized at their parish church in Zerkow. The family moved to what is now Germany after his mother died when he was 14. Later he was a tailor’s apprentice near Cologne (Köln) in Oberhausen. Family also lived in Hamborn, Bochum, and Bruckhausen, Germany. He immigrated to the US by himself from the port of Bremen in 1910 (he celebrated his 19th birthday on the ship) and eventually settled in Chicago, Illinois in 1919. The family story is that he lost contact with his relatives in Germany/Poland in the 1920s. > > His father was Michael (Michal) Mąka (b. 27 Sep 1850) and his mother was Constancia Melaczyk (b. Feb 1858, d. 1905). Her father was Franciszek, who married Catharina Podenska (or Poddemska---not really sure of the spelling). Constancia's sister, Elizabeth, immigrated to the US before 1910 with her husband Peter Abramczyk and settled in Michigan. (The Abramczyk family is no longer living.) > > Ignace also had two brothers, who remained in Germany, as far as we know. The brothers were Franciszek (b. 22 Jan 1879) and Jozef Jan (b. 13 Sep 1881). Franciszek’s children were Jan (b. May 14, 1903), Maryanna (b. 13 Sep 1904), Leokadya (b. 4 Dec 1906), and Cecylia (b. 20 Nov 1909) or either of the latter two could be a child of the second brother, Jozef Jan. Our best guess is that Franciszek stayed in the Hamborn area of Germany in 1910 with his family. Josef Jan may have gone back to the Zerkow area because his wedding in 1905 was there. > > Of course, 100 years and two world wars have passed, so we have no idea where the relatives eventually lived and died and if there are any surviving cousins. > > We are more or less in contact with all of Ignace's descendants in the US and I'm the only one doing genealogy. > > Ignace's wife's parents also immigrated to the US in 1892 from the same area of Poland/Germany. Their names are Edmundus Gronikowski (b. 1869, d. 1936) and Cecilia Gramlewicz (b. 1871, married in 1891 in Zerkow, d. 1903). We are not in touch with all of their US descendants, so a US cousin might have done research back to Poland. > > Most of the above information was gleaned from bits and pieces which came down to us from Ignace and from the microfilms of the church in Zerkow, Poland made by the Family History Center of the LDS church. Ships' manifests and US Censuses gave us a bit more. > > Any information on the Maka, Melaczyk, Gronikowski, Gramlewicz, or Podenski families in Poland would be greatly appreciated. If you are related, I will gladly share with you the few old photographs which we have. > > Sincerely, > Jean

Just in time for the weekend. The Mt. Elliott Cemetery Assoc. (metro Detroit) has put a database online! Dig in at: http://www.mtelliott.com/genealogy Enjoy! Ceil

Hmmm ... It seems to me they would want the proof to begin with yourself going back in your lineage to the person's record you want. It looks like you may have skipped a few generations going back to the person's whose record you want. Tina On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 11:03 AM, Vera Miller <[email protected]>wrote: > > Thank you for your responses. I received an e-mail from Bialystok city > archives. They needed me to prove ancestry. I e-mailed scans of my > great-grandmother's birth record and great-great-grandparents' marriage > record. I hope that will satisfy their requirement. They did not answer > my > question on how much the documents will cost or what information is > posted > to the documents. It will be interesting. > ********************************* > Need to contact the list manager? Write to Marie at > [email protected] > ---------------------------------- > Discussion of Polish food, culture, and customs are welcome on the list as > long as the discussion stays pertinent to the topic of this list: > researching our Polish roots. > ---------------------------------- > Browse the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=poland-roots > Search the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?aop=1 > > ------------------------------- > 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 message >

Karen, z domu Ulatowskiej would mean "from the house of" or her maiden name. So while Jarecka is Marianna's married name, Ulatowska is her maiden name. Debbie Karen Carpenter wrote: > Hi, > I have a death record for my gggrandfather which lists under "Nomen, Cognomen, Status, conditio vitae patris" -- Marianna Jareckiej, and then what looks like Indoma Ulatowskiej or possibly zdomu. Could it be z domu or in house? Then would Ulatowskiej be the name of the home owner? > > I am having a terrible time determining how many wives, if more than one, my gggrandfather had. Records show the first name as Marianna on two possible wives. Could this Ulatowskiej be a third? > > Help! > Karen >

