[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Kaminski ethnicity

[Richard Stein]

     Gary and Greg have given you much excellent information.  I can comment
on
the Kaminski - Steinke equivalence.  Central Poland was under Russian
control from 1815 until WW I.  This area is often referred to as Congress
Poland or Russian Poland.  There were many German settlers in Congress
Poland, especially in the western and northern part.  Many had first come in
the 1700's but they continued to come during Napoleon's period and after.
The Germans were almost entirely Lutheran, but Lutheran parishes were not
established until the 1820's or even later in some areas.  Napoleon
established compulsory civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in
1808.  Germans initially registered in the local Catholic parish and often
the names were recorded with Polish spellings or translations.  In most
cases, the German name and spelling was re-established when the Lutheran
parish came into existence.  For others, the Polish name or spelling
continued to be used in later generations.
    I have extracted the German events from several Catholic parish records
for the SGGEE pedigree database and I have found the Kaminski - Steinke
equivalence to be quite common.  Sometimes for a family of several children,
the births of some will be recorded with the name Kaminski and others will
be recorded with the name Steinke.  In most cases, members of these families
will show up in later Lutheran records with the name Steinke, but as I
mentioned some will retain the name Kaminski.
    As Gary mentioned, there may be other German equivalences to the Polish
name Kaminski.  In some cases the Polish name will be brought into a German
family through a mixed marriage.  While the Germans tended to retain their
cultural idendity and marry within their community, mixed marriage were not
uncommon and these families could be either Lutheran or Catholic.  In a
parish I am working on now, the priest was careful in noting the religion,
and recorded a number of instances where one spouse was Catholic and the
other Lutheran.
    I hope this is helpful.

Dick Stein
----- Original Message -----
From: "Hal and Jan Kamm" <hjkamm at charter.net>
To: <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2007 3:25 PM
Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Kaminski ethnicity


> This is my first post on this list.
>
> I am a grandson of Arthur Kaminski, who arrived in US in 1907 listed
> as Russian nationality, but German ethnicity. The ship manifest noted
> Ripen as the town of origin. I cannot find a town named Ripen, but
> there is one called Rypin in Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland.
>
> I am confused about the German ethnicity versus Russian/Polish
> nationality. I had heard stories years ago about the family working
> as millers of grain across northern Europe. Would names be changed
> temporarily, during one generation or less, depending on where they
> were living?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
> Thanks
>
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