PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Looking for help narrowing down location

ShannonCreedon — Wed Jul 15, 2026 1:42 pm

Author: ShannonCreedon

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2026 1:42 pm

Trish wrote:

ShannonCreedon wrote:

Hello,

I'm working on trying to identify where my 2x great-grandmother, Stanislawa Smigel (Smígel/Schmigiel/etc) and her family originated.

I wasn't able to find much that pointed to a specific place in Poland that Stanislawa was born. Just the ship manifest that she arrived on. I'm attaching a copy below, she is on line 19. To me, the town appears to be Shdosy or Sholosy?

Her brother, Konstanti, had more information that I was able to find, but there wasn't anything that appeared on multiple sources. His immigration record shows Sczeliezni Russia, and Scelasmietz Russia. His WWI Draft card says Kolna, Lomya, Poland Russia. Lastly, his obituary says Wies Zje [or Wies Zie, there is a smudge at the bottom of the j/i in the second word] Lavna, Poland.

I haven't been able to come up with much googling, so I'm hoping someone here with some more knowledge will be able to help.

Thanks in advance!

Hi Shannon and Sophia,

If we are going by the information on the obituary, then I found a tree on ancestry.com. I don't know if any of the information on the tree is correct. There isn't any source information for the Poland dates and places.

Regards,
Trish

Konstanti "Kostek" Smigiel
Birth 8 May 1893 • Piasutno Zelazne, Lomza, Poland
Death 7 Jan 1952 • New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, USA

Father: Jozef Szmigiel
Birth 14 Mar 1860 • Katy, Podlaskie, Poland
Death 26 Oct 1920 • Piasutno-Zelazne, Maly Plock, Podlaskie, Poland

Mother: Julianna Piaścik
Birth 1861 • Piasutno-Zelazne, Mały Płock parish, gmina Zbojna, Kolno County, Podlaskie, Poland
Death 12 May 1926 • Katy, Maly Plock, Podlaskie, Poland

Wife's information.
Wiktoryja "Victoria" Wojtuszewska
Birth 4 Mar 1897 • Niebieszczany, Podkarpackie, Poland (Galicia)
Death 19 Apr 1991 • New Bedford, Massachusetts

Sister's Information.
Stanislawa "Stasia" Smigiel
Birth 15 JAN 1885 • Piasutno Zelazne, Zbojna, Lomza, Augustów Governorate, Poland
Death 17 JUN 1972 • New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA

Hi Trish!

Thanks for taking the time to look. I believe I have also found this tree in the past and noticed the same thing. I will say, something that strikes me as interesting, looking at it now though, is that Wiktoryja Wojtuszewska is listed as being born in Niebieszczany. The reason that jumps out at me, is because the Smigels are from my grandmother's side, and I know for a fact that my grandfather's side of the family (Jozefek, Wesoly) is from Niebieszczany.

I know that the Niebieszczany birth records from 1890-1915(ish) are available on https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/, so I'll definitely explore that connection!

***EDIT***

I just looked, and I found her listed there! It's a very interesting discovery, thanks for sharing what you found!

Need Help Deciphering Ancestor's Town Name

Trish — Wed Jul 15, 2026 12:15 pm

Author: Trish

Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2026 12:15 pm

JFalejczyk wrote:

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to thank you for the bottom of my heart for all working together on this, I am absolutely amazed that you guys were able to figure this out. I agree that the coinciding evidence of the places of birth, the parents' names, and Sylvia being there puts a pretty positive ID on this being her family.

My next questions, which I'll be researching and posting updates here on, mostly have to do with what happened to her family after they arrived. The documents indicate they were headed for Illinois, and I have to imagine they got there if Sylvia ended up spending the rest of her life in Chicago. However, the story I was told by multiple family members is that Sylvia was an orphan, it was always just ambiguous if she was orphaned in Poland or the United States. And now based on the evidence shared, we can assume she was orphaned sometime after her family arrived in the US. I've been browsing FamilySearch and FindAGrave for the past few hours and I can't find a single thing on her parents or siblings, every lead has been a false ID thus far. This all really makes me wonder what happened to her family, and if their documents are somewhere out there (perhaps under hard-to-trace names), or if they really kinda disappeared from records and what the reasons of that could be.

