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Author: JimmyZee88
Surnames: Zielinski
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.zielinski/377.1/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
One note: if he came to the US between 1900 and 1903, there WAS no Poland, so you are
correct in stating Galicia.
It was a crown province of Austria-Hungary. This issue is, a LOT of Poles from Galicia
came from what is NOW Hungary, not Poland. Polish was their "ethnicity."
After WWII, a lot Poles in Ukraine and Ukrainians in Poles were relocated to the other
country, even if their families had been in the former home country for generations.
So you may end up with current cousins in Poland whose grandparents were actually in what
is now western Ukraine. Bear that in mind while searching.
New York City records, wherever they are, should confirm the marriage. If you are lucky
and it was in a Catholic Church, THAT church's records may give their parents'
names. The same could be said of their death registers if a Catholic church handled their
services. This fact has helped a great deal with my Polish and Ukrainian ancestors,
though with varying results, depending on the priest(s) or other recordkeeper(s).
Charles would be an Americanized form of Karol.
The Polish-Lithuanian-Russian questions might be answered in those church records. Death
records are variable and for immigrants, I've always found more from the church
records.
Despite what many feel is a limited education, many people in these areas spoke multiple
languages, so anything is possible.
A way to find their parents listed in the US and then possibly link with the Old Country.
Look for church registries covering:
Their Marriage
Their Deaths
The Christenings of their Children
I was amazed to find that in one church in the St. Louis area (whose records were kept
from everyone by a priest for over a decade!), the christening records sometimes listed
grandparents - confirming or confusing the marriage and death records of their folks.
Sometimes, they list towns of origin in the Old Country, too, but watch out for rampant
misspelling...
Zee
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