Rookie Genealogy

Do you have deep roots in Poland? Are you looking for Polish marriage records or more information on extended family? There is a website that can help: The Poznan Project.

The Poznan Project is an indexing website for 19th century marriage records within the former Prussian province of Posen. Records might also be included from nearby areas. The website boasts close to two million records to search. Once a record is located in the database you can contact the coordinator to obtain a copy of the record.

On the main page of the website, do a simple search on the right side by entering in a last name. If too many matches come up you will need to narrow down your search by using the advanced search. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and use the advanced search form to enter in more information. Try first names, a date range or record type (Civil, Protestant, or Catholic). The drop down for first names gives examples of names including the English versus Polish version.

If you know a region in which your family lived, try to set the search area on the advanced form. You can click on the magnifying glass to see a map and narrow down your search criteria.

My 3rd great grandfather was John Spychalski and he married Anna Bohacz in Poland before they arrived in the United States. I also know he was born about 1825. I do not know exactly where he was born but I do know it was in the Posen.

In the advanced search I entered in Joannes/Jan/Johann for the first name and last name as Spychalski. For the bride I only entered in the name Anna. The search results show three exact matches. The second match on the list is a hit! Joseph Spychalski married Anna Buchacz (close to the Bohacz I have in my records). The ages also match their estimated birth dates.

The records come back as Catholic in the Posen area of Sadki. The record also shows a fact I never knew- Anna’s mother is listed as Catherine Buchacz! If you click on ‘original record’ next to the indexed record it will bring up a pop up. Within the pop up is information on where the original record is located and how to obtain the record.

You won’t gain tons of information from this Polish marriage records index. However, it can provide a marriage year you may not have known. The record may also show a mother or father’s name that you did not have before. The parish town can also give insight into where to look for further research. Write to the coordinator or parish to obtain the original record.

Polish marriage records may not apply to your particular research. However, it shows that not all records and information can be found on the major sites like Ancestry.com. Often, just one piece of information can take your research in a whole new direction.

You can also check out my resources and links page for more great websites. Keep researching and don’t forget the small sources!

Have you looked at your old family photos for research clues? No, I mean really look at them. Did you look at the surroundings, the weather, the cars, the uniforms? Family history clues could be right in front of your eyes in old photos. d

Finding those clues and knowing how to turn that into information can be difficult. Often those clues are right in front us but we are not looking past the surface. How can photos open up a wealth of information and further our research? Let’s take a closer look.

Uniforms: Military, Civil Service, and Businesses

Uniforms in photos can open up whole new avenue for your research. Are relatives in any of your photos wearing a military uniform? Even in group photos a relative may be wearing a full uniform, a hat, a medal, or even have a military tattoo.

In the photo below are two relatives both wearing military uniforms. One is Navy and the other is Army. The child in the photo is my aunt and on the back it says ‘and uncles’. I am able to determine this is most likely my grandmother’s brothers. I can go to military archives and gain further knowledge on their time in the service as well as the tours in World War II.

The photo below includes my grandfather on the right. In this photo he is wearing a uniform. He is also standing in front of a train. Putting those two facts together and looking into uniform descriptions (most notably the hat) I find out that this is a train conductor’s hat and uniform. This also would explain why he is standing in front of a train with another man who looks to be wearing a train workers uniform.

Buildings

Look at the buildings in family photos. Really take a hard look and use a magnifying glass if you need to. Is there a name on any businesses? Do you see a number on the house or structure?

The photo below was in the possession of my mother’s family. I was uncertain of why and who may have lived in the home. I had looked at the photo many times but could only wonder. It wasn’t until I really scrutinized every part of this picture and finally noticed faint writing at the bottom of the picture. I used editing software within MyHeritage to colorize the photo and increase the contrast until I was able to make out the writing that appeared to be in pencil. Finally, I had an answer: “Homestead 1808 Washington St.”. I instantly knew that my grandmother’s family had lived on Washington Street in my hometown of Michigan City, Indiana. Street view of the home in present day also confirmed this to be the same home. They matched!

Below is another photo that I had in my possession for a long time. I was always fixated on the people in the photo and their faces. Once again I used editing software (MyHeritage) to colorize the photo and add contrast and noticed writing on the bottom. The text “Home E. Sixth St” becomes visible.

I knew this picture was from my maternal grandmother’s side so I went to the census records of 1880, 1900 and 1910 to see if I could gain any insight. In 1900 the same family that ended up moving to the house in the above photo on Washington St. in 1910 lived on E. Sixth Street first. The people in the photo also matched the genders and general ages of those on the census record. I now had photos of both of their homes ranging from about 1898-1960! This house was torn down ages ago to make room for an outlet mall so I could not conduct street view comparisons.

The ability to look closer at old family photographs and scrutinize the details can unlock clues to further your research. We often focus on the faces and ponder what year the photo was taken and miss other details that can tell us more about their lives.

Clothing, hats, pins, buildings, weather, cars, and so much more can tell us the lives our ancestors lived and the events they went through. Discover more in photos, discover more about your family.