BOOKS ON RESEARCH SOURCES AND TECHNIQUES FOR POLISH AND LITHUANIAN GENEALOGY:

 

 

THE BASICS:

 

 

cover

Rosemary A. Chorzempa, Korzenie Polskie- Polish Roots, Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1001 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, 1993.

—Recommended.

 

Jan and Len Gnacinski, Polish and Proud -Tracing Your Polish Ancestry, Ye Olde Genealogie Shoppe, Post Office Box 39128, Indianapolis, IN 46239, yogs@iquest.net, (1979, 1983] revised 1995.

 

J. Konrad, Polish Family Research, Ye Olde Genealogie Shoppe, Post Office Box 39128, Indianapolis, IN 46239, yogs@iquest.net.

 

Records of Genealogical Value for Poland, The Genealogical Department of The Church of The Latter-day Saints, 50 East North Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150, (1978) 1983.

 

Daniel M. Schlyter, Essentials in Polish Genealogical Research, The Polish Genealogical Society of America, 984 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622, 1993.

—Recommended.

 

Maralyn A. Wellauer, Tracing Your Polish Roots, published by the author, 2845 N. 72th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53210-1106, swiss@execpc.com, (1979, 1985] revised and enlarged 1991.
 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND INDICES:

 

 

[Rosemary Chorzempa & George Wieslaw Helon, ed. Index to the Newsletters, Journals, and Bulletins of the Polish Genealogical Society of America, 1979-1993, Polish Genealogical Society of America, Chicago, 1994.] -out of print.

  

Janina W. Hoskins, Polish Genealogy & Heraldry - An Introduction to Research, Hippocrene Books, 171 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, (1987) 1990. -out of print.

—Recommended. 

 

 

 

PERSONAL ONOMASTICS:

 

Alexander Beider, A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire, Avotaynu, Inc. P.O. Box 1134, Teaneck, NJ 07666, 1993.

 

 

Alexander Beider, A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Kingdom of Poland, Avotaynu, Inc. P.O. Box 1134, Teaneck, NJ 07666, 1996.

 

 

Alexander Beider, A Dictionary of Ashkenazic Given Names: Their Origin, Structure, Pronunciation, Migration, Avotaynu, Inc. P.O. Box 1134, Teaneck, NJ 07666.

 

Alvydas Butkus, Lietuviu Pravardes [Lithuanian Nicknames], Vytauto Didzioji Universitetas Humanitariniu Mokslu Fakultetas, Kaunas: Aesti:1995

 

Jan St. Bystron, Ksiega Imion w Polsce Uzywanych [Book of Personal Names Used in Poland], Towarystwo Wydawnicze "Roj", Warsaw, 1938. -out of print.

 

 

Boris Feldblyum, Russian-Jewish Given Names, Avotaynu, Inc., P.O. Box 1134, Teaneck, NJ 07666, 1998.

 

K.A. Girvilas (editor), Senovinai Vardai Etimologijos -pagal K. Kuzavinio ir B. Savukyno etymologini lietuviu vardu zodyna knygeleje VARDAI IR ZODZIAI Vilniuje, 1977 [Ancient Names: Etymologies - with the assistance of K. Kuzavinis and B. Savukynas' etymologies of Lithuanian names booklet: NAMES AND THEIR ORIGINS, Vilnius, 1977], Pedagoginis Lituanistikos Institutas, Chicago 1986. -out of print.

 

 

"Paul Wickenden of Thanet" [Paul W. Goldschmidt, Ph.D.), A Dictionary of Period Russian Names (and some of their Slavic roots) — Being a compilation of over 50,000 Russian names taken from period sources, 3rd edition, Revised and Expanded, Normal, IL: SCA Inc.-Free Trumpet Press, (1994), (1996), 2000.
 —Despite being published by the Society for Creative Anachronism, a Medieval reenactment hobby group, this is a genuine work of scholarship, and an excellent source of etymological roots for Belarussian and Ukrainian names as well as Russian.  It includes a good blibliography.  Also currently available online. 

 

William F. Hoffman, Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings, Polish Genealogical Society of America, 984 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622, [1992] New enlarged edition, 1997.

