If you have had trouble searching our database, here are some tips you can employ to better utilize the PGSCTNE Cemetery and Anniversary Book Databases.

Keep in mind that our volunteers have been copying these cemeteries over several decades. Once we visit a cemetery and copy all of the inscriptions, we leave it and do not return.  We expect that you can use recent resources to help you locate such ancestors who have been recently deceased.  Such resources available are newspaper obituaries, the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), and personal interviews with family members and neighbors.

Although we have made great strides in copying dozens of cemeteries, there are still more cemeteries out there that we have not visited.  We can only progress as far as our brave and patient volunteers take us.  If you are frustrated that we have not reached a specific cemetery, help us out!  Contact us about visiting a cemetery of interest to you.  If you are willing to help, we have some volunteers willing to join you.

Most importantly, do not use Polish diacritical marks in our database!

Linguistic Tips

Start with proper Polish spellings.  A knowledge of even basic Polish spelling rules and grammar can help immensely.

Do not forget that names ending in -ski or -cki may have a feminine form -ska or - cka
              Kozlowski > Kozlowska          Pokutycki > Polutycka

Some dialects of Polish have certain phonetic features.  These  include: The substitution of H for
G in Eastern dialects.  For example:  Hromak vs Gromak

The elimination of "w" in the suffixes -owski or -ewski.
For example: Piotroski vs Piotrowski

Vocalic variants like -e in place of -y.  For example:  Ptaszenski vs Ptaszynski

Change the vowel.  For example:  Raducha vs Ryducha vs Reducha

Three Polish sounds have two letter equivalents.
       ó = u    Jakóbowski  vs  Jakubowski   
      rz = ż   Gorzelak  vs  Gożelak   
      ch = h   Chorąży  vs  Horaży

The Polish nasal vowels ą and ę take on various phonetic variants depending on what letters surround them.  This will cause:
    ą being spelled on or om   For example:  Dąbrowski  vs  Dombrowski
    ę being spelled as em or om   For example:  Dębski  vs  Dembski

Anglicize it!

If using proper Polish does not work, try the opposite.  Sometimes our ancestors anglicized their surnames.  Also, non-Polish Americans often made the grave markers with mistakes and misspellings.

If KOWALSKI does not work, try KOVALSKI, KOWALSKY, KOVALSKY, etc. 

Here are some quick guides to common transliteration errors: