Where'd they go? My people left Lithuania and went to Pennsylvania

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Permalink Reply by Jaclyn Glemza Hinkle on December 25, 2009 at 10:34pm

My great-grandfather was a Lithuanian who went to Pennsylvania. His name was Alex Glemza. He lived in Ritcheyville/Centerville. He was a coal miner at the Vesta Coal Mines. I'm having trouble finding any information about his parents. I even requested his death certificate, but his daughter gave the information, and she did not know his parents names either. Also strange is that I keep finding documents for him, and they all have different birth years. I'm not sure he actually knew what year he was born, either that or no one else did. Any advice?

Permalink Reply by Linda Johnson on December 26, 2009 at 10:55am

Jaclyn, Was he married in PA? If so, the marriage records from the church may help. Also, have you sent for his social security application? You don't indicate the approximate date of his birth (it is not uncommon to find different birth dates on documents) or death, so I am not sure if the SS application would apply to him. Maybe we could help if you gave us more information.

Permalink Reply by Richie C. on December 26, 2009 at 11:52am

Jaclyn,
Various birthdates/birthyears seem to be par for the course, even (in my experience) for those born in the country. Birthyears were fudged in order to get work, etc. Also, some celebrated their Saint's Day instead of a birthday. For your great-grandfather, the only way you'll nail it down will be to get his baptism certificate from Lithuania. It looks like Alex's birthyear is anywhere from 1882-1892, but most likely 1888 or 1892. There could be an error(s) made at any point.

Death certificates are not always useful because the information they contain is limited to what the reporting person knew, as you discovered.

The best thing is to collect as many sources as you can, and then see if they tell you anything. Linda's suggestion to get his SS Application is a very good one. And you *might* get parents names from that. Or not. Also, if you could find his immigration record, and see how old he was, it might help pinpoint a year. The other thing, if you don't already have it, is to get his naturalization papers, if any. Depending on when they might have been filed, they might tell you a lot...or very little.

At least, from his WW II Draft card, you know he was born in Treshkonia, which almost certainly must be Triškoniai, Lithuania. You hit paydirt where so many others are stumped: you know his village! That'll be essential in ordering a baptism certificate from the Archives in Lithuania.

-Rich

Permalink Reply by Jaclyn Glemza Hinkle on December 26, 2009 at 8:43pm

Thanks. You seem to have found all the information I have. Did you look him up on ancestry.com?

I'm not sure how to get his baptism record. I spoke with a girl in Lithuania, and she told me the archives are all based on the church he attended. I do not know the church, but my grandma says that he was roman catholic, and his wife was greek-orthodox catholic. She said that she thinks they got married in the old country before they moved to PA.

I'll try to find his SS app. I'm not sure how to find his immigration record. I'm not sure which port he came in. I checked the ellis island site and found a Glemza, but it was Anton not Alex. I asked my family if they thought it could have been him, but they didn't think so. I'm also not sure how to get his naturalization papers. Where do I apply for those?

Permalink Reply by Richie C. on December 27, 2009 at 12:05pm

Jaclyn,
Yes, I found what little I found for Alex on Ancestry.com. It's curious I didn't see a census for him. Have you found a census for him? That would tell you year of immigration, naturalization status and date, etc. The years reported for these actions are somewhat unreliable in my experience, but it's a place to start.

1. SS App- I posted the link to request the SS-5 (Application) for an ancestor on the main page of the group.

2. Naturalization- If Alex filed papers, they'd be found in one of several places, depending on when he filed. Your two best bets are:
* Washington County Courthouse
* The National Archives
I also put a new link on the group's main page that discusses Naturalization, where to look, timeframes, etc.

3. Baptism/Marriage in Lithuania. You'll have to do one of two things: hire a private researcher, or contact the Archives in Vilnius. Church records that have survived the (1) ravages of time (2) the Russians (3) the Germans, have all pretty much made it to the Archives in Vilnius. From the group main page, under "Discussions", you'll see a topic "Contacting the Archives in Vilnius". Once upon a time, they'd search a whole family for you. You'd wait about 3 years before they got to your request. Now, they really only go 'document by document'. So you could request a baptism cert for Alex, but you should have a better estimate of his birthyear and hopefully his parents names before you go down that road. We can help you with that after you hear back from the Social Security Administration which we hope will at least give a surname for Alex's mother. But you have one critical thing going for you, you know his village of birth now. You have no idea how jealous that will make other researchers!

4. Immigration- this is frustrating, I know. You just have to search everywhere (see main page), under every possible spelling you can think of...switching out vowels...and thinking, that possibly, Alex's first name was not Alex (or Aleksas), but something else.

Permalink Reply by Jaclyn Glemza Hinkle on December 28, 2009 at 7:21pm

I haven't been able to find any census records for them.
Thanks for all the info! You've been a great help.
I'll keep you posted.

Permalink Reply by Jaclyn Glemza Hinkle on January 22, 2010 at 9:22pm

I got Alex's Social Security application is the mail today!
It says his birthday is August 15, 1888 and he was born in Russia Europe
His father's name: John Glemza
His mothers's name: Mary Kloga

I'm very happy with this find. Thanks so much for your suggestion!

Permalink Reply by Richie C. on January 23, 2010 at 12:31am

Great news Jaclyn!

I think you have enough info to request his birth/baptism certificate from the Archives in Vilnius now. You have your best guess for a birthdate. His WW II Draft card gives his birthplaces as Treshkonia, which would be Troškūnai, and you have his parents' names. The only glitch is there there are two places called Troškūnai, one in the Vilnius region and one in the Utena region, near Anykščiai. Check the group main page on how to email the Archives with your request.

On the subject of Mary Kloga's name, I checked the phone directory...didn't find anything starting with Klog-, Klaug-, Klag-. There were two Klugas and a Klugiene, with Russian first names.

Permalink Reply by Tanya Breese on December 31, 2009 at 7:42am

My Great Grandmother is Lena Mischkus born 1877 in Lithuania. She married my Great Grandfather August Dombrowski (from Russia) in Allegheny County, 1897. I can't trace her line back or my Great Grandfather's.

Permalink Reply by Tanya Breese on December 31, 2009 at 8:01am

ok, not true,lol, I was just going through my notes, it's been a while since I've worked on this line. Lena was born Helena Myszkus abt 1877 Pavistytis and her parents are Georg Myszkus and Anna Reichkok. I *think* that's as far back as I go...

Permalink Reply by Richie C. on December 31, 2009 at 8:51am

I looked Pavistytis up on a map....interesting! You could throw a rock into either Poland or Kaliningrad from there!

What religion were your great-grandparents? Have you found a marriage record for them? Have you found immigration records?

Permalink Reply by Tanya Breese on December 31, 2009 at 10:53am

They were Lutheran, German speaking. I've got August's papers, but not Lena's. I have notes taken from a cousin that says August was from Prussia and Lena from Germany? Was that area considered Germany then? I have a "Return of a Marriage" copy for August and Lena, which states Lena's birthplace in Russia, so confusing! August worked for J & L Steel Corp and Semmelrock Undertaking, he took care of the horses that pulled the hearses.
They were married, all the children baptized and are buried at St. Paul's German Lutheran Church.

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