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Posts by LTParis  

Joined: 11 Aug 2017 / Male ♂
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Threads: Total: 1 / In This Archive: 1
Posts: Total: 4 / In This Archive: 4
From: Kingston, NY
Speaks Polish?: No
Interests: Research into family history

Displayed posts: 5
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LTParis   
11 Aug 2017
Genealogy / Osolek, Russia (Poland) or damn you transcribers! [15]

So I have been trying to deep dive into my family tree. On both sides from my fathers line I have a very solid Polish line. But of course with everything going crazy post 1870 there is a lot to decompress and try to make sense of it all. One of those is my great-grandfather Alexander Paris.

So I have his naturalization document (ltparis.com/images/20170731-paris-nat.png) where he lists "Osolek, Russia" as his place of birth. But of course there is no such town as Osolek. The best that I can determine is that it could be Osiek. But these are all shots in the dark. I have a clearer picture of him just before coming over to the US. But I am just running into dead ends on finding more information.

Couple other oddities. First on his Naturalization and his WWI draft card he goes by Aleksander. Second on my grandfathers baptismal record the last name is non-Anglicized "Paryz". It's been debated for decades if the name had changed at some point. It's also debated that the name should really be Parecz. Search for both names in that time period does not come up with anything relevant this point.

So would love to hear suggestions. Ideas to look at. Here are the major points I know of him:

Alexander (Aleksander) Paris: 15OCT1874 - 24APR1926
My fraternal great-grandfather
Birthplace: Russia/Poland
- Listed as Poland in 1920 census
Parents: Unknown
- Listed birthplace as [d] Poland and [m] Poland 1920 census.
Last known residence before emigrating: Siedlec, Poland
Departed: Bremen, Germany late 1896 aboard the Munchen
Arrived in US: March 1897, port of Baltimore
Naturalized 10DEC1917: Listed Osolek, Russia as birth place.
WWI Drafted on 12SEP1918 at age 43: Listed Russia/Poland as birthplace, signed as Aleksander Paris.
Other Info: Was thought that he was fleeing the Czarist regimes. Could possibly have been a doctor, although he took the job of a moulder in the US.
LTParis   
11 Aug 2017
Genealogy / Osolek, Russia (Poland) or damn you transcribers! [15]

Curious if there are maps down to the village level circa 1880s. I know there are some general maps showing boundaries and the like but nothing to that resolution.
LTParis   
11 Aug 2017
Genealogy / Osolek, Russia (Poland) or damn you transcribers! [15]

It would be so nice to have his original birth certificate in hand, but no one has this as far as I am aware. And nothing search wish has produced anything. I did try to do a out of the blue search for Paris in the 1840-1845 timeframe which roughly would be the time of my great-great grandfather. It did come up with one hit

As for the name, i've already heard the three potential name possibilities of Payrz (on my grandfathers baptismal record, he was born and baptized in the US), and possibly Parcez, Pyrz. As far as I can tell the family was hard core Catholic till at least my great-grandfather, and I assume it carried on a bit past that at least, if not for a long time.
LTParis   
11 Aug 2017
Genealogy / Osolek, Russia (Poland) or damn you transcribers! [15]

I agree, what information I have is all long shots and mistranslations.

Even on the DNA side I am finding connections, but nothing concrete to start to fill in the gaps.
LTParis   
13 Aug 2017
Genealogy / Osolek, Russia (Poland) or damn you transcribers! [15]

So I guess the next big challenge would be to find people to do those searches. Anyone with suggestions on how to go about contacting the right people to do that?