Searching for info on my Grandfather, Kolata

I am hoping someone will take pity on me and provide me with any information.
I have very limited information on the Polish side of my family. My parents were divorced when I was young and only had visitations with my grandparents 3-4 times in 15 years.

At that time I didn't think to ask my grandparents questions on their family tree. Now ALL my Polish relatives have passed away (several unknown cousins still survive).

All the info I have is:
My Grandfather: Stanley (Stanislaw) Kolata (I believe Joseph was his middle name), born April 26, 1893 in Poland (Galicia).
I believe his home town is Zembrzyce. He lived in Illinois since immigrating to the US (1913-1914).
He married Pearl Teofila Gunia in about 1917 and had 2 sons and 1 daughter. Pearl died in 1925 and Stanley married her sister, Justyna Gunia.
They had 2 daughters and 1 son.
I do know that Pearl and Justyna's parents names were Martin and Agnes.
This is all the info I have....is there anyone out there that can help me.
Does anyone know if Illinois death records would have his parents names listed?
Polish information is hard to find if you don't know the village name, church name or his parents names. I do not even know if he had any siblings.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
You can contact me at my email address: annabean01@hotmail

Thank you!
Kris

Your grandfather was born in Austria-Hungary, not in Poland...

Try the LDS:
familysearch.org/#p=0

There's are lots of Stanislaw Kolata/ Kaleta from Galizia listed.

His naturalization records lists Poland as "home land" but born in Galicia.
I have found lots of Stanislaw Kolata/Koleta....this is why I am stuck.
I have used familysearch and ancestry.com but have come to a road block.
:(

GUNIA: a thick woollen cloth forming part of a Polish highlander's regional attire.

KO£ATA: from Polish verb kołatać (to rattle, use door knocker): or topo nick from the village of Kołata.

NOTE: Pearl is not a Polish first name; many woman named Pelagia for some reason renamed themselves Pearl in the USA.

For more information please contact polonius@gazeta.pl:

Pearl and Gunia seem to me more like nicknames.


There is also Kolata surname in Poland, so it is not necessarily westernized form of Kołata.

You have seen these, do you?

Given Name: Justyna
Surname: Gunia
Last Place of Residence: Jembrzyec
Date of Arrival: 31 Oct 1904
Age at Arrival: 1y
Ethnicity: Austria, Polish
Port of Departure: Antwerp
Port of Arrival: New York
Gender: Female
Marital Status: S
US Citizen:
Ship of Travel: Zeeland

--------------------------------------------------------

Given Name: Teofila
Surname: Gunia
Last Place of Residence: Lembrzyce, Austria
Date of Arrival: 10 May 1911
Age at Arrival: 9y
Ethnicity: Austria Polish
Port of Departure: Antwerp
Port of Arrival: New York
Gender: Male
Marital Status: S
US Citizen:
Ship of Travel: Kroonland

-------------------------------------------------------

Yes, Kolata is possible. But around 600 people in Poland use the Kołata speling and only some 40 spell it Kolata. So statistcially Kołata is the more likjely choice, esp. since Polish accent amrks are routinely dropped in the West.

I did find that info.
Confused on Jembrzyec and Lembrzyce......which is correct?
How can I find/access records of their birth?
I'd really like to find more information on my Grandfather, Stanley Kolata....his parents, siblings, etc.
I've found some immigration info on Ellis Island website but there is more than one Stanley/Stanislaw Kolata and i'm not sure which is him. Even if I figure out which one is the correct one I still can't find any info on him in Poland.

Probably different places, unless someone got the handwriting very wrong. Try googling them.

edit

Zembrzyce is a village near Krakow (then in Galicia). Jembrzyec doesn't show up. You don't mention if your grandparents were particularly literate (which many perfectly normal people weren't in those days). Could it be a misspelling of Zembrzyce?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zembrzyce

I think it's a typo.

what is polish ? I want required completely information about Polish.

It is what you use to make your shoes shiny.

My hunch is that the arriving immigrant indicated Zembrzyce as his home village and the Ellis Island official wrote down what he thought he had heard as Jembrzyec. That was a common occurrence in the days of mass immigration from occupied Poland.

Hello, I am interested also in discovering my Polish roots. Is this Family Search website a good place to start? Or can you recommend any others (free, preferably)?

Cheers ta

Ellisisland.com is good resource also.
Good luck! I have come to a wall and can find NO information on Grandfather in Poland. He arrived in the US and that is where his history begins.

If you are positive on the town, here is some more information to consider. Do you know for sure what his religion was? Orthodox, Jewish, Catholic, Presbyterian, etc.? Once you know that, contact the Zembrzyce church and the local office of vital records to get his records. At this point, you will have to pay for it. Simply because you are asking people to go and look for the records and send you authenticated copies. Just like if you were in the US. Since it sounds like you don't speak Polish, it wouldn't hurt to think about hiring a geneologist who specializes in Polish ancestry to help you, since you will be paying for records anyway. Good luck.

Here are some links for you.

lemko.org/genealogy/galiciapl.html
polishroots.org/Research/tabid/58/Default.aspx

What you need is the church address and or the town /city hall address for more records

if you already have the date of birth and someone can post the church name and address you
can get a letter prepared for translation and send it out .