PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

eurocaribbean — Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:21 am

Author: eurocaribbean

Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:21 am

This could be also: Zdroje, Brodnica County in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship.

Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

eurocaribbean — Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:16 am

Author: eurocaribbean

Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2018 3:16 am

I have some Świderski from Łódź in my tree... If you find out where they have immigrated from I recommend Geneteka database: https://goo.gl/oKrSNR

More helpful links here: http://bigosuk.org/polish-genealogy/

Re: Zdroje

dnowicki — Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:55 pm

Author: dnowicki

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:55 pm

pasjrwoctx wrote:

I have heard that before, and sadly I currently cant find any real information on Zdroje other than it could have been the name of a landowner that actually owned those villages. More questions this leads to. How about the name Martin Swidorsky this is the father of Alexander Swiderski from Zdroye, Russia does that help location wise? Or anything?

Joe & Man From Planet Earth,

The current spelling is indeed Zdroje. In the 19th Century the letter “y” was used in many words in which the contemporary spelling uses the letter “j”. In the 19th Century Zdroye was an acceptable spelling. The first 5 locations given by Wikipedia are in what was the Russian Partition aka The Kingdom of Poland (Królestwo Polskie) and thus are possibilities. The next places on the list were in the German Partition.

Wishing you success,

Dave

Zdroje

pasjrwoctx — Sun Feb 18, 2018 6:53 pm

Author: pasjrwoctx

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 6:53 pm

I have heard that before, and sadly I currently cant find any real information on Zdroje other than it could have been the name of a landowner that actually owned those villages. More questions this leads to. How about the name Martin Swidorsky this is the father of Alexander Swiderski from Zdroye, Russia does that help location wise? Or anything?

Re: Interesting

JGwizdowski — Sun Feb 18, 2018 6:45 pm

Author: JGwizdowski

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 6:45 pm

pasjrwoctx wrote:

That is my great grandfather best I can tell. But does this mean I am Russian and not Polish as I was raised and told? My father did not speak English, but Polish until 6thgrade even though he was 2nd gen American. This is a pivotal piece of info as I have unanswered questions, some without the How answers will still be an idea answer. If that makes sense.

From the late 1700's until the great war, Poland had been partitioned into administrative districts controlled by Prussia, Austria, and Russia. So, while their nationality was Polish, their citizenship would have been whatever partition they lived in. Your g.grandfather's petition indicates he was born in Zdroye, Russia.

I'm no expert in this area, but the equivalent name in Polish may be Zdroje? Wikipedia lists 10 different villages of that name, spread out across poland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zdroje

Someone with a good understanding of the geography will have to figure out which of these towns were in the Russian partition.

One last thing: Yes, you are Polish!

Interesting

pasjrwoctx — Sun Feb 18, 2018 4:52 pm

Author: pasjrwoctx

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 4:52 pm

That is my great grandfather best I can tell. But does this mean I am Russian and not Polish as I was raised and told? My father did not speak English, but Polish until 6thgrade even though he was 2nd gen American. This is a pivotal piece of info as I have unanswered questions, some without the How answers will still be an idea answer. If that makes sense.

Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

JGwizdowski — Sun Feb 18, 2018 4:45 pm

Author: JGwizdowski

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 4:45 pm

Addendum to Alexander's Dec of Intent...

Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

JGwizdowski — Sun Feb 18, 2018 3:22 pm

Author: JGwizdowski

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 3:22 pm

Here's Alexander's Declaration of Intent. Claimed his birthplace as Zdroye, Russia...

Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

JDombrowski89 — Sun Feb 18, 2018 11:13 am

Author: JDombrowski89

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 11:13 am

pasjrwoctx,

Any dates of births/deaths/marriages along with an idea where you think your ancestors came from within Poland would be helpful. Are you able to provide those to us?

