PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Re: Rebuilding a lost family history

adamsam — Thu Jul 20, 2017 7:01 pm

Author: adamsam

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 7:01 pm

JGwizdowski wrote:

I have found reading the experiences of others in this post fascinating. All have a inexplicable draw to learn about their ancestors who came before and who brought us to where we are today. We feel they are with us today, and the tag line I place in my posts expresses a sentiment that I think many of us share.

My father, Joseph Gwizdowski died when I was just six years old. And it seemed that the extended family fractured and went their separate ways in the ensuing years. By the time I turned 18 my grandmother Dudczak, the only grandparent I had known, had died and took all the family history with her. She had spoken such broken English, and I had never learned Polish, that communicating with her was very difficult. My one meaningful conversation I still recall is when she told me how she had left Poland as a very young girl, travelling alone so that she could be with my grandfather. I remember when she told me that, she related it with a strong sense of pride.

It wasn't until 25 years ago that my father-in-law, who was researching his family genealogy, suggested that I might try to see if I could find any information on my Polish ancestors. He even looked up my Gwizdowski name on some U.S. Census indexes and I became hooked! This was well before any of this information was on the internet.

During the early years of my research I spent countless hours at the National Archives in D.C. I was working across the river in Arlington and would ride the train over in the evening, pouring over microfilm rolls. Eventually, I had filled in most of the blanks about my grandparents...discovering most everything about their lives from the time they stepped on to the ship in Hamburg to sail to America. But discovering my ancestors in Poland was elusive, and I was nearly resigned to never finding anything more.

It wasn't until I discovered the Polish Origins site and the invaluable assistance and encouragement from the extraordinary people here that the figurative floodgates opened. In a relatively short period of time I have extended my ancestral tree back, in some cases, to the late 1700's! I know their names and have gained a sense of what their lives were like. Why is this so important to me?

It gives my life a real sense of continuity, that we are all one long chain that I can now give to my children and my grandchildren. And I can't help but imagine that, in resurrecting the memory of those who have come before, they are awakened from their sleep to smile once more and stand among us.

Thank you, people of Polish Origins!

I could not have said it better. You are right you just get "hooked" and the more you find, the more you want. I made a genealogy trip to Poland with Polish Origins in 2015 and discovered many living relatives, close relatives regarding the family tree. I have kept in contact with most and am returning with 11"American relatives to meet and greet our extended Polish family. I have created 2 books for our family, one is nothing but documents I have collected over the years, both here in the States and in Poland, births, deaths, marriages, all with translations, Ellis Island records, etc., the other is an extensive family tree containing names, dates, and the like going back to 1740 in Poland and continues to grow each day. Sorry for my soap box, but I am passionate about the family genealogy

Adam Samelko

Rebuilding a lost family history

JGwizdowski — Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:14 pm

Author: JGwizdowski

Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:14 pm

I have found reading the experiences of others in this post fascinating. All have a inexplicable draw to learn about their ancestors who came before and who brought us to where we are today. We feel they are with us today, and the tag line I place in my posts expresses a sentiment that I think many of us share.

My father, Joseph Gwizdowski died when I was just six years old. And it seemed that the extended family fractured and went their separate ways in the ensuing years. By the time I turned 18 my grandmother Dudczak, the only grandparent I had known, had died and took all the family history with her. She had spoken such broken English, and I had never learned Polish, that communicating with her was very difficult. My one meaningful conversation I still recall is when she told me how she had left Poland as a very young girl, travelling alone so that she could be with my grandfather. I remember when she told me that, she related it with a strong sense of pride.

It wasn't until 25 years ago that my father-in-law, who was researching his family genealogy, suggested that I might try to see if I could find any information on my Polish ancestors. He even looked up my Gwizdowski name on some U.S. Census indexes and I became hooked! This was well before any of this information was on the internet.

During the early years of my research I spent countless hours at the National Archives in D.C. I was working across the river in Arlington and would ride the train over in the evening, pouring over microfilm rolls. Eventually, I had filled in most of the blanks about my grandparents...discovering most everything about their lives from the time they stepped on to the ship in Hamburg to sail to America. But discovering my ancestors in Poland was elusive, and I was nearly resigned to never finding anything more.

