Genealogy / Gleesau apud Posen, Polonia Silesia [35]

Ok, just wanted to thank everyone for the discussion it was enlightening. Particularly interesting as I was recently doing another branch that originated from Polish Ostrava. Such an fascinating and diverse history this area Silesia. I'll keep you posted should by search find any more conclusive connection to Kliszów that confirms the hypothesis.

Update:

I asked at the State archives of Legnica for information from Kliszów/Klieschau. No records exist prior to 1874 and the records from the Roman Catholic parish in Preichau are lost.

I also inquired at the archives in Wroclaw about information in General Komission für Schlesien, but was notified that no records exist for Klieschau.

So hopes of validating Kliszów are slim.

Given that she was from somewhere in Silesia, identified as Polish and immigrated to the US in 1890, I'm wondering if she was not part of the Prussian deportations of 1885-1890

Genealogy / Gleesau apud Posen, Polonia Silesia [35]

Not the priest. It would have been Ignatz Piasecki who didn't know where he was from, because it's listed as RussoPoland on his immigration, and census as well. So, I imagine it was him telling folks he was from there or it must have been listed as Russian Poland on some document he used for identification.

Genealogy / Gleesau apud Posen, Polonia Silesia [35]

The marriage happened in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, USA. These two individuals traveled very far before they met.


Oh, Dobrzejewice is listed perfectly legibly on his immigration record (which strangely enough also lists country as Russpoland), and there is an "Ignacy Piasecki" listed as being born in there of the right time period in Dobrzejewice.

rootsweb.ancestry.com/~polwgw/archives/dobrzejewice-birth.html
Now you're just being silly and unhelpful.


I shouldn't say completely unhelpful because you've forced me to reconsider this 1900 census record data, which lists her and her parent's country as Germany, while later records state Poland as her country of origin.

Genealogy / Gleesau apud Posen, Polonia Silesia [35]


I'm open to explore any of these hundreds of possibilities as well. I think everyone agrees that it's odd, how it's written. The only place that satisfies all of these oddities is Kliszów. Looker even found a reference where the city is referred to as "Glissau". I appreciate your skepticism and still remain skeptical myself, but favor this as a "best fit" of the data.

With certainty, this ancestor was Polish-speaking and had reason to leave her native country, so maybe the very tiny population of Poles that may have existed in Kliszów had good reason to leave. Now that you have me thinking about it. In the 1900 census document, and only in this document, which is riddled with typos. Her nationality is listed as German not Polish. I always figured it was one of the many errors, but maybe it wasn't.

Genealogy / Gleesau apud Posen, Polonia Silesia [35]

Wawrzyn made me think, and I realized that I also have this civil registry of the wedding. It provides more colorful phonetic spellings of the people's names. Here the father's name looks to be spelled "Vawcin".

Błażej and Wawrzyn. I'll add them to my notes, thanks.


Who knows, but I love the imagery when I think about this scenario.

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Genealogy / Gleesau apud Posen, Polonia Silesia [35]

The document is from a church in Southwestern Pennsylvania (Greensburg). The village for Ignatz Piasecki is certainly Dobrzejewice, and comes from other sources. All of the US records that I've come across for these individuals have a variety of spelling variations. I've not been able to locate an immigration record for Elizabeth Olejnik (Most later references spell her surname as such), but a 1900 census record says she arrived in 1890, which means at the time of this document she would have been in the US ~1 year, and probably still had a limited English skills and a heavy accent. I don't think it's too far of a stretch to imagine that she said she was born in a town called "Gleesau" by Posen in Silesea. Much as I would say I grew up in Jeannette by Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. It may not be Kliszów, but for now, I still think it's the best guess.

Just to clarify the back story further. These two individuals seem to have arrived independently in the US. Ignatz in 1886, and Elizabeth likely later. Then they were apparently married in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Edit: and the writer was very likely not Polish. A Polish church was established in the area 10-20 yrs later after a big wave of Polish immigration to the area.


Interesting, I hadn't thought of that possibility.

On a different note: Any guess on her father's name. "Varzze", seems weird and I suspect is another Phonetic word.

Genealogy / Gleesau apud Posen, Polonia Silesia [35]

There are three Kliszów in Poland. I'm talking about the one in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kliszów

Genealogy / Gleesau apud Posen, Polonia Silesia [35]

Well, you've convinced me that you can swap a K for a G. Well, I'm going to put my money on Kliszow, too for now. Thanks!

Genealogy / Gleesau apud Posen, Polonia Silesia [35]

I've wondered that, but I still find the link between Poznan and Silesia to be troubling. I suppose it could have something to do with Gleesaus in Poznan, I try to keep an open mind on interpreting this.

Alternatively perhaps "Kliszów" I don't know how you get from a K to a G, though.

Just a note, when you see how Dobrzejewice is spelled, I think it really reinforces the idea that they were writing phonetically.

Genealogy / Gleesau apud Posen, Polonia Silesia [35]

Yes, in all the early records that I've found concerning these individuals, there are lots of misspellings, so I assume the same here. I consider the spellings to be more phonetic, so I've been looking for something sounding like Gleesau, like say "Glisow", but I haven't seen anything like that around Posen, Poznan (I'm guessing south of Poznan if it's supposed to be in Silesia.)

Genealogy / Gleesau apud Posen, Polonia Silesia [35]

Ok, Here is the Extract.

Husband is: Ignatz Piasecki (Piesetzkie) from Dobrzejewice, Poland, son of Stanislaw Piasecki and Marianna Obst.

Wife is the one with more questions that I've been trying to locate: Elizabeth (Lizzie) Olejnik or Olnicek or Hornicek (plus the info is listed on this record)

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