I wonder who she might be living with in her 1900 census entry, if it can be found, and I think that's what I'll be hunting for next. I just want to thank you guys again for this discovery though, it's been a dead end for me since I began researching in 2020 and I'm seriously impressed.

Hi Everyone,

Stanislaw Cieslak got remarried in Chicago. I cannot make out the name of the second wife. The parents for Stanislaw match up per Geneteka.

https://geneteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php?op=gt&lang=eng&bdm=S&w=05ld&rid=1546&search_lastname=cie%C5%9Blak&search_name=stanis%C5%82aw&search_lastname2=s*&search_name2=ag*&from_date=&to_date=&rpp1=&ordertable=

I am attaching the marriage record for Stanislaw with the transcription from FindMyPast.

Then I found a death record for Agnieszka. I am attaching it. The record and transcription is from FindMyPast. However, the year of birth states 1841, but I think I found Agnieszka’s death on family search. Thd date of death matches the record I am posting.

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGNF-PPW2?lang=en

I found this this possible death information for Jozef Cieslak. This could be Ksawera's oldest brother. The year of birth is about right. The parents' names are Stanley (Stanislaw) and Agnes (Agnieszka). Does anyone have an opioion on this being Jozef?

Death Information
Name Joe Cieslak
Birth Date abt 1872
Death Date 3 Feb 1943
Death Place Blairsville, Williamson, Illinois
Death Age 71
Gender Male
Father Name Stanley Cieslak
Spouse Name Agnes Cieslak
FHL Film Number 1983448

This means the family stayed in Illinois.

Regards,
Trish

Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Sam — Wed Jul 08, 2026 2:03 pm

Author: Sam

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2026 2:03 pm

Sophia,

Your guess is as good as mine in regard to how Andrzej and Marya ended up in Luxor, Penn. I never really did find any records of their presence in the U.S. before 1913.

Help deciphering town name

Trish — Sun Jun 28, 2026 10:55 am

Author: Trish

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2026 10:55 am

Sophia wrote:

Hi Trish,
Nice find!
For Walter Mańkowski the godparents are Ludwik Mańkowski and Jozefa Mańkowska (shown in their Latin forms on this record but I am writing all names in their Polish form).
On Gertrude's record, the godmother is Agnieszka Mańkowska.
Sophia

Hi Sophia,

Thank you for telling us the the names of the sponsors. They have to be related. Ludwik has to be Ludovicus that I posted the marriage record. Ludwik (Ludovicus) has the same names on his death record as Franz Mankowski.

Hopefully Curious comes back to look at the post.

Thanks again for your help.
Trish

Villages

Fox — Tue Jun 23, 2026 8:05 am

Author: Fox

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2026 8:05 am

cześć, szukam przodków i wolontariuszy albo możliwości, jak mogę dalej znaleźć moich przodków w tych miejscach, a także potomków rodzeństwa. wysiedlenie Bobrow Strasburg Gocław Dab Niemiecki. wiele pozdrowień, keke

Help identifying the village of Paszki (Polish-Lithuanian)

Sophia — Sat Jun 20, 2026 7:54 am

Author: Sophia

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2026 7:54 am

The Polona website is taking a "technical break" at the moment, so you will not be able to access the full map at this time. Try again in a day or so and hopefully it will work.

Sophia

Jakubiel - Not finding results

Sophia — Sun May 31, 2026 4:43 am

Author: Sophia

Posted: Sun May 31, 2026 4:43 am

ShannonCreedon wrote:

Thank you for these great resources!

I had a feeling that it likely was not the same Jozef, but because I am still learning how Polish surnames endings can change due to grammatical rules, I couldn't be certain. Unfortunately, because this was very early on in my research, I hadn't done a very good job of tracking my sources and identifying where I found the document. I'm including two other pages that are from the same source in case you're interested in any of the information that is included there.

**editing before posting**

I translated the title of one of the documents I'm including here, which triggered a memory of where I found these.

