Liesel's Family History Finds

Hello again! I owe a lot to my grandparents, including my fascination with family history. Here's how I got started. Thanks for reading! I was first drawn to family history in elementary school when we created a framed family tree in class, but I think more than anything, my grandparents' stories are what have inspired my interest most. My elementary school family tree, with living person's names removed for privacy. My mother's line is on the left, my father's on the right. My Grandpa, Edwin Delmer Pirl (1928 - 2017), was interested in genealogy and did quite a bit of research to try to confirm or refute the long-standing oral history that the Pirls were descended from Scottish immigrants and once spelled their surname "Burl." (I have found no evidence of either claim so far, and I now know that his direct-line ancestors on the Pirl/Perl line were here in the U.S. from at least the late 1700s). More than that, he loved to tell long, winding stories, espec

Welcome to Part 2 in my story of researching my Polish great-great-grandparents, Frank Wisniewski and Mary Novak! If you haven't read the first post, start there for a little more background. Below is a basic pedigree of this family line for reference: Mystery #2: From where and when did they emigrate? Generally, it is very difficult to trace immigrant families' lives back into their home country without a town of origin found in American (i.e. post-immigration) records. Probably the clearest source for the hometown would be a naturalization record, but many immigrants never went through the process to become an American citizen. I have not been able to find a naturalization record for Frank or Mary. Based on census records and Frank and Mary's death certificates (informants: Mary and their son Stanley, respectively), I think Frank came to the U.S. around 1894 and Mary likely arrived between 1891-92. Frank was from the Russian partition of Poland and spoke Polish. Mary was

Thanks for joining me! I'm glad you're here, and I hope you'll continue reading as I find my way through sharing family history on this new blog. Here we go! My Great-Grandmother, Lillian Alexandria Wisniewski, was my mother's mother's mother. According to my grandma, Arlene Dolores Vrana, Lillian's parents' names were Frank Wisniewski and Mary Novak. They were Polish, but other than that I had very little information about this family when I started researching. Lillian Alexandria Wisniewski and Joseph Francis Vrana Sr. Wedding -- August 27, 1924 St. Anne's Catholic Church, Castle Shannon, PA Enhancement and colorization by MyHeritage.com. Here is an abbreviated pedigree showing the relation of this family line to myself in green. The birth countries of Frank and Mary, their dates of birth/death, and Frank's possible parents' names of Charles and Rosa are all new information from my recent research. I'll share my progress in the form of seve

Hello! Welcome to my new family history and genealogy blog. I have been an amateur genealogist for many years, and I love sharing what I learn with family and friends. I created this blog with a few goals in mind: To communicate stories, information and questions about my ancestors with my living relatives and friends To create a public digital life for my research that may lead to new discoveries and connections To celebrate my ancestors and the interconnectedness of our history To contribute to the genealogical community Please check out my work-in-progress family tree below. FamilySearch's fan chart tool is a colorful and efficient way to visualize 7 generations. One thing I love about genealogy is that there is always more to learn. I hope you'll join me!