Regards,
Justin

Does this help

pasjrwoctx — Sun Feb 18, 2018 11:04 am

Author: pasjrwoctx

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2018 11:04 am

Can the following be used to narrow down my Origins? Please see pdf, if pic too small
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Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

PolishLibrarian — Tue Feb 04, 2014 7:13 pm

Author: PolishLibrarian

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 7:13 pm

dnowicki wrote:

Phillip and cousin likeinwonderland,

In the Census the informant (Theodora) told the enumerator that neither she nor her husband had any formal education---a situation not uncommon in peasant farmers from Russian Poland. What this means is that they would probably not have been able to write and thus to spell the names of their children and their own names which goes a long way towards explaining variant spellings in records.
Anyway, I just wanted to point out that the spelling of names on the census is the way the names would be written in Polish.

Dave

Interesting that in 1910 the Polish enumerator said that Aleksander spoke English and Theodora did not, so he was assimilating quite well - probably because he was out in the workforce and Theodora was home with the children in a neighborhood populated by other Polish immigrants.

Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

dnowicki — Tue Feb 04, 2014 6:39 pm

Author: dnowicki

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 6:39 pm

Phillip and cousin likeinwonderland,

A sort post to make sure that you don't miss something about the 1910 Census.... The enumerator was Polish and she entered names with the correct Polish spelling based upon what she heard complete with Polish diacritical marks. A couple of quick examples would be the spelling of names like Cecylia and Kazimierz---both entered as they would be in Polish. Another note---I saw the 1940 Federal Census for your family but didn't post it because it exceeded the size limit for posts. In the Census the informant (Theodora) told the enumerator that neither she nor her husband had any formal education---a situation not uncommon in peasant farmers from Russian Poland. What this means is that they would probably not have been able to write and thus to spell the names of their children and their own names which goes a long way towards explaining variant spellings in records.
Anyway, I just wanted to point out that the spelling of names on the census is the way the names would be written in Polish.

Dave

Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

pasjrwoctx — Tue Feb 04, 2014 6:26 pm

Author: pasjrwoctx

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 6:26 pm

Just a quick update or more of a notice -- Who Am I? Where Do I Come From? The Swiderski Story http://woctxphotog.com/?p=816

Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

likeinwonderland — Tue Feb 04, 2014 1:42 pm

Author: likeinwonderland

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 1:42 pm

All of these records are in fact our family!! Thank you all so much for the help with this research for Philip. Alexander and Theodora are buried in Mt Olivet Cemetery in Detroit.

Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

pasjrwoctx — Tue Feb 04, 2014 12:39 pm

Author: pasjrwoctx

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 12:39 pm

WOW thank you so much everyone. I cant wait to really begin this project in depth. I have several reasons as to why I want to. Thank you for your help and all the help I will get to do this.

Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

dnowicki — Tue Feb 04, 2014 11:18 am

Author: dnowicki

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 11:18 am

Phillip,
Alexander & Theodora were married in Detroit on May 9, 1907 by Rev. F. A. Mueller. According to a history of Polish parishes from the Orchard Lake Mission, Fr. Frank/Franciszek Mueller was the pastor/rector of St. Albertus Catholic Church from 1894 until 1913 so that would be the parish where they were married. According to that history, it was the first Polish parish in Detroit and since the history is in Polish the parish is referred to as sw. Wojciecha. The Latin for Wojciech is Adalbertus and it seems that the chancery officials in Detroit in the 1870s were not aware that Albert and Adalbert are two distinct names which are not interchangeable. The intended name of the parish should have been Adalbertus rather than Albertus but once the mistake was made the name stuck. Anyway, the record of the marriage posted here is a civil registration and does not indicate where Alexander & Theodora were from in Poland. However, the genealogy gods are favoring you because microfilms of the parish records are available in the Detroit Public Library's Burton Historical Collection so a trip to the library should allow you to make a copy of the actual entry in the parish register and, if your luck holds, the place of origin in Poland should be part of that record. You should also be able to find the birth/baptism record of your grandfather either in the films for that parish or in the films for St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr, which are also part of the Burton Collection. The film you would want to view for the 1907 marriage record would be BHC #1024, Reel 7. There are no LDS films for Catholic Churches in Detroit so it is a stroke of luck that films of the records were made by some other group.

