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I did a bit of searching. After my dad died, I went thru his papers [ an old steel file box] . Turns out He was not Polish , His Dads family fought in the Russian rev. On the CZARS side. Beat it out to Poland. Then to The USA
Moms side was harder to trace. Paternal side is German [with a Hessian in there some place]. But the Maternal side goes back to the Civil war. I'm related to "Stone Wall Jackson" [ great cousin or uncle]
On my mother's side "The Warrens" originated in Normandy (Vikings) and in 1066 an ancestor was rewarded for his military service at the Battle of Hastings by Duke William (The Conquerer) with the county of Surrey and the title the Earl of Surrey. The 5th Earl of Surrey had the misfortune of commanding Edward the 1st (Long Shanks) army sent to Scotland deal with William Wallace. He was badly beaten by Wallace at Stirling Bridge. Since them there have ben many distinguished Warrens . I am a distant relative of the Honorable Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court Earl Warren (also a Governor of California). Earl Warren became Chief Justice in the year I was born and lead the Court to major rulings in civil rights and personal freedoms like the Miranda Decision. Conservatives hated Earl Warren. My British grandfather was a master mechanic for the British sports car maker MG and another British relative served in British Naval intelligence. Many years later Dr. Brian Jenny a pioneer in cybernetics served as Chancellor of Monash University in Melbourne Australia.
On my father's side I have an ancestor John Ruckman who reached America at the Mass Bay colony in 1635. He was not a Puritan and fled soon after arriving ending up in the Dutch Colony of New Amsterdam and helped found a religious commune called Gravesend. Its name is preserved as a neighborhood in Brooklyn NY. On a trail frm Brooklyn to New Jersey, PA, North Carolina and then finally to Arkansas and SW Missouri I have a complete blood line. Along the way we married into the Pryor family a famous political dynasty in Arkansas. My grandfather on my fathers side had the midde name Pryor.
If you are interested in researching a family tree a good place to start is in Salt Lake City at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who believe in baptism even after death and have assembled a data base with more than 2 billion individual persons records. If you have any Mormon relatives or friends they very likely have had you baptized in the Mormon Church so you won't face damnation on Judgement day. Quite thoughtful of them I think!
I did a bit of searching. After my dad died, I went thru his papers [ an old steel file box] . Turns out He was not Polish , His Dads family fought in the Russian rev. On the CZARS side. Beat it out to Poland. Then to The USA
Moms side was harder to trace. Paternal side is German [with a Hessian in there some place]. But the Maternal side goes back to the Civil war. I'm related to "Stone Wall Jackson" [ great cousin or uncle]
You realize that from 1795 to 1919 Poland was mostly part of the Russian Empire so being with the Czar's forces should be no surprise. The Poles have always found themselves between the devil and the deep blue sea (i.e. Germany and Russia). It is also understandable that he fled upon the Red victory in th Russian Civil War for he was a member of the counter revolutionary White Forces. It should noted that Red Forces were lead to victory by a Polish Jew named Leon Trotsky. Another Pole founded the Cheka (Secret Police) for Lenin (another non-Russian) . One of the highlights of the 1991 revolution that ended the Soviet Union was when Feliks Dzhzinskii"s statue was pulled down in Lubyanka Square (where KGB HQ was located). Even Mr Putin has not dared to put it back up!
If you are interested in researching a family tree a good place to start is in Salt Lake City at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who believe in baptism even after death and have assembled a data base with more than 2 billion individual persons records. If you have any Mormon relatives or friends they very likely have had you baptized in the Mormon Church so you won't face damnation on Judgement day. Quite thoughtful of them I think!
My thoughts are that you meant well by this post, but you've misunderstood the policy. Mormons perform proxy baptisms on behalf of their deceased ancestors (who are free, even after death, to declare the baptism null and void). They do not ever perform baptisms on the part of living relatives or friends. My intent is not to take this thread off-topic, but just to clarify that one point. As yes, the Family History Library in Salt Lake City is probably the best facility in the world for this purpose. It's free of charge and open to the public.
As yes, the Family History Library in Salt Lake City is probably the best facility in the world for this purpose. It's free of charge and open to the public.
I visited there some years ago and it is certainly a good place to go if you know what you are looking for...but do a little research before hand so you are not overwhelmed. There is almost too much information. To make the best use of your time you need to plot out a strategy and maybe have a couple family members to help. The library catalogue is online so you can get the call numbers ahead of time. I just did a quick catalogue search on "Tralee" where some ancestors lived. There are eleven items in the collection and it could take a day just to get through them all if I was by myself and didn't have a search plan. If, halfway through, I discover that they actually lived down the road in "Castleisland", there would be another nine items and probably need a second day.
No.But I came across my paternal grandfather mentioned in a Spanish-American War local/regional history and he was fighting against the U.S.A.! Have not checked further.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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My ancestors all came from the first waves of European pioneers to the USA. I'm around 40% Virginia English, they arrived in the 1600s. I'm around 30% Scottish or Scots Irish, they arrived in the early 1700s in Philadelphia then moved south to the Carolinas. My Welsh and German ancestors followed a similar path to the Scottish ones and arrived around the same time. I have a handful of ancestors who were New York Dutch that moved to Kentucky in the mid 1800s.
While my parents were both poor many of my ancestors were pretty well off, owning huge tracts of land. Small business ownership remains common in my family.
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