PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Casimir Prazjner

SteveWojnar — Sat Dec 21, 2019 1:21 pm

Author: SteveWojnar

Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2019 1:21 pm

Hi Walter,

I found and read your book this morning, and thank you - you helped me make another advance in my family research. It turns out that you and I are related. The Casimir Prazjner in your book who moved to Philadelphia from his family's farm in western Massachusetts is my first cousin once removed. Casimir's mother, Mary (Wojnar) Prazjner, is my grandfather's sister. Mary and my grandfather (Andrew) and their 4 siblings grew up in Korczyna, but I don't know more than that - I don't know where, but I'm working on it. Only John Wojnar stayed in Poland, the other 5 siblings moved to the U.S. I also think that we my share another relative in the Gonets, as I've determined that Andrew's grandmother on his father's side was Catharine Gonet.

I'm traveling to Poland in April of this year. I know I am going to go to Korczyna, where my grandfather's family is from, and to Zalipie, where my grandmother's family (Slosek) is from. Do you have any more information about Casimir's Polish roots? Can you point me in the right direction to do more research on the family in Poland? Any tidbit or nugget you can provide will be helpful and appreciated. Thank you!! I really enjoyed reading your book and I about fell out of my chair when I realized the Casimir connection was to us. Casimir's little brother Henry was my dad's best bud in the family when they were little and my dad spent a lot of time on the farm with Henry and the Prazjners.

Re: Korczyna

VBentley — Sun Sep 24, 2017 11:39 am

Author: VBentley

Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 11:39 am

Hello!

My (maternal) grandfather, Walter Pelczar (b. 1923 Dracut, Mass) told me that we were related to St. Josef Sebastian. He was an uncle to him, however, I do not remember how many "great's" were in front. His father was Szymon Zigmund Pelczar (b. Oct 30, 1890) in Polanka, Poland. He came to America in 1906 and Married Karolina Blecharczyk of Lowell, Mass. I have on my family tree information on Karolina, but the line stops at Szymon. Thoughts? Help?

Dziękuje!
Vanessa

walturbanek wrote:

Hi Trina,

I have neither heard of anyone with stigmata nor named Helena Pelczar when interviewing my father, nor do we have any known Cleveland connections. In "Polish By Heart"(PBH) there is a supplemental section on St. Josef Sebastian Pelczar. In it I write that I cannot find any direct link to my family even though there is an "Urbanek" in the saint's family tree. The only "Pelczar" I know of is an Andrew Pelczar who married into the family. Andrew immigrated to Newmarket, NH and then moved to Middletown CT. His 1919 wedding party's photo is on page 18 of "PBH".

The two most famous Korcyzna residents were St Josef Sebastian Pelczar and General Stanislaw Szeptycki.

I maintain a family tree also that was researched by my aunt (who is still alive and whom I will visit in September). I have four main sources on Korczyna: 1. The parish records of the church in Korcyzna which is where my aunt found many records. 2. If you research Ellis Island you can find many of the passengers who came from Korcyzna. Maybe you could do a search of where people came from. 3. Another source is the Jewish web site on Korcyzna which gives records and names connected with the Hollocost there. 4. There is also a web-site that one of my Pelczarski relatives runs out of Chicago. You can find it by typing in that family name. He maintains his family tree on that site and if you ask you may be granted permission to view that tree. I have contributed to that research. He also relates what he suspects is the origin of his family's name.

Keep me informed of anything you find of interest.

Walter

re: Gonet family tree

Ncdrew — Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:27 pm

Author: Ncdrew

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:27 pm

Thank you so much for sharing! This must have taken quite a bit of effort and time for him to put together.

Gonet Family Tree

walturbanek — Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:20 pm

Author: walturbanek

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:20 pm

More pages

Gonet Family Tree

walturbanek — Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:14 pm

Author: walturbanek

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:14 pm

I have not used any ancestry database but others I know have to great success. I have relied on relatives. I looked in my files and found something put together by Jim Smerczynski (whom I never met) dated 1995. Jim is a distant relative. His work overlaps some put together by my aunt. Your great grandfather is number 35.

Korczyna

Ncdrew — Wed Feb 15, 2017 5:34 am

Author: Ncdrew

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 5:34 am

Hi Walter,
Thanks for confirming the Korczyna church connection. I came across a few things that made me suspect they attended church there. I have been trying to remember everything that I have heard through the years. My mother, who married into the Gonet family, has actually been a good source of tidbits of information that she remembers.
With the number of siblings my grandfather had, I'm sure there must be quite a number of decendents that are still around the Salem area or at least in Massachusetts.
Have you ever used any online genealogy resources?

Nancy

Gonet

walturbanek — Tue Feb 14, 2017 11:18 pm

Author: walturbanek

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 11:18 pm

Nancy,

Last year I received a Facebook friend request from a Michael Gonet of Boston Mass. He is another descendant of Antoni Gonet. He is a descendant of Albert's oldest brother John.

