PolishOrigins Forum

 FAQFAQ    SearchSearch    MemberlistMemberlist    ProfileProfile    Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages    Log inLog in    RegisterRegister 
Swiderski -- Just who Am I?
Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next
Author
Message
pasjrwoctx



Joined: 30 Jan 2014
Replies: 10
Location: Earth

Back to top
Post Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 7:53 pm      Post subject: Swiderski -- Just who Am I?
Reply with quote

At 35, I should have started this years ago. Both my grandparents are long dead. As to my Father and Uncle, there is no communication. I am very interested in Knowing who I am. My grandparents use tell me when I asked, they would say this is not yet the time to learn about your name. What did that mean? Is there a family secret? Well I am a Swiderski, told to be 3rd gen U.S. Born, From Detroit MI I have no info as to my grandparents. So I am not sure how far this will go. But I truly want to know just who am I?
View user's profile
Send private message
Visit poster's website
Agnieszka Pawlus
PolishOrigins Team


Joined: 10 Mar 2013
Replies: 748
Location: Poland

Back to top
Post Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 10:13 am      Post subject:
Reply with quote

pasjrwoctx,

To begin with, I can find for you some information about your surname meaning:

Accordingly to William Hoffman's ‘Polish Surnames Origins and Meanings’ 3rd edition
the surname Świderski is a toponym, coming from place name Świder, which currently is a part of Otwock town.

This is a common Polish surname. In 2002 there were 15 340 individuals using the surname Świderski/Świderska living in Poland. Detailed map of the surname distribution can be found here: https://nazwiska-polskie.pl/%C5%9Awiderski .

In the old Poland there was a few noble families of Świderski:
Świderski in Luków district (in 1584)
Świderski, coat of arms Półkozic in Lesser Poland
Świderski, coat of arms Ślepowron from Świdry (in 1525)

Listen how your surname is pronounced in Polish (click on the “Listen” button): http://translate.google.com/#pl/en/%C5%9Awiderski and http://translate.google.com/#pl/en/%C5%9Awiderska .

And here in PolishOrigins Surnames Databaseyou will find other PolishOrigins members interested in Swiderski surname: http://polishorigins.com/surnames/search/string/swiderski

Good luck with your research!
View user's profile
Send private message
Visit poster's website
Cheri Vanden Berg
PO Top Contributor & Patron


Joined: 16 Oct 2011
Replies: 497

Back to top
Post Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 10:58 am      Post subject:
Reply with quote

pasjrwoctx,
You are probably younger than most of the people who start searching for family history. Start with what you know. I assume you know your grandparents' names and maybe their ages. Do they have gravestones, death certificates? Sometimes the information can have mistakes, because they are not the ones giving the information, but you can get a general idea. You believe that your grandparents were born in the U.S. Have you found them in the census? It will give their birth state, or country, so that you can confirm this. If they lived in the same area for years, maybe they belonged to the same church for years, and there will be baptismal records with their parents' names, or marriage records with their parents' names. Or you could look in the county for birth records with their parents' names. After you have that information, you could start looking for where your great grandparents came from, etc.

Cheri
View user's profile
Send private message
PolishLibrarian
PO Top Contributor


Joined: 28 Aug 2010
Replies: 311

Back to top
Post Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 1:44 pm      Post subject:
Reply with quote

I do suggest you follow Cheri's suggestion - start with what you know about your parents, aunts & uncles, & grandparents and work your way backwards through the types of records she mentioned. The 1940 census for Detroit shows 10 male Swiderskis (Joseph, Maxmillian, Charles, Walter, Adam, Daniel, Alexander, Peter, Anthony and Frank) born between 1870 and 1896 in Poland so it's obviously a common name in your area.

