Searching for Family

Being restricted as to my activities, I found the geneology GEDCOM files I'd started several years ago. I have several geneology programs including Generations Family Tree from Sierra Home. Unfortunately, Sierra has dropped support for the program so I'll either throw it out or see if Half Price Books will give me a couple of dollars for it. I also have GenoPro Gold and Legacy and I think I'll stick with them.

After checking over the data and making some updates, I exported the GEDCOM file and sent it on to the The Oleszkiewicz Project. Of course, I have my Riggs family information in the file as well. I looked at a few records at the Ellis Island site and found a few family members listed so will need to add that information soon. I'm waiting on my mother to send me more information that she got after her mother's death last year and hopefully can get some from my father's sisters.

One of the most interesting family stories is of my Great-great-grandfather, Joseph Blachowski (1871-1910). According to my Grandmother, Joseph "disappeared" after his wife, Josephine Swiatecki, Jr. (1873-1929) bore him ten children. It was assumed he was dead until his youngest son Leon tracked him down through an insurance policy. He found that Joseph had left Josephine, moved east (to Ohio I think or Pennsylvania) and remarried, without having first divorced Josephine. The children of his second marriage were given the same names as the children of his first marriage.

On my father's side, there's the Great-Aunt who sold moonshine and the Great-great-Uncle who had Narcolepsy and was almost buried alive. The family thought he was dead and placed him on ice (literally) until he could be buried. At the gravesite, the coffin was opened for a final viewing upon which he sat up and looked around. Everyone fled except for the preacher who was too terrified to move.

On my mother's side, I'm Polish with a bit of French and Jewish, while I'm Cherokee, Irish, and German on my father's side. When my parents met, my father shaved once every two weeks - ever seen an American Indian with a beard? As he got older, he was finally able to grow a beard and mustache.

That's all for now.

Shorah Y'all!