From the blog
Franciszka Smolarek
As of the writing of this article, I’m 18 years 9 months 8 days old, exactly two months older than Franciszka was when she died. Franciszka Smolarek and I likely are distant cousins, as her family came from a neighboring village from mine. I’m almost certain that my 3rd great-grandparents knew of her, as they had a mutual friend. But let’s start with the beginning of her story. Franciszka Eva Pierzchalska born on the 2nd of January 1873 in Studzienki, Posen, Prussia (modern day Poland). Her…
Priest, Police, Parishioner, Oh My!
Located on Fitzwater Street, St. Stanislaus was the second Polish parish founded in Philadelphia and the oldest surviving parish. As of this year St. Stanislaus turned 131 years old. What stories does this small parish have to tell… Between the years of 1892 and 1899 were turbulent years for the Parish of St. Stanislaus. Just within these seven years, one priest and multiple parishioners were arrested, three fires, money was stolen, both attempted murder (twice) and murder, and the most important fact, the congregation split not…
The Land Registers of 1772
In 1772 after Fredrick the Great formed West Prussia, he had every head of household in the territory enumerated into a land registry which we have index’s and images of. According to these registers there were three Kresmers in all of West Prussia so its very likely that Helena Kresmer and her father Jakob Kresmer were descendent’s of one these men. The three Kresmers listed according to an index were Christ[ian] Kresmer of Zieglershufen [Zieglershuben], Jacob Kresmer of Budzin and Mathes Kresmer of Behnhoff [Bönhof/Boenhöffen]. Sadly…
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About Me
A Polish-American Genealogist. My Field of specialty is Western Slavic research (Polish, Czech, and Slovak). Dabbles in Irish, Romanian, Italian, and German Research. Massive lover of immigration research and always willing to step outside of my research field.
Slavic Genealogy 