Forum | PolishOrigins :: View topic - Help - Looking for Chocholek's prior to 1875

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bchocholek

Joined: 08 Feb 2021
Replies: 4

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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 6:51 am Post subject: Help - Looking for Chocholek's prior to 1875

Hi, using ancestry.com I've been able to go as far back as 1875 with the Chocholek last name. The earliest birth record I can find is for Frank (Franciszek) Chocholek who was said to have been born in Jaslo Poland, before moving to Detriot, Michigan. His parents were called Sebastian (or some variant of Sebastyan, Sobastyan) and Mary Karas (?) but I cannot find any records for them really other than a marriage and death record, so I'm still clueless about their ages and where they were from in Poland. I can't read or write Polish at all really so trying to find any type of record for my family prior to their emigration to the USA is proving difficult.

If anyone, has any advice or information please do help me
Thanks,
Bridget Chocholek

dnowicki
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Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Replies: 2782
Location: Michigan City, Indiana
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2021 1:45 pm Post subject: Re: Help - Looking for Chocholek's prior to 1875

bchocholek wrote:

Hi Bridget,

Neither Ancestry nor Family Search will be of any further help to you for research in Poland. Jasło was a large town/small city during the 19th Century. However, it was also a larger administrative district (powiat) which would be similar to a county in the USA. The attached map shows the district/county of Jasło as it was during the late 19th & early 20th Centuries. People often referred to the powiat/county as their place of birth. Jasło is currently located in the Podkarpackie Województwo (like a province) of Southeastern contemporary Poland.

I don’t know how familiar you are with the history of Poland so I’ll just mention a few things which help to understand the situation in which you ancestors found themselves in the 19th Century. Beginning in 1772 Poland had been partitioned three times by its neighbors and by the end of the 18th Century an independent Poland no longer existed. It once again became independent after WWI. Southern Poland was seized by Austria and was called Galicia. People from the area who were ethically Polish politically were considered citizens of the Austrian Empire.

Back to what you really would like to know...I located an indexed marriage which seems to fit the bill for that of Frank’ (Franciszek’s) parents. The marriage took place in a parish of the County of Jasło. The parish was Dębowiec, which is between 4 to 6 miles from the city of Jasło depending on where one starts in the city. The date of the marriage was 1859, which fits with the birth of Franciszek being in 1875 (Cf. attachment). The record was indexed from the book of marriage banns. The groom was Sebastian Chocholek and the bride was Marianna Karasińska. In my opinion, the chances that Mary Karaś and Marianna Karasińska are the same individual are quite high. (Keep in mind that you do not have primary source documentation for her maiden name.) Marianna (Maryanna in 19th Century Polish spelling) was the most common form of the English name Mary. Sebastian is the current Polish spelling of the groom’s name and the variant Sebastyan was the 19th Century spelling.

You mention that you do not read or write Polish. The good news is that records from Austrian Poland were kept in columnar format in Latin, which should make it much easier for you to understand any records you locate. The bad news is that it appears that all the records for the parish of Dębowiec are housed in the parish itself, which means that a letter to the parish should be written in Polish. Family Search has a letter writing guide for requests for records in Polish. Several individuals whom I know have gotten good results contacting a parish in Poland using the Family Search sample sentences. Here is a link to the parish in Dębowiec: http://www.debowiec.ejp2.pl/index.php/kontakt-kancelaria-parafialna

There are many individuals who participate in the PO Forum who will be willing and able to answer any additional questions you may have.

BTW According to the index of the marriage record Sebastian was 28 years old and Marianna was 27 in 1859.

Wishing you success in your research,

Dave

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Sophia
PO Top Contributor

Joined: 05 Oct 2014
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Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 2:49 pm Post subject:

Hi Dave,
Great work finding that marriage record! Especially since Geneteka made the error of indexing the groom with Chochołek as his given name and Sebastian as his surname. That's a rare error, on their part.
I'd like to ask you, with your knowledge of the Polish language, whether you agree with my view that Bridget should open up her research to include the surnames Hohołek and Hohoł as she continues to work back through time. Both of these surnames show up quite a bit in the Jaslo area. It seems to me that the sound of "Cho" and "Ho" are quite similar, and the "-ek" ending is a diminutive.
Best regards,
Sophia
P.S. to Bridget, we're happy to help newcomers to this forum .... and we're all the more inspired to help them when they reply to what we've written!

dnowicki
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Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Replies: 2782
Location: Michigan City, Indiana
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Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 5:13 pm Post subject:

[quote="Sophia"]Hi Dave,
Great work finding that marriage record! Especially since Geneteka made the error of indexing the groom with Chochołek as his given name and Sebastian as his surname. That's a rare error, on their part.
I'd like to ask you, with your knowledge of the Polish language, whether you agree with my view that Bridget should open up her research to include the surnames Hohołek and Hohoł as she continues to work back through time. Both of these surnames show up quite a bit in the Jaslo area. It seems to me that the sound of "Cho" and "Ho" are quite similar, and the "-ek" ending is a diminutive.
Best regards,
Sophia

Hi Sophia,

As part of the turning all stones strategy your suggestion is a very good one. Another stone is Hochołek (Hoffman lists that spelling in his book). You never know what may turn up.

I found Sebastian’s marriage by searching under the bride’s name as Karaś since I didn’t find anything under his surname...just another example of stone turning.

I hope that you are enjoying the springlike weather.

Dave

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