Szeredy and Opalka

[paul&jaye]

Am looking for any relatives of Jozef and Katarzyna (Opalka) Szeredy. He was born on Mar 10, 1856 at Galicya, Austria, Poland and she abt Nov 24, 1859 at Galicya,Austria, Poland. They were married in Poland abt 1878 and came to the US shortly after. They both died in Detroit; he on May 2, 1938-she on Dec 14,1938. According to the moikrewni site their surnames are most common in the Jaslo area of Poland. We would like to travel to Poland to the area of my grandparents birth,but need more specifics. Can anyone help.

[Shellie]

You have come to a good place. About a year and a half ago, I was in your exact position. I did not know the village of my ancestors but I wanted to find them in Poland. I have met wonderful people here at PolishOrigins who have provided valuable information and encouragement as I followed the path to my ancestral home. It took alot of patience, research and the kindness of strangers to get me to a point where I could identify exactly where my great-grandparents lived and then fly off to stand in my village.

When you are ready to go to Poland, I highly recommend that you talk with Zenon and discuss a Forefather's Traces Tour. http://tours.polishorigins.com/
You can read about my background and tour here: http://blog.polishorigins.com/2009/06/11/shellies-family-history-and-tour-to-ancestral-places/
You can read about Louis' wonderful tour here: http://polishorigins.com/document/welnas_story
Several others have taken tours and if you are interested we can point you to their exciting stories also.

But you need to determine your ancestral village first, right? I suggest that you share as much info as possible and maybe the members here at PolishOrigins can provide you with some advice. You have already taken a giant step in the right direction by posting your query here. Can you provide any more specific info? Perhaps you can reply to some of the following:

1. Where did you get the exact birthdates for your ancestors?
2. From what source did you determine that Galicya was their birthplace?
3. Do you have specific dates and ship names for their arrival in the US?
4. Did they have any other relatives in the US - if so, what do you know about them? names, birthdates, etc. (including children).
5. Where did your ancestor live in Detriot? Do you have a street name? Have you found them on any census records?
6. Have you found any WWI or WWII draft cards for Jozef Szeredy?
7. Do you have any obituary info for Jozef and Katarzyna?
8. Did Jozef have a social security number? If so, do you have his application?
9. Do you have copies of their death certificates?

This is a long list, but it contains some of the basic things that I used to find clues about the identity of my ancestral village.

Hope this helps!
Shellie

[paul&jaye]

1 Got birthdates from obit in Detroit Newspaper for grandmother-could not find grandfathers date there(from Mi St Library) Got both birthdates from LDS site also dates of death. Nothing in obit about where from.
2 On the LDS site. It must be on LDS immigration site but I don't have copy of the record . How do I get it?
3 No specific dates . Just assumptions. First child George born in Poland Apr 1879 in Poland- second child John born Dec 1880 in East Lake, Mi. So they came either in 1879 or 1880. Probably married in 1878.
4 Have birthdates for all children and deathdates for all 12 children.
5Know where they lived in Detroit. Know where they are buried and Church where buried from (its now gone). Have census records from 1900, 1910,1920,1930 they all say Austria- or Austria Poland as place of birth.
6 He was too old for WW1 Died in 1938
7 See above
8 Where to look? Was a farmer -died in 1938.
9 Have sent to Detroit for death certificates but haven't received them yet.

[Shellie]

Hi -
It looks like you have a lot of information. Hopefully the death certificates will provide more clues. If Jozef or Katarzyna's death certificates do not have the info, consider death certificates of their children. Also, explore their first child further. Perhaps George had a social security number and you can try to obtain his application.

What variations have you found in spelling for their surname? I did not see them on the census records.

The church they attended my be gone, but the records may still be with the diocese. Have you explored that option? Their village name may be mentioned in the record for their children's baptism records.

Did Jozef or Katarzyna have siblings that came to the US?

A member of the LDS submitted the birth and death information for Jozef and Katarzyna - and they knew Katarzyna's maiden name. Have you contacted your nearest LDS family history center? Someone at your local center may be able to help you locate the member who submitted this info.[/b]

[paul&jaye]

Got the naturalization record for Josef Szereda (sp) today, from Manistee County Mi. All it says about place of birth is Austria. Also got census records for 1900,1910 Sereta, Scerda. 1920 and 1930 were spelled correctly (American) Joseph Shereda.
I commited a booboo. While on white pages (I didn't write down the site) I found a Szeredy in Jaslo. I have his full name and phone number. A friend has a relative in Poland and she is going to try to contact him. Wish me luck. Thanks for your help Shellie.
Incidently from 1880 to 1893 they lived in East Lake,(Manistee Co) Mi. From 1894 to 1925 (approx) they lived in Freesoil Twp (Mason Co) Mi. From 1925 to his death in 1938 they lived Detroit City, Mi .

[Shellie]

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress! I hope that you make a connection soon!
Best Regards! Shellie

[Zenon]

Hi Paul (& Jaye?) ,

I think your shot about possible area of origins of your Szeredy and Opałka may be accurate. Both surnames are very popular in today's Jasło county. In case of Szeredy in this area there live more than a half population of all Szeredy in Poland (map: http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/szeredy.html and Opałka: http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/opa%25C5%2582ka.html ).

Although the search area may be narrowed now, there is still many parishes and thousands of records to check. I think it is crucial for further effective search to narrow it to the parish area.

You have one very important information - possible date of immigration to the US: 1879 or 1880. Have you considered to check Immigration and Emigration records - passenger lists - from these two years on Ancestry.com ? You could, for example, search among all Josefs or Josephs or Jozefs who immigrated in these two years from Austria. Or among all Katarzyna, Kataryna, Cathrine.

I think it is always worth trying to make phone call to the people who bear your name and live in "your" area in Poland. Unfortunately, in your case your ancestors emigrated from this area long time ago and chances that descendants know anything about them are not too high...

Anyway, I wish you luck

P.S. If you were interested I found in our databases 8 more phone numbers to Szeredy people from Jasło and Krosno areas.

[paul&jaye]

Thanks for your help. I would like the names and phone numbers that you have. On another website a geneologist helper tried to find immigration records for Jozef or Katarzyna Szeredy but could find none for that time period, however he did find several coming through Ellis Island at a Later date and they all came from Samokleski. Because Szeredy is a rather rare name in Poland he was quite sure that my grandparents also came from there. I found the Roman Catholic church that serves that village and sent them an e-mail asking if they would have any records of my grandparents-sofar no reply. I have also sent for a LDS microfilm for that church history.

Again thank you for your help-Paul

[Zenon]

As I often advise, from mine and others experience, priest more and more rarely reply to such requests. Even if you send them money.

I hope you will find helpful the list of names and phone numbers I sent you. Among them is one person from Samokleski.