Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 6:36 pm
Post subject: Looking for some input, help...anything.
Hi there! I'm new to this forum and am quite glad to have found it. Let me apologize for this being so long.
I've been trying to research my Polish side of the family for years. My Gram passed in 2005 and all I've been left with are names that I can't seem to locate any records on. Since sorting through things I feel I have found a bit more useful information however, it hasn't helped to turn anything up.
I'd love to find out where in the US my relatives first came to when they left Poland. I'd love to know when they first got it. Possibly a reason for them coming.
What I do know so far:
Mary Undziakiewicz (spelled Undriakiewicz on her grave) married Ludwik (spelled Ludwig on a few other instances and he's also been referred to as Louis) Budnick (spelled Budnik on my Grams birth certificate) who had a sister Louise and a brother Joseph.
I was also told they came to the US around 1906
Together they had 3 (living) children born 1913 (Michigan I believe), 1916 (Rhode Island) and 1918. I've been told there was another that had died on the way over to the US but that might just be "talk". The one picture of them together shows the studio it was taken at being in Rhode Island so maybe they married over here? I remember my Gram had a large painting (I believe) of them. It wasn't colored all funny like the photo I have.
They were involved with the Polish National Catholic Church Of Our Savior.
Also, my Grams "State Of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" birth certificate shows her name being: Stanislawa Ludwika Budnik but all her life she was called "Stasia" and said her middle name was Louise.
I snapped some pictures (of pictures etc so forgive me for the poor quality) and will add those. This is already long so why not make it longer 
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PolishLibrarianPO Top Contributor
Joined: 28 Aug 2010
Replies: 323
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 7:26 pm
Post subject:
I took a quick look at the Ellis Island data base and found a Ludwig Budnik:
First Name: Ludwig
Last Name: Budnik
Ethnicity: Russia, Polish
Last Place of Residence: Czernowicz, Russia
Date of Arrival: Apr 23, 1910
Age at Arrival: 19y Gender: M Marital Status: S
Ship of Travel: Amerika
Port of Departure: Hamburg
Manifest Line Number: 0010
The only problem is the link to the manifest (where you could see who he was going to and where that person lived as well as name of nearest living relative left in the old country) takes you to a completely different ship that sailed out of Palermo with lots of Italians on it. I'm not sure how to work around this problem, but age and date sound about right for the birth dates you have. Possibly the location is in present-day Ukraine.
Do you know what church any of the children were baptized in? The church baptismal records often give names of the parents of the baby's parents (the baby's grandparents) and where the baby's parents were baptized. Ludwig (or Ludivicus in Latin) and Ludwicka are often know here as Louis and Louise.
Good luck. I'm sure others here can give you additional help. PolishLibrarian
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 7:31 pm
Post subject:
Thanks so much for taking a look for me!
I will head over to that site and look around. I know according to those little funeral card things that my Grandfather was born in or around 1885 and his wife around 1895 though I guess that could vary. I'm going to assume my Gram was baptized in the above mentioned church. She was very proud of being a member of it as her parents were too. Thanks so much for the info! Anything and everything is a help. I wish I knew what made them come here, if it was war related or what. I also wish I knew where they came from and more about my Grandmothers odd last name. Must make some coffee, put my kids to bed and look around 
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:11 pm
Post subject:
One Blessed Mess:
Hello, I dont know what resources you have checked or know about but I am going to assume you are new at this and just list somethings just incase.
Well, first I would like to say the outfit in the picture that your gram (Babcia in Polish) is wearing is a traditional dance outfit. It is different depending on the village or area the person was from, from all the checking that I have done. I have a beautiful outfit just like the one your gram is wearing that was passed down to me!!!! I will upload the photo of me wearing it for you to see! These dresses were worn to dance folk dances and in USA many times this tradition was carried on during Polish- American parades or dances etc. Maybe your Gram was apart of one of these?
* I would start by checking for your grandparents passenger records to America to find the town they emigrated to first! On the passenger records they ask where they are going in America and to whom they are meeting. It also asks the nearest relative in the country they just came from and the place of birth.
****Remember check the next page after the one you search. Example- if a search comes up that your ancestor is on page 45 also check page 46 too because these passenger lists are 2 pages worth. Also, sometimes our relatives were detained so look at the last pages for detained aliens and it offers other information. So go to :
www.ellisislandrecords.org
Have you checked on www.ancestry.com
Also, put in woonsocket, Rhode ISland genealogy in google search bar and check all the different genealogy links, there are many I checked.
I did a quick search for your grandfather Ludwig Budnik and I found a gentlemen arriving in America on April 24, 1910. He was born about 1891 and it says in Czernowicz, Poland. It says he is Polish but he is residing in Czernowicz,Russia. (The spelling could be wrong but you will have to check it out. I hope this is your Dziadek(grandpa)but please check it out and search around before saying yes or no for sure.Click on the original passenger record link. Here is the link:
http://www.ellisisland.org/search/passRecord.asp?order_num=1380206080&MID=14213862260261305824&order_num=1380206080&ORDER_ID=1600051028&LNM=BUDNIK&PLNM=BUDNIK&first_kind=1&last_kind=0&RF=358&pID=101325140640
Remember, Poland was annexed by the three different powers: Germany(Prussia), Austro-Hungry(Galicia), and Russia, so this gives clue to where in Poland this town or city is. There can be one Czernowicz or 24. You have to identify the right one and then when you do you can order the microflms of birth,marriage,death records from the LDS library. Hopefully they will have the town available. There website is:
www.familysearch.org
Last but not least try searching in the Polishorigins search bar. It is a wonderful help!