Hi, I have a death record for my gggrandfather which lists under "Nomen, Cognomen, Status, conditio vitae patris" -- Marianna Jareckiej, and then what looks like Indoma Ulatowskiej or possibly zdomu. Could it be z domu or in house? Then would Ulatowskiej be the name of the home owner? I am having a terrible time determining how many wives, if more than one, my gggrandfather had. Records show the first name as Marianna on two possible wives. Could this Ulatowskiej be a third? Help! Karen

Vera, My polish is not great but I believe ‘wniosekiem’ comes from ‘wniosek’ which means to draw a conclusion or, to gather. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will agree and/or give a better translation. John > Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:04:09 -0600 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: [POLAND] translation for wniosekiem > > > Hello all, > > > > I am dealing with Bialystok city archives. I got a response in 24 hours, > which surprised me. > > > > My question is what is wniosekiem? Google translator can't give me the > translation for this word. > > > > Thanks in advance. > > > > Vera > ********************************* > Need to contact the list manager? Write to Marie at [email protected] > ---------------------------------- > Discussion of Polish food, culture, and customs are welcome on the list as long as the discussion stays pertinent to the topic of this list: researching our Polish roots. > ---------------------------------- > Browse the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=poland-roots > Search the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?aop=1 > > ------------------------------- > 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 message

Hello all, I am dealing with Bialystok city archives. I got a response in 24 hours, which surprised me. My question is what is wniosekiem? Google translator can't give me the translation for this word. Thanks in advance. Vera

Hello: I thank you very much for helping newbies. I will be using your webpages as I have a surname that matches. Helena > [Original Message] > From: the cohens <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Date: 1/27/2011 12:45:15 PM > Subject: Re: [POLAND] Radom Diocese Church Books 1654-1946 > > Debbie, > > You are totally right, transcriptions are what are most needed. But I > found myself in a position (due to disability) where I do not have > access to the right kind of software to transcribe for the projects I > am most interested in and capable of helping with. > > My site has been there several years, and the Free International > Birth Resources pages have been there two years now. I am sure to > link to the long established free resources I know of, so folks > finding my pages can also find those pages as well. > > What I observed is that newbies trying to find free online records get > duped by the subscription sites that appear at the top of the search > engine results when they are trying to find records. And it is very > hard to find any comprehensive lists of free birth record sites > anywhere, that you can be sure you are not ending up on a pay site. > They exist, but are hard to find unless you already know what they > are. > > It is an incredibly aggravating experience for many, many people. And > I decided to change that, making it easier for newbies to find the > free resources they need without giving up. > > On 1/27/11, Debbie Greenlee <[email protected]> wrote: > ... > > > > I don't mean to rain on your parade but aren't there enough indexes on > > the internet? Poland Gen Web is a good place to put links for > > databases such as the "Radom Diocese Church Books" (from LDS) instead > > of adding another site. What's really needed are actual records or > > transcriptions of records placed on the internet. > > > > Debbie > ********************************* > Need to contact the list manager? Write to Marie at [email protected] > ---------------------------------- > Discussion of Polish food, culture, and customs are welcome on the list as long as the discussion stays pertinent to the topic of this list: researching our Polish roots. > ---------------------------------- > Browse the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=poland-roots > Search the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?aop=1 > > ------------------------------- > 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 message > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- > Text inserted by Panda IS 2009: > > This message has NOT been classified as spam. If it is unsolicited mail (spam), click on the following link to reclassify it: http://localhost:6083/Panda?ID=pav_8522&SPAM=true&path=C:\Documents%20and%20 Settings\Compaq_Owner\Local%20Settings\Application%20Data\Panda%20Security\P anda%20Internet%20Security%202009\AntiSpam > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------

