Wow! I can't believe all of the responses and help I've received.
Thank you all so much. I'm going to carefully go over each e-mail
and the information contained within.

It's too bad I didn't discover this years earlier. Two of the
surviving siblings have since passed (including my mother) but
perhaps I can uncover information for the last two.

Thank you again.

Shana Tova!

Kenneth Daniels

Wow! I can't believe all of the responses and help I've received.
Thank you all so much. I'm going to carefully go over each e-mail
and the information contained within.

It's too bad I didn't discover this years earlier. Two of the
surviving siblings have since passed (including my mother) but
perhaps I can uncover information for the last two.

Thank you again.

Shana Tova!

Kenneth Daniels

Go west, genealogists!

The website for the 30th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish
Genealogy is now live! Come visit us at:

http://www.jgsla2010.com

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles is your enthusiastic
host for this event, taking place >from July 11-16, 2010 at the JW
Marriott Hotel at L.A. Live, downtown Los Angeles? new entertainment
and cultural complex.

Are you passionate about genealogy, but haven?t attended a conference
before? Have you been going for years and wonder what?s special about
this one?

The 2010 conference will offer rich content, unparalleled learning and
networking opportunities, and the intangible experience of connecting
with others as obsessed as you are about tracing their family trees.
Whether you are a seasoned pro or absolute beginner, there will be a
slate of workshops, lectures, films and panels on global Jewish
history, resources and methodology that will educate and engage you
for five and a half days.

Our website provides program, travel, and venue information, plus an
FAQ section which should answer most of your early queries. The Call
for Papers begins on November 15th and registration will open on
January 15th, but hotel reservations can be made now. Take a stroll
through our site to learn more.

If you really want to be in the loop with breaking news, sign up for
our conference newsletter at:
http://www.jgsla2010.com/about/sign-up-for-the-announcements-newsletter/

Although the JewishGen conference discussion group doesn?t open in
January 2010, until then we will provide updates via this listserv.
You can also keep up with our website blog and Facebook accounts.

We value your opinions and encourage you to contribute and/or
volunteer to make this the best conference ever. Go to the ?Contact?
or ?Volunteer? or ?Sponsor? links on the site to reach us. Consider
making this a true vacation by arriving early or staying late and
traveling the length of our beautiful state and throughout the west.

And remember?the number one reason to attend an IAJGS conference is
the people?friends and colleagues, learning and collaborating in a
unique, collective experience. For Jewish genealogists, there?s
nothing like it.

Join us in 2010!

2010 IAJGS Conference Co-Chairs
Pamela Weisberger
Sandy Malek
Ann Harris
Lois Ogilby Rosen
info@...

Note: A huge expression of thanks goes to JGSLA member, Brooke
Schreier Ganz, our tireless, creative webmaster who designed and
programmed our website.

Go west, genealogists!

The website for the 30th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish
Genealogy is now live! Come visit us at:

http://www.jgsla2010.com

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles is your enthusiastic
host for this event, taking place >from July 11-16, 2010 at the JW
Marriott Hotel at L.A. Live, downtown Los Angeles? new entertainment
and cultural complex.

Are you passionate about genealogy, but haven?t attended a conference
before? Have you been going for years and wonder what?s special about
this one?

The 2010 conference will offer rich content, unparalleled learning and
networking opportunities, and the intangible experience of connecting
with others as obsessed as you are about tracing their family trees.
Whether you are a seasoned pro or absolute beginner, there will be a
slate of workshops, lectures, films and panels on global Jewish
history, resources and methodology that will educate and engage you
for five and a half days.

Our website provides program, travel, and venue information, plus an
FAQ section which should answer most of your early queries. The Call
for Papers begins on November 15th and registration will open on
January 15th, but hotel reservations can be made now. Take a stroll
through our site to learn more.

If you really want to be in the loop with breaking news, sign up for
our conference newsletter at:
http://www.jgsla2010.com/about/sign-up-for-the-announcements-newsletter/

Although the JewishGen conference discussion group doesn?t open in
January 2010, until then we will provide updates via this listserv.
You can also keep up with our website blog and Facebook accounts.