There are many others but this should get you started. Also, A great help would be to check the 1920 and 1930 census records in America if you have not already. It will help identify your family and the place they were living.
Also, one last thing- dont get too tied up on the spelling of the names because many people spelled them wrong so we have to be open to different options to find our families. Many people in America probably couldnt say Stanislawa so maybe that is why she went by Stasia. Search using both ways and it will help you more in the long run!
Good Luck and if you need anything I am a message away!
Last edited by violin75 on Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:23 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:25 pm
Post subject:
Thank you so much for everything!! I'm poked around some but not too much. I was quick to get frustrated when nothing ever turned up but at the time I was searching using the names I was familiar with versus variations of the names. I appreciate the tips, input, help etc.
That is so wonderful you have that outfit passed down to you! All I have are pictures and memories though I'm thankful for that. My Gram raised me, she was actually my Great Grandmother. I miss her so much. Just might have to make some Pierogi this week
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:27 pm
Post subject:
Check out the Polish Genealogical Society of America. www. pgsa.org
They have many Polish resources. One that I have found photos in and other information about my families church info is in the Jubilee books. If your ancestors church sent their patron, donor or other information they could be in these books. Go to this link:
http://pgsa.org/Jubilee.php
Last edited by violin75 on Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:23 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:30 pm
Post subject:
Pierogi's always help!!
Last edited by violin75 on Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:23 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 8:37 pm
Post subject:
Thanks so much! You all have been so helpful.
I'll report back with anything I might find. Wonder if I can convince my husband to get me an Ancestry membership for a month?
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PolishLibrarianPO Top Contributor
Joined: 28 Aug 2010
Replies: 323
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Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2010 11:09 pm
Post subject:
Hi One Blessed Mess~ Don't forget your local public library may have access to AncestryLibrary. Many public libraries across the country do - you just need to access it from the library's computers, but there is no charge except for printing. You might be able to easily find the manifest record there and print it off.
I continued to poke around on Ellis Island and after a long time flipping pages I found the manifest for Ludwig Budnik arriving April 23/24, 1910 on the ship Amerika from Hamburg. If this is your Ludwig, you are lucky because the writing on the manifest is quite legible (compared to many other pages I have seen). He was 19 years old, single, a farm laborer, could read & write, was from Czernowicz Russia, he left his father Antoni Budnik also of Czernowicz and was going to Woodhaven NY. He did not have a ticket to his final destination, paid his passage himself, had $25 with him, was going to his uncle Konstantin Katandenza (on the surname, I'm pretty sure of the first 5 letters and the last 2, just not sure about the letters in the middle) 257 University Place Woodhaven NY. He was 5 ft. 8 in. tall, fair complexion, light brown hair, blue eyes and no marks of identification.
Yes, report of ages varies on the various documents - for my grandparents they often did not get 10 years older at each census and when I found birth cerificates for their children their ages also varied not following the number of years between children. I couldn't be sure of their birth years until I actually saw their baptismal records at the village churches in southern Poland (Galicia when they came in 1910).
Also as you hone in your correct ancestor, don't forget about looking for their naturalization records. Sometimes these can be found in the state historical society, or the regional National Archives offices. Once you have a location of where they lived in the 1910s, 1920s, 1930s you can zero in the likely sources of information in that geographic area. Every state is different.
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JamesPolishOrigins Team
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Replies: 226
Location: WEST VIRGINIA , USABack to top |
Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 11:28 am
Post subject:
GOOD JOB ! PolishLibrarian,
I have also found the same problem that One Blessed Mess had when viewing Ellis Island records, but like you , I tried looking all over the site , at different manifests, and such, until something " popped - up ".
I just recently went through this same thing, when researching for my Polska kuzyn Jozef. It took several tries on several days, but I finally found it.
It is a good example that everything is not always where it should be , and that sometimes we need to be creative in our research. 
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ShelliePO Top Contributor & Patron
Joined: 18 Feb 2009
Replies: 1000
Location: Atlanta, GABack to top |
Posted: Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:01 pm
Post subject:
Dear OneBlessedMess,
As a member of this website, you have hundreds of friends who are cheering for you and are excited to read about your progress. We've been in your situation and hope that you will soon uncover the evidence that you need to answer your questions.
When I started my genealogy quest, only one person in my family (my great-aunt) was interested in my family history efforts and sadly she died less than 6 months after we got started. Without her as my genealogy buddy, I felt very alone and was shy about posting anything on any kind of discussion forum. Finding this Polish Origins site was like finding a treasure. Zenon and everyone who contributes to this site are so kind and helpful to newcomers and people who are just getting started and don't know what to do. I've learned so much and gathered so much info that could be shared and now I'm giving back by posting info that I think others can use.
I am so glad to see that your question has received so much valuable information.
Shellie
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