Alan< I still think Cyrillic is good way to go in that Ukrainian locality of Dolina. Note even the village name may be spelt differently. Helena > [Original Message] > From: Kania Alan <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Date: 1/27/2011 10:18:38 AM > Subject: [POLAND] Searching for Jozef Panasiewicz > > Those are all valid ideas for finding the elusive biological grandfather. I think one comment that was privately sent to me was the most revealing -- perhaps I will never find a documentable connection to Jozef Panasiewicz's line and that I should just accept that. The only information I have were two separate handwritten notes from my late father and a conversation I had with him before he passed away in 2000. All he knew was that his real father's name was Jozef Panasiewicz and he came from Dolina, Ukraine. My father was born out of wedlock and Jozef would not marry my grandmother unless the child (my father) was a boy. He also insisted that my grandmother become a Russian Orthodox church member. My grandmother considered these things to be poor foundations for establishing a marriage, and told him that their child was a girl -- a complete lie just to get rid of Panasiewicz. NONE of this is documented except with the two notes left in my father's records and my conve! > rsation with him -- Jozef Panasiewicz originally from Dolina, Ukraine. The other tid-bits are heresay. > > I couldn't do family history genealogy without searching all possibilities, but this may indeed be a dead end. My grandmother went on to marry four additional men -- outliving each one of them. I would have had pictures of her first real marriage husband, but she conveniently cut him out of the only pictures that I have the three of them (New husband, my grandmother, and my very young father). > > Alan > ********************************* > Need to contact the list manager? Write to Marie at [email protected] > ---------------------------------- > Discussion of Polish food, culture, and customs are welcome on the list as long as the discussion stays pertinent to the topic of this list: researching our Polish roots. > ---------------------------------- > Browse the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=poland-roots > Search the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?aop=1 > > ------------------------------- > 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 message > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- > Text inserted by Panda IS 2009: > > This message has NOT been classified as spam. If it is unsolicited mail (spam), click on the following link to reclassify it: http://localhost:6083/Panda?ID=pav_8515&SPAM=true&path=C:\Documents%20and%20 Settings\Compaq_Owner\Local%20Settings\Application%20Data\Panda%20Security\P anda%20Internet%20Security%202009\AntiSpam > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------

Thank you for your responses. I received an e-mail from Bialystok city archives. They needed me to prove ancestry. I e-mailed scans of my great-grandmother's birth record and great-great-grandparents' marriage record. I hope that will satisfy their requirement. They did not answer my question on how much the documents will cost or what information is posted to the documents. It will be interesting.

The records are not only for LDS members. Anyone can "join". I think the problem is that either the images are not available yet or the server has issues. I don't mean to rain on your parade but aren't there enough indexes on the internet? Poland Gen Web is a good place to put links for databases such as the "Radom Diocese Church Books" (from LDS) instead of adding another site. What's really needed are actual records or transcriptions of records placed on the internet. Debbie the cohens wrote: > This is a head up for those who have seen the new "Radom Diocese > Church Books" database listed in the FamilySearch menu and in various > announcements around the web and in newsletters. > > I have been evaluating databases for inclusion on my free online birth > records resource pages with the help of friends, and the images in > this database which is just supposed to be browsable images were > just not coming up. > > Then I did some googling and found that the database is apparently > ONLY available to visitors with LDS accounts (I think this means just > to church members?), according to a forum post in Italian (I used a > translation engine to read the thread) at: > > http://forums.familysearch.org/en/showthread.php?p=23372 > > So if you are wondering what is going on if you are having trouble > with finding data in Radom, this might be why. The post quotes > something I could not find elsewhere, saying that they hope to expand > access, so try the database in a month or two and maybe write > FamilySearch asking about it if you really need the information. > > https://www.familysearch.org/s/collection/show#uri=http://pilot.familysearch.org/records/trk:/fsrs/c1407440&hash=MPAfKvgWGXfZ5STyuqUCQxOVNk8%253D > > https://www.familysearch.org/s/collection/show#uri=http://search-api:8080/searchapi/search/collection/1407440&hash=Mrd8SMocDIIen2Q83tu%252B82PRagg%253D > > Another thing we have found is they have a number of different ways to > access the same search pages for each database. It may change, but at > the moment, it does not seem to matter which URL one uses, either of > the above should get you to the same place. > > For those who have not seen my free Birth resource page for Europe and > might either enjoy it, or may have suggestions for corrections or > other sites and webpages to add for Poland or other countries, here > is the address: > > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thecohens/birthindexes-eur.html > > The LDS is keeping me on my toes with all the new databases going > online and constant changes. I will be glad when the additions to > their site slow down and I can go back to tracking down little known > birth databases on other sites. >

