Thank you Fred. Now I'm wondering just where my grandmother came from. Her ship's manifest says Wola Rusinowska, but I managed to get the marriage certificate from New Jersey, and the priest said she came from Gwoznica, which is where my grandfather is from. Are they at all close? Plus Fred, I don't have your e-mail address, but are you the author of the book on Polish surnames? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Hoffman" <wmfhoffman@sbcglobal.net> To: <poland-roots@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, July 05, 2008 11:11 AM Subject: Re: [POLAND] Help with Grandmother's Town > 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 > > > ********************************* > 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 >