Need more Information
Replies: 1
Gusciora/Terelak -Lublin
| DKasuk (View posts) | Posted: 6 May 2008 11:22AM GMT |
Classification: Query
To find information on your great grandparents you will need to research their records here in the U.S. and that can lead you to records in Poland. There is a good possibility your great grandfather was not born in Lublin, but in a small village near Lublin. Just as we who live in the small suburbs of a large city will give the name of the large city when traveling and asked where we live. To find records you will need to know the name of the village.
The Ellis Island web site lists two Jan/John Gusciora, but only you would know if they are your ggrandfather. Or he may have entered the U.S. through one of the other popular ports, such as Baltimore, Philadelphia, etc. If he immigrated after 1907, there is a good possibility the manifest will have the name of the village.
It appears you are researching the right records, but are not using the information they contain. Although not intended for genealogy research, the census records of 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 have clues where to find other records. The census records will tell you when they married, when they immigrated and if and when they were naturalized (under the citizenship column); AL=alien, PA=first papers filed, NA=naturalized.
If naturalized after 1907 the record will show the dates and ports of immigration, the name of the ship and where they lived/were born in Poland.
If not naturalized and alive in 1940, John and Nellie each would have had to complete an Alien Registration Form, which can be almost as good as naturalization records. You would request a copy of this form as you would request naturalization records.
If John and Nellie married in a church in 1910, the LDS FHL may have microfilmed the church records. Many priests wrote not only the name of the parents of the bride and groom, but also the name of the village where they were born.
Keep in mind, death records contain only the information knew my the informant at the time.
To fit into society many immigrants Americanized their name....Jan became John, Anelia became Angela, Nellie or Ellen. Children knew their parents by their Americanized names and had that placed on their death records....therefore much of this confusion was caused by us.
Did Jan/John or Anelia/Nellie have any brothers or sisters who immigrated to the U.S.?
The correct spelling of Jan/John's father is Wojciech. Much is not known of our immigrant grandparents because their children were not interested, they didn't ask questions or listen when they spoke.
My grandmother truly believed all records in Poland were destroyed during World War I and II. Therefore she felt it was important that we know the names of her parents and of her in-laws....and with that information we would find family records.
Her naturalization records had the name of the village where she was born, but unfortunately she didn't know how to spell it; many did not know how to spell the name of their village. It took me 7 years to learn what was shown as Zotwin on her records, was Rzadkwin. The clerk spelled it as it sounded.
The Ellis Island web site lists two Jan/John Gusciora, but only you would know if they are your ggrandfather. Or he may have entered the U.S. through one of the other popular ports, such as Baltimore, Philadelphia, etc. If he immigrated after 1907, there is a good possibility the manifest will have the name of the village.
It appears you are researching the right records, but are not using the information they contain. Although not intended for genealogy research, the census records of 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 have clues where to find other records. The census records will tell you when they married, when they immigrated and if and when they were naturalized (under the citizenship column); AL=alien, PA=first papers filed, NA=naturalized.
If naturalized after 1907 the record will show the dates and ports of immigration, the name of the ship and where they lived/were born in Poland.
If not naturalized and alive in 1940, John and Nellie each would have had to complete an Alien Registration Form, which can be almost as good as naturalization records. You would request a copy of this form as you would request naturalization records.
If John and Nellie married in a church in 1910, the LDS FHL may have microfilmed the church records. Many priests wrote not only the name of the parents of the bride and groom, but also the name of the village where they were born.
Keep in mind, death records contain only the information knew my the informant at the time.
To fit into society many immigrants Americanized their name....Jan became John, Anelia became Angela, Nellie or Ellen. Children knew their parents by their Americanized names and had that placed on their death records....therefore much of this confusion was caused by us.
Did Jan/John or Anelia/Nellie have any brothers or sisters who immigrated to the U.S.?
The correct spelling of Jan/John's father is Wojciech. Much is not known of our immigrant grandparents because their children were not interested, they didn't ask questions or listen when they spoke.
My grandmother truly believed all records in Poland were destroyed during World War I and II. Therefore she felt it was important that we know the names of her parents and of her in-laws....and with that information we would find family records.
Her naturalization records had the name of the village where she was born, but unfortunately she didn't know how to spell it; many did not know how to spell the name of their village. It took me 7 years to learn what was shown as Zotwin on her records, was Rzadkwin. The clerk spelled it as it sounded.