(This is another post which was originally published on the Polish Genealogy group on Facebook where it collected more than 300 “likes”, “loves” and “wows” and dozens of comments. Author of it, our honorable guest Victoria, graciously agreed to share it with our blog readers.
If you want to meet helpful Polish Genealogy community we highly recommend both our Forum and the Polish Genealogy Facebook group)
In September my cousin Kathie and I traveled to Poland hoping to find family. Our common great grandmother, Francezka (Frankowska) died following childbirth leaving our grandmothers without a mother at a young age.
Francezka and her sisters were the daughters of Joseph Frankowski and Josephata Wisniewska. Although Francezka had immigrated to the USA, her sister Anna remained in Poland. After Francezka’s death the families lost connection.
You see here us knocking on the door of a likely family member totally unannounced. Her name is Marya. After explaining the possible connection, she welcomed us into her home, invited over her family, and we shared food and drink. We received the warmest welcome for which anyone could hope. She was kind and loving: exchanging warm glances, holding our hands, and offering loving embraces.
While visiting I asked Marya if she would DNA test for us to confirm the family connection. She eagerly agreed. Today the results came back. She is definitely our family! We found them!
Making this connection was a culmination of written research from the USA, a skilled guide and researcher in Poland, (Zenon Znamirowski from PolishOrigins), and the power and science of DNA. It was a moment in our lifetime for which we will always be grateful.
We continue to search for another sister of Francezka and Anna (Frankowska). We thought she remained in Poland, but Marya now tells us she also left for the USA. Her name was Michalina (Frankowska) born in 1859 also the daughter of Joseph Frankowski and Josephata Wisniewski. She married Michael Kwiatkowski on 05 Jul 1881 at the Catholic Parish of Rzadkwin. Michael was born in 1858 to Adalbertus Kwiatkowski and Petronella Krezwina. Their last child born in Poland occurred in 1900. If these people are your family also, we know where the others are and they certainly are a lovely family!
Victoria