—Recommended.

 

William F. Hoffman and George W. Helon, First Names of the Polish Commonwealth: Origins & Meanings, Polish Genealogical Society of America, 1998.

—Recommended.

 

Kaziemieras Kuzavinis and Bronys Savukynas, Lietuvių Vardu Kilmės Žodynas [Lithuanian Name Origins Dictionary], Vilnius: Mokslo ir Enciklopedijų Leibydos Institutas, 2005.

 

Vitalija Maciejauskiene, Lietuviu pavardziu susidarymas XIII—XVIII a. [Lithuanian Surname Origins 13th—18th Centuries], Moklas, Vilnius, 1991. -out of print.

 

Kazmierz Rymut, Nazwiska Polakow [Polish Surnames], Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolinskich, Wroclaw, 1991. -out of print?

Kazmierz Rymut, Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych [Dictionary of Surnames in Current Use in Poland], 10 volumes, Polska Akademia Nauk  — Instytut Jezyka Polskiego, Cracow, 1992-1994.
- a count of contemporary surname occurences by province. -out of print.

Kazmierz Rymut, Slownik imion wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych [Dictionary of Personal Names in Current Use in Poland],  Polska Akademia Nauk  — Instytut Jezyka Polskiego, Cracow, 1995.

Kazmierz Rymut, Dictionary of Surnames in Current Use in Poland at the Beginning of the 21th Century, Polish Academy of Sciences — Polish Language Institute & Polish Genealogical Society of America, Cracow and Chicago, 2002, CD-ROM.

  — .pdf key to Province/County abbreviations.

Aleksandras Vanagas, Vitalija Maciejauskiene, and Martyte Razmukaite, Lietuviu Pavardziu Zodynas [Lithuanian Surname Dictionary], two volumes, Vilnius, 1985-1989.
-surname etymologies and a count by townsship. -out of print.

 

TOPONYMIC ONOMASTICS:

Jürgen Prinz, Die Slavisierung baltischer und die Baltisierung slavischer Ortsnamen im Gebiet des ehemaligen Gouvernements Suwalki — Versuch der Entwicklung einer Theorie der Umsetzung von Ortsnamen am praktischen Beispiel [The Slavicization of Baltic and the Balticization of Slavic Place Names in the Districts of the Former Gubernya of Suwalki], Veröffentlichungen der Abteilung für Slavische Sprachen und Literaturen des Osteuropa-Instituts (Slavisches Seminar) an der Freien Universität Berlin, Band 34, Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1968. -out of print.

 

Aleksandras Vanagas, Lietuvos Miestų Vardai [Lithuanian Town Names], Vilnius: Mokslo ir Enciklopedijų Leidybos Institutos, 2004.

 

 

AMERICAN RECORDS:

 

Ira A. Glazier, ed., MIGRATION FROM THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE,

Compiled from original customs passenger lists and immigration passenger lists held by the Temple-Balch Center for Immigration Research, information in these  volumes corresponds to the information given in the passenger lists -- name of passenger, his age, sex, occupation, country of origin, place of residence, and destination; additionally, each passenger is headed by the name of the ship, the port of embarkation, the port of arrival, and date of arrival.

 

ARRIVING AT THE PORT OF NEW YORK,

 

Vol. 1, January 1875-September 1882, (1995)[out of print].

Vol. 2, October 1882-April 1886,(1995) [out of print].

 

Vol. 3, May 1886-December 1887, (1997).

 

Vol. 4, January 1888-May 1889, (1997).

 

ARRIVING AT US PORTS,

 

Vol. 5,  June 1889-July 1890, (1998).

 

Vol. 6,  August 1890-June 1891, (1998).

 

 

John J. Newman, American Naturalization Processes and Procedures - 1790 - 1985, Family History Section, Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, 1985.

 

Jonathan D. Shea, Polish Cemetery Inscriptions: Vermont, Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut, 1988. — out of print.

 

Jonathan D. Shea, Joseph G. Maciora, Jill Szynski, Polish Cemetery Inscriptions: New Hampshire, Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut, January 1991. — out of print?

