Welcome to our group, Laura.

I have just added a blog about an explosion in Oliver Mills in Wlkes-Barre which may have links to your family. Otherwise, I have not yet located anything about the Douglases in that area.

Yours aye,

William

A friend has just supplied this information:

The opening of the Susquehanna Coal Company, first colliery operating in Nanticoke, coincided with the arrival of five Polish families in 1869.The company's records for that year show three seemingly Polish names; Daniel Boniewicz, Edward and Joseph Ronsa (Rzasa). It is difficult to ascertain authentic and complete statistics of Polish mine workers from 1870 to 1890, because the names were garbled dreadfully. Louis Hajdukiewicz was listed as Louis Douglass, John Sosnowski as John Poland, Julian Pezynski as Julian Pease and Adalbert Wegrzynowicz became George Wintergreen, to quote a few; others were recorded by their Christian names with the pseudonym Friday or Monday attached to them. The surname depended on the day the workers with the unpronounceable names began work. The next year brought new workers in the persons of Joseph Krutski and John Retalik; the third year the number was increased by Andrew Kroski, John Karczewski, Joseph Graczewski, Paul Zachaniasz, John Tutaj, Joseph Dryer, Wilhelm Friday, John Framinski, and John Janus. By 1872 there were over one hundred Poles in Nanticoke.

http://www.polishroots.org/Research/History/luzerne_penn/tabid/232/...

Is your family of Polish origin, not Lithuanian?

Thank you for the interesting info re: Polish ancestry. My Mom was all Polish. But he told Mom his parents were born in Lithunia. Maybe there was a name change..So I guess my next step would be to try and find the coal mining co. he was employed at in Wilks-Barre PA. My Dad also said he was made to work in the coal mine when he was in third grade..how sad! A trip to Wilks-Barre in is my immediate future.I'm new to this research so it's a bit awkward learning the terms..but I'm a quick learner(: Laura