Tim, The parish for Lapicze is most likely in Krynki. It is possible that before WW II it was in Belarus. The powiat (county) was ihumen. Ihumen was in the parish of Bohuszewicze. http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_V/590 There is not place by this name in Poland today. I don't read Polish well enough to know if the old parish name for Lapicze would have been. Maybe someone else can find it in the Slownik data. Usually if you go to the parish listed in the Slownik, you will find the list of villages it covers, but I don't see it on this one: http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_IV/758. Sometimes we can count on the closest parish as being our ancestors parish and sometimes we cannot. The closest parish that I find to Lapicze is in Krynki, which is in today's borders of Poland. That parish has been in existence since the year 1252. Problem we have not is that there are not enough records to really help you that have been microfilmed by the LDS. http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/fhlcatalog/supermainframeset.asp?display=localitysearch&columns=*,0,0 The archives in Bialystok has records from 1865 through 1905 depending on the type of record you want, urodzenia (birth) malzentstwa (marriage) and zgony (death) bes the Roman Catholic or Orthodox. http://baza.archiwa.gov.pl/sezam/pradziad.php?l=en Click on more, and you will find the contact information for the Bialystock archives. I would ask them if the Krynki parish covered when your ancestors were living in Lapicze/Lapiczy. It they do not have them, next step will be to find the closed church to Lapicze. It appears as Lapiczy on this map: http://lazarus.elte.hu/hun/digkonyv/topo/200e/41-53.jpg. You can see that Krynki had a church there in 1914. Krynki is between the numbers 20 & 10 on the far east side of the map. I can't remember if those are degrees or minutes markers. I think they are minutes. I thinkt he larger numbers are degrees. If you give the markers a number, Krynki is above 15 and Lapiczy is below 15. The map to the east of this map is at this link: http://lazarus.elte.hu/hun/digkonyv/topo/200e/42-53.jpg. I suggest looking for churches. Catholic churches are marked by a little square box with a cross on top of it. You can see one at Krynki. See if there are other closes ones. Hope this will have you find what you need. Tina On 12/31/08, Roman <[email protected]> wrote: Timothy NIEWIEROWSKI wrote: > I am researching my family surname NIEWIEROWSKI, which I believe is somewhere located in somewhere in the vicinity of (current) Poland, Podlaskie Province (Voivodship), Sokolka County, Gmina Szudziałowo (District), Szczęsnowicze village and Podlaskie Province, Sokolka County, Gmina Krynki (District), Lapicze village. This information is a best guess from the information I have gathered. > > I ask any advice, assistance, or sharing of knowledge. If my data is flawed, any information to point me in the right direction is greatly appreciated. > > I am interested in constructing my family genealogy, focusing on my Polish roots. From an amateur position, I have made some achievements. But I have had met more, greater obstacles that has me frustrated. I understand that my grandfather had a thick accent and limited English language ability, which complicated his pronunciation and the accuracy of the information which was recorded. Furthermore, I've found great inconsistencies in spelling (surname and other data), which leads me to believe that other records may also have inaccurate data. > > So, let me introduce my family: > Great Grandfather: Wicenty NIEWIEROWSKI (AKA: Vincent NIEWIEROWSKI) > --Date and place of birth and death are unknown. Estimated to have died before 1907. > Great Grandmother: Lucviti (last name unknown)(Not clear on manifest), wife of Wicenty; (AKA: Lucya NIEWIEROWSKA) > Last known location of Lucviti: > 1907: Lemspitz (Not clear on manifest), Grodno, Russia > 1909: Sikanovvce (not clear on records), Russia-Poland > --Date and place of birth and death are unknown. Estimated to be alive as of 1909. > --Date and place of marriage are unknown. > > (Their Children) > My Grandfather - Julian NIEWIEROWSKI (AKA: Julius NIEWIEROWSKI) > --Birth Date: 10 March 1886 (estimated from records), Birth Place: Grodno, Russia-Poland (not believed to be actual birthplace, but the governing area) > My Granduncle - Alexander NIEWIEROWSKI > --Birth Date: 18 April 1892 (estimated from records), Birth Place: Sikanovvce (not clear on records), Russia-Poland > Possibly 2 Grandaunts, names unknown > --Dates and places of birth are unknown > > The family was of the Roman Catholic faith. > > I have used Julian as the focus of my research as more information is documented concerning him. > > ((SPELLING in the following passages are as seen in passenger manifest records)) > Personal Information - Julian > Date/Place of Birth: about 1887, in Russian-Poland. > COMMENT: In NOV 1907 - Emigrated from Hamburg, Germany arriving in New York City, NY, USA under the name Julian NEWIROWSKI, age 21. He traveled alone. He embarked the transport vessel, SS President Lincoln, which sailed from Hamburg, Germany, 15 November 1907 and arrived in New York on 29 November 1907. From the S.S. President Lincoln's manifest: His occupation: Farm Laborer. He could read and write. Nationality - Russian. Race - Polish. Permanent Residence: Lempitz (Not clear on manifest), Russia. Closest Relative - Mother, Lucvithi NEWIROVVSKA, Lemspitz (Not clear on manifest), Grodno, Russia. NOTE: There was no notation if his father was alive. > > Personal Information - Alexander > Date/Place of Birth: 18 April 1892, in Russian-Poland. > COMMENT: In MAR/APR 1909 - Emigrated from Southampton, England arriving in New York City, NY, USA under the name Alexander NIEWAROWSKI, age 19. He traveled alone. He embarked the transport vessel, SS Oceanic, which sailed from Southampton, England on 31 March 1909 and arrived in New York on 8 April 1909. From the S.S. Oceanic's manifest: His occupation: Laborer. He could read and write. Nationality - Russian. Race - Polish. Permanent Residence: Sicanovvce (Not clear on manifest), Russia. Closest Relative - Mother, Lucviti NIEWAROVVSKI, Sicanovvce, Russia. (Not clear on manifest). NOTE: There was no notation if his father was alive. > > This following is the only family recollection that I could piece together from my father and uncles regarding our Polish homeland roots --- > My grandfather stated that the family was once known as respected landowners. However, being situated on the Polish-Russian borderlands, were caught in the middle of border disputes between Russia and Poland. He referred to the area of our forefathers as the "White Horse" region. He remarked about how cunningly the family defended their land against the early Tartar invaders and later the Cossacks. The residents were no match for the larger armies of the 18th century. The area was absorbed into Russia-Poland and they were left with a small farm. My grandfather chose to immigrate to the US to seek a better life away from the peasant misery that the family was then experiencing. Nevertheless, he always expressed his pride as being of Polish descent. I have no other information to verify this very loose knit story. > > The records I have already searched include: > Passenger Arrival Lists > Hamburg Passenger List > Ellis Island > US Census 1910, 1920, 1930 > WWI Military Records > WWII Draft Registration > New York State and Connecticut Vital Records (Death & Marriage) > New York State and Connecticut Cemetery Records > Funeral Home records > Parish Records (in New York) > > Hopefully this is sufficient information for you to make an assessment on how you can assist. I am sorry I do not have more specific information to make this effort easier. > > I look forward to hear from you. > > Tim Niewierowski

Hi, Tina wrote about Lapicze: > http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_V/590 > There is not place by this name in Poland today. The SGKP editors didn't include Lapicze in their first go-round, but they picked it up in the supplemental volume, 15-2, on page 256 (http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_XV_cz.2/256). But all it says is that Lapicze was a village in Grodno county, Krynki district, 56 versts from Grodno, with 410 desiatinas of land. Not very helpful. There was no Belarus before World War II; much of what is now Belarus was within the borders of Poland at that time. Lapicze was in Grodno county of Bialystok province from 1921 to 1939. Today, Lapicze is in Poland, but just barely. The border with Belarus is only a few kilometers to the east. One of my sources confirms that it is, or at least was, served by the Catholic parish in Krynki, St. Anne's. The address is: Parafia sw. Anny ul. Nowa 1 16-120 Krynki POLAND I doubt the LDS Family History Library can help much, because the only records they show for Krynki are Catholic registers 1802-1818, Greek Catholic records for 1823, and Orthodox record for 1765-1878. If you write to St. Anne's parish, or to the Diocesan Archive in Bialystok, I would suggest you enclose a letter from your local pastor confirming that you are a member in good standing of a Roman Catholic parish. I am hearing more and more often that this is being required in some cases, due to the Church's directive not to cooperate with the LDS in efforts to film or digitize Church records. Bialystok Diocese is one of the places where this is, apparently, required. I don't know how much cooperation you'll get, but it woul dappear you'll get none till you can prove you're a Catholic in good standing. Tina provided a lot of good info. I hope this additional info will prove useful. Good luck! Fred Hoffman