Hello Alan, I think you should go ahead and do the dna test. www.familytreedna.com This is from Houston, TX. It is done through the mail and requires no blood. Pay for the cheapest test to begin with (used to be about 100 bucks, now maybe more?). This first cheap test will place you in a GROUP of names, and then later you can send them more money to up-grade to a higher level of test, which will match you even closer. (they keep the dna reserved for that) I am involved indirectly with 2 such dna surname projects. It has shed a great deal of light, but in both cases we are still searching for the immigrant ancestor. So it won't tell you everything in every case. But, you will find out something. You might find out your earliest male ancestor was related to someone you didn't expect, like a typical British man for example. Or you might find that your ancestor's story is substantiated, because you match to a typical central European or Ukranian, or whatever. Females can also participate, but not in a SURNAME study, which requires males only. This test is CONFIDENTIAL, you don't have to make your name public, unless you want to. Best regards, Lilly Martin ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kania Alan" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 12:37 PM Subject: [POLAND] Searching for Jozef Panasiewicz > It's been about a year since I've posted my brick wall of a search for my > biological grandfather. So, I'll try again in the hope that this mystery > will be solved: > > I'm tracing several family lines from the Buczkowice/Lodygowice area of > southern Poland: CADER, GLUZA, GORNA (GORNEY), KANIA, KASTURA, KUBICA, > KWASNY, MIGDAL, MOCZEK, TARNAWA, and WRONA. Those families remained as > farmers in that valley as far back as the mid-1700s according to Roman > Catholic church records. > > One major brick wall that I've hit is my biological grandfather. > > JOZEF PANASIEWICZ and my grandmother FRANCISZKA KANIA "met" somewhere > between Ellis Island and Pittsfield, Massachusetts circa 1913. According > to my late father, PANASIEWICZ was from Dolina, Ukraine. He was also a > member of the Russian Orthodox faith. She was born in Buczkowice, Poland. > > Taking my my grandmother's date of arrival at Ellis Island (27 Aug 1913) > and my father's birth date (28 Sept 1914) into consideration it's unlikely > that they met in Poland or on the ship. Instead, it is more likely the > affair occurred in Pittsfield, Massachusetts where they may have been > borders. My grandmother left Pittsfield short after a family tragedy on 5 > March 1914 and moved to No. Andover, Massachusetts where my father was > born. Jozef Panasiewicz and Franciszka Kania never married. > > I'm beginning to think the elusive JOZEF PANASIEWICZ either skipped out on > that part of the country or returned to Poland or Ukraine. I've searched > the Polish church in Pittsfield, the usual on-line data bases (Ancestry, > GeneologyBank, Footnote, et. al.) and the Berkshire Historical Society. > I've also checked the Pittsfield courts. No mention of Jozef Panasiewicz. > > Any suggestions? > > While there are a few "Jozef Panasiewicz" individuals that show up on > steam ship records and documents from around the country, I have yet to be > able to find anything that would document him to a connection with my > grandmother. Nothing ties those Panasiewicz surnames with Ukraine. Shy of > blindly doing DNA tests on everyone that bears the Panasiewicz surname I > have been cah-floozled about trying to connect my biological grandfather > with my grandmother. > > Alan > ********************************* > Need to contact the list manager? Write to Marie at > [email protected] > ---------------------------------- > Discussion of Polish food, culture, and customs are welcome on the list as > long as the discussion stays pertinent to the topic of this list: > researching our Polish roots. > ---------------------------------- > Browse the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=poland-roots > Search the list's archives here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search?aop=1 > > ------------------------------- > 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 message >

Debbie, You are totally right, transcriptions are what are most needed. But I found myself in a position (due to disability) where I do not have access to the right kind of software to transcribe for the projects I am most interested in and capable of helping with. My site has been there several years, and the Free International Birth Resources pages have been there two years now. I am sure to link to the long established free resources I know of, so folks finding my pages can also find those pages as well. What I observed is that newbies trying to find free online records get duped by the subscription sites that appear at the top of the search engine results when they are trying to find records. And it is very hard to find any comprehensive lists of free birth record sites anywhere, that you can be sure you are not ending up on a pay site. They exist, but are hard to find unless you already know what they are. It is an incredibly aggravating experience for many, many people. And I decided to change that, making it easier for newbies to find the free resources they need without giving up. On 1/27/11, Debbie Greenlee <[email protected]> wrote: ... > > I don't mean to rain on your parade but aren't there enough indexes on > the internet? Poland Gen Web is a good place to put links for > databases such as the "Radom Diocese Church Books" (from LDS) instead > of adding another site. What's really needed are actual records or > transcriptions of records placed on the internet. > > Debbie

