PolishForums LIVE  /  Archives [3]    
   
Posts by singingfalls  

Joined: 9 Jan 2015 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 5 Aug 2017
Threads: Total: 3 / In This Archive: 3
Posts: Total: 50 / In This Archive: 28 		From: USA, Oregon, Tiller
Speaks Polish?: no
Interests: Genealogy

Displayed posts: 31 / page 1 of 2
sort: Latest first   Oldest first   |
singingfalls   
2 Jan 2019
Genealogy / Wlaz and Petraszczuk, Piotrowski [10]

Thank you Terry. That seemed to be the same persuasion of the records reviewer. They postulated that the Petrushko in the village was the same family as the Petraszczuk in the village. I appreciate you thoughts on the matter.
singingfalls   
2 Jan 2019
Genealogy / Wlaz and Petraszczuk, Piotrowski [10]

Merged:

Surnames Petrushko, Petraszczuk, Piotrowski



My surname question is this:
My grandfather claimed Polish ethnicity. He was born in a village in what is now Khrabuzna, Ukraine. He immigrated from his home to the USA when he was 18 in 1912. His birth record surname was Petraszczuk. Both he and his brother changed their surnames in the USA. My grandfather chose Petrowski. My great uncle chose Piotrowski. Through the kind intervention of someone fluent in Russian the records from my grandfather's village in the archives of Zhytomyr were reviewed. The records seem to indicate that my grandfather's surname was a mutation over time from the surname Petrushko (Петрашко) to the surname Petraszczuk (Петращук). Was this a historically common practice in the Russian partition?
singingfalls   
8 Dec 2018
Genealogy / DNA Testing in Poland. Is it popular? [81]

Further Update:
Well I inadvertently offended some Polish acquaintances by creating the attached art work. They took great offense at the Ukrainian trident in the image. I meant no harm even though I am fully aware of the history. Though my paternal lineage declared Polish ethnicity and my DNA tests proved an extreme level of Eastern European origin the actual records of the paternal grandfather's family are located in Zhytomyr Archives. All other relatives are from Southern Poland. I am please to say that my family connections were discovered on my trip to Poland in 2017. I found long lost relatives in the Lubielski region. I've also made connection with individuals in Poland going back 1500 years via my DNA testing results. Very exciting. Another matter of note: Keep in mind that your autosomal DNA gets pretty thinned out as far a genetics go after the great great great grandparents. You only share approximately 3% of their DNA. On the other hand the Y Chromosome is shared many generations all the way back. The mitochondrial DNA even more so. Thousands of years.
Family Tree
singingfalls   
2 Apr 2017
Travel / Trip to Poland - the land of my ancestors [16]

Awesome delphiandomine! I am indebted to you. This sounds like a workable strategy. I copy/paste your suggestion, do google translate and send to my cousin. He may be able to arrange all this for me before I arrive which would be helpful. THNX U!
singingfalls   
2 Apr 2017
Travel / Trip to Poland - the land of my ancestors [16]

Chemikiem, I have received similar warnings from others. We'll see what unfolds as the days for the trip. If you are interested in my tests that I've done they can be found here singingfalls.com/dna_polska.html Please pardon the poor translation. I did it with google_translate.
singingfalls   
2 Apr 2017
Travel / Trip to Poland - the land of my ancestors [16]

I tested with two companies just to make sure. That is pretty much my gene pool (contemporary). I know for certain that I have a great uncle who was a university professor at Poznań. Apart from that the records I have are centered in Adamówka and Luchów Górny.
singingfalls   
2 Apr 2017
Travel / Trip to Poland - the land of my ancestors [16]

Thank you all for your kind attention. I have a second cousin who lives and works in Adamówka. Perhaps he would be able to arrange something for me. I do not want to trouble him since he is a young man and probably very busy. June 1st is my birthday. So one way or the other I would like that to be spent where most of my grandparents came from. It amazes me that they lived only 3 miles apart as the crow flies and did not know each other. One was in Galicia and two where in the Russian partition.

Thank you gregy741. It wouldn't be bad to see the countryside from a train. That is a strong possibility.
Thank you delphiandomine. Khrabuzna (Chmelnizkij) is a very small village according to googleearth. Nevertheless I have been searching and someone said that there is still a surname Petraszczuk in the village. He changed his name to Petrowski and that is now my surname. My great uncle from the same village took the name Pietrowski when he immigrated. (1907). I will carefully review your studied suggestions.

