| Tracing Your Polish Ancestors |
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| 2. Church and Cemetery Records |
| Polonia is the term for any Polish community outside of Poland. Polish immigrants in America in the late 1800s/early 1900s created communities to duplicate their former life in Poland. Information from records created in the Polish community may be more accurate since native speaking Poles generated them. |
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| Consider accessing these records to supplement missing vital records (birth, death, marriage); find clues to your ancestor's birthplace in Poland; and complete American information about your ancestor. |
| What to expect from a church record |
| Baptismal, burial, and marriage records supplement vital records of birth, death, and marriage. A baptismal record will list godparents; a marriage record will give witnesses' names; and a burial record will list the cemetery. You may also find the baptismal date of a child who died in infancy. When writing or e-mailing your ancestor's church, ask if those records contain information about your ancestor's birthplace in Poland and the ancestor's parents' names. It is customary to send a $5.00 donation to cover expenses and time to prepare the record. If writing by mail, also send a self-addressed, stamped envelope. |
| What to expect from a cemetery record |
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| Cemetery stones are not always complete or accurate. The cemetery office, however, lists names of people buried in a plot with the date and name of the person who purchased the plot. You may also find additional relatives buried in the same cemetery. Before you visit a cemetery, contact the office to determine the hours a cemetery is open and directions to your ancestors' plots. They are usually numbered. |
| If you research a cemetery with an older relative, the cemetery visit may bring back more memories that provide clues for your research. Take notes even if you photograph tombstones. Search for similar surnames. |
| Cemetery Inscriptions in Polish |
| matka = mother ojciec = father ma'z' = husband z'ona = wife co'rka = daughter syn = son urodzony = birth date uraml(a) = death date |
| styczen = January luty = February marzec = March kwiecien = April maj = May czerwiec = June lipiec = July sierpien = August wrzesien = September pazdzierniek = October listopad = November grudzien = December |
| Church Parish Clues |
| Search the telephone directory for churches that bear names of Polish saints: St. Adelbert, St. Piotr, St. Josef, etc. Or contact a Polish parish listed on the internet in your ancestor's city or town. They can provide the names of Polish churches in that area. Often the diocese provides a separate web page with the parishes in that diocese with a history that my indicate Polish roots. |
| Cemetery Clues |
| Find a cemetery in a church burial ledger, a death certificate, an obituary notice, holy cards, and funeral guest books. |