Niepołomicka forest near Klaj Parish Church , Cikowice

Ancestry Adventure :

Patrick Yesh | with photos by Autumn Yesh

The satellite images on Autumn ’ s cell phone showed old clearings for homes in a longabandoned village in the forest near Kryg , Poland . Old dirt roads criss-crossed under the cool forest trees . We imagined what it was like to live here , as my great-grandparents did a hundred years ago . In their time , it was farmland ; now , it ’ s a playground for young couples and families who use the bike trails and picnic areas . We found ourselves here after Autumn ’ s research on a genealogical website and of manifests of immigrant ships .

Further investigations of my grandparents ’ origins located three small villages southeast of Krakow : Kryg , Lipinski , and Bochnia . From the airport , we drove four hours through the rich farmlands of southern Poland .

It had been recommended that we contact the churches in the area and search their records . In the local church in Bochnia , we spoke with Vicar Mariusz , who was truly excited to help us . We knew my grandfather and grandmother were married there .

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The vicar took us into the rectory and opened a cupboard full of tall green census books . Each one was written in perfect Latin calligraphy and spanned about thirty years of births and marriages . In my grandfather ’ s book , we also found his father and his father ’ s father , adding two more generations to our family tree .

Poland is Catholic to its core . One Sunday morning , we drove past a church celebrating high mass and went inside to listen to the choir and music . I genuflected

Cikowice , Bochnia church