Continuing to find information. I attended the Webinar and the RootsTech conference. The sessions I attended were most interesting and informative – it’s great to be able to learn from other genealogists and people who are experts in this field.
I have become intrigued by the family of my Gr, Gr, Grandfather’s half-sister recently. Wilhelmine Rössein/Makowski was born in 1822 in Danzig, Prussia. She married a member of the Polish nobility by the name of Franz Casper Melchior von Lubicz Szeliski! Quite a mouthful, to be sure! I have found virtually nothing about him, which I think is rather strange, given that he was supposed to be of noble descent. However, their children have proven to be most interesting. In particular, one of their sons – Paul Victor Spartan von Lubicz Szeliski – has given me lots to research. He was born in Danzig, Prussia on 17 December 1859, married on 26 June 1889 in York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and died on 7 December 1938 in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA.
A cousin from another branch of the family had mentioned to me a number of years ago that her family had heard about a von Szeliski connection, but I took it no further as I had absolutely no knowledge of the name or connection. However, in the last couple of years up it popped and it has fascinated me ever since. I now know that Paul von Szeliski and one of his daughters, Hilda von Szeliski, visited Scotland in 1910. The ship record states that they disembarked the ship at Greenock in Scotland. Greenock was, of course, my family’s home town. It’s therefore likely that he visited his cousins whilst in Greenock, hence the knowledge of the name by other family members. What I now hope for is that I can make contact with some of Paul’s descendants, of whom there are many, to try to find out if they have further information about him and of course his trip to Scotland – they may even hold some long cherished photos of the trip, which would be absolutely amazing! I live in hope for that one!
So that is where I am with this branch of the family. I am on the lookout for any of the von Szeliski, Kerr, Harrison, Hinzmann side of the family, to explore our connection more.
Grott Family History 
My name is Robert Sullivan. Hilda was my Grandmother. Happy to share my limited understanding of the family tree.
Bob, I’m delighted to hear from you. I am very interested to hear more about Hilda and her family. I will email you if that’s alright so that we can exchange more information (hopefully).
I am Kathleen Harrison McLean. My dad, Basil Augustine Harriso, is Paul von Szeliski’s grandson, who grew up on the farm in Poughkeepsie. His parents were Angela Clara von Szeliska and Oscar Comegys Harrison.
My email address: kmcleantrainer@gmail.com
My name is Tony Albrecht. My mother, Julia Von Szeliski, was Paul Von Szeliski’s granddaughter. His son Victor was my grandfather. I knew that Paul and Hilda had visited Scotland but had no documentation. I had only recently discovered a record listing Wilhemina’s maiden name to be Makowski Rossein. Previous research had her listed as Wilhemina Groth which must be the connection. There’s another story that Paul and Hilda traveled to Prague to buy an engagement ring for Victor’s fiancee, Rose Munn. That’s a long way from Toronto so maybe there were relatives to visit there too. My email address: antonius.carl@gmail.com