Gonet

walturbanek — Tue Feb 14, 2017 10:55 pm

Author: walturbanek

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 10:55 pm

Hi Nancy,
The source of information on my Gonet connections was my Aunt who lived in Krosno, Poland. She died in 2015 in her nineties. I believe she found the information in church Baptism and Marriage records in Korczyna, Poland. Maria Gonet and Franciszek Urbanek were married in that church in Korczyna. Their farm was in the village of Sporna which was closeby but had no church. I don't know if the Gonets were from Sporna, Korczyna or some other near village, but they went to Korczyna for church.

re:Gonet

Ncdrew — Tue Feb 14, 2017 7:57 pm

Author: Ncdrew

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 7:57 pm

Hi Walter,
Thanks for the quick response. My grandfather's mother was Mary. I have found many variations for her maiden name: Wierzka, Wienzbicka, Wybicka, Weconybyka, Wicizlika, Weirzbicka, Ubitska, Wierzbicki and Plotycia. Anthony is buried at St. Mary's cemetery in Salem, MA. He died in 1924. My grandfather, Albert, was the last remaining child of Anthony's and he passed away in 2000. He had several siblings. My aunt wrote his obituary and listed John, Joseph. William Boleslaus, Andrew, Frank, Helen, Amelia and Rose. It's challenging tracking down some leads when the names are changed or when there are repeats of certain first names. Add in women changing their name when they get married to confuse as well. Do you know what city Anthony was from? You have done some amazing research and I have enjoyed reading your father's stories that you chronicled! I only have one relative left that speaks Polish and knows the stories and traditions. I plan to write to her to encourage a dialogue about our family.
Thanks!
Nancy (Gonet) Drozewski aka the famous sleuth, Nancy Drew.

Gonet

walturbanek — Tue Feb 14, 2017 12:59 pm

Author: walturbanek

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 12:59 pm

I have record of several Gonets in my family tree quite far back in time:

Antoni Gonet 1813 (and his 6 siblings)
His daughter Maria Gonet 1849-1906 (and her 4 siblings)
Maria Gonet married my great grandfather Franciszek Urbanek (1850-1920) and they had 5 children including my grandfather Jan.

Of Maria Gonet's siblings Joseph 1836 married Maria Piwowar. They had two children, John 1872-1934. John and Maria had 5 children.
Josep and Maria had another son Antoni 1866-1924. Antoni married Julia Miesowicz they had 2 children. Antoni had a second wife Mary 1873-1948 by whom he had another 9 children.

This Antoni Gonet went to Salem! Was your grandfather Albert born of Julia or Mary? If so, we have a common ancestry from Antoni Gonet 1813 and Katarzyna Kubit 1817. I can go deeper on the Kubit side by 2 generations, 1737.

Are you Nancy Drew the girl detective?

Possible relation?

Ncdrew — Tue Feb 14, 2017 9:14 am

Author: Ncdrew

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 9:14 am

My great grandfather was Anthony Gonet. His census info lists his country of origin as Austrian Poland and it looks like he came to the United States around 1900. He lived in Salem, Massachusetts. His son, Albert, was my grandfather.

Re: Polish by Heart. My Father's Stories" by Walter Urbanek

galauner@yahoo.com — Fri Feb 06, 2015 11:03 am

Author: galauner@yahoo.com

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2015 11:03 am

Thanks Walter. I believe I may have already been in touch with your relative in Chicago and reviewed his tree. He talks about the origin of the Pelczar name being from Sweden....all very interesting. I will ontinue searching. I'll let you know if I find any connections that you would be interested in.

Korczyna

walturbanek — Fri Feb 06, 2015 9:46 am

Author: walturbanek

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2015 9:46 am

Hi Trina,

I have neither heard of anyone with stigmata nor named Helena Pelczar when interviewing my father, nor do we have any known Cleveland connections. In "Polish By Heart"(PBH) there is a supplemental section on St. Josef Sebastian Pelczar. In it I write that I cannot find any direct link to my family even though there is an "Urbanek" in the saint's family tree. The only "Pelczar" I know of is an Andrew Pelczar who married into the family. Andrew immigrated to Newmarket, NH and then moved to Middletown CT. His 1919 wedding party's photo is on page 18 of "PBH".

The two most famous Korcyzna residents were St Josef Sebastian Pelczar and General Stanislaw Szeptycki.

I maintain a family tree also that was researched by my aunt (who is still alive and whom I will visit in September). I have four main sources on Korczyna: 1. The parish records of the church in Korcyzna which is where my aunt found many records. 2. If you research Ellis Island you can find many of the passengers who came from Korcyzna. Maybe you could do a search of where people came from. 3. Another source is the Jewish web site on Korcyzna which gives records and names connected with the Hollocost there. 4. There is also a web-site that one of my Pelczarski relatives runs out of Chicago. You can find it by typing in that family name. He maintains his family tree on that site and if you ask you may be granted permission to view that tree. I have contributed to that research. He also relates what he suspects is the origin of his family's name.

