Happy New Year to you and yours, Kasia! We just came back from our Christmas vacation. I'm pleased to hear that you managed to find the crucial wedding record of Wojciech and Rozalia. Now the most important info from the attached document (the handwriting is hard to read):
parish of Karniewo June, 23 1889 6pm
witnesses: August (can't read his surname), 60 and Leon Lawendowski, 56, both laborers from Łukowe
bridegroom: Adam Kolk, bachelor, aged 30, born in Prussia, living and working as a laborer at Krasiniec, son of Maciej Kolk and Szarlota Szmalc
bride: Helena Banecka, virgin, aged 21, daughter of Jan Banecki and Anna ?Andrzejewska, born and living with her parents at Łukowe
followed by the standard info about the banns proclaimed on three successive Sundays and no prenuptial agreement
Rafał: Dzień Dobry!
Dzieńkuje bardzo for all you have done for me and my family. Today, I am writing to check on the health and safety of your family during these times. Are you well? What is the situation where you live?
My family and I are safe and well. We wear face masks in public and maintain a safe distance between people. Now, the world has added the expression "social distancing" to our languages.
I am reminded of the lives of our ancestors. You are to thank for helping me make them "real" - to find where they were born, lived, worked, worshiped, married, had children and, ultimately, died. My journey has led to the indexing of the village where my great-grandmother and her family lived. The growth of the village with immigrants from the Prussian partition, coming there to work in new industries of textile and sugar refining. They lived through the periodic epidemics of diseases that were foreign to them; some wiping out entire families, only to suddenly disappear as quickly as they began.
I have gained an understanding of an area in Poland through additional research. I have begun learning how to speak Polish and expanded my ability to read and translate for myself and others.
I have shared the knowledge I gained by developing a seminar on researching our Polish families. The people who have attended now number over 300 in seven different cities here in the US. I was even able to reunite a family in Poland with their relatives in the US.
And, all of this is due to the help and assistance you gave to me. I want you to know that YOUR GIFT has been passed on to many more people. 7 new people volunteer to index records - maybe not a huge increase, but there are 7 villages whose records may have been a mystery to all of us.
You have received the credit for all of this! If not for your translations, your helpful hints, gentle guidance and support, I could not have progressed from knowing ONLY the names and birth dates of my great-grandparents to finding THEIR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS! Most importantly, you have brought me and my mother to a new level of love and appreciation of one another. AND, you have made it possible for a family to reunite through the knowledge of who came before each of us. I speak with cousins - some recently discovered - and others who we lost contact with. And, again, it was your offering that made it all possible.
Thank you does not seem to cover the immensity of the impact you have made on one Polish family! Please continue what you do - and I will continue to follow the wonderful example you set for me.
Najcieplejsze pozdrowienia!
Kasia
Dziękuję Ci, Kasiu, za wszystkie miłe słowa! I'm pleased to hear that I managed to help you and that now you are disseminating all the skills you've learnt to others. If there's anything else I could do, just drop me a line. I'm sure that there must be some legal records (last wills, etc.) in the regional state archives. Most of them are not scanned yet and thus unavailable online. A couple of years ago I found some in the Częstochowa archive and some of them were real eye-openers, let alone real signatures of my ancestors of the mid-19th century. But you'd have to come here in person, which is difficult.
As for the damned virus, here in Poland we're in a relatively good situation, as lockdown and social distancing were introduced here quite early when compared with some other countries. Starting today, some restrictions have been lifted. This is the first day when we are allowed to walk in parks, forests and also churches have been opened for a strictly limited number of worshippers depending on the size of the church. Face masks are mandatory, but not in forests. If things improve, some businesses, libraries and museums might be opened soon, obviously with restricted access. As everywhere, the government here have to make hard choices between the people's health safety and trying not to make businesses bankrupt. The things are additionally complicated politically, as the presidential election is due in 3 weeks' time. And Poland is deeply divided, just like the US...
Dużo zdrowia dla całej Twojej rodziny!
Rafał:
Thanks for your response! I have been planning a trip to Poland for almost a year. Originally, I was to come in July. I think my trip may be postponed a month and my original plans may need to be changed. However, I will continue to follow the news of the virus and it's effects in Poland. I have made many contacts throughout your country and I try to keep in touch with all of you.
Maybe, when I visit we could meet each other.
I have been following the presidential election in Poland. You are right, there are many issues dividing people today both in your country and in mine. It's sad to think people can't seem to take a minute to try to understand the situation of others. Very sad. We have many issues here which could be solved with meaningful debate - not name-calling, blaming and failure to understand. This is not the background I come from. We were raised to appreciate the differences and the similarities of others. These times are full of suspicion, ignorance and, consequently, misunderstanding and bigotry. Very sad.
I will certainly reach out to you should I need additional help. If there is anything I can do for you or others researching records here, I am available.
I think about where I was a little over a year ago and how far I have come and all of the knowledge I have gained. It continues to be a wonderful journey. I am now looking for living relatives of my Kolk-Kiszel (Kischel) family. I am sure that I will need help in translating documents I find to lead me to living cousins.
Najcieplejsze pozdrowienia!
Kasia
Let's keep our fingers crossed that you'll be able to come to Poland in the late summer. If you do, we could try and arrange a meeting. We already canceled our vacation plans. We'll see how things develop and will make last minute arrangements.
It's terribly nice to see the places where our ancestors lived. It's also worth looking at old maps of the areas if they're available. I've been doing genealogical tours for a couple of years. But now everything depends on too many ifs...
Cześć Rafał:
How are things going with you and your family? I hope everyone is healthy. I am sad to report my trip is postponed - for now! I am determined to visit your country, but I am patient and will wait for the right time.
I am attaching the birth record of Leokadja Kolk (cousin of my grandmother), daughter of Adam Kolk and Helena Banecka. She was baptized on the 6th/18th of December in 1892 and born on 1st/13th December. I am looking for: the village of birth, father's occupation, names of witnesses (and occupations, if given), and the names of the godparents. Also, what is the note in the right margin?