We value your opinions and encourage you to contribute and/or
volunteer to make this the best conference ever. Go to the ?Contact?
or ?Volunteer? or ?Sponsor? links on the site to reach us. Consider
making this a true vacation by arriving early or staying late and
traveling the length of our beautiful state and throughout the west.

And remember?the number one reason to attend an IAJGS conference is
the people?friends and colleagues, learning and collaborating in a
unique, collective experience. For Jewish genealogists, there?s
nothing like it.

Join us in 2010!

2010 IAJGS Conference Co-Chairs
Pamela Weisberger
Sandy Malek
Ann Harris
Lois Ogilby Rosen
info@...

Note: A huge expression of thanks goes to JGSLA member, Brooke
Schreier Ganz, our tireless, creative webmaster who designed and
programmed our website.

Dear fellow researchers,

My cousin in New York and I are researching his WINTER family, originally

from Poland, specifically >from the village of Kramsk, but also with

connections to Konin, Slesin, Sompolno and Kolo.

I have established that there have been Polish WINTER's settled in
Birmingham for some time, including some specifically >from the Konin area. I
have also found a number of burials in the Witton cemetery.

This may or may not be connected to the above, but my cousin believes that
an unknown member of his WINTER family emigrated to New York in the early
1900's but later changed their mind and decided to return to Poland,
stopping off in England on the way back. He or she then changed their mind
again and decided to settle somewhere in England.

Please let me know if anything here sounds familiar.

Regards

Natalie Lamb
Berkshire, England
Natalie.Lamb@...

Dear fellow researchers,

My cousin in New York and I are researching his WINTER family, originally

from Poland, specifically >from the village of Kramsk, but also with

connections to Konin, Slesin, Sompolno and Kolo.

I have established that there have been Polish WINTER's settled in
Birmingham for some time, including some specifically >from the Konin area. I
have also found a number of burials in the Witton cemetery.

This may or may not be connected to the above, but my cousin believes that
an unknown member of his WINTER family emigrated to New York in the early
1900's but later changed their mind and decided to return to Poland,
stopping off in England on the way back. He or she then changed their mind
again and decided to settle somewhere in England.

Please let me know if anything here sounds familiar.

Regards

Natalie Lamb
Berkshire, England
Natalie.Lamb@...

Dear fellow Genners,

I am in search of my husband's paternal g-g-grandparents, Juan
Francisco PUJOLS b. about 1820-1825 in Cataluna (tilde over the "n"),
Spain, and Celestina BERNIER, b. about 1820-1825 somewhere in France.
This I know because we have obtained the death certificate of one of
their daughters Cecilia Curtis Pujols Bernier, b. about 1847 in
Guayama, Puerto Rico, and died in 1937 also in Guayama.

My husband, who was born Protestant, converted to Judaism a few years
ago because he said he "always felt it in his bones" that he was
Jewish. I understand that many descendants of Conversos harbor those
same feelings, and he decided to have his Y-dna tested to see if there
was a possibility that he might be descended >from Jewish people. His
test results show that he belongs to the J2 haplogroup which had its
beginnings in the Fertile Crescent, Mediterranean, etc. I have read
that about 40% of J2's are of known Jewish ancestry.

My questions now are, where can I begin to look further? How can I
check marriage records? Where would be a good place to start, Spain or
France? Where can I get passenger lists >from Spain and/or France to
Puerto Rico? I know that their daughter was born in Guayama, Puerto
Rico so they had to have traveled either >from Spain or France to get to
the Island.

I would very much appreciate any suggestions of where to focus my
search. In addition to finding out which area of Cataluna Juan
Francisco Pujols came >from and where he and Celestina married, I also
want to try and find out where in France I can begin looking for
Celestina Bernier.

Any and all suggestions are welcomed!

Very sincerely,
Lynn (Troyansky) Arroyo
Largo, FL
Researcher #44353

Searching:
PUJOLS Cataluna, Spain, France, and Guayama, Puerto Rico
BERNIER, Cataluna, Spain, France, and Guayama, Puerto Rico
ARROYO, Guayama, Puerto Rico

Ben Weinstock wrote:

Is it possible to take a scanned image of Hebrew text (such as >from a scanned
yizkor book online) and convert that image into Hebrew text?

