Thanks. I am glad to see that Jochan is unlikely and probably an artifact from bad handwriting on the birth certificate of his son. I have seem him as Johann (ships record) and John (census). I will pursue the marriage certificate as I have had a dead end on naturalization papers in Williamsbridge, NY before 1900. Postings say that there were various courts and county changes at the time. The Castle Garden record lists him as Johann Bennerich (that is the closest I can find) with the ship's origin of Germany. There are no miliary records that I can think of between 1884-1912 (immigration-death). Census records he is in include 1900, 1905 and 1910. I have contacted living relatives and don't find anything more. Most documents I find say Poland or Poland-Russia as place of birth. I guess I was hoping for a link of location to surname. I find Bieniewicz uncommon and frequently h orribly misspelled (which I would guess is very normal for Polish names). I started a surname message board on Rootsweb and so far I am only post. -------------- Original message -------------- From: "singmore" <singmore@gmail.com> > Jochan?? Very unlikely. No such name in Polish. Maybe it is misread Joannes > - Latin, or Johann - German? All mean the same Jan in Polish or John in > English. > > It would be impossible to find any ancestors, in any country, by the name > only. To further your research you have to find out what was the place name > they came from. Good places to start are the US marriage records, ship > lists, naturalization papers, military records - not only for John but also > for his siblings, first cousins, aunts and uncles, etc. Some of them may > have the place name listed. > > Ella > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: poland-roots-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:poland-roots- > > b ounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of bonnie.mcneill@comcast.net > > Sent: May-26-08 12:24 AM > > To: poland-roots@rootsweb.com > > Subject: [POLAND] Help with location to research > > > > I recently discovered the maiden name of my great grandmother, Antonia > > Stanislawa Lewandowski who married John (listed as Jochan on a birth > > certificate) Bieniewicz in Williamsbridge, NY around 1887. Can someone > > suggest where to look in Poland for the ancestors of these people? > > Lewandowski seems like a very popular name. > > > > Thanks, Bonnie > > > > ********************************* > 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 pertin ent 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