On the top of Josefek 3, it says "Zusammenstellung von Namensangaben ans Akten der Sozialversicherungs und Arbeitsamter oder fruherer Naziorganisationen. Originalakten oder beglaubigte Kopien (auch Fotokopien) aller Documente sind beizulegen (in zweifacher Ausfertigung)." Which translated is "Compilation of names extracted from the files of social security and labor offices, or of former Nazi organizations. Original files or certified copies (including photocopies) of all documents must be attached (in duplicate)."

There is also a stamp at the bottom of the page that does say Nurnberg. At one point, I had looked through the Nuremburg papers that are available on Ancestry.com and must have come up with these. Given that the date 1938 is written on the first document I shared, and the dates of documentation in the sixth column almost entirely are 1944, and at the bottom is dated 1947, I will assume that they are some sort of documentation from that.

What exactly any of the information means, is, at this point anyway, beyond me.

***second edit (forgive me, I'm on an over-night shift and my brain is not very sharp right now!)
On the josefek 1 document it shows "Jakubowice," which does show up on the resources you provided. It looks like there several that are in Poland, and a few with a various spelling in Czech Republic.

Hi Shannon,
Interesting documents.
Since this is not likely to be your Józef Józefek, it probably is not worthwhile to dive too deep into trying to find which Jakubowice is the hometown of the man on these records.
It's always good in genealogy research to look at records of people whose names are possible variants of the people you are searching for. Even when they turn out not to be connected to you, you still can learn about new research sources along the way, so the effort is never wasted!
Sophia

Number 1 Kalisz

BarbOslo — Sat May 16, 2026 7:53 am

Author: BarbOslo

Posted: Sat May 16, 2026 7:53 am

Hi Kevin,
I found them in the Polish database Szukaj w Archiwach. Here is the link:
https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/en/zespol/-/zespol/95435
I sent a private message.
-Barb

Village in Suwałki region, Russian Poland

Sam — Fri May 15, 2026 8:04 am

Author: Sam

Posted: Fri May 15, 2026 8:04 am

Sophia,

Hmm. Regarding Piotr, considering the date of his parents' marriage, I think an 1876 birthdate is correct for him. His headstone places it at 1872, but since he died in Nov. 1937, I think whoever ordered the stone believed he was about 65 when he died. Meanwhile, his wife is given an 1862 birthdate on the same stone, which if correct, would give them a 14-year difference in age, although they typically presented as being opposite to that.

I can easily see how the man in the photo could be a sibling of my great-grandmother. But therein lies the rub. Their parents married in 1888 (their names were Jan Walenda [Walędy], b. c. 1865 at Malesowizna, who was apparently married up to twice beforehand, and Marianna Truchan, born 8 Feb. 1869 at Szurpiły), but unfortunately there is a big gap in the birth index until 1898, and if the portrait was taken around 1910, the young man could be a child of theirs from earlier in the marriage. The oldest sibling I currently know of is a sister, Stefania (Stella), born 1897, followed by Kazimiera, born 1899, Stanisław, born 1902, and Jan, born 1909. My g-grandmother Mary is unique in that she was born in the U.S. (in 1906), which places her family as being in residence here in the mid-1900s before returning to Poland. As for other brothers, Mary's obituary mentions a Wladka (Władysław?).

Międzyczerwienne - Czerwienne village near Nowy Targ

tomjwalsh — Sat May 09, 2026 12:32 am

Author: tomjwalsh

Posted: Sat May 09, 2026 12:32 am

MichelleLeach53 wrote:

Does anyone know what parish Czerwienne is in?

My family attended both the parish in Czarny Dunajec and then in Nowe Bystre once it was established. I believe Czarny Dunajec should be your first stop.

Tosica ?

Trish — Mon Apr 13, 2026 9:45 am

Author: Trish

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2026 9:45 am

dshizak wrote:

Thanks Barb and Trish for your help. I have also tried Geneteka over the years, without finding any good leads. I was hoping the town Tosica (which I just recently saw on that document) might be a clue. I have not yet tried to search on Łosice. The earlier manifests that were posted (and removed) were not my family. I have not successfully found a manifest. The name is just too common, with too many similar variations to be sure of anything.