Googling "hebrew ocr software" turns up a lot of options. I don't have any
experience with any of them, though.

Eric Cooper e c c @ c m u . e d u

If Judy Zimlichman sees this message, can she please contact me? I saw a partial
message >from 2006 on the board without her address.

Lois Levick
LoisL637@...

Dear fellow Genners,

I am in search of my husband's paternal g-g-grandparents, Juan
Francisco PUJOLS b. about 1820-1825 in Cataluna (tilde over the "n"),
Spain, and Celestina BERNIER, b. about 1820-1825 somewhere in France.
This I know because we have obtained the death certificate of one of
their daughters Cecilia Curtis Pujols Bernier, b. about 1847 in
Guayama, Puerto Rico, and died in 1937 also in Guayama.

My husband, who was born Protestant, converted to Judaism a few years
ago because he said he "always felt it in his bones" that he was
Jewish. I understand that many descendants of Conversos harbor those
same feelings, and he decided to have his Y-dna tested to see if there
was a possibility that he might be descended >from Jewish people. His
test results show that he belongs to the J2 haplogroup which had its
beginnings in the Fertile Crescent, Mediterranean, etc. I have read
that about 40% of J2's are of known Jewish ancestry.

My questions now are, where can I begin to look further? How can I
check marriage records? Where would be a good place to start, Spain or
France? Where can I get passenger lists >from Spain and/or France to
Puerto Rico? I know that their daughter was born in Guayama, Puerto
Rico so they had to have traveled either >from Spain or France to get to
the Island.

I would very much appreciate any suggestions of where to focus my
search. In addition to finding out which area of Cataluna Juan
Francisco Pujols came >from and where he and Celestina married, I also
want to try and find out where in France I can begin looking for
Celestina Bernier.

Any and all suggestions are welcomed!

Very sincerely,
Lynn (Troyansky) Arroyo
Largo, FL
Researcher #44353

Searching:
PUJOLS Cataluna, Spain, France, and Guayama, Puerto Rico
BERNIER, Cataluna, Spain, France, and Guayama, Puerto Rico
ARROYO, Guayama, Puerto Rico

Ben Weinstock wrote:

Is it possible to take a scanned image of Hebrew text (such as >from a scanned
yizkor book online) and convert that image into Hebrew text?

Googling "hebrew ocr software" turns up a lot of options. I don't have any
experience with any of them, though.

Eric Cooper e c c @ c m u . e d u

If Judy Zimlichman sees this message, can she please contact me? I saw a partial
message >from 2006 on the board without her address.

Lois Levick
LoisL637@...

Like other (frustrated) people in this newsgroup, I've been trying to
determine the status of the order I placed for an ancestor's marriage record
courtesy of findmypast, several months ago. Although I received an automated
response >from the GRO informing me that my order had been processed I am yet
to receive same. On August 30, 2009 I sent a follow-up inquiry (which
referred in toto to the agency's reference confirmation) asking when I
might receive the marriage record. Yesterday I tried to contact them several
times by email but on each occasion the email was returned "Sender Unknown".
I then contacted findmypast. The help administrator responded as follows:

I've just tried the email address and website. The website is still up and
running at the URL provided and the email address came back with a "issue
logged" email. I've asked them if they're having any problems at the moment
and we'll update our blog if they are.


Here are the links and email address as stated in the email they just auto
responded with.

[If] you wish to order by post, please obtain a Birth, Marriage or Death
application form by emailing your request to
certificate.services@... and insert the code GQ in the subject
line of your email to ensure a personal response to your query.

A short while ago I tried emailing the GRO using the same email address,
this time including the code GQ in the subject line, as instructed. A few
minutes later I received an automated response >from GRO telling me that I
would hear >from them again within five working days.

So the key to success is that "secret code!"

