Church in Maków PodhalańskiMy Blog Posts have not occured that often the past few days, as I have been busy doing some client research in the church office(Kancelaria) in Maków Podhalański. For those that wonder what it is like to do research here in Poland, you will gain some insight from...
If you have wondered what words sound like in another language, there are some tools out there to help you. I have found that I like ivona.com the best. Not only can you hear what the words sound like, you can pick a voice (male or female). In order to hear...
I will be traveling to Poland again this year. This trip will be a combination of work and fun as I have a client that needs research done in Poland. Since I was in Poland last year, I will again have the opportunity to also visit with family. This is my...
If you have been stuck in the house with all the snow we have had in the northeast, March is the time to get out and attend some free Polish genealogy presentations.FINDING THE FAMILY: Problems, Successes & RewardsTim FirkowskiPOLISH TRADITIONS CUSTOMS and SUPERSTITIONSAleksandra KacprzakMarch 7th, 10am - Noon at the Kennebunk...
Most people have a good understanding of basic relationships, but what about the relationship terms that we don't use in everyday speech? Terms like "second cousin" and "first cousin, once removed"? We don't tend to speak about our relationships in such exact terms, so most of us aren't familiar with what...
The Genealogy Assistant will be at the Warner Fall Foliage Festival in Warner, NH October 11-12, 2014. In addition to general genealogical research, I have specialties in Polish and French-Canadian research. If you are in the area or plan on going to the Festival please stop by and say hello. My booth will...
This year The Polish Genealogical Society of Massachusetts (PGSMA) will be celebrating it's 25th year anniversary by holding a day long event entitled "An Eastern European and Polish Genealogical Roadshow" on June 21, 2014 at the Polish Center of Discovery and Learning in Chicopee, MA. You will find me there on Saturday and...
On Sunday, I went to the Little Poland Festival in New Britain, CT. This is only the 3rd in a series of annual events put on by the Polonia Business Association. The Festival covered about 3 blocks along Broad Street which featured about 60 booths filled with great Polish food, souveniers...
Story continued from Part 1Here is how the process began for Jacek, in learning more about the unknown Polish manager of Black Manor.Lithograph from about 1850 by: Eduardo SachseThe unknown Firkowski/Wirkowski took over the management of not only the manor, but also, the entire agricultural property, which until recently was called...
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...
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...
Friday I went to get the mail and saw an envelope from another country. This is not uncommon as I have family in 22 countries around the world. What made this letter much different from all others I had ever received is that it was from Russia. My excitement started before I...
You should be aware that all calendars are not created equal. Throughout history the calendar has been changed, adjusted and tweaked. The calendar we use today is called the Gregorian calendar and was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in about 1582. This new calendar was a big change from the dominant...
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.
I was visiting my cousin Adam in Wroclaw at the end of August during my stay in Poland this summer. Adam took me to the Wroclaw Community Cemetery to show me graves of some family members. Adam prepared ahead of time by calling the cemetery office and found out the location of the graves we were interested in. A smart move!
The person in the office surprised both of us with some information we were not expecting. There were two children that had the family name, but neither of us were aware of these children.
The Community Cemetery in Wrocław is VERY Beautiful, and also very large. This is not a cemetery that you want to just wander through to locate graves of your ancestors.
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 was looking for a new digital camera to take with me on my upcoming research / vacation trip to Poland for 2 months. I will be at repositories and churches and graveyards, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get a digital camera that has a Geo-tagging function. After shopping around I purchased the 16.2 MP Sony DSC-HX7V.
Being a previous Sony owner, it was relatively easy to maneuver through the menus. I was amazed at all the features... HD video, 3D photography (viewable on 3D TVs), Auto panorama photography, GPS & compass function & the list goes on. The unit is light and feels very sturdy, the back display is easy to see in the sunlight.
This camera is going to be the perfect match for a genealogist. I will be able to mark the latitude and longitude of those gravestones I find. Never again will I return from touring and wonder where I was when that photo was taken.
Mix this with Google maps tools and the world belongs to me!
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