Databases

The Dziennik Dla Wsystkich, also known as the Everybody’s Daily, was a newspaper published in Buffalo, New York from 1911 through 1957. The paper contains many death notices of local Polish immigrants. The obituaries usually contained the person’s age, place of birth, as well as names of family members.

We are fortunate to have micro-filmed copies of the Dziennik in several libraries in Western New York. The Society has been indexing the obituaries found in the Dziennik and currently has a database of 30,104 surnames. Please be aware that this is an on-going project and not all years have been indexed to date. Years completed in full are 1911-1941, with the exception of three months of 1913 (October-December). If you would like to volunteer to assist with the completion of this project, please visit the contact page.

While many volunteers have been associated with this project over the years, we must acknowledge our member Ed Kornowski for his continual dedication to this database.

To search the database please contact: ekornowski@aol.com. There is no fee to search the database. For copies of a death notice, the charge for members is $3.00 per notice and the charge for non-members if $5.00 per notice. Payment should be made by check or money order and should be mailed, along with a self-addressed stamped envelope, to: PGSNYS, attn: Treasurer, 12645 Route 78, East Aurora, NY 14052.

Live in the Buffalo area? You can avoid the fee by looking at microfilmed copies of the Dziennik at the following local facilities:

1911-1957 The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, Nottingham Terrace.

1930-1957 Downtown Buffalo Library, Lafayette Square, Buffalo, NY

1930-1941 SUNY @ Buffalo, Amherst Campus, Capen Library Multimedia Center, 2nd Floor.

1930-1957 Buffalo State College, E.H. Butler Library

This index was compiled from the “Cemetery Daily Journal” at the rectory of Saint Adalbert Basilica, 212 Stanislaus Street, Buffalo, NY. There are numerous misspellings contained in the original book. The person writing the names in the original book wrote the Polish names phonetically, then used the Latin versions for first names. For complete accuracy, always check the original record book. When searching for an ancestor, always try using the correct spelling as well as various misspellings. If you know the actual death date you can search the rear section of the book which is arranged chronologically in order of burial dates. The index only covers the first ninety-three pages covering the years 1890 to 1903. These are the only pages of the book which contained the location of graves in the original cemetery. Listed were the section, line and grave numbers. Sometimes there can be conflicting locations for graves. There are cases of two or more names for the same grave. The original page number is included in our index listing so that persons can always check the original book to settle any discrepancies for spellings, dates or locations.

Please note this index only pertains to the Old Cemetery on Dale Road in Cheektowaga, NY (not the newer cemetery located in Lancaster, NY). There are three sections covered in the index.

Section J: according to burial dates, this section appears to be the first or oldest section; it is possibly the open field on the left before the row of trees.

Section G: This section has a large number of burials, possibly located to your left as you enter the cemetery. Unfortunately, it appears only to have three grave markers within the 1890-1903 era (Marchewka, Sadowski and Krysinski).

Section K: this section contains the most grave markers; it is located on the left just past the traffic circle (just past the row of trees begins row one; grave number one is at the fence).

This index was compiled solely by PGSNYS member Ed Kornowski. The society continues to express its thanks to Mr. Kornowski for his dedication to maintaining this information.

To search the database please contact: ekornowski@aol.com. There is no fee to search the database.

Compiled by Mike Drabik and David Newman

The Polonia of Buffalo is very fortunate to have two books documenting the early settlement of our people in Western New York. The first book was published as a double anniversary album, celebrating the 50th anniversaries of the founding of St. Stanislaus B.M. Church and also the Polish community in Buffalo. The album was edited by the renown Polish-American historian Mieczyslaw Haiman. The second book, “The Przewodnik Handlowy,” presents a contemporary picture of Buffalo’s Polonia and was written and published by Wincenty Smolczynski and Henryk Lokanski in 1906. An additional album was printed three years later to complete the series. Between these years, Smolczynski also published a smaller version of these business directories for the Polish community in Detroit, Michigan. The Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan has been including translations of certain personalities from this album in their newsletters.

In the two directories for the Buffalo Polonia, 468 names comprise the body of the work. Since these were paid ads, the information provided was supplied by the advertiser and in most cases include: the place and date of birth, name of spouse and year of marriage, names of children, and the organizations and/or parish the family belonged. This is a treasure trough of genealogical information for anyone doing research in Western New York. Information provided in this database will include the surname and given name of the individual, date and place of birth, if provided, and page number. Note: all articles are in Polish.

To search the database please contact: handlowy@pgsnys.com. There is no fee to search the database. For copies of articles found in this index, the charge for members is $3.00 per notice and the charge for non-members if $5.00 per notice. Payment should be made by check or money order and should be mailed, along with a self-addressed stamped envelope, to: PGSNYS, attn: Treasurer, PO Box, Lancaster, NY 14086.

Live in the Buffalo area? You can avoid the fee by looking at microfilmed copies of the Przewodnik Handlowy at the following local facilities:

- Archives of the Felician Sisters, Doat Street, Cheektowaga, NY (by special request only).

- Downtown Buffalo Library, Special Collections on microfiche, Lafayette Square, Buffalo, NY

- Polish Seminary, Indian Trail Road, Orchard Lake, MI 48324.

From the book “Buffalo and Erie County in the World War 1914-1919.”

Compiled by Daniel J. Sweeney, Editor

Here you can search the PGSNYS database organized from this book.