My grandparents on their wedding day |
My mother’s family lineage is another story. We know that her grandparents, my great-grandparents, immigrated to the United States from Poland. Her parents, both of Polish descent, were born and married here. As a result, she is a full-blooded Pole, and I am half-Polish. Yet, in spite of this strong blood connection to the culture, we know little about it or, even our more recent ancestors, their lives and circumstances. To further complicate things, of my grandparents’ generation, there is only one survivor left, whose memory
continues to fade with age.
continues to fade with age.
My great-grandparents (grandfather's parents) on their wedding day (left) |
Recently, I have returned to this question with renewed determination to uncover some answers into the past. My thought the other day was to go back to the basics, mapping out all of the known individuals of my Polish family tree and noting any bits of information that might help me to discover links to more distant relatives. I’ve figured that if information regarding my great-grandparents is too sparse or inconclusive to locate key documents or relations, then, perhaps, I may accomplish this in a more round-about way through my grandparents and their siblings, especially since my mother has a greater knowledge pertaining to them.
I’ve also found other useful resources this time around, including the Bible, in which my mother, and presumably her mother, retained obituaries and memorial prayer cards of family and close friends. It was in the pages of this book that I spotted the obituary my grandfather’s mother, containing her lost maiden name. From these clippings, I recorded all the names, dates, ages, places of residence and birth, and children’s names of my grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ generation that I could, even if I already had the information stashed in my binder. I didn’t want to miss anything.
In addition, through Family Search and Census Finder, I have found links, to U.S. Census records; however, these censuses are not free for public access online from 1930 and upwards. I’m hoping that I may have better luck with accessing key documents at the Springfield Massachusetts Family History Center that I stumbled upon in Ludlow, of all places, about a twenty minute drive from home. The hours are limited, as it is only open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Unfortunately, since I am working both of those days this week, I will have to wait until next week to explore the documents and services offered there.
For more specific information regarding Polish genealogy, the Polish Consulate in the U.S. doesn’t offer any kind of services or assistance with such research, but its website does provide links to other resources. It is recommended to contact local historical societies, the U.S.National Archives and Records Service, and the genealogical division of the Library of Congress, the latter two being located in Washington, D.C. The Polish Consulate also suggests sending a request for information directly to the Polish National Archives, but one must first determine, in which country their town of origin now resides, since the country has undergone so many divisions over the course of its troubled history. Through the Consulate’s website, I also linked to a Polish digital Archival Internet Forum, which may be promising, but I have yet to explore it.
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