 

 

 

GEOGRAPHIC REFERENCES:

 

 

Gary Mokotoff & Sallyann Amdur Sack, Where Once We Walked - A Guide to Jewish Communities Destroyed in the Holocaust, Avotaynu, Inc., P.O. Box 1134, Teaneck, NJ 07666, [1991]revised and enlarged 2003.

 

Edward A. Peckwas, A Historical Bibliography of Polish, Towns, Villages, and Regions (except Warsaw and Cracow), The Polish Genealogical Society of America, 984 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622, (1988) 1990.

 


 

 

LOCATING EUROPEAN RECORDS:

 

Edward R. Brandt and Adalbert Goertz, Genealogical Guide to East and West Prussia (Ost und Westpreussen): Records, Sources, Publications & Events, Ed Brandt Genealogy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, (2002) 2003.

 

Stanislaw Litak, The Latin Church in the Polish Commonwealth in 1772 - A Map and Index of Localities, The Polish Genealogical Society of America, 984 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622, 1990.

 

Jonathan D. Shea, Directory of Polish Roman Catholic Parishes in the Territory of the Former Russian Partition, Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut,1989. — out of print.

 

Jonathan D. Shea, Directory of Polish Roman Catholic Parishes in the Territory of the Former Austrian Partition - Galicia, Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut, 1991. — out of print.

 

Jonathan D. Shea, Address List of Roman Catholic Churches in Lithuania: A Guide for the Family History Researcher, Language & Lineage Press, 1995. — out of print.

 

Jonathan D. Shea & William F. Hoffman, Polish Localities in the Russian Partition and Their Parish Affiliations: Bialystok, Drohiczyn, Lomza, Plock Dioceses, Language & Lineage Press, 1994. — out of print.

 

 

 

 

TRANSLATION GUIDES:

 

Judith R. Frazin, A Translation Guide to 19th-Century Polish-Language Civil-Registration Documents (Birth, Marriage and Death Records), Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois, 1025 Antique Lane, Northbrook, IL 60062, 1989. — out of print.

 

Gerald A. Ortell, Polish Parish Records of the Roman Catholic Church - Their Use and Understanding in Genealogical Research, GenUn Publishers, Genealogy Unlimited P.O. Box 537, Orem, Utah, 84059-0537, (1979, 1983, 1984, 1989] 1996.

 

 

Jonathan D. Shea, Russian Language Documents from Russian Poland - A Translation Manual for Genealogists, GenUn Publishers, Genealogy Unlimited P.O. Box 537, Orem, Utah, 84059-0537, 1989. — out of print.

 

 

Jonathan D. Shea & William F. Hoffman, Following the Paper Trail: A Multilingual Translation Guide, Language & Lineage Press, 1991, Avotaynu, Incorporated / April 1994 -Available from AVOTAYNU, INC., 155 N. Waashington Avenue, Bergenfield, NJ 07621.

— surpassed by the four volume opus by the same authors in progress below.

 

Jonathan D. Shea & William F. Hoffman, In Their Words — A Genealogist's Translation Guide to Polish, German, Latin and Russian Documents, Volume I: Polish, Language & Lineage Press, 8 Lyle Road, New Britain, Connecticut, 06053-2104, www.langline.com, 2000.

—Recommended.

 

Jonathan D. Shea & William F. Hoffman, In Their Words — A Genealogist's Translation Guide to Polish, German, Latin and Russian Documents, Volume II: Russian, Language & Lineage Press, 8 Lyle Road, New Britain, Connecticut, 06053-2104, www.langline.com, 2002.

—Recommended.

 

MISCELLANEOUS:

 

Rosemary A. Chorzempa, Morbus — Why and How Our Ancestors Died: A Genealogist's Dictionary of Terms Found in Vital Reords with Descriptions of the Diseases as They Relate to the Health of Our Ancestors, The Polish Genealogical Society of America, 984 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL 60622, 1991.

— Useful for identifying diseases mentioned in earlier English language records.

 

Mary Swiatek Hartig, Polish Surname Directory -An Inventory of Those Researching Polish Ancestry, Polish Surname Network, 158 South Walter Avenue, Newbury Park, CA 91320, Volume 1, 1992/1993, 1992. — out of print.