It wasn't until I discovered the Polish Origins site and the invaluable assistance and encouragement from the extraordinary people here that the figurative floodgates opened. In a relatively short period of time I have extended my ancestral tree back, in some cases, to the late 1700's! I know their names and have gained a sense of what their lives were like. Why is this so important to me?

It gives my life a real sense of continuity, that we are all one long chain that I can now give to my children and my grandchildren. And I can't help but imagine that, in resurrecting the memory of those who have come before, they are awakened from their sleep to smile once more and stand among us.

Thank you, people of Polish Origins!

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

Agnieszka Pawlus — Wed Oct 26, 2016 12:58 am

Author: Agnieszka Pawlus

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2016 12:58 am

Neil,

Thank you for sharing your story about people and events that influenced your passion to genealogy. I know that all genealogy tours are not just a holiday - very often it is a crowning of many years of painstaking work. I hope that you will keep the good memories from Poland.
Wishing you good health and all the best!

Aga

Why Family History - Why Do You Care??

Jednoralski — Wed Oct 26, 2016 12:00 am

Author: Jednoralski

Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2016 12:00 am

Zenon and Aga, I enjoyed my time in Poland and seeing where my father's ancestors came from.
I enjoyed seeing the land that my Great Great Grandfather, Grandmother, and daughter, Anna, owned.
A highlight was meeting, Katarzyna Nalazek, Arleta Jednoralska Bloch, Hanna Jednoralska, Mirostawa Jednoralska Augustyska, and Henryk Jednoralski, in Chojnice. I wish Henryk's son, Krzysztof Adam Jednoralski could been there.
It was interesting that Henryk and his son, Krzysztof, are Agricultural Engineers in soils and water, in Poland
My degrees from the University of Illinois are a BS in Agriculture (College of Agriculture) and BS in Agricultural Engineering (College of Engineering) and major in siol and water conservation engineering, I was a licensed Professional Engineer in Water Resources, Ag, Civil engineering, from 1970 to 2016. I officially retired my license this year. I was licensed to practice in the States of Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kansas and Colorado. At the meeting, Henryk bought a blush wine to celebrate. If I had bought the wine, it would have been a blush wines.
I wish the Jednoralski family in the Gdansk area, of father and mother, Jan and Maria, and sons< Edward and wife Kataryna, Jan Bejajamin (banker) and wife Magdalena and son Jan III, and Andrzez Piotr would have come to the meeting in Gdansk. I had first contact with Jan, the banker, in 2001, when he was looking for John Jednoralski's in the world. But for some reason communications have broken off.
Katarzyna Nalarek thru Agnes Crajkowska, wife of Michael Jednoralski, b. 1799. Michael was the son of Jacobus and Barbara (first wife).
My line is thru Jacobus and Eva (second wife)'
Katarzyna found the marriage of Simon and Anna Jednoralczyk, in 1747 in Siciny, Jelencz Parish, plus Jacobus's brother, Andreas, b. 1750; and sisters Marianna, b. 1754, and Anna, b. 1760, (Thus what Katarzyna finds here is in her ancestry, as well as mine.)
Katharzyna has also find Ewa and Mathias at this same time period, but we do not know how they tie in.
When I was laid off from work in 2008, started putting the genealogical work by mu aunt, Mildred Minear, on my mother;s side into Ancestry.com She proved a direct line thru Kings Richard and John of England, William the Conqueror, to and thru Charlemagne of France.
I did this so that there would be a record of her work, and as i entered a name a green leaf appeared in Ancestry.com, meaning someone was agreeing with her hand work from the 1970's and 80's.
After I entered my mother's side, i started wondering about my father;s side, which was very secretive., with information which was not always true. For example, my Grandfather, Frank Xavier Jednoralski was born in Austria, on the way to the USA. But I come to found my Grandfather was born in Maly Medromierz, Jlencz Parish, Poland, 17 Sep 1883. The family did not go thru Austria coming to the USA, they went thru Bremen, Germany to New York City, a ship named, 'Eider. In the Jelencz Parish cemeteries, there is a grave marked Frank Xavier, where his 2-yr old sister, Marianna Catharina is buried. Since in Poland graves are reused, the grave no longer exists.
Knowing this information and what happened in Chicago, IL, plus wanting to find Simon Jednoralczyk's parents, i started using MyHeritage and creating other trees.
When I married in 1986, I changed my last name back to the family name, I do not think my father was too happy - like there was something to hide. I was married for 21-yrs before my late wife passed away. I wanted a son to continue the family name, but I guess it is not going to happen, since I am now 70 yrs old and have some health problems. BUT if I could find a young woman, who would want to try to have a child with a 70 yr old man, I may try.

