FAQs



How can I contact you?


Please use the Contact Form in the sidebar.

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What's behind the blog names?


We had already chosen the name "TreeQuest" (which is hopefully self-explanatory) when we decided to split into two blogs. Both titles are pop culture references which just so happen to nicely describe the genealogy process.

"The Truth Is Out There" is a reference from the X-Files TV show. It was chosen because genealogy is a mystery - a puzzle - to solve. The search leads down many strange and bizarre paths but somewhere, somehow, the questions can be answered if you just keep looking.

"An Unexpected Journey" is a reference from the Hobbit movies. The main character finds himself taking an unexpected journey that leads him to discover more about his world and himself than he ever knew. And that, too, is the story of genealogy - finding out that who you thought you were isn't, in the end, who you really are.

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Where is the family tree? I want to see the tree!


Our family tree is located on Ancestry.com. If you already have an Ancestry.com account, click to view the public Pionke-Walczyk working tree. If you are not an Ancestry.com member, you must first request an invitation using the Contact Form on the sidebar. (For details see our How To page.)

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Why haven't I gotten an invite to the tree on Ancestry.com?


Signing up to "follow" the blog or posting on the blog does not automatically result in an invitation to Ancestry.com. You need to contact us using the Contact Form on the sidebar to let us know you want to be invited to look at and contribute to the tree. (For details see our How To page.)

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How can I help with the tree? I want to contribute!


Thank you! THANK YOU! We'd love to have some help.

Our biggest need is collecting the family stories. If you know stories that you are willing to share with the extended family and (hopefully) the public, write them down and email them to us. PLEASE! If you're near the older family members, maybe you could sit down with them using a videocamera, audio recorder, or just pen and paper, and take down their stories. It is said that oral history is lost in three generations so collecting this information while we can is of vital importance.

We are especially interested in stories about the old country and the early generations in the U.S., but would appreciate anything that they are willing to share. Even if you are a very distant cousin, your stories will help paint a picture of our ancestors' lives and communities. That would be SUCH a help!

Next we're trying to gather pictures and slides, particularly the oldest photos. Our goal is to preserve and share as many pictures of the family as we can. We've managed to collect quite a few but please, if you can scan, make copies of your older family photos (minimum 300 dpi though we prefer 600 dpi) and send them to us. Ask if you need help with understanding the specs. Or, if you don't want to scan but are willing to share, we're happy to grab them and scan them for you (and give you back an electronic copy along with your originals).

We're also trying to gather family videos. Those are harder to copy but if you can find film in any format contact us and we'll help figure out how to make copies.

Last, there are a few odds and ends we occasionally need help with. Such as pictures of graves or houses, copying a document at an archives we're not close to, or visiting a local cemetery to ask for some information. Let us know what you might be interested in helping us with and we'll be more than happy to take you up on your offer!

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When will you be done with the family tree?


Short answer: Some time after we die.

Long answer: By its nature, genealogy can never be completed; there's always something more to uncover. Consider that, as you go back in the tree, the number of ancestors at each generation doubles. It is difficult to project a date when we will consider this work "done enough" to contemplate publishing it in some format. Thus we have created the blog and the public tree - so that we can share with you right now everything we have discovered so far.

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When will there be a book/DVD/poster about the family history?


Hopefully some day. However, while we have amassed a great deal of information about our family history, there are still branches about which we know very little.

Furthermore, the act of compiling this information into a narrative along with relevant charts is the work of months or even years (not to mention to vast quantity of footnotes required). To put forth that amount of effort prior to reaching a satisfying end point in our research seems counter-productive.

That said, we would very much like to create a book or DVD and will consider creating an abbreviated version of our history at some point in the next several years. A family tree poster or image may be available in a shorter time frame.

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Why don't you have the story about ___?


There are several possible reasons why we might not have the story you seek:
  1. We do have it, but have not yet published it on the blog or uploaded it to the tree. Use the Contact Form in the sidebar to let us know what stories you are interested in.
  2. You know this story but we don't. We cannot know all the family stories if no one tells them to us! Please type up your story and send it to us. We (and the rest of our family) will be very grateful!
  3. There is no extant narrative story for a given ancestor; all we have is facts. If someone left no letters or diaries, and if there were no newspaper articles published about him or her, then we have to piece together the stories of their lives based on censuses, military records, etc.

