Research FAQ

Short answer: the partitions of Poland.

Poland was divided into parts by Russia, Prussia, and Austria in a series of three partitions that started in 1772. The last partition, in 1795, effectively removed Poland from the map of Europe for 123 years.

Only in 1918 did Poland regain independence.

There are a few possibilities:

• they had relatives who had emigrated earlier and helped them;
• they sold any property or land they had;
• they were brought over by overseas agents who paid for their journey in return for their work after they arrived.

One could argue that metrical records are enough — after all, they should cover the major life events (birth and/or baptism, marriage(s), and death) for the entire population.

However, in the real world we have to confront these obstacles:

• Many metrical books were irrevocably destroyed or lost in wars, fires, or other disasters.
• Of the books that survived, not all are easily accessible — in Galicia most of the original Roman-Catholic books are still held at individual parishes.
• Only a tiny fraction of metrical books has been indexed.

These three factors make research much harder, especially when a person was mobile. Finding non-metrical sources for your family can provide an unprecedented depth of insight into the life of your ancestors.

In the Galicia region (Austrian partition) in most cases we can. Other partitions present some issues.