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

braksator — Mon Aug 15, 2016 2:18 am

Author: braksator

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2016 2:18 am

For me it's like this. I was born shortly after my parents came to Australia with my brother who is 15 years older than me. He moved out when I was very little and has always lived far away. I never met my grandparents or uncles. I wouldn't know where to turn to find family, and my parents are getting old and this information would be lost forever if their memory fails So some time ago I asked for all the information they knew about their parents, brothers, and sisters. Using this information and a little bit of genealogy research I've been able to connect with several cousins and talk with them regularly - some closer to me genetically some much further away but also interested in genealogy, I speak to a couple of my uncles online now, and I know the names of hundreds more living relatives I am yet to connect with. So I went from basically having no family to feeling like I'm part of something bigger, and I don't want this information to ever be lost, so that my kids and grandkids will know where they came from and where they can find their peers.

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

Ute — Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:11 am

Author: Ute

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:11 am

Aga, thanks for sharing the link to the article -- an interesting subject indeed. ...

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

Agnieszka Pawlus — Thu Jul 31, 2014 10:11 am

Author: Agnieszka Pawlus

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 10:11 am

I came across this popular science article today and I think that this is a great voice in above discussion:

“According to the new insights of behavioral epigenetics, traumatic experiences in our past, or in our recent ancestors’ past, leave molecular scars adhering to our DNA. Jews whose great-grandparents were chased from their Russian shtetls; Chinese whose grandparents lived through the ravages of the Cultural Revolution; young immigrants from Africa whose parents survived massacres; adults of every ethnicity who grew up with alcoholic or abusive parents — all carry with them more than just memories (...)

You might have inherited not just your grandmother’s knobby knees, but also her predisposition toward depression caused by the neglect she suffered as a newborn.

Or not. If your grandmother was adopted by nurturing parents, you might be enjoying the boost she received thanks to their love and support. The mechanisms of behavioral epigenetics underlie not only deficits and weaknesses but strengths and resiliencies, too.”

Read the whole article: Grandma's Experiences Leave a Mark on Your Genes
http://discovermagazine.com/2013/may/13-grandmas-experiences-leave-epigenetic-mark-on-your-genes

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

Ute — Thu Feb 13, 2014 5:31 am

Author: Ute

Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 5:31 am

Aga Pawlus wrote:

Ute,

Your story published on our blog is an important voice in this above discussion. I will leave a link here as well.

http://blog.polishorigins.com/2014/02/12/two-questions-and-no-answers-my-long-search-for-my-ancestry-and-identity-part-3/

Thank you for sharing this with us!
Aga

Thank YOU, Aga! I like your idea of setting up blogs now!

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

Agnieszka Pawlus — Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:18 pm

Author: Agnieszka Pawlus

Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:18 pm

Ute,

Your story published on our blog is an important voice in this above discussion. I will leave a link here as well.

http://blog.polishorigins.com/2014/02/12/two-questions-and-no-answers-my-long-search-for-my-ancestry-and-identity-part-3/

Thank you for sharing this with us!
Aga

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

Ute — Tue Jan 07, 2014 2:18 am

Author: Ute

Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 2:18 am

With the exception of one ancestor on the maternal side of my family who became a well known painter, none of my ancestors was famous or rich. They were simple, hard working people who had to struggle for everything they needed and wanted to achieve. Many of them were farmers or laborers with many children and a plain simple way of living.

I’m proud of those who stayed in their home country and endured hard times, two world wars in Europe that killed and disabled a large number of men and left many women with the burden of men's work in addition to the work considered their own.

I’m proud of these women who kept things going while their husbands were away -- working someplace else, fighting in wars, or even dead -- who learned to fend for themselves and to develop skills, strategies, and endurance in their struggle to survive and to improve their lives and those of their children. They held the family together and many raised their children without a father.

And I’m proud of those of my ancestors who had the courage to leave everything behind and venture into an entirely unknown world in order to create a better life for themselves and their descendants.

