THIS WEBSITE is devoted to my genealogical pursuits. There are two basic purposes to this Website. First, I want to share information I have found with my family, as we are far-flung: New York, Florida, Seattle, DC, Chicago, Maine, California, England, and Israel.
I have always been interested in my family history. My first real official investigation was in 1981, when we were assigned to do a family history for my European History class. I sat down with my parents and grandparents and asked a lot of questions and made a basic family tree. Informally, I had always had a good sense of who was who in the family and how it was organized. Grandma always started a story with an address, and after dozens of dinners with her, I pretty much had the essential addresses memorized. This later proved valuable during Census searches, since she and Grandpa met because they lived in the same building.
My earnest research started in January 1995. While taking a break at the New York Public Library from my school work, I looked up a few records in their Map Division. This led to the microfilm room--death records, censuses, naturalization, etc. I spent a lot of time in three Divisions of the Center for Humanities Research Library: Map Room, the Jewish Division, and the Local History and Genealogy Division.
My research has revealed a lot of interesting information. Multiple census records have helped narrow down the birth years of family members. They have also given information on immigratiom. Death records at the New York City Municipal Archives have helped uncover both the names of deceaseds' parents, as well as burial sites for those people I researched. Indexed naturalization records helped me get to passenger manifest. The big historical note was that my grandmother came to the US from Liverpool on the SS Lusitania later torpedoed by the Germans in 1915 (click here for a photo).
I am researching several towns that are now located in Poland and Belarus (Byelorussia): Drobnin, Korelicze (Karelitz), Nowogrodek, Radzilow, and Wyszograd. Thanks to the Internet, there are maps available that show the town's location on area maps of Poland and Belarus.
This is town from which my grandfather came. To my knowledge, this is the only page devoted exclusively to Drobin, and which serves as an electronic yizkhor book--a book of rememberance. It features a timeline, maps, a detailed account of the town's Jewish population during the war, and of the reburial of the tombstones in the 1960s. It also features trial testimony by my grandfather's cousin, Milton Buki, who was forced to serve in the Judenrat and on the Sonderkommando in Auschwitz.
I also have some scans of old family photos. They are really only of interest to family members, but click here if you would like to take a look at them.
Things to know before you get started on your Family History Project. I also relate some tales of successful searches I have had, and two trips I made specifically because of these searches.
Some other links I have found useful in genealogical pursuits: I explain how I use them in my research.
An alphabetical arrangement by names, places, and topics, to help you find something specific right away.
If you have any questions or comments you can send me email at sethbook@panix.com, or you can sign the Guest Book. I hope to hear from people with their suggestions, as well as additional information they might like me to add, or other sites to which they want me to be linked.
visitors so far.
Copyright © 1997, Seth J. Bookey, New York, NY 10021 USA, sethbook@panix.com
