Genealogy in Olesin & Ceniow, Galicia

[Mikado]

Hello, all –

I’ve been spending quite some time researching both my Polish and Ukrainian ancestors in Galicia. My great-grandparents emigrated from there in 1907 & 1909.

I’ve found a large part of the Roman Catholic records regarding my great-grandfather and his Zieliński family/ancestors in the towns of Kozowa and, predominately, Helenkow, Kozowa-Berezhany and the immediate area.

On the other hand, I have had no end of trouble tracking down info in Greek Catholic records for Olesin, in the parish of Ceniow in Kozowa. This is where my great-grandmother’s Sliwka/Sliva family came from. Double-checked, and they do not show up in the Roman Catholic parish of Budylow, which covers that area. Sliwka is the Polish variant of their name, but it seems it should be “Sliva,” since they’re Ruthenian, yet it shows up as Sliwka even on their ships’ passenger lists. Her mother’s maiden name, Kulbaczynski, seems to be Polish.

The Greek Catholic records on Olesin/Ceniow – at least those currently available on microfilm – seem to consist entirely of a Bishop’s Record covering the years as follows:

Ukrainian Archive File #: 5896; Bishop’s Copy
Date 1: 1835-1864; Date 2: 1836-1864
Pages: 132; Film: 2373799

I’ve seen the record and, unfortunately, the 1860’s are well before Feska (or evidently any of her siblings) were born, so they don’t appear in it.

I’m curious to determine whether this is all that EXISTS for the parish or whether this is all that has been MICROFILMED so far and that there might still be hope for those researching this Olesin.

Another quick question…the register from St. Louis is for a Polish (Roman Catholic) church…is there ever any identification that a person was of the Ukrainian (Greek Catholic) faith, or is that ignored in the registries in the U.S…?

Is anyone up on Olesin or Ceniow?



– Zee

[lisaparx]

Originally Posted by Mikado

Another quick question…the register from St. Louis is for a Polish (Roman Catholic) church…is there ever any identification that a person was of the Ukrainian (Greek Catholic) faith, or is that ignored in the registries in the U.S…?
Is anyone up on Olesin or Ceniow?
– Zee

I don't have any information on these last names.
But I had relatives come from Galicia and settle in the St. Louis area as well.
Which church?
The St. Louis area does have a lot of info online.

Good Luck in your research!

[IreneLviv]

I know that Church book often exist in 2 copies.If one of them was destroyed and its copy is missing in Arhives, or LDS film - it might well be found in the local church or kept by one of the villagers.
I had 2 such cases in my experience -that after receiving official replies about missing books I succeeded in finding them in the village concerned.

[Mikado]

The Helenkow church records are from the LDS films. Ditto for what (little) I could find of Olesin.

The St Louis church was St Mary's Assumption. It took me twelve years to get the information. It was never microfilmed by the LDS. It is a long story that only recently had a happy ending, thanks to a very helpful Chancellor at the Ukrainian Eparchy in Chicago. St. Mary's had both Polish and Ukrainian families in the register; perhaps more.

There was also Our Lady of Czestochowa, I believe it was. Some of the families, including mine, had entries in both registers, depending on what period of the 1900's it was. The earlier years were at St. Mary's and the later (30's and so on) were at Our Lady. This church's records are available through the LDS.

Gosh, how I could find the originals in Olesin...I don't know. Anybody related to me (at least the Polish side) was relocated in the 1940's...it seems to be a pretty small town... Alas, I can't currently afford to GO there...there are several European places I'd like to go to, family history-wise and otherwise. Not to mention, the dollar is tanking, so that's no help when combined with my decreased salary.