The Glowno Book of Residents
Introduction by Cathy J. Flamholtz
Many Polish towns maintained a Ksiegi Ludnosci or Book of Residents. This is sometimes called a Tenant Register, although that's a misnomer as those who own homes are listed. These books are a valuable resource and can be more illuminating than vital records. If your family lived in Glowno for several generations, it is possible to create an entire family tree just from the Book of Residents.
There are eight volumes of the Glowno Book of Residents, spanning the years
1893 to
There are 1327 entries in the Book of Residents, though sometimes a person is listed more than once and, occasionally, more than twice.
The following information is included:
Volume No.
House No.
Page No.
Surname
Given Name
Maiden Name
Marital Status
Occupation
Date of Birth
Place of Birth
Father
Mother (including maiden name)
Remarks
Coming from/year of registration in Book of Residents
It's interesting to see how our ancestors often lived in large extended families. A word must be said about the Remarks column. I have seen copies of pages from the Books of Residents from other shtetls and they give scant additional information. The clerk or clerks who attended to the Glowno registers were meticulous in recording additional information. So, in the Remarks column, you may find details about the year and place that the person died, their military service, if they were convicted of a crime and how long a sentence they received, who the entrant married and where they moved, when a passport was issued, etc. The clerk continued to record information after World War II. Often former residents or their descendants wrote to Glowno, requesting that they be sent an excerpt from the Book of Residents. Sometimes this was needed in order to apply for admission to another country and sometimes they just wished to get in touch with any relatives. Those requesting such excerpts are listed in the Book, along with the date and the address where the excerpt was sent. We must be truly grateful to the person who took the time to record all this information.
Some question has arisen as to the propriety of offering this information on
the Glowno website. Generally,
1. Surnames
This consists of a list of actual surnames which appear in the Book of Residents. If the name has variant spellings, these are listed together. Following the name, you will find a number, which indicates the number of times that the name appears.
2. Other Names
In the main, these are the maiden names of the Glowno women or those who married men from Glowno. You will find that some of these names are followed by an asterisk (*). These names are contained in the comments section and may be people that those from Glowno married or those who contacted the town asking for excerpts from the Book of Residents. (If you contact me, please tell me if the surname you're searching for is followed by an asterisk.)
If you find one of your surnames on one of the lists, feel free to contact
me and I'll be glad to look up the information for you. You can reach me at:
Cathy J. Flamholtz
1881 Oak Village Lane
Lawrenceville, GA 30043
USA
Email: flamholtz@gmail.com
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