Two different entries for the civil marriage record are on the Family Search site and the both contain the same information. The record does list both Alexander's and Theodora's parents with the maiden names of the mothers which should prove useful for research in Poland. Alexander's father was Martin/Marcin Swiderski and his mother was L. Pawlowska. If I were to guess, possible first names which come to mind could be Ludwika or perhaps Leokadia which were common in Poland in the 1800s. Theodora's father was Constance/Konstanty Burzynski and her mother was M. Bylinska. There are more possible first names for her but two of the most frequent would be Maryanna and Malgorzata followed by Magdalena and Marta. Also one of the witnesses listed is Praseda/Prakseda Burzynska who probably is related to Theodora and possibly her sister. Whoever she is, she was living in Detroit in 1907.

The other attachment is a copy of the 1910 Census record.

Hope your research gets a good jump start.

Dave

Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

likeinwonderland — Tue Feb 04, 2014 11:16 am

Author: likeinwonderland

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 11:16 am

Philip in am the daughter of your father's first cousin Carolyn Swiderski. Our grandfathers were brothers. Your grandparents were two of the most awesome people I have ever known!! I am so very happy to meet you and I have info to share also. I live in metro Detroit and would be happy to have you over to visit and see photos and even some home video we have.

Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

Cheri Vanden Berg — Tue Feb 04, 2014 8:09 am

Author: Cheri Vanden Berg

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 8:09 am

Philip, This is really great that you have places to look now. I hope you hear from your cousins. I think it was Alice that thought that Alexander and Theodora married in Poland. I am curious about that, because it looks like they might have married in the U.S., and Dave's advice about the churches is great. It's wonderful to have places to look narrowed down. It would be nice if they married in the U.S. because you might be able to find out who their parents were, and where they were baptized (probably easier than finding that information in Poland). Also, Alexander Jr. and Natalie's marriage record would be great to get so that you could learn her maiden name if it's not on her death certificate.

You can see the Alexander that Polish Librarian found at Ellis Island, line 25: http://tinyurl.com/n6jh76u He was indexed as Alexander Swidorsky. Not sure this is your Alexander, because IF that 1941 written on the manifest is the date of naturalization, I think your Alexander was naturalized earlier than that. Hopefully his naturalization papers will clear that up. If you don't know how to send for them, there is advice on this forum at Polish Origins: http://forum.polishorigins.com/viewtopic.php?t=657 I wrote about how I had gotten my grandfather's in just 2 days for $10.

Maybe Alice already has those records.

Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

PolishLibrarian — Tue Feb 04, 2014 12:45 am

Author: PolishLibrarian

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 12:45 am

1930 census says Alex was 21 when married, he’s 45 and he arrived in 1904, while Theodora was 44, 20 when married and arrived in 1903 [this would imply they were married in 1906]. 1920 census says Alex is 35, arrived in 1903 and had filed papers for naturalization. In all 3 census years they were living at 1413 Joseph Campau St. in Detroit.

On Ancestry there was the manifest from Hamburg with him departing March 27, 1905 and his hometown is indexed as Disobali, Russian Polish (I couldn’t find his name on the manifest – writing is very hard to decipher). Coming into NY on Apr. 12, 1905 on the ship Dania, he was going to his brother Franz S. in Philadelphia, his last location looks like Disobabr, Russian Polish. There’s a date added later by his name - Apr. 9, 1941 - probably when he was naturalized. ~PL

Re: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?

Shellie — Tue Feb 04, 2014 12:13 am

Author: Shellie

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 12:13 am

Here is some of the information that Cheri mentioned above and also the 1910 and 1920 census info: