Vera, There are no stupid questions. You've heard that before right? It's true, however, I don't think anyone here can answer your question definitively. If adult children were married they _might not_ have followed the parents to another place. If the adult children were unmarried then they probably would have moved with their parents. People moved long distances to seek a better life and more work. Word of more work/lack of certain craftsmen got around; newspapers, word of mouth. Most people at this time did not own land so it wasn't a big deal to move. A clothmaker's sons would have worked for him or with him. You don't have to necessarily hire someone (especially in Białystok) to look for records. LDS has filmed Lutheran records for this city covering 1841-1886. But these records would only help if you think your ancestors were baptized and/or married in the Białystok parish. http://tinyurl.com/atfl78j You didn't mention in which parish or village Paulina Kretzer and Karl Hoffmann were married. FYI Ciechanowiec (if I have the correct one) is in old województwo of Łomża. I mention this because you wrote that it was near Białystok and Białystok was also a województwo. Just didn't want any confusion. Ratowiec is in gmina Czarna Wieś Kościelna, old woj. Białystok. Interestingly, this village does not come up when searched on jewishgen or mapa.szukacz.pl It does show up on the map site if you search on Czarna Wieś Kościelna. (weird). Debbie Vera Miller wrote: > Hello all, > I am trying to research the path of my Kretzer family. > My great-great-great-grandmother Pauline Kretzer was born in 1836 in a village near Zgierz and Lodz. She married Carl Hoffmann, born 1835 in Ciechanowiec, near Bialystok. At the time of marriage, Pauline was living in Ratowiec near Bialystok. > Would it be correct to assume Pauline traveled from Zgierz to near Bialystok with her parents as an unmarried woman? The Kretzers were clothmakers. Would all the unmarried children of my great-great-great-great-grandparents be expected to relocate near Bialystok or would all grown children (unmarried and married) be expected to relocate? How would the clothmakers know to relocate to another city like Bialystok? Would the entire extended family be offered employment in clothmaking? Sorry if this sounds like stupid questions. > I am trying to determine whether it would be worth my money to have Bialystok archives search for Kretzer in Bialystok evangelical lutherans records. I do not know whether Kretzer was a common name in this area for the German population. > Vera >