Naidia Woolf
San Francisco, CA USA
Formerly of Birmingham, England

Researching:

DROZDIASZ/RAUS: Karczew, Poland
ISAACS: Poland (Warsaw?), Birmingham, England
SAFIRSTEIN/SZAFIRSTEJN (and variants): Karczew, Poland
SUMMERS: Poland, Birmingham, New Jersey, USA
KUJAWSKI: Lodz, Poland
SZON/SHORN: Warsaw, Poland, London, England

We are delighted to announce our second on-line ShtetLinks class,
taught by Mark Heckman and beginning Thursday October 15, 2009.
This course is designed for those who have a lot of genealogical
material to share and want to put it on the JewishGen ShtetLinks
web site, but don't know how.

Have you waited for someone to create a ShtetLinks site for your
town, but no one has? Do it yourself! In this 6 week class you
will learn how to create web pages for ShtetLinks. Creating web
pages is not difficult. We will use a free, downloadable,
simple-to-use web page editor that runs on both PCs and Macs.
If you have basic computer skills, such as knowing how to click
on hyperlinks and how to "copy and paste" text using a computer
mouse, then you can learn to create ShtetLinks web pages.

The specially reduced fee for this course is only $36.

For a full description, requirements and enrollment please go to
www.JewishGen.org/education . For questions, please email
JewishGen-Education@...

Phyllis Kramer, V.P. Education, JewishGen, Inc
Mark Heckman, Instructor
Susana Leistner Bloch, V.P., ShtetLinks, JewishGen, Inc.

I have some clues >from JRI Poland but can't tell whether these are my ancestors.
I'm hoping folks on this list can weigh in on whether I'm going down the right
track here...

There is an 1894 marriage record for a Luzer Ausfresser who marries an "Esther
Mortko" Herbst. I'm wondering if this could be my gggps,Leisor/Luzer AUSFRESSER and
Esther Malka LADENHEIM. This is in the Stanislawow region in the former Galicia.

The ages would be about right, and Ausfresser is a very rare name. My ggm had a
first marriage to a Ladenheim, so Herbst could be her maiden name - I don't know.

Issues:

1. This marriage record is in 1894. However, my gggps had children 1878-1882. Is it
possible that they did not get married - or perhaps register a marriage - until
this much later date?

2. Is it possible that Esther "Mortko" is a mistranscription for Esther Malka? Has
anyone seen the name Mortko before, especially for a woman?

3. The towns in the marriage record are off (still in the same area), but I wonder
if the town is for the parents, who are listed, and not the couple?

4. I've researched the Herbst records, but can't find anything else that ties the
Herbsts to my Esther Malka Ladenheim.

Thanks!
Nancy Shaw
Oakland, CA
nancyshaw1@...

Like other (frustrated) people in this newsgroup, I've been trying to
determine the status of the order I placed for an ancestor's marriage record
courtesy of findmypast, several months ago. Although I received an automated
response >from the GRO informing me that my order had been processed I am yet
to receive same. On August 30, 2009 I sent a follow-up inquiry (which
referred in toto to the agency's reference confirmation) asking when I
might receive the marriage record. Yesterday I tried to contact them several
times by email but on each occasion the email was returned "Sender Unknown".
I then contacted findmypast. The help administrator responded as follows:

I've just tried the email address and website. The website is still up and
running at the URL provided and the email address came back with a "issue
logged" email. I've asked them if they're having any problems at the moment
and we'll update our blog if they are.


Here are the links and email address as stated in the email they just auto
responded with.

[If] you wish to order by post, please obtain a Birth, Marriage or Death
application form by emailing your request to
certificate.services@... and insert the code GQ in the subject
line of your email to ensure a personal response to your query.

A short while ago I tried emailing the GRO using the same email address,
this time including the code GQ in the subject line, as instructed. A few
minutes later I received an automated response >from GRO telling me that I
would hear >from them again within five working days.

So the key to success is that "secret code!"

Naidia Woolf
San Francisco, CA USA
Formerly of Birmingham, England

Researching:

DROZDIASZ/RAUS: Karczew, Poland
ISAACS: Poland (Warsaw?), Birmingham, England
SAFIRSTEIN/SZAFIRSTEJN (and variants): Karczew, Poland
SUMMERS: Poland, Birmingham, New Jersey, USA
KUJAWSKI: Lodz, Poland
SZON/SHORN: Warsaw, Poland, London, England

We are delighted to announce our second on-line ShtetLinks class,
taught by Mark Heckman and beginning Thursday October 15, 2009.
This course is designed for those who have a lot of genealogical
material to share and want to put it on the JewishGen ShtetLinks
web site, but don't know how.

