Guide 4 of 5 · Polish Genealogy Guides
The search for a Polish village starts in America. These guides explain how to search the American sources step by step: the passenger lists, the censuses, the naturalization papers, the church registers, the newspapers and the cemeteries, and what each one can tell you about Poland.
The American records in order
| Record | What it gives | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Census, 1900 to 1950 | Year of arrival, citizenship status, language, address | Census by year |
| Passenger lists | Ship, date, last residence, relative joined | Searching Ellis Island |
| Declaration of intention | Town and date of birth, arrival details | First papers |
| Catholic registers | Parents, maiden names, godparents, sometimes the village | Church records |
| Polish-language press | Death notices naming the village | Newspapers |
| Cemeteries | Dates, family groups, inscriptions in Polish | Cemeteries |
Records that name the village
A handful of American records were designed to ask exactly where a person was born, and a few were filled in by the immigrant himself: the declaration of intention and petition after 1906, the 1917 and 1942 draft cards, the 1940 alien registration, the Social Security application, visa files after 1924 and the Haller’s Army recruitment forms. Polish parish registers and death notices in the Polish press can be just as good. Our guide to Polish-American records explains each record type in detail.
Search in the right order
- Start with the most recent records and work backwards: obituary, death certificate, census
- Use the census to date the arrival and the naturalization status
- Find the naturalization papers, and through them the ship
- Read the passenger manifest in full
- Check the parish, the newspapers and the cemetery for the village
Articles in this guide
Ellis Island search
How to Search Ellis Island Records for Polish Ancestors
Free passenger records, and how to find a misspelled name
Census by year
US Census Records 1900 to 1950: What Each Census Tells You About a Polish Immigrant
1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 and 1950 compared
1950 census
The 1950 Census: Finding Polish-American Families
The newest census available, and how to search it
Declaration of Intention
Declaration of Intention: Your Ancestor’s First Papers Explained
What the first papers contain and where to find them
Catholic church records
Catholic Church Records in the US: How to Request Baptism and Marriage Records
Parish and diocesan records, and how to ask for them
Polish National Catholic Church
Polish National Catholic Church: History and Genealogy Records
The PNCC, its parishes and where its registers are
Polish-American newspapers
Polish-American Newspapers for Genealogy: Obituaries and Death Notices
Dziennik Związkowy, Kuryer Polski and the Polish press
Cemeteries
Polish-American Cemeteries: Gravestones, Burial Records and Polish Inscriptions
Reading Polish gravestones and finding interment records
Related records
Draft cards and alien registration
How we can help
Immigration & Passenger Records assembles all the American records for your family into one documented account, and Ancestral Village Identification uses them to establish the parish in Poland.