Genealogy / Mary Barnawich (?) - Is my great-grandmother from Poland? [28]

Mafketis, I've had some luck researching with the name you gave me! I really appreciate your help with this! And everyone else here as well! In the research I've done, that name is very similar with some Polish names. So, I just got to focus on details I already have and try to narrow things down.

Genealogy / Mary Barnawich (?) - Is my great-grandmother from Poland? [28]

Well, I'm still not positive that she's Polish. That's what she put down on her marriage documents, but the family was always told that she was from Czechoslovakia. My mom said she always referred to herself as Slovak. I'm just totally confused. If I could just get ahold of her only living daughter (my great-aunt), she could clear all of this up. I'll definitely take all of your advice and see what I can come up with. Thank you so much for the opinions and advice! Keep 'em comin!

Genealogy / Mary Barnawich (?) - Is my great-grandmother from Poland? [28]

Yeah, I'll admit that I'm naïve. I'm just ambitious. There's places I want to go and things I want to do, but whether they come true or not, for now they're just dreams. It's such a shame that other countries are suffering when the US is thriving on monster truck rallies, and Nascar. God forbid we lend a hand to other countries. Oh wait, our President is an imbecile and thinks other countries are below us.

I'm hoping while I'm laid up after surgery, I can get more research done on my great-grandmother, the biggest mystery in my family...lol. One of my aunts that I just connected with is very interested in the background of Mary Barnawich. So, now I got a little more incentive to keep looking.

Genealogy / Mary Barnawich (?) - Is my great-grandmother from Poland? [28]

Well, I think I have the right documents for him, let's put it that way. Dates and places match up to what I do know at least. I haven't been able to work much on my genealogy project these past few days. I fell back in October and my knee has been killing me. A recent MRI shows that I have a high-grade meniscus tear. So, now I'm having surgery on Tuesday to fix it.

Why IS Ireland a desperate place? I've read a little bit about how Ireland hurts a lot when it comes to their economy. I like a quiet life and Ireland just seems like a good place for it. My mom's alleged dad (not sure if he's really her dad) is supposedly Italian, so of course, I'd be all too happy to live in Italy.

Genealogy / Mary Barnawich (?) - Is my great-grandmother from Poland? [28]


I've seen that spelling on Ancestry's immigration lists and wondered about it. I'll definitely keep that name written down to refer to. That's very helpful!

Interesting about the O'Bryan reference. I had no idea. Yes, extremely distant, but I'll still say we're family...lol. I'm pretty certain that he was from Cork. I've found some documents on his grandfather that suggest he was originally from Cork. Not sure which part, though.

Yeah, I do have the Irish complexion. My cheeks get so red whenever I feel an extreme amount of any emotion. All of the O'Bryans in my mom's family have had that problem. And along with the nice rosy cheeks is a lot of mental illness. Very common in our family. And it just keeps descending from generation to generation including mine.

Your teapot story sounds very similar to some of my grandpa's belongings when he died. For some odd reason, it all went to my brother Joe, except for his guitar, which I luckily got. What's really cool about the guitar is it tends to play with nothing near it and low humidity. I still think it's my grandfather. I never saw him play it (if he even could), but I LOVE it!

Genealogy / Mary Barnawich (?) - Is my great-grandmother from Poland? [28]

My half-Polish granny married an Irish man, William O'Bryan. I know, totally confusing. I've done lots of work on the O'Bryan side. I managed to get far enough back to get to the grandparent that was born in Ireland. It was a lot of fun researching that side of the family. Now it's the Barnawich (Thomas?) side that's throwing me for a loop. I'm starting to think I should call the courthouse that sent me her marriage records to see if they can dig up anything more about her. They could at least steer me in the right direction. My mom and I are extremely close, so if she knew, she'd tell me. The only thing we know is that her aunts stopped all communication with her when my mom's adoptive mother (the aunts' sister) died. I wonder if it's because she wasn't sent to Pennsylvania to be buried....hmmm. That's where the O'Bryans and Barnowiches immigrated to. I even found a cousin that lives in Pittsburgh about a week ago. She's messaged me back already, too. I'm just amazed at all the family I've communicated with this year! I've talked to most of my mom's brothers and sisters (she hasn't even met them!) and found a couple cousins, too!

I'm so jealous that you were born in Ireland! I'd give anything to go there...preferably live there! Do you have the common red hair, blue eyes, and freckles? My mom got the dark hair from her Italian (yes another ethnicity!) dad, but got the Irish complexion and freckles. I always wanted freckles! Weird, I know.

I'll be sure to update you if I find anything on my great-grandmother!

Genealogy / Mary Barnawich (?) - Is my great-grandmother from Poland? [28]

I suppose that IS possible. I didn't even think about that. I've been double checking all of her kids documents that I have and some of them have her maiden name as Thomas and some others have Barnawich (including other spellings). It's just so confusing. I've been trying to locate her only living daughter to get some answers, but she's holding a 35 year old grudge against my mom (no clue as to why...Irish Catholic, go figure), and refuses to talk to her or me! I appreciate your assistance in this. I may never be able to solve this mystery if I have no luck with her daughter. Although, I am not giving up!

Genealogy / Mary Barnawich (?) - Is my great-grandmother from Poland? [28]

Yes, I have looked through the Ancestry Naturalization Records and have had no luck. I've tried everything I could think of to get some kind of hit that could lead me to her. Yes Barnawich (not sure on exact spelling) was her last name. In a previous post, I listed the other spellings I've discovered. Thanks for the help!

Genealogy / Mary Barnawich (?) - Is my great-grandmother from Poland? [28]

I've looked all around the website for the county she lived in, but I haven't found anything helpful. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places. Can you give me some guidance? I even tried to look through passenger lists from the year she immigrated here, but I'm sure you know there were too many ports they could've gone to. Thanks for any and all advice!