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Sample Family Records Report
The story we made up for it: a great-grandson in Pittsburgh knows only that “John Kovalsky” was a blacksmith, born in Warsaw around 1884. The report shows how such a search usually unfolds, including the parts that do not work out.
1. Summary
- John Kovalsky was born Jan Kowalczyk on 24 June 1884, and not in Warsaw. He was born in the village of Wierzbna Góra, about 90 km away. “Warsaw” on his American papers meant the Warsaw Governorate, the province, which is a very common trap.
- He was a twin. His brother Paweł was baptised on the same day and stayed in the village. Paweł’s descendants may still live in the area.
- Three generations of blacksmiths. Jan, his father Wojciech and his grandfather Szymon all worked the forge. The surname itself comes from kowal, the Polish word for a blacksmith.
- Why he left. His father died in 1899, and the forge passed to an elder half-brother. Jan sailed from Hamburg six years later.
- Where the trail stops. The registers that would hold the grandfather’s birth, around 1815, do not survive. We explain below what could replace them.
We located 11 records in two parishes, covering three generations. Nine are quoted in this report. Two readings are marked as uncertain.
2. What you gave us
| Ancestor | John Kovalsky, blacksmith in Pittsburgh, died 1951 |
|---|---|
| Family knowledge | Born in Warsaw about 1884. Arrived about 1905. “Had a brother back home.” |
| Documents | A 1905 passenger list from Hamburg naming “Jan Kowalczyk, 21, smith, last residence Wierzbna”. A 1910 census page with the spelling Kovalsky. |
| Your goal | Find his birth record and his parents, and learn where the family came from. |
The key was the passenger list. It gave a village, not a city. There are several places called Wierzbna in Poland. Only one had a Kowalczyk family of blacksmiths in the 1880s, and that is how we chose the parish.
3. The family as the records show it
Names in capitals are direct ancestors. Every line of this chart rests on a record quoted in section 4.
4. The records, one by one
Each record comes with its source, a summary in English and our notes. Dates after 1868 are given in both calendars, because the registers used the Russian (Julian) calendar, 12 days behind ours in the 19th century.
Record A. Birth of Jan Kowalczyk, 1884
| Source | Dąbrowica parish, births 1884, record no. 47. In Russian. Scan: link to the archive page. |
|---|---|
| Says | Born in Wierzbna Góra on 24 June 1884 (12 June old style) at four in the morning. Father: Wojciech Kowalczyk, blacksmith, aged 38. Mother: Marianna née Sikora, aged 30. Godparents: Tomasz Sikora and Franciszka Mazur. |
| Notes | The next entry, no. 48, records a second boy, Paweł, born “of the same mother, an hour later”. Record no. 47 matches the passenger list on name, age, trade and village. |
Record B. Marriage of the parents, 1873
| Source | Dąbrowica parish, marriages 1873, record no. 9. In Russian. |
|---|---|
| Says | Married on 9 February 1873 (28 January old style). Groom: Wojciech Kowalczyk, widower of Katarzyna, blacksmith, aged 27, born in Stara Olszyna, son of Szymon and Zofia née Dudek. Bride: Marianna Sikora, aged 19, daughter of Józef, a miller, and Agnieszka née Wrona. |
| Notes | The word “widower” sent us back one more year, to the death of his first wife in the summer of 1872 and to a son from that marriage, Antoni. The bride’s age is hard to read and may be 18 (?). |
Record C. Birth of the father, 1846
| Source | Stara Olszyna parish, births 1846, record no. 31. In Polish. |
|---|---|
| Says | Wojciech, born 20 April 1846, son of Szymon Kowalczyk, blacksmith, aged 31, and Zofia née Dudek, aged 26. The father signed the record. Most parents of that time could not. |
| Notes | The father’s age points to a birth around 1815. See section 5 for why we could not go further. |
Record D. Death of the father, 1899
| Source | Dąbrowica parish, deaths 1899, record no. 22. In Russian. |
|---|---|
| Says | Wojciech Kowalczyk, blacksmith, died in Wierzbna Góra on 3 March 1899 (19 February old style), aged 53, leaving his widow Marianna. Reported by his son Antoni Kowalczyk, blacksmith, aged 28, and a neighbour whose surname we cannot read with confidence (?). |
| Notes | By 1899 the elder son already carries the father’s trade title. Jan was 14. This fits the family account that he left because there was no place for him at home, though no record states a reason, and we do not claim one. |
The full report continues in the same way with records E to I: the births of the four other children, two infant deaths, and the death of the first wife.
5. What we did not find, and why
- The grandfather’s birth, about 1815. The Stara Olszyna registers before 1826 are missing from the archive’s holdings. A duplicate may exist in the diocesan archive, which answers written enquiries only. We can send one for you.
- Jan’s own marriage. It is not in the parish, which fits your information that he married in Pittsburgh.
- The first wife’s maiden name. Her death record gives none. The 1869 or 1870 marriage record would, and we did not find it in either parish.
6. Suggested next steps
- Order a certified copy of record A, the birth record. It is the document most often needed abroad.
- Follow the twin, Paweł: his marriage and children after 1905 could lead to living relatives.
- Ask the diocesan archive about the pre-1826 registers.
A real report ends with a list of the copies worth ordering, the office that holds each one, the official fee and a request letter in Polish, ready to send.
Sending the form is free. Your own report will be about your family, with links to the real scans.