> Poland Roots, once again is refusing my emails. Conspiracy? LOL > > > Mick, > > The church's "census" or "Spis Parafialny" in Polish, is not to be > considered a census and it is not a civil census. I do have experience > with the Spis from Bukowsko in southeastern Poland. In fact, along > with two volunteers we've indexed it by surname (about 1,000 pages). > > The Spis Parafialny (Status Animarum in Latin) is the Roman Catholic > church's record of parishioners in a given parish. The priest visits > each home annually and records the people living in each home, > updating information (births, deaths, marriages). This visit takes > place to make sure parishioners have satisfied their religious > requirements, for the priest to bless the house and to accept > donations. The Spis is not seen as a bona fide legal document as the > information is based on memory and it is never verified against church > or civil records. However, in the absence of church or civil records > the Spis can certainly be used to glean information such as other > family members, spouses, births, deaths, marriages, emigration, and so on. > > The Spis, _if_ it is archived, would be found at the diocesan > archives. However, your first letter should be to the parish priest to > see if he has the book(s). The Spis was not intended to be an > archived record, however, I am sure most priests would find it > difficult to toss; needing space, they might send it to the diocese. > > It wouldn't hurt to check with the diocesan archives just to make sure > they don't have the records you want or have copies of them. I've > found that priests don't always know what happened to church records > before they arrived on the scene. Don't assume that the priest is > correct about a fire destroying the records. Check out all the > possibilities yourself. > > Also, don't ignore the Urza~d Stanu Cywilnego (USC) for civil records > which may not have been turned over to the wojewo~dztwo (province's) > archives. > > Debbie > > > Mrs. MICK wrote: > > Hi all - back to looking for info on my grandfather Joseph Jastrzembski again. > > After determining that "my" Koziki is a village of the Sniadowo gmina and Sniadowo parish, I was extremely fortunate to have a Polish speaking person contact the Sniadowo parish. Unfortunately the parish doesn't have any 19th century records due to the church's fire during the war (my search years were 1884-1888). Then he called the Lomza civil archives which have some records from Śniadowo or Koziki but unluckily they're dated after 1890 (after my grandfather's birth range). > > First question, would there be another place to look for his birth record other than the local parish or the local civil archives? > > Then, I thought I could try to confirm that the family did live there in hopes to eventually find out what happened to them. I was told the Lomza archives website (http://www.bialystok.ap.gov.pl/lomza/index.html) indicates it has the census files Sniadowo 1901 - 37. (I had help as this website is only in Polish). I was told they will answer letters in English so I took a try at an email in English. (The only info I have is the parents names, the sisters' possible names and the village name - I don't know what is required.) > > In the meantime, I was trying to understand more about Polish census records. First I read that the only general census records for that region were:(Russian Partition) 1897 General census of population in the Congress Kingdom of Poland (only one carried in that area until WW I)(Poland) 1921 First General Census of Population post WW I Poland; then in 1931Then I read a 2005 post by Debbie Greenlee about an annual census by the parish which I'm assuming might be what the Lomza archives has (based on the dates it gives).http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/POLAND-ROOTS/2005-08/1125501292 > > > > Does anyone have experience with census records in this area of Poland from either the parish or one of the general census mentioned? > > Thanks so much!!!mick > > > > > >