Harriett, I just read your message and I am very impressed at all the work you did and you were so thorough. I am happy you did have success. It would be a very good program for anyone to follow and see where it takes them. I only write because I could not believe how thorough you were in everything you did. Congratulations on being such a great researcher. I am sure it took a lot of time but you succeeded and I salute you. Margaret ----- Original Message ----- From: "har" <harcardinal@earthlink.net> To: <polandbordersurnames@rootsweb.com> Cc: <barrykaminski@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 9:44 AM Subject: [PBS] Rominski and Kozatek families in Poland > Hi Barry, > > I had similar difficulties while researching my Polish ancestors who > immigrated to the same area of Pennsylvania as yours did. I will > share my strategy in hopes that it helps you. My goal was to find the > village of birth for my ancestors. I was able to narrow it down to > three villages which all went to the same parish church in Poland. I > found the Polish church records for my ancestors and met a living > relative in Poland. I hope you are at least as successful. > > I cast a wider net. Relying on the idea of chain migration, I searched > for every possible record in the US for anyone with surnames similar > to my ancestors and who lived in a certain geographical area in > Pennsylvania (for you, that may be a certain number of towns around > Wilkes Barre). Alternative spellings were significant here. I placed > all my data from these records in a large spread sheet. This allowed > me to compare the data. The records include: > > ships passenger lists > naturalization records > census records in Pennsylvania > mining accidents (my ancestors worked in the mines in Pennsylvania) > WWI draft records > Haller's Army records > cemetery records in Pennsylvania > wills in Pennsylvania > court documents in Pennsylvania > church records in Pennsylvania where they lived (these were very > valuable, as frequently they list the providence or village of birth > in Poland) > civil marriage records in Pennsylvania > newspapers > etc. > > I did the same research for anyone listed as a sponsor on any > christening and/or witness on any marriage. > > When working with passenger lists, I searched for anyone with similar > surnames to my ancestors. I put their data in my spreadsheet. For > passengers listed just above or just below on the passenger lists, if > they were from the same village or province, I put them in my > spreadsheet, as well (regardless of surname). > Of particular help was Steve Morse's database search engine. I used > it to search passenger lists for everyone from the same village or > province in Poland. > http://stevemorse.org/ellis2/ellisgold.html > > Also, in identifying villages, the following website was extremely > helpful: > http://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/LocTown.asp > > I did the same research for anyone who married into the family either > in Poland or in the US. > > This required a significant amount of work, but was worth it. I found > that people with surnames similar to my ancestors (who immigrated to > the same area of Pennsylvania) were born in three villages and > attended the same parish church in Poland. So, I made an educated > guess that my ancestors came from one of these three villages. And I > was right! > > Happy Researching! And Good Luck! > Harriet > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > POLANDBORDERSURNAMES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.431 / Virus Database: 270.14.123/2595 - Release Date: 12/31/09 08:52:00