FINDING COUSINS ON FACEBOOK

My mother's entire ancestry is Polish, yet it is also the side of my family that I know the least about.  My mother only has one brother but her mother was one of 10 children and her father was one of 9 children.  You would think that would give me some contacts.

Of course, I was thinking of none of this when I received a friend's request on Facebook at the end of July.  I did my typical thought process -- Does the last name sound familiar?  Did I go to high school with this person?  Is she a fellow UCLA Bruin fan?  Well, all those answers came up "no".  I am happy to report that she was persistent and the next day I learned that we were relatives.  How come there are so many relatives that I don't know about?

It seems that Sally and I share great grandparents -- Charles Stachowiak and Anna Szukalski.  Yes, that is them in the above photo.  Thank you, Sally, for that photo!  My maternal grandfather Leonard Stachowiak was the younger brother of her paternal grandfather Eugene Stachowiak.   An added bonus, was that I got to meet her sister Chris online.  Okay, that has never happened before and I can tell you meeting 2 cousins at once is even better than only meeting one!

So, now are not only Sally, Chris and I friends on Facebook but we have also shared photos and stories.  I don't think I had ever seen a photo of my great grandparents until Sally and Chris shared several with me.  

I have done a ton of genealogical research these past 15 years but the highlights have definitely been finding or more typical in my case "being found" by new cousins, either through Facebook or one of my blogs.

FINDING KINGA

My great uncle Eugene Stachowiak was married to a woman named Kinga.  This was Eugene's second marriage.  I really don't remember Eugene at all since he died when I was just 6 years old.  Now, I do remember Kinga a little and especially remember her funeral in 1971.

Kinga's funeral was held at Our Lady of the Bright Mount Polish Catholic Church in Los Angeles.  (I devoted a post on my blog to this church in April of 2013).  Since this is a Polish parish, the funeral Mass was recited in Polish.

Well, while I was researching, I decided that I wanted to learn more about Kinga.  I found her listed in the California Death Index.  Her birth date was 6 Jun 1906 and her death date was 9 Mar 1971.  Of course, I also have a funeral card which lists her middle name as Jeanine.  How do I find out more about her without having her maiden name?

On a hunch, I decided to look for her in the Wisconsin Births and Christenings Index with just her first name and birth date.  After all, how many Kinga's could there be born in Wisconsin on that date?  Well, I hit the jackpot -- I found her -- Kinga J. Czerwinski, as well as, the names of her parents -- Albert Czerwinski and Wanda Wozmskiewicz.

INTERNET RESEARCH WITH A GROUP

I love taking genealogy classes, especially in a classroom setting.  It allows me to not only learn more about a subject that is important to me but also gives me the opportunity to exchange ideas with others interested in genealogy.  So I was delighted to see that the Poway Adult School was offering a class on Internet Research for Family History.  Too many times, in the past, however, their genealogy classes would be cancelled due to low enrollment.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I walked into the class (okay, a few minutes late) to find twelve other eager students already present.  Twelve might not seem like a lot to you, however, typically there are 6 students in these classes.  As we went around the class introducing ourselves, not only were there students of various ages -- 30's to mid to late 70's, but a majority of them had done a little research but desired some training on how to do it properly.

I am looking forward to learning more about research methods and to discussing  tips and findings with my fellow classmates.

MY POLISH VALENTINES

My 2nd great grandfather was Walenty or Valentine Stachowiak.  Until I started researching my family tree, I never knew that any of my ancestors had "Valentine" for their first name.  According to a Polish dictionary, the Polish word for "valentine" is walentynka.   Since I know no Polish words at all, I will have to take their word for it. I am currently learning German and perhaps some day can also learn to speak some Polish words.

Walenty Stachowiak was born on 4 Feb 1833 (fairly close to February 14th) in Poland and died on 11 April 1904 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Walenty was married to Josephine Kowalczyk and they had nine children together -- Mary Anne, Petronella, Lawrence, Albert, Agnes, Joseph, Charles, Casimir and Stanislaus. Charles Stachowiak was my great grandfather.

There was also another Polish "Valentine" in my ancestry -- Valentin Reszel, who was my 2nd cousin once removed.  Valentin Reszel was born on 10 Feb 1915 in Wisconsin and died on 26 Jan 1995 in Milwaukee. Valentin was the son of Walter and Magdaln Reszel. He was from the Braciszewski branch of my family tree.

Officially, there is one more Polish "Valentine" in my family tree.  Joseph William Stachowiak and Martha Ulezelski had a son named Valentine William Stachowiak, who lived from 1907 to 1969.  However, according to records it seems like for most of his adult life he went by the name William instead of Valentine.  Since today is Valentine's Day, we will count him as one of my Polish Valentine -- well, at least for today!