Those are all valid ideas for finding the elusive biological grandfather. I think one comment that was privately sent to me was the most revealing -- perhaps I will never find a documentable connection to Jozef Panasiewicz's line and that I should just accept that. The only information I have were two separate handwritten notes from my late father and a conversation I had with him before he passed away in 2000. All he knew was that his real father's name was Jozef Panasiewicz and he came from Dolina, Ukraine. My father was born out of wedlock and Jozef would not marry my grandmother unless the child (my father) was a boy. He also insisted that my grandmother become a Russian Orthodox church member. My grandmother considered these things to be poor foundations for establishing a marriage, and told him that their child was a girl -- a complete lie just to get rid of Panasiewicz. NONE of this is documented except with the two notes left in my father's records and my conve! rsation with him -- Jozef Panasiewicz originally from Dolina, Ukraine. The other tid-bits are heresay. I couldn't do family history genealogy without searching all possibilities, but this may indeed be a dead end. My grandmother went on to marry four additional men -- outliving each one of them. I would have had pictures of her first real marriage husband, but she conveniently cut him out of the only pictures that I have the three of them (New husband, my grandmother, and my very young father). Alan

Alan. Searching for what happened to your grandfather, remember he could have changed his surname. I am finding that one cannot find Polish ancestors in USA and British records unless I use wildcards liberally. Ancestry.com now accepts more liberal use of wildcards, as does Footnote. So, for Panasiewicz, I would try P*n*w*z or P*n*w*s using Exact search, to maximize the results. If they do not like that, try P*n*w*cz, but add the fewest letters possible to catch more variations. I am finding all kinds of records this way in my own research with wild spellings one could never dream up. Another name you should consider is Panitz and variations. I have some Panitz in my Weinzimmer database, and it seems like one surname he could have shortened his name to. Not the same man, mine was a Charles Panitz, born around 1900 or earlier and Jewish. If you decide to do DNA testing, you need to understand there is not just one test. You can get a discount for Y DNA (direct line male) and mtDNA (direct line female) if you join through the Polish Project, and then when your results come in, the very helpful volunteer administrator of that group sends a very insightful explanation of your results. http://www.familytreedna.com/public/polish However, you cannot yourself test for Panasiewicz Y DNA if your father and his father and so on were Kania's, you would be testing only the Kania male chromosome. However, you also need to know there now is now a DNA test they have which does not matter if you are related through the direct male or female lineage, it is the FamilyFinder. This is much more expensive, but tests chromosomes you can have in common with any blood relatives, not just direct line. If you yourself did mtDNA, you would be testing your mother's mother's mother's DNA, along the maternal line. But if I understand you correctly, you do not have your Kania grandmother's mtDNA in you as her son, your Kania father, could not pass it on to you. However, if you wanted to test your father's sisters or their children, that would give you your Kania grandmother's mtDNA. I know this is confusing. Bottom line is you cannot test your Panasiewicz male line DNA unless you have a known direct line male Panasiewicz descendant. Again, the FamilyFinder test avoids that problem. Then if you match anybody in the FF database, you can compare notes to try to figure out how you are related. But it may take time, more and more people are taking the test, but the database will take time to grow. I have a better explain of the different Y and mtDNA testing on my DNA results page. http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thecohens/results.html If you are trying to find possible Panasiewicz relations to test, I would search the World War 1 and 2 Draft Registration card databases for men with that surname who came from the same area of Poland as your grandfather, and then track those men's families forward using censuses, obituaries and public records to find living descendants before just wildly calling every Panasiewicz you find asking if you might be related. Some tools for finding people whose names you know, including public record sites, are listed at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~thecohens/findingaids.html On 1/27/11, Lilly Martin <[email protected]> wrote: >. Hello Alan, > > I think you should go ahead and do the dna test. > www.familytreedna.com > This is from Houston, TX. It is done through the mail and requires no > blood. > > Pay for the cheapest test to begin with (used to be about 100 bucks, now > maybe more?).