That said here is a map showing the incidence of your name Swiderski throughout Poland. They are spread out quite a bit with only 2 places with a higher concentration (mouse over the colored areas to see the name of the community) https://nazwiska-polskie.pl/Swiderski Good luck. ~PL
View user's profile
Send private message
PolishLibrarian
PO Top Contributor


Joined: 28 Aug 2010
Replies: 311

Back to top
Post Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 1:49 pm      Post subject:
Reply with quote

Sorry for the duplication. I missed that Aga had already covered the Moirkewni website. ~PL
View user's profile
Send private message
pasjrwoctx



Joined: 30 Jan 2014
Replies: 10
Location: Earth

Back to top
Post Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 6:46 pm      Post subject:
Reply with quote

Natalie Swiderski was born on February 03, 1917 and died on January 03, 2009 at the age of 91 But I can not find anything about my Grandpa, sadly I have no one to ask. Any ideas? Of where to go from here?
View user's profile
Send private message
Visit poster's website
rsowa
PO Top Contributor


Joined: 09 Nov 2013
Replies: 177
Location: Dundee, Michigan, USA

Back to top
Post Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:25 pm      Post subject:
Reply with quote

pasjrwoctx...

Genealogy can take a lot of time to sort out all the details. Like Cheri suggested, you need to start with what you are certain of. Eventually other pieces will fall into place...be patient and keep plugging away.

A good place to start is to do a lot of searches at familysearch.org. Search for the names you know. Then look at any records that come up. In the results, there will be other names listed (ex: spouse, child, etc). Even if a name doesn't match what you expect, do another search on that other name and see if what you find makes sense. Keep doing that and eventually you are bound to find more info. Don't worry about exact spelling...too often the records are transcribed wrong, or even spelled wrong in the original documents

Since your grandmother was born in 1917, she would appear in the 1920, 1930 and 1940 census records...along with the rest of her family. Plenty more names to research.

Good luck!
View user's profile
Send private message
Cheri Vanden Berg
PO Top Contributor & Patron


Joined: 16 Oct 2011
Replies: 497

Back to top
Post Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:31 pm      Post subject:
Reply with quote

Hi, I see that Natalie Swiderski died in Traverse City, Michigan. I went to a Grand Traverse County website, http://tinyurl.com/nk8ueev ,and saw that you could get a certified copy of her death certificate for $15. Usually a death certificate for genealogy purposes is cheaper (not certified), but with a quick check, I did not see that option. Depending on who filled it out, it may have her parents' names on it, and her husband's name. I'm assuming that Swiderski is her married surname? So far I haven't had any luck finding her in the census.
I tried to find an online obituary, but I didn't have any luck with that either. All I found was a death notice that didn't have any family information.

I did find her Social Security number. This is an expensive option, which I'm not even sure is even an option right now. Nope, I just looked it up: http://genealogy.about.com/od/online_records/a/ss5_request.htm
It's not going to help you for another 3 years. I guess because of privacy laws, the parents' names are blacked out until the applicants age would have been 100 years old.

I'll see what else I can find...
Cheri
View user's profile
Send private message
Cheri Vanden Berg
PO Top Contributor & Patron


Joined: 16 Oct 2011
Replies: 497

Back to top
Post Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 3:43 pm      Post subject:
Reply with quote

I haven't found anything new on Natalie Swiderski. I was hoping to find her name in a marriage index, so that we could know her husband's name, and her maiden name. In case the Swiderski name was indexed incorrectly, I took a shot at finding ANY 23 year old women in Detroit in 1940. IF she wasn't married yet, and IF she lived in Detroit, I came up with two possibilities. There were a few more 23 year old Natalies, but they didn't have Polish parents. If her age was given incorrectly than there would be a few more possibilities. Since her birthday was February 3, 1917, and the census was taken in April 1940, she should have been 23.

There was a Natalie Stefanek who lived in Ward 18 Detroit. Her parents were Jacob and Magdalena, and siblings in that census were Thaddues, Leon, and Helen.