Have you waited for someone to create a ShtetLinks site for your
town, but no one has? Do it yourself! In this 6 week class you
will learn how to create web pages for ShtetLinks. Creating web
pages is not difficult. We will use a free, downloadable,
simple-to-use web page editor that runs on both PCs and Macs.
If you have basic computer skills, such as knowing how to click
on hyperlinks and how to "copy and paste" text using a computer
mouse, then you can learn to create ShtetLinks web pages.

The specially reduced fee for this course is only $36.

For a full description, requirements and enrollment please go to
www.JewishGen.org/education . For questions, please email
JewishGen-Education@...

Phyllis Kramer, V.P. Education, JewishGen, Inc
Mark Heckman, Instructor
Susana Leistner Bloch, V.P., ShtetLinks, JewishGen, Inc.

I have some clues >from JRI Poland but can't tell whether these are my ancestors.
I'm hoping folks on this list can weigh in on whether I'm going down the right
track here...

There is an 1894 marriage record for a Luzer Ausfresser who marries an "Esther
Mortko" Herbst. I'm wondering if this could be my gggps,Leisor/Luzer AUSFRESSER and
Esther Malka LADENHEIM. This is in the Stanislawow region in the former Galicia.

The ages would be about right, and Ausfresser is a very rare name. My ggm had a
first marriage to a Ladenheim, so Herbst could be her maiden name - I don't know.

Issues:

1. This marriage record is in 1894. However, my gggps had children 1878-1882. Is it
possible that they did not get married - or perhaps register a marriage - until
this much later date?

2. Is it possible that Esther "Mortko" is a mistranscription for Esther Malka? Has
anyone seen the name Mortko before, especially for a woman?

3. The towns in the marriage record are off (still in the same area), but I wonder
if the town is for the parents, who are listed, and not the couple?

4. I've researched the Herbst records, but can't find anything else that ties the
Herbsts to my Esther Malka Ladenheim.

Thanks!
Nancy Shaw
Oakland, CA
nancyshaw1@...

I am going to the Montefiore Cemetery in the Philadelphia area (Rockledge) on
Sunday to take photos of family tombstones.

I will be happy to take photos of tombstones for anyone out of the area who knows
they have family there.

If you'd like me to take a picture to email to you, please reply privately by
Sunday morning with the full name of the deceased and the location of their
tombstone (I called the cemetery to find out locations of the people I was looking
for and they were very helpful).

Irene Korn
Harrisburg, PA

Researching BUCHBINDER Nowy Sacz, Galicia; MANDEL Trzetrzewina, Galicia;
ROSINES Galicia; DERSHOWITZ Pilsno, Galicia; KORN Pilsno, Galicia; BERMAN
Raseiniai, Lithuania and Philadelphia; CRAMER/KRAMER/KREIN/KREINE Libau, Latvia
and Philadelphia; BRAUNSTEIN/BRONSTEIN Tarashcha, Ukraine and NYC

I am going to the Montefiore Cemetery in the Philadelphia area (Rockledge) on
Sunday to take photos of family tombstones.

I will be happy to take photos of tombstones for anyone out of the area who knows
they have family there.

If you'd like me to take a picture to email to you, please reply privately by
Sunday morning with the full name of the deceased and the location of their
tombstone (I called the cemetery to find out locations of the people I was looking
for and they were very helpful).

Irene Korn
Harrisburg, PA

Researching BUCHBINDER Nowy Sacz, Galicia; MANDEL Trzetrzewina, Galicia;
ROSINES Galicia; DERSHOWITZ Pilsno, Galicia; KORN Pilsno, Galicia; BERMAN
Raseiniai, Lithuania and Philadelphia; CRAMER/KRAMER/KREIN/KREINE Libau, Latvia
and Philadelphia; BRAUNSTEIN/BRONSTEIN Tarashcha, Ukraine and NYC