My gratitude to you Chemikiem. I fairly often drive 250 miles at a time where I live here in Oregon, USA on my restoration ecology work. I have a flight from Warsaw to Krakow the first day in country. I was hoping to rent a car and drive to Podkarpackie. Settle in somewhere in that part of the country closest to my ancestral lands and explore out from there.

gregy741, this is a reasonable strategy. Perhaps my second cousin could help with this. He works in Adamówka. I will consult with him. Perhaps he could help me arrange something but your advice is more than welcome.

Thank you once again for these great ideas. Even though I have not traveled long distances very much for a long time ( I married 41 years ago and she took the wind out of my sail :) ) I am excited to now take her on an adventure like the ones I did in my youth. She has not been very far although I took her all over the USA when we first married. Now she is coming and I am anxious to see what a wonderful land Eastern Europe is. She is 95% Eastern European ethnicity according to DNA but she doesn't know the origins of her ancestors. They were forced to Armenia by the Tzar hundreds of years ago.

All I have read of this time is from books titled, "God's Playground: A History of Poland" volumes I and II by Norm Davies. It seemed extensive and well documented. So Poland was vast and great but humbled like all nations in the end. Suffice it to say this is a lifetime experience for her and I. She for her reasons and me for mine.
singingfalls   
1 Apr 2017
Travel / Trip to Poland - the land of my ancestors [16]

According to my DNA test databases and according to my genealogical records my family from hundreds of years comes from Southern Poland. My paternal grandmother came from Adamówka, Przeworsk, Podkarpackie, Poland. Both of my maternal grandparents came from Luchów Gorny, Bilgoraj, Lublin, Poland. The records go back hundreds of years. Through a second cousin who contacted me I know the exact place my paternal grandmother was born. This is all very special to me. My paternal grandfather, though he claimed to be Polish of Russian nationality was born in the village of Khrabuzna, Khmel'nyts'ka oblast, Ukraine.

I plan to come to Poland with my wife May 29th and will leave June 14th. Is it going to be difficult for me to get to Khrabuzna from Poland? Are there suggestions for us on this journey? Here are some of our wishes:

Although we are not Jewish my wife has studied what the Nazi regime has done to Poland for almost 40 years. She wants to see things related to that history.

When I was a boy ( a long time ago) I would visit my grandparents often. Babush made most of their food homemade. Kilbasa, pierogi, kasha, kisha, beet borscht, creamed mushroom soup (best on planet earth), duck blood soup (that was hard for me to take) and many other items. She even grew medicinal herbs in her small Philadelphia back yard garden. When I would go to her kitchen Dzjadek would be sitting at the table with a bottle of vodka and a huge picture of Our Lady of Częstochowa over his head on the wall. He was a very hard worker and provided for the family well. I am not Catholic but I would very much like to see this image. The salt mine.

I have found second and third cousins. They are in Podkarpackie/Lublin area. One family lives in the Krakow area and several live not far from Zamosc. They and their families are important to me. They range in age from teenagers to mid 50's. What do you suppose I could bring from the USA to them as token gifts? When I was young in the 1950's my grandmother took trips back to Poland with my aunt many times. They took with them to Poland boxes and boxes of things for the family that stayed behind after she immigrated. I will be limited regarding what I can carry on my luggage but I want something meaningful to bring them. Not candy etc. Cloths are OK. What else.

I am a crusty old Vietnam war veteran and usually do not get emotionally moved by much. It is very rare that I do. This trip on the other hand has me stirred deep in my heart. It is difficult for me to explain. In my youth as a young man traveled all over the world as a soldier and after that as a wanderer for several years. Never has my heart been touched like this. Maybe because I am old is the reason.

Any advice is appreciated.
Stashieu
singingfalls   
6 Jan 2017
Genealogy / DNA Testing in Poland. Is it popular? [81]

Latest update. My cousins in Poland are now tested and we have interesting results. This journey into DNA testing is now making way for my wife of 41 years and I to come to Poland next spring. We are excited about this. I have put my DNA web page into the Polish language also now. Here is the URL: singingfalls.com/dna_polska.html
singingfalls   
10 Mar 2016
News / How would Poland change for the better (or worse) under a PiS government? [257]

Some years back my wife and I sponsored two women from Eastern Europe who immigrated to the United States as politically oppressed people. Others in our area also sponsored people from this group. The adjustment they had to make between the culture of Communism in which they were born and raised and the culture of the United States was very very difficult. The women that stayed with us finally caught on and were very successful. Others of the group had a march harder time for some reason. I pity nations like Poland, who, though they had the courage and insight to come out from under an oppressive regime are still struggling to find their way. They brutalize one another in the effort to derive security in an insecure world. The unfortunate thing is that Western culture has its own very serious pitfalls. Be careful that you don't jump from the frying pan into the fire. I wish you all luck.

When it comes down to it, the entire matter focuses on the conscience of each individual. There are sour greedy apples in each society. Mistakes are made in each society. Only your spiritual life can guide you passed the dangers. Love God with all of your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. Simple to say. Hard to do. If the wicked remain in their wicked way they should be punished but if the wicked have turned from their wickedness and are doing good, why are you hindering them?
singingfalls   
20 Feb 2016
Genealogy / How Polish am I? What is the correct formula? [58]

Wow! Generations of surfers, have they been surfing on a long waves of a different dimension?

See, I can;t let a sleeping dog lay. My apology for the misspelling. Stuff like that eats away at me.
singingfalls   
13 Feb 2016
Genealogy / DNA Testing in Poland. Is it popular? [81]

I am very interested in this subject so I am adding comments to it in order to subscribe to this thread.
Here are some personal factoids:
99+% Eastern European Ethnicity
Y Chromosome Haplogroup I2a with a terminal SNP of I-Y4882*
Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroup T1a1b
An up to date web page with the latest information related to genetic genealogy and my personal test can be found here:
singingfalls/dna.html
Much to my surprise I have made contact with members of my ancestral family through this means. I have also found connections to Y DNA blood lines from Poland going back approx. 1500 years.

I have put together this web page to discuss my dna testing and its relationship to my Polish heritage.
singingfalls.com/dna.html
singingfalls   
9 Sep 2015
Genealogy / Jan Kyć from Adamówka, Poland - Military Document Information [14]

Anna,
We have been through a very severe fire in our area and I have been distracted. If you google the Stouts Creek fire in Oregon you can see it.

I hope you have had a good holiday and that all is well. Please feel free to contact me via email stanley@surcp.org and I am very interested in all the information I can get on our family. This is a great forum and I am glad I found it also. My grandfather from my mother's side came from an area not far away from Adamówka also. He was born and raised in Luchów Górny, Bilgoraj, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. His name was Wojciech Walż. Some day I hope to come to Adamówka and see the land of my ancestors. I am still seeking to find information as far back in time as I can about my family there.
singingfalls   
15 Jul 2015
Genealogy / Jan Kyć from Adamówka, Poland - Military Document Information [14]

This is fantastic! I do not believe in coincidence either. Here is a picture of the children of my great grandfather.

Kyc

Starting from the left there is Helena Kyć Kulka, Kazimierz Kyć, my Babush Kataryna Kyć Petrowska and then Anna Kyć Rutkowska.
This is a wonderful experience for me since for many many years I have been curious about my roots in Poland. I even found the name Kyć in a directory of Adamówka and sent an email without a response. The breakthrough came when £ukasz Kominko contacted me on facebook asking if I was a relative of Katarzyna Petrowski.

Thank you again for taking the initiative to contact me. I am very proud to have my ancestors come from that part of the world. I want to learn all that I can about my family.

Regards to you,
Staś
singingfalls   
14 Jul 2015
Genealogy / Jan Kyć from Adamówka, Poland - Military Document Information [14]

Ewa, Thank you so much for contacting me. This is very exciting.
The Adamówka of my grandparents is located in Podkarpackie in SE Poland. I have a relative there named £ukasz Kominko. Do you know him?

Also, what is your grandmother's first name? I can look her up in my GED file to see if she is there.

If this is the village your grandmother is from I would very much like to correspond with you. I do not have Jan Kyć birthday but he died in 1946. He was the son of Jakub and Maria Kyć. In my family there is a Kazimierz Kyć (son of Jan) who is the father of Josef Kyć, who is the father of Ewa Kyć. His sister's names where Helena, Katarzyna and Anna. Now their surnames are Kulka, Petrowska and Rutkowska respectively.

I also have an Ewa Kyć by marriage to Adam Kyć in the family also. Please let me know about you.
High regards to you,
Staś
singingfalls   
6 May 2015
Genealogy / Why Polish aren't white?? [272]

For your entertainment and totally off topic:

Just a side note. During the great migration of the turn of the last century it was very common to put your ethnic origins in the place of "Race" on the ships manifest.

And the second side note. Poland comes in second in quality of education in the world.
oecdbetterlifeindex.org/#/00005000000
singingfalls   
25 Feb 2015
Genealogy / Jan Kyć from Adamówka, Poland - Military Document Information [14]

Thank you all for your time. Yep, I get the Kyć innuendo. Heard it elsewhere on the net regarding the surname. That said, my grandmother, his progeny, was a wise strong woman with a very gentle spirit that raised a large family. I have nothing but respect for my Polish ancestors from what I have learned so far.

I know Jan Kyć had the dubious task of sending his 16 year old daughter to the USA in 1913 with 25$ US. That was a considerable amount of money at the time. He had insight into what was coming I believe. She lived a good comfortable life relatively speaking. Good decision from my perspective but a tough one nonetheless. My grandmother married my grandfather three years later in 1916. He was a factory worker here in the States. Babush returned to Poland often to bring clothes, food and money. There surely must be an army record somewhere describing Jan Kyć army service. I just am not sure where to start.

Polonius3, Thank you for the entomological information regarding the name. It is informative and appreciated.

Polonius3: And thank you for the Kyć derivative.

For the record in this thread:

KYĆ: Ruthenianised verison of the Old Polish word kicz* which once meant a club, stick or bludgeon, suggesting that the first person to acquire this nickname must have been quite a thug or brawler.

(I, as one of the offspring of Jan Kyć take full ownership of the name though the nickname concept is purely speculative on your part. He could have been a protector and even if not, I like it. Again, thanks for the enlightenment.)

*In modern Polish kicz means kitsch..
singingfalls   
24 Feb 2015
Genealogy / Jan Kyć from Adamówka, Poland - Military Document Information [14]

This is a record of my honorable great grandfather Jan Kyć who is from Adamówka, Poland. It is a military record of some kind. What do you all suggest by way of deriving information about him through this document if I may ask? Any help is appreciated.

Polish document
singingfalls   
23 Feb 2015
Genealogy / How Polish am I? What is the correct formula? [58]

AmericanPatriot:

Were your ancestors Slavic inbreds? (Just kidding)

I seriously asked that question myself and did a series of dna analysis tests to find my closest was 5th cousins a couple of generations back. Ancestry and FTDNA had me up there. I didn't do 23andme because of the software issue being proprietary and unusable with the algorithms associated with A, Ft and Gedmatch.

TheOther:

Ethnicity is meaningless after a few generations. People mix.

I could agree to a degree but that was the point of my statement regarding the Native Americans in my area. Many have French surnames because of trapping in the 1700s.

If they were 1/8 and can trace their families back to the remnant then they were registered officially and accepted as ethnic Native American. Though they were mixed, the fragment of their ethnicity that remained made a difference to them and the USA government. But I do agree heartily with you that it can get complicated. (In particular, here in the US). For the record, I place personal character and wisdom far beyond ethnicity in my scale of importance.
singingfalls   
23 Feb 2015
Genealogy / How Polish am I? What is the correct formula? [58]

Ancestry and FTDNA. They are very close for autosomal. I am currently waiting for my full mtDNA and Y-67. Supposedly due between the 5th and the 5th. I am considering Big-Y. Are you familiar with it?
singingfalls   
23 Feb 2015
Genealogy / How Polish am I? What is the correct formula? [58]

Roger5 :) According to my grandmother I was a Polish prince. Hahahahaha. We come from a very long line of surfs. Actually the 82% figure is average "Eastern European" which includes Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. So some could be less and others more. It just so happens my families have been in Poland for many generations.
singingfalls   
23 Feb 2015
Genealogy / How Polish am I? What is the correct formula? [58]

Hahahaha. You all make me laugh.

Roger 5. I was actually quite surprised at the results myself. I marveled that after so many invasions there was nothing to indicate that Russian, German, Roman etc was in the mix. The average Pole is 82%. Mine was 99%+. Your statement that dna analysis is not exact science belies the fact that people go to capital punishment or are freed from prison based in it.

Also, I found strong influences of Ust' Ishim. I told my wife that we either carried large clubs, were to ugly to breed with or hid very well in the swamps.
singingfalls   
23 Feb 2015
Genealogy / How Polish am I? What is the correct formula? [58]

I live in an area where there are descendants of Native Americans. By the standards of some here they are just Americans. They were conquered, slaughtered and sent to "reservations". They were stripped of their national identities and national status. They considered themselves Native American. In 1982 they were given their Sovereign Nation status back by the citizens of the United States because it was recognized that it was unjustly stripped from them. There are few of them who are more than 1/8 blood. Now they are once again a Native American tribe with all the rights and privileges of an independent nation. They hold duel citizenship but hold their alliance to their Sovereign Tribe first and foremost. There are those among the natives that refuse to acknowledge any citizenship other than the Sovereign Nation to which they belong. This place is not America to them. I am a non-native European American in their eyes. I am a descendent of Europeans in their eyes. The distinctions are real.

The above explains why ethnicity is important. I firmly believe that ethnicity and nationality are two very distinct and important aspects of an individuals identity. I can change the nation in which I was born or live in but I can not change my ethnicity. To ask why a person could be proud of their ethnicity is like asking why a person could be proud of their handsomeness or beauty. Another example might be in the case of a Jew born anywhere in the world. They are accepted into Zion if they are ethnically a Jew or religiously a Jew. This is not hard to understand.

I come from an entirely Polish family. My dna tests declare me to be entirely Eastern European. I grew up in a Polish home with Polish traditions, language and culture but was born in America. My relatives in Poland believe I am Polish. My grandmother took trips back to Poland during the difficult times there with clothing and money to help her family. They are my family also. I live in America as an American citizen, served in its military during war and currently have a very comfortable life relative to the rest of the world. I am Polish through and through. I was born in America.

Some people like to argue. Generally they are considered sick and difficult to be around. That's easy to understand.

Let the flames begin.
singingfalls   
16 Jan 2015
Genealogy / Wlaz and Petraszczuk, Piotrowski [10]

Polonlus3, Yes, this is the monumental task I have been facing. Even once he settled on Petrowski, the census takers in the US spelled his full name three different ways. On top of that Khrabuzna has been spelled several different ways. There is a lesson here somewhere I am sure. It must be so. I have found several "Petraszczuk surnames in the former Galicia. Very very few in Poland. Even Petrowski is rare there. My grandfather's brother immigrated also and changed his name to Piotrowski. So far it has been all of these names related to him unequivically.

Luwik Petraszczuk
Ludwig Petraszczuk
Ludwik Petroski
Ludwig Petrowski
Louis Petrowski...
Khrabuzna
Chrabuża
Chraburna
Hzabusnia

Quite the ride.
Now I am searching out the ship manifests and have only found 1 possibility. It is here:

Dzjadek

Ludwik Petraszuk. Is this Djadek? He did arrive at Phila. His mother's name was Anastasia. He was a Polish Russian (Czar Russia I believe). But is Ratusno equal to Khrabuzno?

Thank you for your interest.

Mod: Thanks for watching. Link corrected.

TheOther, It turns out as far as initial testing that I am 9.99% East Europe. No Russian. No German.
singingfalls   
15 Jan 2015
Genealogy / Wlaz and Petraszczuk, Piotrowski [10]

I had a copy of that one but there are some inconsistencies. The couple of blazing CONSISTENCIES is that the my grandfather's mother's name was Anastasia and his port of departure was Hamburg! On the other hand his naturalization papers say his port of entry was Philadelphia and that he arrived in Sept 1912. Then again, he signed his naturalization papers 30 years after his arrival. Thirty years ago is pretty foggy for me. I remember the big picture but details? Nah.

His naturalization papers also say he is from Khrabuzna, Russia. Here are some links. Tell me what you think.

Naturalization paper

singingfalls.com/images/genealogy/ludwik/161762 Ludwik Petrowski.pdf broken link

Naturalization paper
singingfalls   
13 Jan 2015
Genealogy / Wlaz and Petraszczuk, Piotrowski [10]

Hahahahaha! That is close to what my babush told me when I introduced her to my Russian, Molokan wife. :) "No! She is American", she said. But she said that the landlord in Poland only took 10% and the .govs etc take much much more. That said, I am American by nationality not ethnicity. Though I have voluntarily fought in a US war, I always described myself as Polish American. Thank you so much for the leads. I am grateful for your attention.

TheOther, WOW! Great tool that village list. Great tool. Thanks again.