Genealogist offers perspective on local Polish heritage

By P.J. GLISSON

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Hurley - Persons of Polish ancestry had the opportunity to learn a little more about their origins by attending a Wednesday evening presentation at the Iron County Historical Museum.

The session was specifically within the former courthouse of the building, which once was known as the Iron County Courthouse.

Jay M. Orbik, an Illinois genealogist, was at the site to present information on Polish immigration to the Gogebic Range, specifically from Iron River, Michigan, to Ashland.

Juliette Kangas, president of the Iron County Historical Society, welcomed attendees, after which Hurley attorney Paul Sturgul explained that Orbik was chosen to provide this year's annual Gilbert J. Endrizzi Memorial Lecture.

Sturgul noted that Orbik has a doctorate in educational technology, research and assessment from Northern Illinois University, from which he retired as the director of media services.

Orbik has been visiting Poland almost annually since 1998 as part of an ongoing mission to gather information on his own family, going back to the 1600s. His articles have been published in Polish and Eastern European genealogical journals in the United States and Poland.

"How many of you are Polish?" he asked at the start of his session. Almost all hands rose in the full room.

"How many of you have studied your family origins?" he asked. Fewer than half of attendee hands then rose.

No apparent hands rose when Orbik asked which of them belonged to a genealogical group.

Orbik, who has learned that his own surname originated in the Polish village of Tajno and in the nearby town of Augustów, said the first recognizable people from the Augustow area in this region had his own last name or those of the names of Sobolewski, Trojan or Ropel.

He warned that there may be many frustrations in searching out family history.

For instance, the needed books or records may be missing for various reasons such as natural disasters (i.e., fire, etc.), theft, or even deliberate destruction by invading forces.

He explained that Poland's history includes associations or control by various other countries such as France, Germany or Russia.

He added that Russia destroyed records and created fear in Polish populations.

"A lot of people who came here came to get away from the Russians," said Orbik, who claimed that some were so desperate to get U.S. citizenship that they lied about when they'd arrived here in order to expedite the process of naturalization.

He noted that Germans also pushed out minorities and said that Poland's borders changed historically, depending on outside influences.

Russians shifted the border after World War II, he said, but he added that even interior parish borders have shifted over time.

Additional confusion exists because of the variety of ways in which historical information has been recorded.

For example, some records might be incomplete, depending on who recorded them.

According to Orbik, a person from the village of Tajno might state his or her origin as from the associated village, township, parish, county, district or even from the nearest region or simply from Poland.

Moreover, instead of recording their date of birth, some persons instead recorded their name dates, meaning the origin of their surnames - a practice that was often traditional in European regions.

"Spellings could be spot on or horribly butchered," said Orbik, who attributed that problem mainly to rampant illiteracy.

Names also might be spelled differently within one research record versus another.

"This drives researchers absolutely bananas," said Orbik.

He advised anyone wishing to research family heritage to link data from U.S. records to Polish records.

"It's always better to get as many records as you can," he said, explaining that you then can cross-reference them for authenticity.

He suggested getting ancestors' names from whatever records available - civil or ecclesiastical records of birth, death, marriage; obits; immigration documents and census materials.

If records are in another language, he said, it's often possible to find free translation services online.

Orbik suggested the following sources for searching ancestry: Familysearch.org, ancestry.com, county or parish archives, the Gogebic Range Genealogical Society, newspapers.com or stevenmorse.com.

He also recommended using the following two websites for research into Polish ancestry: Geneteka or Geneo JZI. He also advised checking "Genealogical Translations" on Facebook or the Facebook group 361690548110384.

The free presentation included an opportunity for attendees to visit with Orbik after the presentation. Refreshments also were served.