I know so much more now than I ever did when my father was alive. He always said his parents came from Poland. I assumed together. I later learned they met in the US. My grandmother had many siblings and with enough clues, I found that whole family in the Poznan Marriage Index and then the scanned films on Family Search and in the actual microfilms at the LDS churches; then Geneteka to verify when that came about. But the grandfather remains a mystery.

His children obtained birth records from PA in their adulthood , using other records to verify themselves as no birth records were recorded initially. 3 of those children all listed Warszawa as where their father was born. The fourth child died when he was 38 and did not register a birth certificate, as this was about 8-9 years before his older siblings did theirs.

Hi Dave,

I hope you receiived my email on how to obtain baptismal records for Rose, Alexander, and Stanley. I also hope you saw the information I sent on Stanley. If not, I can send it again. I would still try to see if there is a baptismal record for the children. My father was in the same situation. He was born in 1931 and there wasn't a birh record for him. I think it was becasue he was a home birth. He had to use his baptismal record to get social security. The other interesing thing was we found out his brother (my uncle) was baptized the same day as my father. My uncle was 6 years older than my father. We found that very interesting of the double baptisms.

I wish you luck with your research.

Regards,
Trish

Pieniążkowice, Nowy Targ - Zajac family - Giewont, Shimshock

mturnage11 — Sat Apr 11, 2026 8:21 am

Author: mturnage11

Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2026 8:21 am

Thank you for this information!! Jacenty came to US in 1902, 2nd wife came next. Mary spoke of a brother that died. Jan? Andrzej? Only Mary and Catherine came to US in 1905. Mystery what the lives of others were. She did not mention a sister Antonina?
I will have tohave another look on the site

Help locating church records for Dzianisz

mturnage11 — Wed Apr 08, 2026 12:00 pm

Author: mturnage11

Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2026 12:00 pm

ghruska wrote:

Hi - My ancestors were from the village of Dzianisz, not far from Zakopane. Can someone tell me if the church records for the village have been made available to the public? Is there an archdiocese or archive where they might be held? I know they aren't indexed on FamilySearch, but is there perhaps an un-indexed set of records for the town that the LDS library holds that I could acquire?

Any advice is appreciated.
Gregory

My gg Wojciech Gewont [Giewont] b 1884 is from Dzianisz. His parents are Jendrzy and Anna.
If you have any information on researching this area, please share.

Looking for my Grandfather's Relatives

KaminskiJL — Wed Apr 01, 2026 6:02 pm

Author: KaminskiJL

Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2026 6:02 pm

yes, I want to thank all of you for your help with this. I could never have found the information that you have provided me. I did reach out to a Genealogy research group in Ukraine. To date I haven't heard back from them, but when I do I will be sure to keep you all informed of any progress I make.

Again, Thank you very much for all of your help!!

Warm Regards,

Joe Kaminski

Świlcza, Rzeszow, Podkarpackie, Polska

Sophia — Sat Mar 21, 2026 8:56 pm

Author: Sophia

Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2026 8:56 pm

mtral67 wrote:

my great grandmother is marianne misuida (mista)

Hi mtral67,

When you posted a question about your grandmother last July, you got some wonderful replies from Trish and Barb. I'm not sure if you ever saw that, so here is a link to that discussion:

https://forum.polishorigins.com/viewtopic.php?p=85912&highlight=#85912

Good to know that you are back to researching!
Sophia

Niebieszczany, Sanok. Jozefek and Wesoly families

ShannonCreedon — Wed Jan 28, 2026 5:58 pm

Author: ShannonCreedon

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2026 5:58 pm

Hi,

First time poster, long time searcher.

From what I know of my grandfather's side of the family, his father came from Niebieszczany, a small village in Sanok, Subcarpathian Voivodeship.

First, I’m looking to find information about my great-grandfather, Jozef Jozefek. He was born in Niebieszczany, on or around 17 September, 1880, and died (maybe) between 1942 and 1945. The only evidence I have of his death is that in 1945, his wife is listed in the white pages as a widow.

