Dachtera Immigration Story

 Finally almost finished. I don't like recording and hearing my own voice so it took a while to get around to doing the narration for my Dachtera immigration story.  It still needs some editing. If you watch it, I'd like to hear your suggestions for improvement.

Dachtera Immigration Story

Making Progress on the Dachtera Immigration Story

I've plunged ahead with the immigration story of my paternal Great Grandparents, Joseph and Magdalena Dachtera. The first draft of the narration is 99% complete. Still thinking about how to end the story. It’s been “resting” for a couple of days so that I’ll start editing with a fresh eye.

Spent a couple of days researching and finding images to flesh out what began as a GoogleEarth tour. Went back to the BaSIA  database to try to clarify and add information.

There are two wonderful Wielpolski databases – both built by volunteers.

The Poznan Project http://poznan-project.psnc.pl/ works to transcribe all 19^th century marriages in the province. Information given includes film numbers for the appropriate microfilms at Family Search.

BaSIA http://www.basia.famula.pl/en/ is a much broader project to transcribe all vital records from the province. Images from records may be from church or synagogue records or from civil records. Available records may be from the 13^th century to the 19^th century.

For now, it’s time to get started with the editing.

In addition, I’ve also spent some time looking at DNA info, making sure that I’m up to date on matches from various sites. It’s time to get up to speed on the tools at GEDMatch

A Fork in the Road – What to do Next

 

Well, I accomplished one task I mentioned in my last post – I found the connections between my Minnesota Ganas clan and the ones that settled in Milwaukee and Buffalo. We are all descended from Johann Ganas, b 1779, d 1830

Martin Ganas came to the US in1890 and settled in Buffalo.

Johann arrived in 1891 and settled in Milwaukee

Ignatius (My Grandfather) immigrated in 1892.

Makes me wonder whether these semi-distant cousins were in communication about their emigration plans while still in Poland.

All records are from the town of Czerlejno which you can find with Google earth; and even do a Street View tour along the two main crossroads.

I am truly grateful for the work of the volunteers who transcribe  these ancient records for databases that allow us to find our ancestors.

What’s next?

Finishing the Google earth trip/tour of my paternal immigrants seemed like a good idea for the next project until I found that Tour Builder is no longer supported. So that project turns into a YouTube project. This will take a while. Storyboard and finding the right images. I also need to improve my narration voice.  I’ve done a few other family stories on YouTube. See them here: Family Stories

And also -

I’ll continue to look for resources for my kids’ Bohemian heritage.

I’ll continue to check for new DNA matches.

Time to start working on a storyboard.

Genealogy Blog Party: DNA Discoveries

My contribution to Elizabeth O'Neal's July Genealogy Blog Party.

DNA testing has led me down a wonderful path of discovery.  Not about me and my family but about European history. 

My DNA was tested by 23andMe back in 2013. I had breast cancer and, for my daughter’s sake, was concerned about BRCA gene mutations. I turned to 23andMe because a $4,000.00 full genetic assay just wasn’t in the budget. I was relieved to find that I don’t have that mutation.

My ethnic mix showed no big surprises, but a couple of small ones.  My favorite surprise is the 3% Neanderthal component.  I love it!  That’s been the subject of a couple of previous blog posts:

Celebrating my Neanderthal Heritage

More Insight Into our Neanderthal DNA

And just today came across another article: 

New DNA From a Neanderthal Bone Holds Evidence of a Lost Tribe of Humans

I’ve traced my ancestry back to the late 18^th century in Poland. Ethnicity estimates from 23andMe, FTDNA, My Heritage, and Gedmatch all agree that is where my ancestry is centered. But they also show Southern European and Northern European roots, and that got me wondering if those are real or are false positives.

Poring over history books, historical atlases, and Wikipedia gave me quite an education.  The Northern European component may have come from the late 1600’s when Sweden invaded Poland. There are still ruins of Swedish fortifications in Poland.  Possibly this is the source of my Northern European connection.