Whichever way our ancestors chose, it had (and still has) an impact on us, on our own life, and on who we are today. Today, my major motivation to investigate my family history is to keep my ancestors’ memory alive through the research I’m doing and sharing. When I'm looking at old records more than 100 years later, listening to stories passed on in the family, and reading about the economic, social, and political conditions that influenced our ancestors' lives, I realize what they accomplished and with which perseverance they endured hardships and overcame struggles to achieve their goals. To see how they lived and what they went through makes me sad and grateful at the same time. I think we owe all of them respect and gratitude.

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

rsowa — Mon Jan 06, 2014 7:52 am

Author: rsowa

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 7:52 am

We all get the "famous people" question occasionally. But what is even more fun, is telling folks about some of my nefarious ancestors. The one I like to tell most is about my great-great grandfather and his son that were poisoned with strychnine and then his wife ran off with the dead guy's brother. That's a true story. Or the Polish peasant that evaded the draft in Galicia, and managed to immigrate to America a week before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

So while the routine of our ancestor's day to day life is fascinating, there are plenty of other things to discover while tracing our genealogy!

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

bronklimach1 — Mon Jan 06, 2014 5:24 am

Author: bronklimach1

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 5:24 am

I've been asked these two questions many times plus 'Do you have a famous person in your family tree?[/quote]
Ute - I'm not sure whether I should be disappointed not to regularly be asked that! I'm working on a reply just in case it happens

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

Anonymous — Thu Jan 02, 2014 6:50 pm

Author: Anonymous

Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 6:50 pm

joda wrote:

I think all of us who search for our ancestors have been asked the question of why many times. For me, it started out as a hobby and turned into a passion..... Even now, after 12 years, the search continues... I started out with only about 20 people in my tree and now it is over 1,000. I've written a family history book of both sides of my family and sent it to all cousins who wanted it in a PDF file. Unlike my generation who knew almost nothing of our family history, now there is a record of where we came from and if any future generations are interested, there is a documented history available for them and they won't have to spend years looking for the knowledge.

David Piekaczyk

David,

Your history is very similar to mine in many aspects. I was never asked "why", but it also started as a hobby and turned into a passion. I did not write a book: I preferred to write a blog, so I could update every new piece of information. The bad thing is that the blog was written in polish, english, german and portuguese, and I had to count on friends' native speakers help (the reason I had to stop updating it). It will surely remain as the history of the family for the generatons to come.

Pozdrawiam,
Gilberto

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

Ute — Wed Jan 01, 2014 11:53 pm

Author: Ute

Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 11:53 pm

bronklimach1 wrote:

My least favourite questions?
How far BACK have you got (which seems to rather miss much of the reason for researching family history), and are you nearly FINISHED?

I've been asked these two questions many times plus 'Do you have a famous person in your family tree?

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

bronklimach1 — Wed Jan 01, 2014 10:20 pm

Author: bronklimach1

Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 10:20 pm

My least favourite questions?
How far BACK have you got (which seems to rather miss much of the reason for researching family history), and are you nearly FINISHED?

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

joda — Tue Dec 31, 2013 1:10 am

Author: joda

Posted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 1:10 am

I think all of us who search for our ancestors have been asked the question of why many times. For me, it started out as a hobby and turned into a passion so much so that I moved to Poland with my wife over 6 years ago. Before I left the U.S. I found out a lot, did some correspondence with cousins I never knew, made trips to Poland to meet them and then, finally, decided I had to know more. So we moved and in the last 6 years have found much more information and visited many cousins. Most were from my mother's side of the family but in the last year I've been working on my fathers side and spent this Christmas day with new cousins in Jankowice, close to Krakow. Most people have pictures of nature or scenery hanging on their walls but now in our flat every wall is covered with pictures of relatives, old and new. Every night we have dinner with my extended family because they are all on the walls in our dining room. Even now, after 12 years, the search continues and I am still finding new relatives. I started out with only about 20 people in my tree and now it is over 1,000. I've written a family history book of both sides of my family and sent it to all cousins who wanted it in a PDF file. Unlike my generation who knew almost nothing of our family history, now there is a record of where we came from and if any future generations are interested, there is a documented history available for them and they won't have to spend years looking for the knowledge.

