Genealogy / Looking for Info on "Antonina Petryna" and "Kasimir Szymanski" [6]

I've almost given up researching my father's side of the family because I have been told that our last name, Szymanski, is as common as "Smith" is in America. But here goes.

My grandfather, Kasimir Szymanski, came from Tomaszow Lubelski. His Wife's name was Antonina Petryna. I don't know where she was from, and I don't know for certain, how her maiden name was spelled. She died in the 1950's and was buried in a cemetary in Tomaszow Lubelski - my grandfather was born about 1876 and died in 1952 and was buried in the United States. My grandfather had 2 brothers, one was named Walter, and I do not believe any of them migrated to the U.S. My grandparents and their first four children emigrated to the U.S. before 1915. Their children were Mary (1901), Stanley (1902), Frank (1905) and Katerzina (1907) all born in Poland, and Andrew (1915), Rose (1920) and Albert (1922) born in the U.S. This is everything I know about my father's side of the family, except for the following story my dad liked to tell, and I have no idea if it is even true.

My dad told me that his family were aristocrats, and donated the land that their church was built on, to the town of Tomaszow Lubelski. At some point after a church was built, there was a fire in the town, and many buildings surrounding the church burned down, but the church was spared. If the story is true, it had to have happened before my dad was born.

I have the microfilmed church records from the town of Tomaszow Lubelski, which I obtained from the Mormon Church, and they are written in Polish and Russian (depending on the year of the record).

I am hoping that if someone in Tomaszow Lubelski would see this, and maybe know how I can go about getting information on the names and maybe dates of birth for my Grandfather's brothers, and perhaps where to look for the correct spelling of my grandmother's maiden name, which I think is Petryna, and the names of my grandfather's brothers, I might be able to move forward a little with my family tree, and determine which "Szymanski's" are mine. I would also like to find the cemetary where my grandmother is buries, so that I might get information from her gravestone, such as her correct maiden name and the year of her birth and death.

I would be very thankful to anyone who can give me any information on how to pursue my Polish family tree.