Fred, I'm going to Salt Lake City in three weeks and was hoping to find microfilms for this area or parish, but it looks unlikely to me. I also checked the LDS catalog. If I write to the parish or the diocese, would they be willing to search records as far back as they can, or would they be just be filling out a form for a marriage, baptism, etc.? Is there a good researcher in the area who would be willing to do this? Also, do you, or anyone else, know if Austria-Hungary ever had a census taken? As large as the empire was, and with so many different ethnic groups, I would assume this would have been a daunting exercise! Thank you, and everyone else, for being so helpful!!! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Hoffman" <wmfhoffman@sbcglobal.net> To: <poland-roots@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 9:16 AM Subject: Re: [POLAND] Help with Grandmother's Town > Hi, > > Jane <jania1938@wowway.com> wrote: > >> Your eyes are better than mine Fred. To me, >> it's scribbling! > > It helps an awful lot if you're familiar with the > Polish language, and especially Polish names. That > way, when you look at this kind of scribbling, > your mind automatically recognizes which > combinations of letters are likely and which are > not. If you recognize the first word is Wola, you > know the second word is probably adjectival in > form, which means -owska is likely. You know > Rusin- is plausible, or Raniz-, but Qxblky- is > not. It sounds silly, perhaps, but familiarity > with the language promotes pattern recognition, > and that helps you cut down the number of > possibilities to something manageable. (Sometimes, > at least.) > > I was pleased to see that Joe Armata read it the > same way I did. If both of ous, working > independently, came to the same conclusion, that's > a good indication the conclusion is sound. Not > 100% certain, but pretty darned good. > >> I can find out about Wola Rusinowska. Is it in >> the southwest corner of >> Poland? >> I'm not sure what the boundaries of Galicia are. > > I notice others have helped you with info on the > location. Lenius's _Genealogical Gazetteer of > Galicia_ says Wola Rusinowska was served by the > Roman Catholic parish church in Spie as of the > late 19th century, and the gazetter _Slownik > geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego_ (Vol. 10, p. 28) > agrees. As of the late 19th century, of the 916 > inhabitants, 896 were Roman Catholic and 20 were > Jewish; so unless your ancestors were among those > few Jewish inhabitants, it is highly likely they > went to the church in Spie to record births, > marriages, and deaths. > > These days, however, Wola Rusinowska has its own > parish church: > > http://www.sandomierz.opoka.org.pl/strdiec/parafie.php?p=229 > > The history there says Wola Rusinowska has > belonged to a number of different parishes over > the last century, including Miechocin, Ranizow, > Spie, and Majdan Krolewski. In 1969 a pastor was > appointed to serve this community, and in 1972 a > new church was consecrated there; so I guess the > parish in Wola Rusinowska only dates back to the > early 1970s. > > I'm not positive where older records would be > kept, in the new church or at one of the previous > parishes. I don't see how they could go back into > the old registers and split the entries up every > time a new parish is formed; maybe they make > copies of the registers for the new parish. > Actually, that's something I need to look into -- > it would make a good article for one of the > publications I edit, unless someone has already > written about this. > > My best advice is to write the church and ask the > priest. The address is: > > Parafia pw Sw. Józefa Robotnika > 36-110 Majdan Królewski > Wola Rusinowska 49 > POLAND > > It's in Ranizow deanery of Sandomierz diocese. If > the local pastor can't help you, maybe he'll tell > you where to write. If he doesn't help at all, you > can try writing the Sandomierz Diocesan Archive. > > Normally I advise people to try the Family History > Library first; if they have the records on > microfilm, why bother writing to Poland? But I > tried searching the FHL Catalog to see if they > have microfilmed that parish's records, and as > best I could tell, no records are available for > Roman Catholics in that area. I understand Church > authorities in southeastern Poland have generally > not cooperated with the FHL's filming efforts, so > many places in former Galicia have never been > filmed. You might check further, but my guess is > that you'll have to write to Poland, either to the > parish or to the Sandomierz Diocesan Archive, to > have any luck searching the parish records. > > If you want more info on Galicia in general and > research in particular, I'd recommend > www.halgal.com as a very good source of info and > tips. > > That's the best I can tell you. If anyone can give > you better info, I hope he or she will do so. > > Fred Hoffman > > ********************************* > Need to contact the list manager? Write to Marie at > Poland-Roots-admin@rootsweb.com > ---------------------------------- > 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 > POLAND-ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

Re: searching in parish books. The church, as a general rule, does not do the genealogical searches. They may answer a direct question. You have to ask specifically giving the correct names and at least a year of the event. But, I have to stress the word MAY. It is their good will. Most parishes/archdioceses will not answer. Last time I was in Poland, I talked to the local priests and their reasoning for not answering was that with the flood of correspondence requesting genealogical info from all over the world they simply do not have the time nor the resources unless they spend 24/7 answering those requests. And how tedious is the searching and deciphering old church books - we all know very well. The only place where they will do the genealogical research - for $$$ (and lots of it) - are the Polish State Archives. Also, hiring a private researcher is an answer (also lots of $$$) or going there yourself (even more $$$). Re: Austrio-Hungarian censuses. Yes! They were taken regulary at the interval of 10 years for every province of the empire incl. Galicia, with the last one - I believe (but don't quote me on this) done somewhere between 1910-1918. Most of them are available only at the Vienna State Archives. Google is your friend here. Ella Toronto > > If I write to the parish or the diocese, would they be willing to > search > records as far back as they can, or would they be just be filling out a > form > for a marriage, baptism, etc.? Is there a good researcher in the area > who > would be willing to do this? > > Also, do you, or anyone else, know if Austria-Hungary ever had a census > taken? As large as the empire was, and with so many different ethnic > groups, I would assume this would have been a daunting exercise! > > Thank you, and everyone else, for being so helpful!!! >