My mother’s maiden name is Ganas, a name more common among Greeks than among Poles. It seems that in the 12^th and 13^th centuries merchants from Greece and Turkey plied their trade in Central Europe. My guess is that at least one of them, with the name of Ganas, stayed in Poland.  I have yet to convince any of my male cousins from that line to do a DNA test; but I’d love to see what their Y chromosome could tell us.

The knowledge and insights into history that I’ve gained are priceless.

Here are links to previous posts European history.

The Tribes of Europe (Some of them at least)

Tribes of Great Britain and their DNA

As for family discoveries, DNA has helped me find only two previously unknown 2^nd cousins – none more remote that that.  I keep hoping to find more. I know they’re out there somewhere.

Taking a short break from the Sip family

 It’s time to step back from this family for a couple of days to let my thoughts and ideas organize themselves in the background.  I’ve collected data and made spreadsheets that so far result in building a number of family “shrubs” that may or may not get grafted to my family tree.

Data is incomplete. The same first names are used repeatedly, as was common in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Example: two male births on the same day given the same name and registered at the same office. At this point, I’m not certain whether their fathers were brothers or cousins.  There are a few obvious transcription errors, and probably some subtle ones I haven’t found yet.  Spreadsheets evolved as my ideas evolved and I’m beginning to confuse myself. I know. I should have taken the time up front to make a plan. But I didn’t do that.

These various Sip families all lived in the same region. I believe that they are all connected but the problem is in finding the connecting thread.

For the next few days, I’ll be getting back to DNA.  I haven’t been on GedMatch or FTDNA for quite a while. There are new things to learn and, I hope, new matches for follow up.

With any luck, I’ll be able to get back to the Sip shrubs refreshed and with new ideas.

P is for Poland - A to Z Challenge

Poland is my ancestral homeland.  All 4 of my grandparents were born there.

I’ve read multiple histories, historical novels, and studied maps and historical atlases to try to get a comprehensive sense of my ancestors’ lives.  All of this has given me an intense pride in my heritage.

Not that my ancestors were at all instrumental in shaping that history.  They were peasants – the people most affected by oppressive rules.  They survived.

Poland and her people have persisted in their steadfast faith in their nation and their destiny.

Wikipedia has a good overview of Poland and her history.

E is for Emigration A to Z Challenge

All four of my grandparents emigrated from Poland in the 1880’s.

How does a family decide to leave their homeland? Extended family has probably lived in the same area for generations. Parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts are close enough to visit easily. Their support system is well established and reliable.

Why abandon this seemingly comfortable way of life to endure the indignities of weeks at sea in steerage, and the unknowns of a new home in a strange land?

The answer seems simple in some cases such as the Irish potato famine. It was a matter of survival.

Why did my Polish ancestors come to the US?  It’s not surprising that the answer has to do with politics and power. Heads of government who sought to expand their realms and control the populace.

In the 19^th century, my families were in Prussian Poland where the government was imposing strict Germanification on its provinces that were once Poland.  The Polish language was forbidden.  All civic offices and school classes were conducted in the German language.  It was forbidden to teach the Polish language even as a foreign language. German emigres to former Polish lands were given priority for jobs and land purchases. Poles were relegated to second-class citizens.

Although Poland did not exist on a map in the 19^th century, Poles still considered themselves to be Polish and chafed under Prussian rule.

I would love to know the family conversations that led to the decision to emigrate.  It must have been difficult.

I am grateful that they made those decisions.  I was born in 1942 in the USA. I cannot imagine being born in 1942 in Poland. 

A  most heartfelt thank you to my great grandparents who took the risk to come to a new country.  Words cannot express my gratitude.

D is for Dachtera - A to Z Challenge

D is for Dachtera, my maiden name.  Alternate spelling: B-R-I-C-K--W-A-L-L.

 

That’s an exaggeration. It’s probably more like a wooden blockade– a tall, thick wooden blockade.

Using BaSIA, I am able to see where that surname is concentrated in Poland.  Years ago I spent untold hours scouring FHL films looking for records of my great grandfather, Joseph Dachtera in Parkowo and Oborniki just northeast of Poznan.  I created a detailed spreadsheet listing almost 150 individuals with that surname and worked hard at trying to isolate my great grandfather with no success.  I gave up in frustration and went on to other research.

