Most of us encounter languages other than English when we are doing our ancestral research. For those brave enough to tackle translating these documents, I would highly recommend a series of books called "In Their Words - A Genealogist's Translation Guide to Polish, German, Latin, and Russian Documents".These guides were created for...
Constitution Day in Poland is a national holiday that celebrates the declaration of the Constitution on May 3, 1791. The Constitution of May 3, 1791 is considered one of the most important events in Poland's history, despite the fact that it was only in effect for about one year, until the Polish-Russian...
The Genealogy Assistant will be at the Warner Fall Foliage Festival in Warner, NH October 6-7, 2012. If you are in the area or plan on going to the Festival please stop by and say hello. The booth will be set up at the Upton Chandler House Museum across from the...
Today is the 10th Anniversary of a huge change in my life in every way imaginable.It was Saturday August 24th 2002 at 3:27 pm and I was using the chat program ICQ. I put in a search for users with my surname, as I had done many times before and lo...
Although I did not actually have any research to do in the State Archives in Poland, I did get to the Warsaw State Archives for Metrical records. I had actually been by this building a number of times during previous visits in 2004 and 2006 and never knew it was the...
When I was at "Who Do You Think You Are? Live" in London the end of February, I met a group who had a booth set up for the Kresy-Siberia Museum & Foundation. This group is dedicated to Poland's citizens who fought for freedom and survival in eastern Poland and in...
Easter is a big celebration in Poland for those that are Roman Catholic which makes up about 96% of the population in Poland.Easter in Poland begins on Ash Wednesday. Pussy-willows are cut and placed in the water, then they are blessed on Palm Sunday in church, as palms are not available...
Once you have landed on the ground in Poland, how are you going to get around? If you will be meeting with family then this person will probably end up being your chauffer. Help pay for the fuel. Prices in Europe are much higher that they are here in the US....
The all important souvenir (pamiątki). When we travel somewhere we all want to get something to remember our wonderful time, but with the new airline regulations this does not allow us much, especially if you are at or near your limit for baggage. Of course if you have money to spend...
I have an upcoming talk for the Polish Genealogical Society of Massachusetts about my recent research trip to Poland. I thought that this may be a good time to blog about some of the ins and outs of the trip. This will be the first part in a series of Research...
What is the best language to learn? It is not the answer you might first think of. Let's say you are a native English speaker, therefore, lets rule out English. If you are not a native speaker of English, of course the answer is English! To learn Spanish, French or German...
I was returning from running errands the other day and for some unknown reason, my thoughts went to the used bookstore that is in the town I live in. I had not been there in many years and decided to stop by.Old Number Six Book Depot is not far from the center...
Oświęcim... Most people know of this place in Poland, but just are not aware of it. To many people, they are unaware that the city of Oświęcim is also known as Auschwitz (The German name for Oświęcim). Although most people think of the camp of Auschwitz, it really is the German name of...
If you are looking for a place to learn more about what is happening in Poland today, Polish traditions, history, culture and what is happening in Polish communities around the world, I suggest looking no further than the Polish American Journal.The Polish American Journal is a monthly newspaper chocked full of useful and...
Its the last day of "Who Do You Think You Are? Live" in London and it seems like I have been here a lot longer than just five days. I have done so much and met so many wonderful people.I wore my Kujawy (The traditional Polish Folk costume from the area...
Today was the day I made the trip from Boston to London. At the gate in Boston I met up with Michael LeClerc and Maureen Taylor who were on my flight.I was quite surprised that the flight actually left on time. It only took aobut 5 3/4 hours to make the...
Have you ever wondered what life was like for your ancestors during the course of your research? It is easy to get wrapped up in the document research for your ancestors. Take a moment to examine how they lived. This will giive you a new persepective on their lives and may help your research.
While visiting with my distant cousin Tadeusz in Słupsk, Poland this summer I had the opportunity to see many places around Słupsk. One of the places that fascinated me the most was a historic polish village musem in Kluki. I think I took about 400 photos that examined all the details of the construction of each building.
Many people have asked me where I was when I visited Poland this summer, especially my genealogical colleagues, so I thought I would answer that question with a map.
I had the opportunity to do some research in the Diocesan Archives of Tarnów when I was in Poland.
The process is simple... you must sign in the "guest book" and then if you have not been to the archives before, you will need to purchase a researchers id card which is good for that calendar year. Of course you must present some identification which for the foreigner would be your passport.
If I recall correctly it cost about 15 złoty which is roughly about $5 give or take depending on the exchange rate. Research time costs 6 złoty per hour.
The Archive is open Monday thru Friday 9 am to 3pm with a break for lunch from noon to 1pm. On Saturdays it is open for only 3 hours from 9am to noon.
I had to go to Szewna, Poland to do some research for a client. The project is filled with many mysteries. I had a short time to at least go through the cemetery before I had to continue my journey to the southeast part of Poland.
There was one mystery that kept bothering me. The name of the parish is św. Mikołaj (St. Nicolas) but the name św. Roch (St. Roch) was remembered by a family member. I was unable to find a parish with this name that was nearby and I was left puzzled.
I finally learned that the parish had two patron saints, those two being St. Nicolas and St. Roch. St. Nicolas is the most known name for this parish.
It may sound like a small thing if you know you have the right church, but since it has been difficult finding records, St. Roch may have been another church where the family records I needed were. That did not turn out to be the case but at least I finally solved that small puzzle.
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