Kosztowo, Poland

Kosztowo, Poland is a small village north of Poznan. There is a Catholic Parrish there which serves Kosztowo and several of the small surrounding areas that do not have a church or priest. There are some old record books kept in the priest's office. However most of that information is available on microfilm at the FamilySearch genealogy libraries. Those films are always in stock at the main library in Salt Lake City, Utah and the Brigham Young University Harold N. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. The smaller FamilySearch genealogy libraries/centers may have copies films you are interested in using to do your research. However if you are fortunate enough to travel to Poland in search of information on your ancestors you need to know that the priest is not always at the church office. It is best to make an appointment before driving through the countryside in hopes of finding documents. They do not charge but they do appreciate a donation.

I have found that the civil records office in Pila is easier to find and has a more effective system. You may want to go there first. I do not wish to discourage you from going to Kosztowo. This part of Poland is beautiful.......and depending on the time of year you will be amazed at the fields of red poppies or yellow flax! It's worth the trip to see the simple beauty of life in this far corner of Europe.

The catholic archive for this part of Poland is in Gniezno. The awesome thing about going there is that they have the records from several parishes. This makes it possible for you to cover much more territory in a day than you would by going from one small village to another, hoping to see the priest and view his books of old records. You do need to contact them ahead of time and make a reservation to use a desk in their research room. There is a minimal fee to use a desk, a charge for each book you ask to see and a cost for a pair gloves that you are required to wear. Only one person sits at each desk and you are not allowed to talk with anyone :) They don't usually give you much help and expect you to be able to read the books!  This archive does not have a copier and will not duplicate anything for you......so you use a pencil and paper to take notes on anything interesting you find.

Poznan Project is actually more helpful. Try that first. It is a great online resource with marriage records only.