There was a Natalie Holowicki who lived in Ward 16 Detroit. Her mother Agnes was a widow, and she had brothers Chester, Zygmunt, and Alexander in that census year. I did further research on this family, and found that her father was Frank/Franciszek, her mother Agnes/Agata. It looks like the family had gone back to Poland in 1920 and come back in 1922. All the children were born in the U.S. except for Zygmunt (who was 19 in the 1940 census). I found this Natalie's mother Agnes in the Social Security Death Index, and she had lived until 99 (which I found interesting since Natalie lived until she was almost 92).

Of course there is no way to know if either of these women could be Natalie Swiderski, unless any of the names ring a bell with you (or if it's on her death certificate, or a marriage record that could be found), or if anyone reading this could think of anywhere else to look). Oh, and Natalie's name on the ship manifest was Anatalia. I've also seen the name Natalia. I'm really trying to search anything I can. Frank and Agnes did marry in Detroit, and their marriage record is on Family Search.

If you could think of anything else that could help anyone help you with this, please let us know.
View user's profile
Send private message
pasjrwoctx



Joined: 30 Jan 2014
Replies: 10
Location: Earth

Back to top
Post Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 4:32 pm      Post subject:
Reply with quote

if it helps my name is Philip A Swiderski Jr March 22, 1978 I was born in MI and my Father Philip A Swiderski Sr February 6, 1946 I believe.
View user's profile
Send private message
Visit poster's website
Cheri Vanden Berg
PO Top Contributor & Patron


Joined: 16 Oct 2011
Replies: 497

Back to top
Post Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 7:24 pm      Post subject:
Reply with quote

I just found an obit for Chester Holowicki, and his sister Natalie married a Nagy, so that's not you're grandmother....
View user's profile
Send private message
pasjrwoctx



Joined: 30 Jan 2014
Replies: 10
Location: Earth

Back to top
Post Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 7:45 pm      Post subject:
Reply with quote

Alexander Swiderski If I remember names right was my grandpas name, here are his family names all maiden. Cealia Swiderski -Sister Violet Swiderski -Sister Theodora Swiderski -Sister His parents I think are Alexander Swiderski -Father Theodora Swiderski -Mother Where I am stuck now, is I am not totally sure, Violet and Cealia I do recall but never knew not that I remember. I do know my Grandpa Served in the Army AirCorp in WWII he was stationed in Washington State from what I remember him telling me. But have no clue, unit or rank.
View user's profile
Send private message
Visit poster's website
Cheri Vanden Berg
PO Top Contributor & Patron


Joined: 16 Oct 2011
Replies: 497

Back to top
Post Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:46 pm      Post subject:
Reply with quote

Here's Alexander Swiderski's family in 1940:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KH9C-N3N
You can see the original image by clicking View Document
View user's profile
Send private message
Cheri Vanden Berg
PO Top Contributor & Patron


Joined: 16 Oct 2011
Replies: 497

Back to top
Post Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:51 pm      Post subject:
Reply with quote

Here is Alexander Swiderski SR.'s draft registration card: http://tinyurl.com/my6kkmh
As you can see, he was born in the part of Poland that was occupied by Russia.
View user's profile
Send private message
Cheri Vanden Berg
PO Top Contributor & Patron


Joined: 16 Oct 2011
Replies: 497

Back to top
Post Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 9:06 pm      Post subject:
Reply with quote

Philip,
Check out this exchange between Alice and Cassandra at Genforum about your Swiderskis.
http://genforum.genealogy.com/swiderski/messages/5.html If you click on their names, you will find their e-mail addresses (if they are current). Maybe they've learned more. You could also write a message there.
Looks like Theodora (Doris) married a Johnson:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9294370


Last edited by Cheri Vanden Berg on Tue Feb 04, 2014 9:38 am; edited 1 time in total
View user's profile
Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    PolishOrigins Forum Index -> Origins of surnames All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next Page 1 of 3

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum


Powered by phpBB ©

© 2009-2024 COPYRIGHTS BY THE OWNER OF POLISHORIGINS.COM