Haven't been able to make contact with my Posen area relative as yet. However, I did go into the website for Presque Isle County. You can use google.com website to get there faster. Once in the site, enter: Presque Isle MI (in that order). That will bring up the site for the county. There's a lot to go through. I found only Mathias Szymanski named on the St. Casimir's Catholic Church, Posen, for the list of congregation names, 1879. There's also the First Polanders to Homestead in Presque Isle County; Mathias' name is listed. There is info re: Birth, Marriage and Death Vital Records, and where to write for data and the price for copies. Birth, death, marriage and naturalization records are available from 1874 to present. Fees: $5.00 for first copy and $2.00 for additional copies requested at the same time. Also data for the State of Michigan re Death Certificates (1867 to present); and Marriage or Divorce Records (marriage 1867-present; divorce 1897-present). Fees listed for those as well. Try the website. I came across a 1903 Farmer's Directory for Posen; there were two Szmanski/Szemanski surnames, both first names as Mike. I don't know if that would be helpful to finding your Joseph. It's always worth the try! Happy Hunting in the website.