Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 12:48 pm
Post subject: Are there passenger lists still not available online?
I can't seem to find MY Gruszeczka or MY Rakoczy....I am finding others with the same surnames, some even with the same given names, but then their relatives don't match the relatives I know I should have, or their ages don't make any sense, or there are duplicate naturalization records that prove two different people with the same name.
Is there a chance that sometime between 1890 and 1911 there were ships or something that brought large groups of families into places that aren't available on ancestry.com?
thanks!!
 Amber Gruszeczka
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starkey76
Joined: 17 Sep 2013
Replies: 164
Location: Wheeling, WV USABack to top |
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 2:49 pm
Post subject:
Try searching just Grus* or Rak* as the last name between the specified dates. Helped my out a lot when misspellings could end a hunt early.
John
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 3:14 pm
Post subject:
Wow that's so simple it's brilliant. Thanks John 
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rsowaPO Top Contributor
Joined: 09 Nov 2013
Replies: 177
Location: Dundee, Michigan, USABack to top |
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 4:19 pm
Post subject:
Amber...to the point of your question. Yes, there are undoubtedly records that Ancestry does not have yet. While I don't use Ancestry, I know others that do, and they often have to look at other sources for the records.
If you suspect a record exists, and Ancestry doesn't have a copy of it, then besides other search criteria (like John recommended) you might try going to the original source of their records to see if it might not have been indexed yet, or was indexed wrong. I have found records for my ancestors that were that way.
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 4:35 pm
Post subject:
Say, for New York passenger lists, I would go to the source--meaning Ellis Island? Other ports along the way? I have started looking into churches where I know they were members, thinking maybe I can work backwards a bit. For instance, St. Stanislaus Catholic church in Kewanee, IL, but google hasn't brought up that particular church yet, maybe it's not in existence anymore, I don't know. It's funny how my name is so unique in my everyday life, but it's shared with lots of people who aren't necessarily related to me! Do you use the LDS site?
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rsowaPO Top Contributor
Joined: 09 Nov 2013
Replies: 177
Location: Dundee, Michigan, USABack to top |
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 6:05 pm
Post subject:
Amber...yes, Ellis Island is good for passengers that arrived there after 1892. All those have been indexed are can be searched for free from both the Ellis Island website and at familysearch.org. But only if they came through New York. A lot of immigrants arrived at other ports. I had one that came through Baltimore in 1902 (which was only recently indexed) and another that came by way of the Railroad from Canada through Detroit (that has not been indexed).
For parish records, look at historic maps of the area you are interested in. The names and locations of churches in the area might be shown. Even if the church is closed, the Diocese will have all their records, or can tell you where they are. Most Catholic Diocese will help find the records, if you can give them some idea about when and where. The searching though, will probably be by volunteers and not by church staff, so it might take a while. And it might cost you a fee to pay for the researcher.
One more tidbit. I ran across a lot (scores) of folks with the same surnames I was looking for in Chicago and New Jersey. My first thought was like yours...that they weren't necessarily related to me. Then I managed to get an LDS microfilm for the parish in Poland where my ancestors came from. It turns out that virtually all of those folks with the same surnames in America during the 1890-1910 period I was looking at, were all from the same families in Poland! In other words, what I thought was mere surname coincidence, turned out to be actual cousins and in-laws I had no idea existed!
Yes, I used the LDS web site. It's usually the first place I go when checking a name. I don't use Ancestry, but would if it were free or readily available...nearest library with access is quite a drive from me.
Good luck!
Richard
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dnowickiPO Top Contributor
Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Replies: 2950
Location: Michigan City, IndianaBack to top |
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 7:30 pm
Post subject:
Amber,
St. Stanislaus in Kewanee merged with St. Anthony in 1982 to form St. Francis of Assisi. The diocese of Peoria has a website with info about records from closed parishes on the page of the diocesan archives. According to a list of microfilmed sacramental records kept at the archives, the records for St. Stan's are on microfilm at the archives. There is a request form on the site. According to the main page of the archives, there is no set fee for copies of records, but the request form lists a fee of $10.00---could get pricey if you request multiple records.
Best of luck in your research.
Dave
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Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 8:56 am
Post subject:
Wow you guys, thanks for the information...it gives me a great new direction to go in. My Polish heritage search is going to be all on my own, and I'm excited to learn as much as I can. My mother's side were Welsh/English, and colonial settlers for the most part, and her uncle gathered all that info by the time I started being interested in genealogy; he's been a researcher since the 70s... So because of his hard work, I mistakenly thought genealogy was a snap--until I started in on my father's Polish family! Printing out your responses and getting started today! Thanks again Richard and Dave. I'm feeling more connected to my "Polishness" already. 
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Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 10:22 am
Post subject:
Amber,
I was frustrated for years trying to find the passenger list for my great grandmother and her children. I had the time frame down to about 3 year period and I thought that finding a woman traveling with 5 children should not be that difficult. I was seeking the surname Deborski/Deborska and I tried "Deb*", "Dab*", and any other three letter plus wildcard variation I could think of with no results. Finally I took what I call a "brute force" approach - I searched all the passenger list databases using only wild card variations of great grandma's first name - Katarzyna or Katherine/Catherine. After long hours of looking through long lists, at last I found Kata Tuburska and her 5 children. That lead to finding the marriage record for Katarzyna Klimowska and Franciszek Tyburski and the birth records for all their children.
What I learned is to be aware of how names sound in Polish versus how they sound or are heard in American English. In Polish, "Deborski", "Tuburski" and "Tyburski" sound nearly identical. I used the website www.ivona.com to listen to how the surnames sound when voiced by the various Polish speakers.
Keep at it and remember to look at things from a lot of different angles. Best of luck with your searches!
Gary D.
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Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 11:13 am
Post subject:
Awesome thanks for the link! I don't even think I pronounce my own last name the way a native would LOL. Hopefully I can sneak in a listen at work today
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Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 11:20 am
Post subject:
OMG I plugged in my headphones to the wrong outlet in my computer and my whole office could hear the pronunciations I am so embarassed...someone in another cubicle just instant messaged me to tell me. When the headphones are in your ears you think that the sound is there! AHAHHAHAHA
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