David Piekaczyk

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

Zenon — Mon Dec 23, 2013 2:16 am

Author: Zenon

Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 2:16 am

Ute wrote:

Zenon wrote:: ".. I just started PolishOrigins and our Forum. I hoped that it would become a virtual place for people interested in their Polish ancestry where they could share and get very factual, concrete advice, overcome “brick walls” or even find relatives from different parts of the world. And this is YOU who make all of it is happening here everyday
You all keep the flame burning and make this place useful and friendly for so many others. I thank you "

Zenon,
We all cannot thank you enough for starting PolishOrigins and for doing such a wonderful job for us. PolishOrigins is a great place for research with interesting topics and interactions that keep us inspired and motivated. And it is YOU who is setting the friendly tone for the whole place and makes us feel at home. Thank you and Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Ute

Thank you very much Ute and all of you

Following your advise I quoted the Della's words in the Christmas newsletter as a Christmas gift: http://polishorigins.com/12all/index.php?action=message&c=64&message=73 .

Wesołych Świąt from Poland

(attached Christmas card hand made by my wife Magdalena )

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

Ute — Mon Dec 23, 2013 1:35 am

Author: Ute

Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2013 1:35 am

Zenon wrote:: ".. I just started PolishOrigins and our Forum. I hoped that it would become a virtual place for people interested in their Polish ancestry where they could share and get very factual, concrete advice, overcome “brick walls” or even find relatives from different parts of the world. And this is YOU who make all of it is happening here everyday
You all keep the flame burning and make this place useful and friendly for so many others. I thank you "

Zenon,
We all cannot thank you enough for starting PolishOrigins and for doing such a wonderful job for us. PolishOrigins is a great place for research with interesting topics and interactions that keep us inspired and motivated. And it is YOU who is setting the friendly tone for the whole place and makes us feel at home. Thank you and Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Ute

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

Ute — Tue Dec 17, 2013 3:30 am

Author: Ute

Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 3:30 am

Another thing genealogy has taught me is humility. The realization that we are important and unimportant at the same time, that we are just a link in a long chain of ancestors whose life began, was lived under the conditions they were born in and what they made out of it, and ended some day, may give us a different perspective on our importance in the grand scheme of things. There's a German poem that I really LOVE. I think it describes well what I mean.

Von den Wellen des Schicksals an die Strände des Lebens geworfen,
verbringen wir die uns geschenkte Zeit als Wanderer zwischen den Welten.
Nichtsahnend dünken wir uns als Mitte des Universums,
und bilden doch nur das Strandgut der Ewigkeit
(Feingruber)

It's difficult to translate from German into English, the literal translation would be:

Thrown on the beaches of life by the waves of fate,
We are spending the time that is granted to us as wanderers between the worlds,
Believing unsuspectingly that we are the center of the universe,
But we are nothing else but part of the flotsam of eternity.

Re: Family history? Why do you care???

Ute — Mon Dec 16, 2013 3:45 pm

Author: Ute

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 3:45 pm

rsowa wrote:

... My immigrant ancestors came to America during a time when life in Poland (or what would become Poland) was hard. They struggled to survive, and had to raise their families under conditions of poverty and hunger. They worked hard and learned lessons in survival that they would pass on to future generations.

However, by the time their children were reaching adulthood, America had fallen into the Great Depression. Once again, the lessons they learned about survival and reliance on one another, allowed them survive during the Depression. They taught those lessons to their children (my parent's generation). Those lessons shaped our parents thinking, and influenced the way we were raised.

As your quote stated..."It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do." So much of it comes from the lessons we learned from our immigrant ancestors...even if we never knew them.

I'm sure our ancestors did not only pass on to us their physical appearance, their traits and characteristics, but also 'the lessons they learned in survival', a hidden potential that just needs to be uncovered. We may not even realize that we have this ability to firmly endure difficulties, overcome obstacles, solve problems in a constructive way, and to persistently fight for the things we need or want without giving up until life gets rough and we confront serious problems. It's kind of like getting thrown into the cold water and we know (or quickly learn) how to swim.

Some interesting research has been conducted on this topic:
"Life experiences put their stamp on the next generation: New insights from epigenetics." Elsevier, 2013: http://www.sciencedaily.net/releases/2013/02/130214075539.htm
Or: http://www.amazon.ca/Survivor-Personality-Stronger-atHandling-Difficulties/dp/0399535926/ref=pd_sim_b_4#reader_0399535926