Discovering Our Family History

Keeping Our Ancestors Alive Through Genealogy
Wawrzyn (Lawrence) Biniasz was born in 1876 and entered the United States on February 17, 1908 aboard the Scharnhorst from Sroda Wielkopolska, Poland. Point of entry was Ellis Island. At the time, Sroda Wielkopolska was under German control and named Schroda. Wawrzyn Biniasz (Biniarz) was the son of Wojciech and Apolonia (Golimowska) Biniarz. He had five siblings that included Antoni, Franciszek, Jozeta, Maria and Tomasz Biniarz. Naturalization documents show both BINIASZ and BINIARZ spellings were used. Lawrence lived most of his life in the Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga on Shanley Street. He married Lucy Kedziora and had six children named Anthony, Pearl, Casmier, Leona, Steve and Mary. Casmier (Adam) Biniasz married Genevieve Krozurkiewicz in 1940. Casmier and Genevieve had four children Daniel, Lucy, Arlene and my father Patrick Casmier Biniasz. Patrick was born in 1941. Patrick Biniasz married Joann in 1971. They had one son, Martin Patrick Biniasz in 1972

Have you ever wondered about YOUR unique surname? Ever wonder about your ancestors in Europe or whatever happened to family members who immigrated to the United States or Canada? This is a call to all who share the name "Biniasz" to connect with your global family. Please help me locate distant relatives from the United States, Poland, Canada, Germany, France, etc. Exchange genealogical research, learn about our surname and have fun connecting with members of your distant family.

Please e-mail me information about your family as it will be added to a WORLDWIDE REGISTRY of the Biniasz clan. MBiniasz@aol.com

WHAT'S IN A NAME?


The origins of the surname BINIASZ probably is derived from a diminutive or pet form of the first name Benedykt (Eng. Benedict) or Benianmin (Eng. Benjamin). The book Naszwiska Polakow (The Surnames of Poles written by Rymut Kazimierz) lists the similar Bieniasz as a surname as early as the year 1327. Currently (2004) 254 people are surnamed BINIASZ in Poland. Many of these names are centered around the City of Poznan.


Thanks to Keith Kaszubik, AmPol Eagle, for his assistance in research the BINIASZ surname. If you are interested in learning more about your name, write to Keith Kaszubik, c/o AmPol Eagle, 3620 Harlem Road, Cheektowaga, NY 14215.

"ASZ" or "ARZ"


The following information was conveyed by a family member of Antoni Biniarz: As my grandfather believes, there was a man in the first half of the 19th century, who moved to Wielkopolska (Poznan province) from Austria to be a steward of a nobleman’s estate. It's not known if he was of Polish or Austrian nationality. However, his surname 'Biniarz' sounded German. Why? Well, the ending 'rz' was pronounced like in German ('rts'). Then, as he lived among Poles, the name was pronounced in a Polish way, which means the ending kept its spelling but it sounded 'sh'. Now maybe you need some clarification: in Polish all consonants in the end are de-voiced so i.e. a word ended with 't' or 'd' is pronounced always as 't'. Thus, Wawrzyn, who used to spell words as he heard them, signed his declaration of intention with 'sz' in the end, not 'rz' as it should have been spelled. However, as that declaration was an official document, all later documents, together with any identity cards or records, must have referred to the spelling presented by Wawrzyn. And as a consequence so was the surname of his children etc. That is for sure the reason of the different spelling between the American descendants of the family and the Polish ones, who were not more educated at the time of Wawrzyn, but the state files kept the original documents of the prime version of the surname's spelling.