ZAMAGURZE AREA RESEARCH PROJECT
© The Zamagurze Area Research Project (ZARP) -- all rights reserved
Monthly Newsletter # 6 -- August 1999
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Ahoj ZARP members! Here's our sixth newsletter -- and its now a monthly.
As always, this issue is e-mailed free to all project contributors who are
online and to the rest via standard mail. Also visit our Delphi Forum's ZARP
webpage at:
http://members.delphi.com/pkbingham for the very latest info.
The big news this month is about 15 of us ZARP members going to our
ancestral villages on August 12th! We will likely have lots of new
information when we come back! And, of course, we will share it with all of
you. Since your editor doesn't get back until September 10th, the September
ZARP newsletter will be a little late -- but well worth the wait, I assure you!
We have lots to share with you this issue, too. In addition ZARP gets
lots of letters and we are going to print a few of these which will both
edify and inspire. Thanks to all of you for your efforts toward this
Zamagurze Area Research Project.
-- Paul K. Bingham
ZARP Team Leader
bingham@iols.netHUNGARIAN CENSUS RECORDS UPDATE____________
ZARP Team Member Bill Serchak has been tireless sifting through and
extracting information from the Hungerian census records. Here's a note on
what is coming:
"I've finally finished my work with the three Hungarian censuses. Rather
than just copy the entries for my three villages, I decided to check out and
copy the data for ALL the ZARP villages that I could identify in each of the
three censuses: 1715-1720 Feudal Land Tenancy census records, Urberi
Tabellak for 1767-1793, and the 1828 Census of the Taxable Population. I
have lots of paper printouts, as you can imagine. Now comes the process of
tabbing each set of village printouts, organizing them alphabetically, and
entering all the names into a group of WORD documents. Finally, I would like
to do a comparative listing and analysis of each village using the three
censuses to show the increases in population and the influx of new names
with each succeeding tabulation.
The distribution of certain surnames at the times of the three censuses
may give some clues as to the migration and growth patterns in the ZARP
villages. Megan Smolenyak (another ZARP Team Member) and I have been
discussing her villages with respect to the changes and increases in certain
surnames over the years. So why not a comparative study & analysis over the
entire ZARP region?
Like our telephone directory and the ZARP Surname list, it provides
a surname patterning map of the region. Maybe it's nutty to pursue such an
ambitious project, but it's endlessly fascinating. And when I find new
surnames in some villages and old surnames for the first time in villages
not listed on the ZARP Master Lists, it will be of great interest to our
researchers and, especially, to our Team Leaders, I think." -- Bill
SerchakSUCCESS IN LOCATING ZARP FAMILY___________
ZARP member Peggy Grinvalsk, who is one of the 15 ZARP members traveling to
Zamagurze this week wrote this letter to us:
"My mother, my sister and I are going on the August trip. We have
received an answer to one of our village ancestor search letters and our
whole family is outrageously excited! My brother Paul has managed to get a
week off work to join us in time to meet the new-found Slovak relatives. He
is arriving in Budapest on Aug. 18, has a rental car waiting for him and
will drive to Zdair. He is bringing camping equipment prepared to camp out
if there is no room for him at our hotel!"
-- Peggy GrinvalskyMORE FAMILY TIES IN ZARP AREA______________
Excited ZARP member Bob Williams just got this from a Spisz contact:
"Dear Bob, Today I found out some information about DLUHA family. In Spisska Nova
Ves lives only Cecilia PODOBENOVA (born DLUHA in 1934). She and her
mother were born in Nowa Biala. She had also aunt Alzbeta DLUHA born in Nowa
Biala in 1902 or 1903. She had emigrated to US, then she returned back to
Czechoslovakia where she gave birth to a girl and before 2nd world war she
went back to US.
"Take into consideration that Czechoslovakia was founded in 1918 and
inhabitant's registry wasn't very good. The best way is to visit a rectory
because the rectors did a good registration at christening, and look for
more facts. I do it for you on Sunday afternoon with father's brother Jozef
Bizub (he speaks Polish very well and has some friends there) we will visit
a rectory in Nowa Biala. But because in that period the Nowa Biala had about
500-600 inhabitants it could be a probability to have some three-four
generation old affinity. In Nowa Biala live more families with names BIZUB
and DLUHY or DLUHA. In Slovakia these names aren't common. I will be glad to
have more information for you. See you." -- OndrejWEBSITES OF INTEREST________________
Our thanks to Bill Serchak for these Spisz Area museum sites. Check them
out -- they're all in English!