Information I know about Jozef:

Father: Maciej/Matfei/Mearcin? Jozefek
Mother: Katarzina Kuchaveska
Possible Siblings (All dates are estimates): Jan (b.1883), Maryanna/Michalina (b.1884), Charles (b.1885), Stanislaw (b.1886), Wojciech (b.1887), Andrzej (b.1893)
Immigration to US: 1904
Spouse: Anna Wesoly/Wesola/Wesota

The rumors about him that I heard growing up were that he made several trips back to Poland after coming to the U.S. which are possible. I have a couple of ship manifests that show a Jozef Jozefek from Niebieszczany, with at least one listed as final destination being where he settled. It seems likely that if there was another trip to Poland, it might have been between 1913-1920 as there were no children born during this time. He is also not listed on the census in 1920 with the rest of the family, though he could have been elsewhere in the US. I don’t know the next time he arrived in Poland, though it could be any time after 1927. He’s listed as “head of house” on the 1930 US census, though listed as “absent.” In the 1940 census, he’s not listed at all, and his wife, Anna, is listed as “head.”

One story alleges that he was conscripted into the Russian Army, possibly during WWI, though I have no evidence to support that, nor do I know where to start looking to find out. It seems that he died in Poland, but, as it seems to be during WWII, I don’t know that I’ll be able to find how, when, or where it happened. There were also rumors that there was a second family in Poland.

Next, I’m hoping to find any information about his wife, Anna Wesoly/Wesola.

Birth: 17 March, 1886, possibly in Niebieszczany. Most records show Austria Poland.
Father: Anna’s marriage certificate says John , which I believe would be Jan, unless there’s another name that could be anglicized as John.
Mother: Mary Orzech/Orzeck
Immigration: 1904
Possible Siblings:
Joseph Wesoly - b. 12 June, 1878. Parents listed are Jan Wesoly and Sofia Ksczera (Ksezera?,)
Victoria Wesoly - b. 12 Dec 1880. “John” and Sofia Koczara
Pawel Wesoly b. 1 Nov 1888. Parents listed are “John” Wesoly and Catherina Zieminski
Frank (Franciszek Jan) Wesoly b. 1890
Jan Wesoly b. Dec 1895

If that information is in fact correct, that would mean that Jan Wesoly married several times. Once before 1878, once between 1880 and 1885, and possibly after 1886.

Anna and Jozef immigrated separately and settled in New Bedford, MA.

Piotr Jan Hajduk

Manton — Mon Jan 26, 2026 6:14 am

Author: Manton

Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2026 6:14 am

Thank you Barb
I appreciate the work you have done for me
Regards Annette

Operation Vistula population relocation

Sophia — Wed Jan 21, 2026 5:58 am

Author: Sophia

Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2026 5:58 am

Ed Yadlowsky wrote:

My aunt and family were relocated from Wislok Wielke to eastern Poland by Operation Vistula which attempted to eradicate the Ukrainian uprising in the former Galicia region of Poland. Are there any records of the people and their address that were relocated and their destination in eastern Poland. Are there any pictures of their villages or homes and the destruction that was caused by the authorities. Also, are there records of my aunt's later relocated to the region near Liviv, Ukraine.
Regards,
Ed

Hi Ed,
To fill in a few details for anyone who may try to assist you, here is a link to an earlier conversation you had here on the forum regarding your family:
https://forum.polishorigins.com/viewtopic.php?p=28079&highlight=#28079
In particular, I think it is helpful to know that SirDan gave the spelling of your family name as Jodłowski.
If I find anything that answers your questions, I will post here.
Best regards,
Sophia

Information on Maria Kiowa

Manton — Thu Jan 15, 2026 5:47 pm

Author: Manton

Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2026 5:47 pm

Thank you Barb for all your help
Regards Annette

Parents of Jan Piotr Hajduk

BarbOslo — Thu Dec 11, 2025 8:04 pm

Author: BarbOslo

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2025 8:04 pm

Hi Annette,
I have managed to find this so far. There is still a lot of work left. Some questions have come up along the way. This is a draft that needs to be checked again.

-Barb