Where is Ryski, Russia? Is that Ryki, Poland?

Hi all,

Seeking information on my Great Grandfather, Michal (Michael) Gudzinowicz Praniewicz. He immigrated through Germany to New York in the year 1900. On his Naturalization papers is says that he was born in "Ryski, Russia" but that he is Russian (Polish) and both of his parents were Polish. In my searching I have found that there is/was no such thing as Ryski, Russia. I thought maybe he could have been born in Riga, Latvia, but a Latvian Geneologist said that was probably not accurate. The only other thing I can think of is that he accidentally spelled "Ryki" wrong and he was born in "Ryki, Poland/Russia." drive.google.com/file/d/0B43D1AFVgIXMVk1BZTBBaUdzd09fN19hOU5nRXdUakE0cldN/view?usp=sharing

Any ideas? I would love to find his birth record and find out where my Polish family originates from. I eventually want to take a trip to Poland to see where he was born. Any other ideas on how to find information on "Praniewicz's?" Also, why would he include Gudzinowicz as a middle name, was that his mothers middle name? Thanks for your help!

Sorry, one last thing. The only other document that I have ever been able to find with both of his surnames on it was this: genealogia.lt/pdfs/szlachta_wilenska.pdf It says both "Praniewicz" and "Gudzinowicz" -- could he have been from nobility in Wilno? He was born in 1871/1872, the dates on this document indicate that these two people could have been old enough/young enough to be his direct parents.

Or am I just crazy and ridiculous for thinking this? Haha.

Thanks!

Are these your folks?

familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KHNM-RJC

Those folks are in my family yes, but my main question is, does anyone know where Ryski, Russia is/was?

Thanks.

What does the Ellis Island ship's manifest say about his place of birth? I see that his last residence was in St. Petersburg. Since people weren't very mobile in the 1880's - 1900's I would assume that "Ryski" is somewhere close to St. Petersburg. Likely within a 50 mile radius.

'Ryski' may well be the adjective of 'Ryga', now the capital of Latvia but for a long time a city within the Russian Empire. Both surnames sound to me as typical of eastern Polish borderlands rather than originating from central Poland.

It's possible as Ryki was under Russian rule at the time of your Great Grandfather's birth. It was part of Congress or Russian Poland:-

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryki

But without further information, it's still only a guess.


I'm not sure if the OP knows what ship he was on, but she cannot find mention of his name in Ellis Island records as she wrote in this previous thread :-

https://polishforums.com/genealogy/praniewicz-great-grandfather-come-78952/

Thanks, didn't see that one. I wish people would stick to one thread instead of opening several threads about the same topic.


Was wondering about that, too. Traktat Ryski.

She was asking specifically about the place name this time, but yeah, would've been easier if she had tagged it to the other thread. I remembered the surname from commenting on it in the other thread.


My thoughts also, but in the first post she mentioned that a Latvian genealogist had thought it wasn't accurate. Still, I think with no further concrete info it's all guesswork anyway.

Hi there, I am so sorry for starting two threads. :( Big noob at this. I can understand how frustrating that is... sorry!

In regards to the last thread: My last thread was completely overwhelming and at the beginning of my researching. I got in contact with folks in Massachusetts historical societies and was able to find out that there were two "Michael Praniewicz's" around the same time. My G-Gpa in Pennsylvania, and another man in Boston. So I didn't want to confuse people by adding more details to that one post, so I started another simply to ask about "Ryski."

I have been unable to find his Ellis Island ship manifest record. I know he came in on the "Palatia" on July 20, 1900 via his naturalization papers. However, I haven't found proof of that in log books. If anyone is interested though, I have built out this family tree with everything I know. It stops at all sets of my great-grandparents, and no way to track back that I have found. If you think otherwise, lemme know! Yuou can find all of his naturalization papers etc here: trees.ancestry.com/tree/104417277/family

The only other thing that I know is that I got in contact with an older gentleman on Facebook in Poland with the last name of "Praniewicz" as well. He mentioned that his line of the family all come from Wilno/vilnius lithuania -- that's why I may be considering contacting the Lithuanian archives. Also, I learned about a tiny little village in Lithuania called "Ryski" is it possible this could be Ryski, Russia? Probably too small... worldplacebox.com/1567910/Ryski

Thanks for your help again. I'll follow up with the St. Petersburg idea and look around there more...

Another option (maybe):

I checked the passenger lists for the port of Bremen, but your ship wasn't listed. So I went to the passenger lists for the port of Hamburg, and both family names - Gudzinowicz and Praniewicz - appeared. For different persons, though. Several male and female Praniewicz and one female Michalina Gudzenowicz. Could it be that both family names were somehow combined in your document?

Scans of the originals are available at the LDS:
familysearch.org/wiki/en/Hamburg_Passenger_Lists

or at Ancestry:
search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=HamburgPL_full&gss=sfs28_ms_db&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsln=Gudzinowicz%20Praniewicz&gsln_x=0&MSAV=1&uidh=000

OMG!!!!!!! I FOUND HIIIIIIIIIIIIIM on the ship records coming into NY. I can't believe it. I went through all the names one by one who came on the "Palatia" until I found this:

interactive.ancestry.com/1068/K_1765_080524-0333/693107?backurl=person.ancestry.com/tree/104417277/person/230039083875/facts/citation/760247442901/edit/record

The dates and all the information matches up perfectly. And, you know what is best of all, the fact that it says he was from "Wilna" Which means for the first time I finally have confirmation where my family comes from in Europe. Thank you all for your help. I now will now conduct the rest of my searching by contacting the Lithuania archives to try to see who his parents were. THANKS!

Congrats! Glad we could help (speaking for the others here, too).

Congrats, nice to have a happy ending!


Best of luck with your continued search. Come back if you need any more help!

I found a record for an ancestor in Sweden saying he was born in "Ryska Polen". The phrase translates into Russian Poland as a location.