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Where are all the family photos?


Over the years we have scanned literally thousands of family photos. We are in the process of gathering and sorting them to upload into our Flickr albums. Please be patient as this will take a while.

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What ethnicity/nationality were our ancestors?


On our paternal side, our ancestors were Polish (about 50%), Kaszub (about 45%) and German (maybe about 5%). These percentages are merely estimates and may change as we learn more. Specifically, the amount of German is a very rough approximation.

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What is Kaszub/Kashubian?


Disclaimer: the question of ethnic identity is a very touchy issue, politically and emotionally. The following is not a definitive answer but represents my personal understanding. Feel free to search the internet yourself in order to learn more.

Kaszubs or Kashubians are a Slavic people from what is now the north-central part of Poland (Pomerania). They are a West Slavic group like the Poles and Czechs. The region they inhabit was under German control for a long time. Our Pionke ancestors self-identified as German or Polish on various U.S. records, but their early community and church in Chicago was largely Kashubian.

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Are we descended from nobility or royalty?


Who knows! Thus far, our research shows that our paternal ancestors were mostly peasants and laborers. A few were skilled craftsmen, but none were nobility or royalty.

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Copyright, Licensing, and Usage: Legal Language


This FAQ contains the legal language for our copyright, licensing and usage. The next FAQ down translates it into something you can understand.

All content on this blog is Copyrighted.  The full text of the copyright is as follows:
© TreeQuest: An Unexpected Journey 2014-2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.




Copyright, Licensing, and Usage: In Plain English


Here's the deal.  We own the rights to everything on our blog but we're willing to share as long as you respect our rights and fully credit our work.  As such, there are RULES - rules about using our stuff and rules specific to Ancestry.com, FindAGrave.com, and publication.


General Rules: 
  • No commercial use can be made of any of our items - EVER
  • You may not use our content without permission. If you request permission, we will very likely grant it, provided you agree to the following conditions.
  • Regardless of the medium you use, if you copy, re-post, or share our items in part or in full, you MUST include the following to ensure proper credit is given to us as owners and/or authors:
    • A copy of the item's copyright
      i.e., © TreeQuest: An Unexpected Journey 2014
    • A link to the location of the original item on our blog
      i.e., http://treequest2.blogspot.com/p/faqs.html
    • Cite "TreeQuest: An Unexpected Journey" as the author/owner
      i.e., Author: TreeQuest: An Unexpected Journey


Rules for Ancestry.com:

If you read Ancestry.com's Content Submission Agreement, it is very clear on how they treat pictures or documents posted on trees:
You should submit only content which belongs to you and will not violate the property or other rights of other people or organizations. We are sensitive to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of others. Be aware that content, including photographs, even if submitted to a site of which you are a member, belongs to the creator or submitter and you should not reproduce it without permission of the owner ...
What that means is plain and simple.  Any photos or documents that you copy to your tree that you do not have in your possession belong to the person who originally posted them online and YOU MAY NOT repost them without their permission.  Ancestry.com will ask you to remove them and/or shut down your tree if you continue to violate their copyright.

So, if you want to use our stuff, ask us first.  If we find it posted without credit or permission on Ancestry.com, we'll politely ask you to remove it or properly credit us (as we've done in the past with those who've snatched our FindAGrave pix).  If you don't comply, we will request Ancestry.com's assistance with the matter; and if we have to do that, you will not have our permission to use anything.


Rules for FindAGrave.com:

The Terms of Service for FindAGrave.com also limit what material you can use on their website.
You must submit only material which belongs to you (or of which you have the relevant permissions to submit) and which will not violate the property rights or other rights of other people or organizations.
So, again, get our permission BEFORE you put anything of ours up on FindAGrave.com or we'll ask them to have it removed.


Rules for Publication:

Odds are if you're interested enough to copy our items, sooner or later you may want to include them in some form of genealogical document, book, or poster for your family. We think that's a great idea. But, again, ask for our written permission first before you do it and then be sure to credit us properly, as listed in the General Rules above.

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© 2014-2017 TreeQuest: An Unexpected Journey. All rights reserved.

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