Genealogy / Valentine Stolarz, Anna Banas, Jacob Mastej, Francis Bil [30]

Well I sure have trouble finding much for Stolarz if it's really common. Half the time when I look at different surname lists, it never shows up.

My grandma told me it was spelled "Banash", but anything I've found for her was spelled Banas...it very well could've been Banach at some point, I wouldn't know.

Genealogy / Valentine Stolarz, Anna Banas, Jacob Mastej, Francis Bil [30]

Alright I'll see what I can come up with, thanks for the link. Somehow I'll just have to bride the language barrier haha. What is the best way to use the website? Being that it looks like a social networking site...not exactly somewhere I would find anything about old relatives.

Genealogy / Valentine Stolarz, Anna Banas, Jacob Mastej, Francis Bil [30]

Alright I see where you're coming from, thanks for the help :)

Thread attached on merging:
Four Dead Ends?

I posted here awhile back with some of my information, and asking for some assistance. I have slightly more information now, but it's mostly things I've found out through other family members and such. The internet really hasn't been very good to me when it comes to helping me find additional information on my genealogy.

From my fathers side of the family, I basically have information on all four of my great grandparents, all of which came from Poland.

Walenty Stolarz born 1879 in Biadoliny Poland. Died in 1939 in Hammond Indiana
Married to:
Anna Banash (Banach/Banas?) born 1879 in Biadoliny Poland. Died 1967 in Hammond Indiana

Jacob Mastej born 1888 in Zawadka Poland. Died 1936 in Hammond Indiana
Married to:
Franciska Bil born in 1893 in Zarzecze Poland. Died 1979 in Hammond Indiana

I've had pretty much no luck finding any information on Franciska, or Anna...and can't figure out anything regarding their maiden names. I have a feeling there is a spelling variation that I'm missing. I admit I've devoted the most time to trying to find out information on Walenty, as well as spending some time trying to find out information on Jacob. Everybody listed above immigrated from Poland, and I can't seem to get any generations further into Poland. The closest lead I have in Poland is that Walenty had a cousin named Jozef Stolarz who also came to the United States (He died without being married or having any children). Jozef and Walenty's fathers would be brothers, and I found Jozef's fathers name in Jozef's work book...and his fathers name was Wawrzyniec Stolarz. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find out any information on him either. My hope was that since he would be Walenty's father's brother, that I could find out some more direct information through that route...unfortunately it's proven to be another brick wall. People in my family seem to not come up in most online searches no matter what website I try.

Since I've been trying to work on this for a couple years now, I have to admit I'm getting kind of frustrated and a little desperate for any ounce of information. I've drilled my poor grandmother (My last living grandparent) for information so many times, I'm sure she's sick of hearing about it haha. So by this point, any information would be helpful, and I'm really open to suggestions. I should also point out that I don't know any Polish, which probably also isn't helping my situation.

Regards,
Josh

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]

Stolarz means carpenter, correct?

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]

Any idea what Mastej means?

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]

It seems to be a name that I tend to run into a brick wall with. I have enough trouble finding much information on the name Stolarz, but when it comes to Mastej, I can never find anything.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]

Well yes, Stolarz is a word so it is a bit easier, but I was just saying I have pretty much ZERO luck tracking my genealogy with that surname. Other than information I already know, I haven't been able to find any other information.

As for the name Mastej, the story is (And I did look it up on Ellis Island) that the name when my great grandfather Jacob lived in Poland was Mastej, but when they came into the Ellis Island, they told them to change the spelling to Masti so it would be easier for other Americans to understand. They've since changed it back to the original spelling of Mastej however. So as far as I know, Mastej should actually be the original spelling...unless of course Mastej wasn't the original spelling either haha.

Genealogy / Valentine Stolarz, Anna Banas, Jacob Mastej, Francis Bil [30]

So far I've mainly been using family search, rootsweb, and ancestry.com...with little results. At least nothing (As I said before) that that takes me further back than my great grandparents. I did find the ship records for Jacob Mastej, and I'm pretty confident I found the ship records for Walenty. Unfortunately I didn't get a lot of information from it.

What do you mean there are many places with the same name in Poland? As far as Biadoliny, Zawadka, or Zarzecze is concerned? I've mainly concentrated on Biadoliny since it relates to the Stolarz side.

Alright, now that I've taken a look at the documents I do have copies of, it looks like I haven't in fact found Walenty Stolarz on a passenger list. I have Jozef Stolarz, and Jacob Mastej both coming from Hamburg. Not much information provided by Jacob Mastej other than saying that he's from Zawadka, and on Jozef Stolarz's immigration papers, he again lists Wawrzyniec Stolarz as his father. As well as his last residence being Hamburg, his race being Polish, and his nationality/country he's from as being Austria.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]

Alright, awesome. Thanks Polonius3.

Any idea on Banash? Or is it possibly spelled Banach?

Genealogy / Valentine Stolarz, Anna Banas, Jacob Mastej, Francis Bil [30]

What about a town like Biadoliny? It seems to be listed at times as "Biadoliny, Galicia". What exactly is Galicia? Is it like a county, or province?

Alright so I have confirmed records of Walenty Stolarz in the 1910, 1920, and 1930 census

In 1910 he's listed as Walenty Stolarz

In 1920 he's listed as Walter Stolarz

In 1930 he's listed as Valentine Stolarz

It doesn't give the names of his parents, but in the 1910, and 1920 census he has their nationality as Austrian, race as Polish.

