Marie, BTW This is the perfect forum for your inquiry! That's why Poland Roots is here. Can you provide a link to Andrew Hoffman's Passenger Arrival Record? I couldn't seem to locate it online. I assume that you've verified that the Andrew Hoffman whose Declaration of Intent you located is indeed your ancestor: "Regarding Andrews Naturalization Papers. His declaration off intent was filed in 1909 in Mineola NY. By this time he had married a Scot/English woman by the name of Annabelle Dougherty from Philadelphia. By the time he filed his petition for naturalization in 1915 his paperwork listed his wife Annabelle (Anna) Daughters Caroline Theresa, and Viola May and Son Andrew Jr." Have you located Andrew and the family on any census records? Since Andrew's petition lists some children, does it also list the year the oldest was born? That would give you a range (1900 - ) to look for a marriage record, probably in Pennsylvania. Even though people "don't know" or "don't remember" there is a paper trail to follow. You start with one and work backwards. those people who are alive certainly know when their parents' married. Locate those church marriage records and/or the marriage license _application_ and then go back from there, locating baptismal records (not just a certificate), and so on. Andrew Hoffman was considered an adult so he was allowed to travel alone though other people from his village may have been on the same ship making the experience not so traumatic. My own gr.aunt came over at age 16 (though she's listed as being older) and every once in awhile I think how brave she was to make the trip alone. I can't imagine myself doing that (some 40+ years ago). In fact, I can't imagine today's youth making the trip alone! I also find it interesting when a Pole, for example, marries someone in the U.S. who is yet another country. I guess love (and broken English) is the great communicator. <grin> A how-to book that explains the paper trail is: _GOING HOME: A Guide to Polish American Family History Research_, by Jonathan D. Shea: http://www.langline.com/GoingHome.htm Debbie marie yeager wrote: > Thank you both Brownyn and Debbie, > > I never expected to be consulting with this list regarding my mothers side > of the family. > > Debbie, Andrew arrived April 23,1894 according to his passenger list. His > declaration of intent states April 24, 1893. I have found no evidence that > 1893 could be correct and surmise that the passenger list is correct as the > date and ship are in alignment, only the year is off. > > Having been born 11/28/1878, this would mean he was only about 15 1/2 years > old at the time of arrival. (passenger record lists 16). His Arrival was on > the Spaarndam out of Rotterdam. In viewing the passenger list it appears > but not certain that he could have been travelling with another young man > named Karl Heyeman about the same name as andrew and perhaps a woman named > Anna Dambacher aged 26. It may be coincidence, I did figure it worth looking > into as they are the only three listed as german, listed together, and all > three destined for simply New York on this page. So far I have yet to find > these two other names connected in any way to Andrew. > > Debbie, Regarding Andrews Naturalization Papers. His declaration off intent > was filed in 1909 in Mineola NY. By this time he had married a Scot/English > woman by the name of Annabelle Dougherty from Philadelphia. By the time he > filed his petition for naturalization in 1915 his paperwork listed his wife > Annabelle (Anna) Daughters Caroline Theresa, and Viola May and Son Andrew > Jr. > > I have been unable to locate a marriage record for Andrew and Annabelle, as > I have no idea as to where, when or how they met. Annabelle can be located > in East Tredyfrin PA in 1900, I have not been able to locate any definitive > location of Andrew/Andreas in 1900. > > Sadly the last remaining person who may have been able to shed some light on > this passed away several months ago, however even before her passing the > infamous claims of "I dont know" or "I dont remember" seemed to be the > answer to any questions that were asked. I am thankful for what little > information I have been able to obtain to this point. I surely did not > anticipate to find Andrews birth location to be East Prussia. > > Thank you both again for the suggestions. > > On Mon, Dec 6, 2010 at 10:32 PM, Debbie Greenlee <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Marie, >> >> Didn't your gr.grandfather's Petition for Naturalization of >> Declaration of Intent list his place of birth as well as the others in >> his family who were being naturalized under his name? >> >> In what year did Andrew Hoffman become a citizen? >> >> Kaliningrad didn't receive this name until after WWII. It was >> Konigsberg when occupied by the Germans (East Prussia). >> In Polish it was Krolewiec. >> >> The town was pretty much destroyed during WWII but that doesn't mean >> there aren't records somewhere. consider contacting the Polish Civil >> Archives and ask them where the vital records are. You can write in >> English but their response will be in Polish. >> >> Naczelna Dyrekcja Archiwów Pan'stwowych >> ul. Rakowiecka 2D >> 02-517 Warszawa >> Poland >> >> email: [email protected] >> >> 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 >