Hi, Jane <jania1938@wowway.com> wrote: > If I write to the parish or the diocese, would > they be willing to search > records as far back as they can, or would they > be just be filling out a form > for a marriage, baptism, etc.? Is there a good > researcher in the area who > would be willing to do this? There's just no way to know what they will or will not do. Some priests will search all their books and present you a complete family tree if you just donate $20 to their parish. Others won't give you the time of day even if you drop by their office and have the Pope with you. (Especially now that we have a German Pope, not a Polish one.) It just depends on the individual situation. You can try and see what happens. That's all I can suggest, unless you can get in touch with someone else who's done research in the same area and can tell you what works and what doesn't. There are researchers who help genealogists, but it seems every time I recommend one, I hear back "No, he/she is a bum." (Of course, some people have very unrealistic expectations, and gripe for no good reason). Those researchers who do generally get high marks from their customers are awfully busy. Iwona Dakiniewicz, for instance, is highly praised by many; but she's also so busy I really don't know if she can take on new clients. You can write her at <genealogy@pro.onet.pl> and ask -- it will do no harm, the worst that can happen is she'll say no. Aleksandra "Alex" Kacprzak also has a good reputation, but she lives in the Grudziadz area, and I'm not sure how far she travels when doing research. You can certainly ask her; the last I heard, this address is valid <alex@genoroots.com>. I've met and worked with both Iwona and Alex, and I can tell you they speak English well enough that language is not a serious problem. They're both smart, energetic, and awfully good at coaxing stubborn people to cooperate. I've heard a lot of good things about Michal Marciniak, as well. I believe you can write him at <office@polgenresearch.com>. That's the address given at http://www.polgenresearch.com/en/index.php., which I believe is the Web site of his company. I haven't dealt with Michal personally, but I gather his English is quite good, and he has plenty of satisfied clients. Generally I advise people to try writing the parish first. If you get lucky and run into a cooperative priest, it may save you a lot of money. If the priest won't help, you might try the Diocesan Archive. If that doesn't help, talk to one of these pros. Or if you can afford to spend a little money and want faster, more accurate results, try a pro first. Most of what I hear about these folks is very positive. Put it this way: if I needed research help, and could afford professional help, I'd be comfortable working with any of them. Fred Hoffman

OBITUARIES: LILBURN: Joe Socha, meticulous in work, kitchen By <mailto:hcrenshaw@ajc.com>Holly Crenshaw The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 07/05/08 Maybe Joe Socha's hard-working resourcefulness was a family trait. The youngest child of Polish immigrants, Mr. Socha and his seven brothers and sisters ate bowl after bowl of potato soup growing up in Long Island, N.Y., because it was all the family could afford. Once Mr. Socha started cooking for his own family, "he could take anything in the refrigerator and whip something out of it," said his wife of 45 years, Rose Socha, of Lilburn. But there was nothing thrown-together in his presentation. Mr. Socha approached cooking like the skilled craftsman that he was. "If he made soup, he would cut up every vegetable so perfectly that you'd swear it came out of a can, like he went to chef school or something," his wife said. The funeral Mass for Joseph Stanley Socha is 10:30 a.m. today at St. Stephen the Martyr Catholic Church. Mr. Socha, 80, of Lilburn died of complications from cancer Monday at Peachtree Christian Hospice. Wages & Sons, Gwinnett Chapel, is in charge of arrangements. Mr. Socha didn't learn to speak Polish; his parents wanted their children to assimilate into American culture. But he took pride in his Polish heritage and encouraged his grandchildren to call him the Polish term for grandfather. Homemade pierogi, kielbasa and other Polish dishes were part of his culinary repertoire. But his pizzas were the stuff of family legend, and he loved to fire up the grill and cook steaks for friends. Mr. Socha worked as a master plumber in Long Island before he moved to Georgia in 1980 to service and repair gasoline pumps. The set of skills he brought with him was as hefty as his toolbox. "There was nothing he couldn't figure out," his wife said. "He could build things, he could do plumbing, he could do electrical work and fix anything." "He was very meticulous," she said. "When he did something, he finished it." His renovation jobs looked more polished than the original work he replaced. The playhouse and swing set he built for his grandchildren were so sturdy they could probably survive a tornado. "If he built it, it was not coming down," his wife said. Mr. Socha enjoyed sharing his expertise with his triplet sons ­- that is, once they settled down enough to listen. "The three of us were quite a handful growing up, fighting all the time and stuff like that. And as we got older, we got into bigger and better forms of trouble," said his son Michael Socha of Social Circle. "But he had a lot more patience than I have with kids of my own." "He was one of those people who could never be at a desk job. It always had to be hands-on with him," his son said. "Now I have my own company doing heating and air-conditioning work, and a lot of that comes from him ­- watching him get in there and work at something." Mr. Socha was quiet by nature but would rush to do anything for any neighbor who asked, his wife said. "That was the sad thing," she said, "because I don't think he realized how much people loved him and really appreciated him, because he was always in the background." "He never liked dissension. He always liked harmony," his wife said. "He could never hold a grudge and never wanted to upset anybody. "You could have the worst argument with him and then turn around tomorrow and ask a favor, and he would do it." Survivors include two other sons, Joseph Socha of New Hyde Park, N.Y., and Richard Socha of Lilburn; a sister, Clare Tucker, of Stone Mountain; and two grandchildren.