Pioneering Dreams: The Narrative of Matthew Wasik
In June 1903, in the rugged hills of Appalachia, a 40-year-old man named Maciej stepped off the train onto the dusty platform of the mining community of Wheeling, West Virginiai.…
New Indexes
Hello friends, cousins and Polish family historians: there are now more than 125,000 indexed acts from birth, marriage and death records available to search at Galicia Gen! Each index brings…
Pioneering Dreams: Independent Margaret Kobylarz
In Redstone Township, Pennsylvaniai, a bustling coke town at the beginning of the 20th Century, Margaret Kobylarz held a challenging yet integral role in the industrial fabric of the community.…
Pioneering Dreams: The Journey of Charles Frank Szwaja
In February 1916, young Karol, an eleven-year-old boy embarked on a life-altering journey with his mother, Marianna, from the rolling fields of Majdan Kolbuszowskii to the bustling streets of America.…
Pioneering Dreams: The Resilient Odyssey of Galician Immigrants in America
Welcome 2024! I was thinking about new year's resolutions over the New Year's holiday and about what I want to post on this site. One of my hopes for the…
Constitution Day and Index Updates
Earlier this week, Poles celebrated Polish Constitution Day, where in 1791 the "first constitution of its type in Europe" as described by historian Norman Davies was enacted. Unfortunately, the constitution…
Death Vital Record Search Just Added
It's been coming for a while and I'm happy to announce the death vital record search has been added to the site. My apologies that it took longer than the…
An Overview of Galician Military Records between 1781-1865
Those of us researching Galicia are quite fortunate when it comes to Galician Military Records; many still survive and have now been made available online. Read below for an overview…
Juicy Birth and Marriage Records Added
Hello, dearest reader... I have juicy new birth and marriage indexed records to share. (Make sure you're reading this with Julie Andrews' voice in mind - is anyone else here…
The Lasowiacy: An Introduction
The Lasowiacy is a sub-ethnic group from southeastern Poland that lived between the cities of Sandomierz and just south of Kolbuszowa, in an area known as the Sandomierz Forest. While…