http://kinga.cyf-kr.edu.pl/zakopane/muzeum/ang/index.html
http://kinga.cyf-kr.edu.pl/zakopane/muzeum/ang/muz-his.html
http://www.cyf-kr.edu.pl/zakopane/muzeum/ang/dz-bibl.html
http://www.cyf-kr.edu.pl/zakopane/muzeum/ang/korkosz.html
http://kinga.cyf-kr.edu.pl/zakopane/muzeum/ang/jurgow.html
He also sent this great Slovakia site:
http://www.slovakia.org
And this about Heritage Quest doing the Subject US Census films in CD
format: (Not all years are available but 1790, 1800, 1810 and 1900 are complete
and are being shipped. These are not cheap knock-offs of used microfilms. These are
made from the National Archives silver master census films and then
digitized and enhanced each image.) Their address is:
http://www.heritagequest.com/genealogy/
http://www.heritagequest.com/genealogy/CD-ROM/html/digital-faqs.html#howmuchPOLISH 1998 PHONEBOOK PAGES DONATED____________
Our thanks to member Mary Skwirz who just sent us the Zamagurze, Spisz
and Podhale villages pages out of the new Polish phonebook! What a great
resource this will be! The villages covered are: Bialka, Bor, Brzegi,
Bukowina, Czarna Gora, Czorsztyn, Debno, Dursztyn, Falsztyn, Frydman,
Gliczarow Dolny, Gliczarow Gorny, Gronkow, Gron, Grywald, Harklowa, Huba,
Jurgow, Kacwin, Kluszkowce, Knurow, Krempachy, Kroscienko, Krosnica,
Lesnica, Lapszanka, Lapsze Nizne, Lapsze Wyzne, Male Ciche, Maniowy,
Mizerna, Niedzica, Nowa Biala, Ostrowsko, Rzepiska, Sromowce Nizne, Sromowce
Wyzne, Szlembark, Trybsz and Tylka. We will try to make copies available in
September to all who want them!ZARP'S MEGAN SMOLENYAK'S WORK ON PBS________
Several months ago, many of you kindly submitted your stories for the
upcoming Public Broadcasting System (PBS) "Ancestors: The Family Search"
series that will air in the U.S.A. in early 2000. Unfortunately, we could
only select about a dozen stories from the more than 1,000 that we received.
We would like to thank every one of you who took the time to share your tale
and assure you that every single story was read and considered. And now,
we'd like to ask for your help again.
The series will have a companion book which will complement the show
itself. At this point, it is tentatively called "Honoring Our Ancestors: 101
Stories of Serendipity, Kindness, and Connection". As you can tell from the
title, we are looking for slightly different stories than the ones we
solicited for the show. Here are the categories we are looking for this time:
(1) What were the odds? -- Almost all avid genealogists experience
serendipity in their research -- a book just happens to fall off the library
shelf and provide the clue that has been sought for years. Please share any
experiences you've had like this. (2) Trusting your Intuition -- We would
like to hear about any times when you "trusted your gut" and were rewarded
for listening to that inner voice -- "something just told me" stories. (3)
Connecting with Kin -- Please tell us about your reunion tales or how you
connected with distant cousins. (4) The Kindness of Strangers -- We want to
hear about the random and not-so-random acts of genealogical kindness you've
experienced or performed. (5) Breaking the Time Barrier -- We invite you to
share stories that show that even the passage of time and death itself are
not strong enough to break family ties -- of how you feel connected to an
ancestor, even though he/she passed on hundreds of years ago. (6) If at
First You Don't Succeed -- Please take this opportunity to show off your
doggedness, ingenuity, and perseverance.
If you are interested in having your family's tale appear in the book,
please write a brief summary and send to 76163.1402@compuserve.com with a
copy to RWR-Editors@rootsweb.com no later than 18 August 1999. Please use
the category your story fits into as the subject for your message. As was
the case the last time, regrettably we will not be able to respond to all
messages due to the anticipated volume; but, because we need 101 stories,
the odds are certainly better this time. Remember to submit your summary no
later than 18 August 1999. Thanks and best of luck! -- Megan SmolenyakPOSSIBLE MEMBERS LOST___________________
Here are some ZARP family surname researchers from old postings that we are
unable to contact. If you recognize any of these, let us know!
Loretta Ekoniak ekoniak@delphi.com
Richard & Pat Sibley patdi@swbell.com
Michael Culleny mculleny@ix.netcom.com
Misha Muzyk MAMM1@prodigy.net
LAKEGALENA LAKEGALENA@aol.com
Jeanne Rheam jeanne.rhe@prodigy.net
Bis. Andrew Grutka last known from Valparaiso, INOTHER NOTES______________________________
(1) Since I'll be away until September 10th, please save your electronic
treasures until I return so my e-mail doesn't get too clogged up while I'm
gone. Thanks!
(2) Due to ISP anti-spamming policies this newsletter is sent out in groups
of 15 to 20. (3) If you would like the current e-mail address of someone in
ZARP just contact us. (4) If you have missed getting any issues of this
newsletter, or have comments or questions just ask! (5) If you know someone
who might benefit from receiving this newsletter just send their address and
we'll add them to the list. Just e-mail the editor at: bingham@iols.net.
Thank you!
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