But that was more than 10 years ago when I was just beginning my genealogy journey. I’ve learned a lot since then about research techniques and 19^th century Polish surname conventions, or lack of conventions. 

Great Grandpa Joseph Dachtera is my next project.  Armed with better knowledge and capabilities, maybe I’ll find an open gate in that blockade.

C is for Collateral – 2017 A to Z Challenge

Until recently, my research on collateral lines has been limited to those living in the US – my great aunts and uncles   The discovery of distant Polish relatives in the US got me busy looking at collateral lines from a 3^rd great grandfather born in Poland in 1779.

I should have done this a long time ago!  On the other hand, the information I found may not have been easily available a long time ago.

Using information from The Poznan Project and BaSIA I was able to locate and download records from The State Archive in Poznan. Adding this data to my tree on Ancestry.com brought up a forest of shaky leaf hints.

My 3^rd great grandfather, Johann Ganas, lived in the small village of Czerlejno which was the estate of a Polish nobleman. Johann’s sons had to look elsewhere for work but they stayed within a 10-mile radius of their birthplace. In the next generation, some families moved farther away but still within 20 miles of Czerlejno.

The Ancestry hints showed me that 3 Ganas families came to the US between 1887 and 1891. Two of them settled in Buffalo, NY; and one in Milwaukee, WI. My grandfather, Ignatz Ganas arrived in 1893 as a single man and settled in St. Paul, MN.  Maximillian Ganas, a Roman Catholic priest, arrived in Detroit, MI in 1911.

WOW!!  What fun!  I have more Polish cousins in the US than I’d ever imagined.  With ongoing research, I hope to be able to find living distant cousins.

The Name Game

I spent today (virtually) at the State Archive in Poznan with the Ganas family. My brain got tied up in knots for a while.

In an effort to honor their elders, 18^th and 19^th centuries families often present us with a puzzle of some magnitude.  Too may Johanns born too close together can be very frustrating.

Be kind to your descendants who may be interested in family history.

If your name is John, and you have an uncle, a grandfather, and cousins named John, think about breaking the chain. There are many honorable names:

Hezekiah, Ezekiel. Mergetroyd, Englebert. 

On behalf of your future family historians, I thank you.

Connecting a Shrub to my Tree?

I’m deep down a rabbit hole these days because Ancestry.com gave me hints about one of my lines from another public tree. Can I connect the Ganas family in Milwaukee to my Ganas family in St. Paul??

There are tantalizing similarities.  My 3^rd Great Uncle, Mathias Ganas was born in 1821.  I found his baptismal record on a FHL  (Familysearch.org) film.  I have not yet uncovered a marriage record for him.

But the other tree in question has a Matthias Ganas born in 1824 – maybe.  It’s a “maybe” because when I go to The Poznan Project searching for his marriages it shows that he was married twice.  His first marriage in 1852 gives his age as 28 which puts his birth year at 1824.  His second marriage (as a widower) in 1868 shows is age as 46, giving a birth year of 1822.  Are either of them correct?  I’ve ordered the appropriate FHL film so maybe I’ll find more information. If I find his birth record on this film, I’ll know that he’s not MY Mathias.

In the meantime, I’ve returned to the search for Ganas records in Poland.  The BaSIA database is another resource created by volunteers transcribing archived records. This database continues to grow as more records are being transcribed. Entering a surname results in a map showing where, in Poland, there are records for that name that have been transcribed.

To the right of the map are the names of the locations with a graphic that roughly indicates the number of records. Clicking on the location results in a list of the records there. 

At the right of each record citation is a link to the archive that hold the records including information to find that record if it has been filmed and digitized. In the case of the Poznan archives, the record images may be downloaded.     

