I am primarily researching the Splant's, Kil's, and Hossa's. The majority of my research prior to our immigration to the United States is focused in the Poznan (Posen) region of Poland. Upon Immigrating to the United States, my ancestors moved to Lemont, IL and the South Side of Chicago, IL.
The Splant's which started in Lemont, began with the surname of Szplett. According to records found, that name was change to Splant, Szplet, and Splitt. Some members of the family maintained the Szplett spelling. It has only been very recently discovered that the Splant's had a connection to any living Splitt's or Szplet's. In has not been determined, yet, where in the German Empire they emigrated from. It is possible that it was from one or more of the eastern districts of Posen in Prussia.
The Kil's emigrated from both Prussia (the German Empire) and Russian Poland. Areas that I have identified from Prussia are in the Province of Poznan and include Gneizno. In the Kingdom of Poland (Russia), they include Sompolno in the Kolo district and Warsaw.
I know very little of the Hossa's.
In order to better understand Polish genealogy, a slight understanding of the geographical history of Poland is essential. In 1795, Poland ceased to exist as a country. It hade been partitioned by Austria, Prussia (as part of the German Empire), and Russia. This was the third partitioning of Poland, and the last. The first two partitionings, in 1772 and 1793, only reduced the size of Poland.
During the Napoleonic Wars, the Emporer Napoleon, created the "Duchy of Warsaw" in the Russian partition. This lasted from 1807 until 1815. From 1815 until 1918 Russia allowed their partitioned land to exist as the "Kingdom of Poland." This was merely a somewhat autonomous state within the Russian Empire. This "Kingdom" did not include the province of Poznan. Poznan, or Posen in German, was part of Prussia.
In 1918, The Russian partition, along with some minor border changes within the Russian Partition, became known as the "Second Polish Republic". This lasted until about 1939. In 1939, Poland fell under Nazi control. This lasted until 1945.
At the end of WWII, A major reorganizing of the borders occured. Which shifted Poland further to the west. From 1945 until 1989, the "Peoples Republic of Poland" was formed. However, this was a communist state within the Soviet Union. In 1989, The first post-communist government was in control and in 1990 the "Social Deomocracy of the Republic of Poland" was formed.
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Hossa, Kil, Splant Family Tree