Keep me informed of anything you find of interest.

Walter

Re: Polish by Heart. My Father's Stories" by Walter Urbanek

galauner@yahoo.com — Wed Feb 04, 2015 5:36 pm

Author: galauner@yahoo.com

Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 5:36 pm

Walter

I am wondering if you have any information on the family of Helena Pelczar. I am working on a story about her and her family. Her parents were Franciszek Pelczar and Salomea Wiernasz. She was born in Korczyna and I believe her parents as well. There is a thought she was related to St. Josef Sebastian Pelczar. I am assuming the Pelczar and Pelczarski names are from the same family line somewhere way back. Helena was believed to have stigmata. Do you remember any stories you may have heard from your family about her? Any family connections to Cleveland? I'm trying to piece together as many of these families from Korczyna as I can. Thank you!

Trina

Re: Polish by Heart. My Father's Stories" by Walter Urbanek

walturbanek — Thu Jan 29, 2015 9:53 am

Author: walturbanek

Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 9:53 am

Thank you for your kind words. I looked you up and visited the website for the Polish group you belong to in Cleveland. I want to explore that site more fully in the coming days. There's so much on that site. Through Polish Origins I set up a special tour in September 2015 for my family in southern Poland. We also expect to meet with family after that tour.

It's interesting to determine what caused immigrants to settle in a particular place. On my father's side the link seems to be the weaving trade. My great grandfather helped found a Society of Weavers in Korczyna, Poland. His offspring left Poland and settled in Newmarket, NH, I surmise, because of the weaving mills there. The "why" makes sense but I don't know "how" or "who" found out about the mills in New Hampshire. Perhaps another family had found that location and let other families know. I wonder who made the first connection.

Keep up the good work!

Polish by Heart by Walter Urbanek

galauner@yahoo.com — Wed Jan 28, 2015 5:28 pm

Author: galauner@yahoo.com

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 5:28 pm

I just spent the afternoon reading one of the most interesting and informative stories of Poles from the Krosno area of Poland. Walter Urbanek's story "Polish By Heart" hit close to home since part of my Polish family is from that area of Poland. The stories give me a better understanding of the history in that area and possible reasons for my own family's immigration to the U.S. I am so happy to have stumbled upon it and grateful to Mr. Urbanek for sharing it through Polish Origins.

Jan Urbanek

walturbanek — Mon Nov 03, 2014 10:07 am

Author: walturbanek

Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2014 10:07 am

On page 34 of "Polish By Heart" my Dad relates this story of a village of only 50 houses:

"The fact that there was three Jan Urbanek’s in town, at least once, caused an unfortunate incident. The police were notified by someone “that Jan Urbanek’s dog bit me”. So the police arrived at Jan and Monika’s farm and shot the dog. It was the wrong Jan Urbanek and the wrong dog. To add to the insult, the police charged Jan one złoty for the cost of the bullet. Jan was so mad that he stopped work and declared it a holiday to commemorate the lost dog."

I know that Odrzykon is the next town to the west of Sporne. Where did you find your records? My Aunt searched the records of the local church in Korczyna to the 1700's. There is another "Jan Urbanek" born in 1812 in my family tree. He had 18 children by Rosalia Ziobro, but only 7 survived childhood. I am a descendant of one of their sons, Francisek Urbanek. I have some information on the descendants of 2 of Francisek's siblings: Antoni who married Julianna Polchlopek, and Agnes who married Jan Szmyd and a Michael Polchlopek.

What other family names are in your tree?

Re: Polish by Heart. My Father's Stories" by Walter Urbanek

mrpiano17 — Sun Nov 02, 2014 7:56 am

Author: mrpiano17

Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2014 7:56 am

Hi Walter,

I'm looking forward to reading these stories in depth. I traveled to Odrzykoń last October with Zenon and PolishOrigins. We found records showing that my 5th great-grandfather was a Jan Urbanek. Perhaps no relation, but you never know. Do you know if any family members moved to Odrzykoń?

Either way, I'm sure you will have a fantastic trip. I'd love to hear about it once you return.

Mike

Polish by Heart. My Father's Stories" by Walter Urbanek

Agnieszka Pawlus — Fri Oct 31, 2014 5:46 am

Author: Agnieszka Pawlus

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2014 5:46 am

Walter and his family will be our guests in September 2015. He did an enormous job and written all stories told by his father to celebrate his 97th birthday.

Walter agreed to share this work with you (we can't thank you enough for this Władek!).

It might be interesting especially for those of you, who have their ancestors in Krosno area (south-east part of Poland, former Galicia).