So I’m busy filling up a new flash drive.   Even if I cannot connect the Milwaukee shrub to my tree, I’m learning more about this part of my family.                                      

The Tribes of Europe (Some of them, at least)

In modern times, we are familiar with the sovereign nations of Europe. But it was not always so.  I have begun reading The Emergence of Western Society subtitled European and English History 300 – 1200 by Colin Davies.

The first chapter begins even earlier with a Roman Emperor whose name was new to me:  Alexander Servius who was executed by the Roman army in 235. In this chapter he lists various tribes who were threats to the empire’s borders; and he mentions others as well. The second chapter introduced me to even more.  Some of the names were familiar from other historical accounts but a number were new to me. Maybe serious history buffs would know about these ancient peoples.  Wikipedia to the rescue. Here are some links to both the familiar and the unfamiliar.

Alans

Saxons   

Angles

Sueves

Lombards

Heruls

Francia expanded from Austrasia, established by the Merovingian dynasty

Vandals

Burgundians  The Burgundians interest me because they occupied  the area that is now Poland. 

Huns

Visigoths

Ostrogoths

Achaemenids

Merovingian   

Some of the tribes in Germania during the Roman Empire. Suebi and Irminones are in magenta.

Carolingian

My head is spinning.

A to Z challenge – G is for Ganas

My mother’s maiden name was Ganas. Her father immigrated to the US from Poland. But Ganas is not typical of Polish surnames. I’ve traced the family back as far as my 3X great grandfather who was born in 1779 in Czerlejno, Poland so I know that the family has been in Poland for more than 300 years.

But I wonder where they originated.

When I’ve done searches on that surname, the results seem to be predominantly of Greek origin. Did my Ganas ancestors originate in Greece?  When and why would they resettle in Poland?

My reading of Polish history tells me that in past centuries, Poland was a melting pot.  There were immigrants from many other nations.

There are also the many wars that occurred in that part of the world over the centuries as various kings sought to enlarge their empires. Foreign soldiers could have stayed in Polish territories.

I also read that in the late middle ages, there were many Greek and Turkish merchants and traders doing business in Poland. 

Did one Greek trader decide to remain in Poland?  In love with the land? In love with a girl?

I have 3 male Ganas first cousins and with any luck I’ll be able to convince them to do DNA testing. I’d like to see what that Y chromosome has to say.

Jumping on the Birthplace Chart Bandwagon

The latest craze is doing a five or six generation pedigree type chart that shows birthplaces rather than names – with each unique birthplace a different color.  While some of them are a riot of colors, as a second generation American, mine is very dull. Another generation would just add more blue.

				POLAND
			POLAND
		POLAND		POLAND
				POLAND
	MINNESOTA		POLAND
				POLAND
				POLAND
			POLAND
MINNESOTA		POLAND		POLAND
				POLAND
			POLAND
				POLAND
				POLAND
			POLAND
		POLAND		POLAND
				POLAND
	MINNESOTA		POLAND
				POLAND
				POLAND
			POLAND
		POLAND		POLAND
				POLAND
			POLAND
				POLAND

 

My children's 6 generation chart is much more colorful. Until I made this chart, I'd forgotten that their father had Bohemian ancestry on both sides of his family

				BOHEMIA
			ILLINOIS
		ILLINOIS		BOHEMIA
				BOHEMIA
	ILLINOIS		ILLINOIS
				BOHEMIA
				WISCONSIN	NEW YORK
			WISCONSIN		NEWYORK
ILLINOIS		WISCONSIN		QUEBEC	QUEBEC
					ENGLAND
				BOHEMIA	BOHEMIA
			WISCONSIN		BOHEMIA
				MASSACHUSETTS
				POLAND	POLAND
			POLAND		POLAND
		MINNESOTA		POLAND	POLAND
					POLAND
				POLAND	POLAND
	MINNESOTA		POLAND		POLAND
				POLAND	POLAND
					POLAND
				POLAND	POLAND
			POLAND		POLAND
		MINNESOTA		POLAND	POLAND
					POLAND
				POLAND	POLAND
			POLAND		POLAND
				POLAND	POLAND
					POLAND

These charts can be a great way to look at migration patterns.