I also have a digital copy of "Walter Stolarz" draft card. Unfortunately it's a bit difficult to read.

In spite of the little first name changes, I can confirm it's the same person because the dates line up...as well as his occupation, and he his spouse is always named Anna.

Genealogy / Valentine Stolarz, Anna Banas, Jacob Mastej, Francis Bil [30]

Alright so it looks like Galicia was a region that was part of Austria during the time period of my great grandparents, but no longer exists? So now the real question is, should I be trying to find records in Austria instead of the area around Biadoliny and Tarnow Poland? It seems like a lot of Polish records ended up in Berlin, but it seems my family came from a region of Poland that was controlled by Austria, not Germany.

Genealogy / Valentine Stolarz, Anna Banas, Jacob Mastej, Francis Bil [30]

If "Galicia" no longer exists then where would I find records for it? Where in Austria should I try looking if Vienna is unlikely?

Genealogy / Valentine Stolarz, Anna Banas, Jacob Mastej, Francis Bil [30]


Oh wow, that is so much help I can't even tell you. I didn't even realize there was a second page to that. I remember finding this in years past, but blew it off because I know she originally immigrated before 1913, so I didn't even enlarge it to see that she was married to Walenty and such. Wow, thanks so much for pointing that out...not to mention teaching me a lesson haha.

Genealogy / THE MEANING AND RESEARCH OF MY POLISH LAST NAME, SURNAME? [4501]

Since you've been so helpful to me already. My great grandmothers maiden name was Bil, and she came from Zarzecze Poland. I haven't had any luck finding any information on the surname Bil, and I have a feeling that it got shortened to that when she immigrated. Any idea what the original name could be? Possibly Bilskie, or Bielskie? Or is Bil an actual Polish name that I just have trouble finding for some reason? haha

Any idea on the meaning or origin of it?

Genealogy / Valentine Stolarz, Anna Banas, Jacob Mastej, Francis Bil [30]

Also very helpful. I'll be bookmarking that link. Thanks once again!

Genealogy / Valentine Stolarz, Anna Banas, Jacob Mastej, Francis Bil [30]

I did find the naturalization document, but it seemed to have minimal information filled out. It seems when it came to Walenty, that's the common trend haha.

Genealogy / Valentine Stolarz, Anna Banas, Jacob Mastej, Francis Bil [30]

I've been trying to go through the three census records that I've found the two of them on to try and determine at what point they immigrated, and what year they got married so as to see if I should be looking in the United States or Poland. Unfortunately each census basically gives me different results when it comes to that question. Being that I've been unable to find anything so far looking in the United States, I assume they were probably married in Poland. I know they came from somewhere near Tarnow.

Genealogy / Valentine Stolarz, Anna Banas, Jacob Mastej, Francis Bil [30]

Excellent, thank you again for the information, I really do appreciate it. Would it be best to email them at first, or write them a proper letter? I suppose I should contact them in Polish as well?

Anybody?

USA, Canada / CULTURE SHOCK! (of my Polish finance who visited the US) [210]

Hahahahaha. I suppose each person takes his own culture for granted and doesn't realize how strange little things like that can be to somebody from another country.

Genealogy / Is tallness common among Polish people? [201]

I'm 6'5, and all the men in my family are at least 6'3 and up. That being said our Polish grandparents (My cousins and I) were both quite short.

Genealogy / Americans of Polish descent. How many of us are on Polish forums? [216]

My fathers side of the family is full blown Polish, and the immigrated around 1900...so the family is still fairly new to the country. My mothers side is a complete mix of French, Irish, English, and who knows what else. I'm quite proud of my Polish ancestry though, but I consider myself an American without a doubt.

Genealogy / Valentine Stolarz, Anna Banas, Jacob Mastej, Francis Bil [30]

Could I get some suggestions on what I should be asking, and how?

Genealogy / DNA Testing in Poland. Is it popular? [81]

That's the general attitude I'm picking up on ;)

Genealogy / DNA Testing in Poland. Is it popular? [81]


The 46 marker test on ancestry.com is $179. It isn't too over the top in my opinion as far as cost goes.

Genealogy / DNA Testing in Poland. Is it popular? [81]

Well you'd have to probably have a pretty good interest in history, genealogy, family, and such to want to spend the time or money on it.

Genealogy / DNA Testing in Poland. Is it popular? [81]

Well if you trace back far enough, every person in Poland has roots in some other country, region, or continent. It starts to depend on where you really want to draw the line and say "My ancestors were from (Fill in the blank)".

Genealogy / DNA Testing in Poland. Is it popular? [81]

Well part of the problem is that sooner or later somebody in our ancestry was probably not of legitimate birth, or possibly even the result of a rape, or who knows what else. Nobody has pure and perfect genetic lines going back hundreds of years. There's always skeletons in the closet which can cause your ancestry to take a complete turn you didn't expect.

Genealogy / DNA Testing in Poland. Is it popular? [81]

Except that some of us have actual proof of our European ancestry ;). I can prove that I'm half Polish, and that I have French, and Irish, and English on my mothers side. We're not all in a little fantasy world as you make it sound. We all came from somewhere, and it's interesting to find out where exactly that was.