Finally.........Success in Locating Relatives

[wilko]

After joining this site, starting my genealogical research some 3 1/2 years ago and expanding my family tree to over 330 persons dating back to the early 1700's I have finally found some living Konasiewicz relations.

So far I have found 3 persons (all over 60) and have some new leads to follow about possible relations in England and Canada as well as possibly substantiation of family in the US.

My thanks to Hannia and Zbysek who were very helpful and encouraging when I was just "starting out".

[Hannia]

Hi Piotr,

Glad to hear from you again.

Although often lengthy, genealogy is a personal journey, well worth taking.

If you ever decide to have a clan reunion in the Caribbean, I would love to participate.

[wilko]

Thanks Hannia One thing I must point out.............when you come to the Caribbean you must be prepared to eat a lot and drink a lot

One thing I underestimated was the level of patience required (God, give me patience and give it to me now!) and the tolerance for the inevitable frustration needed for genealogical research. But, as you said, it is well worth it.

[Eliz S.]

Hi. I am new here. I would like to add to this that I have found there were many people in Bialy Kamien/Bilyi Kamen near Zlochow/Zolochiv in the 19th century with the Konasiewicz surname, including my great great grandmother Katarzyna. There are dozens of her relatives listed in the Greek Catholic records from this time period. The earliest I have found is Katarzyna's father Michal, who married Maria Dudkiewicz in 1795. I would love to find others who know more about or are researching these names.

[wilko]

Hi Eliz,

Bialy Kamien is (I think) some 70km south, south-east of Sokal where the vast majority of my Konasiewicz ancestors are from. I have been able to go as far back as 1690-1710 but of course there still are many gaps in the tree.

All of my family is Roman Catholic but it seems that the family was, at one point in time, Greek Catholic. I would be interested in comparing notes with you, if you'd like?

[Eliz S.]

I would be happy to trade notes -- until a few years ago I thought all my ancestors were Polish but since doing research I have found that several were Ukrainian. The Greek Catholic records don't seem to go back farther than 1784 for Bialy Kamien, and my earliest record for Konasiewicz is the marriage record for Michal Konasiewicz and Maria Dudkiewicz in 1795. It seems the Konasiewiczes of the town were mainly craftspeople working in leather.
I don't know the origin of this name or what it means. Mainly I wanted to stress that there was another family of this name in the general area. And you never know how people may be connected unless you ask the question!
If I don't reply soon it is because I will be out of town, but I am still very interested and will get back to this forum soon.

[wilko]

Hi Eliz,

You have my e-mail address (check your pm's). All my family is Roman Catholic but we have encountered the possibility that my early ancestors were Greek Catholic. This theory has also been arrived at by a newly discovered cousin of mine who lives in Warsaw. He is 73 and is something of a student of history.

Up to 1748-1761 it appears that my ancestors in Sokal were Greek Catholic. Also the surname was spelt as "Konaszewicz" which changed to "Konasiewicz" around 1800.