CategoriesZalewski

Smile for the Camera, 19th Edition

The word prompt for the 19th Edition of Smile For The Camera is “Gift.” It is the holiday season and a time for giving. So give Smile readers the gift of sharing, sharing a family photograph. It can be a gift given or received, it can be the gift of talent, it can be the gift of having the photograph itself. The interpretation of gift is yours. Admission is free with every photograph!

Frank Zalewski & Family - 1909
Frank Zalewski & Family - 1909

I think of this photo as a gift. This photo was the first family history photo that I saw. I see it as a gift of the genealogy bug (it’s not always a bad thing, right?) To this day, I am still working on Frank’s family history trading emails with his possible great-nephew.

CategoriesSurname Saturday

Surname Saturday: LINDNER

Anna Lindner (left)
Anna Lindner (left)

LINDNER first shows up in my ancestry from my great-great-grandmother, Anna LINDNER. She was born 27 Nov 1865 in Prussia, but I’m not sure which area of Prussia. She married my great-great-grandfather, Frank J ZALEWSKI, in Jan 1885. They’re noted to have been married in the Poznan Province of South Prussia, which would be modern day Poland. Frank, Anna, and 3 of their daughters emigrated to America in November 1889 and finally settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Anna passed away on 8 Aug 1941 in Milwaukee and is buried there at Holy Cross Cemetery.

There is confusion as to what part of Prussia Frank and Anna were from. The name LINDNER to me sounds more German than Russian, so my guess is they were from the German side of Prussia. ZALEWSKI could be either Russian or German (or straight Polish), but Russian names usually ended in SKY rather than SKI.

I have no proven information on Anna’s parents. A previous researcher whom I talked with had listed her parents as John LINDNER and Eva ZEMFELD. He also noted that he thought ZEMFELD was Jewish, so that’s interesting. I have found no evidence for either of these names myself.

Anna’s obituary did mention that she had a brother named John LINDNER and a sister named Elizabeth KOZLOWSKI. I’m assuming they also lived in the Milwaukee area since the obituary didn’t mention a location, but that’s only speculation. There are a lot of John LINDNERs out there when searching, so I haven’t had much luck. I can only guess his birth year since I have no more information than his name. Elizabeth has been hard to find, also.

I’m hoping there are some other local LINDNER researchers out there that I can connect with. I recently contacted a local ZALEWSKI researcher who is related through Frank’s possible brother, so that’s big news for me.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: Nov 29th – Dec 5th

November 30th

1854 – Married – Jean Joseph Desire DEBROUX & Marie Desiree LOOD – Desire and Desiree (as they were known) are my 3rd-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. They were both born in Piétrebais, Walloon Brabant, Wallonia, Belgium.  They married in Belgium before immigrating to central Wisconsin. They had 7 children, including my ancestor Joseph DEBROUX. Desire and Desiree both died in 1912 and are buried in Norwood, Langlade Co., Wisconsin.

There is not a lot of history in my family for this week, so I leave you with an interesting story about tracking down lost Civil War burial locations in my local paper.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: Nov 22nd – 28th

November 22nd

1774 – Born – Friedrich Ernest MUHM – Friedrich is my 5th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born in Schwbendorf, Landkreis, Maurburg, Hessen, Germany. He married Gertrude OPPERMAN in 1795. He passed away on 24 Jan 1850 in Schwbendorf, Landkreis, Maurburg, Hessen, Germany.

November 23rd

1869 – Died – Sophia Elizabeth STRASSMAN – Sophia is my 4th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born on 23 Jun 1809 in Wahmbeck, Hanover, Germany. In 1844, she married Friedrich MUHM and settled in Washington County, Wisconsin. She passed away at Germantown, Washington Co., Wisconsin and is buried nearby at Christ Evangelical Cemetery in the small town of Dhiensville.

1930 – Died – Martha ZALEWSKI – Martha is my great-great-aunt on my father’s side. She was born 10 Sep 1885 in German Poland/Prussia. She immigrated with her family to Milwaukee in 1889. She married John STRELKA and passed away in Milwaukee. She is buried near her family at Holy Cross Cemetery in Milwaukee.

November 25th

1835 – Died – Joseph LAURENT – Joseph is my 5th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He married Marie Catherine MOUREAU and passed away at Biez, Chaumont-Gistoux, Wallon Brabant, Belgium.

November 26th

1756 – Died – Georges QUINET – Georges is my 8th-great-grandfather on my father’s side. He was born about 1689 and married Catherine GENAVOIS in 1711. Together, they had 9 children, including my ancestor Pierre Francois QUINET. Georges passed away at Haute-Saône, Franche-Comté, France.

November 28th

1841 – Died – Constant Joseph LAURENT – Constant is my 4th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He married Marie Josephe BERO in 1809 and had 4 children, including my ancestor Jean-Baptiste LAURENT. He passed away at Biez, Chaumont-Gistoux, Wallon Brabant, Belgium.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: Nov 15th – 21st

Joseph Troka and his wife, Clara.
Joseph Troka and his wife, Clara.

November 17th

1853 – Died – Marie Josephe BERO – Marie is my 4th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was presumably born in Belgium, but her info is unknown. She married Constant Joseph LAURENT in 1809 and had 4 children, including my ancestor Jean-Baptiste LAURENT. She passed away at Biez, Chaumont-Gistoux, Wallon Brabant, Belgium.

1871 – Born – Joseph TROKA – Joseph is my 3rd-great-grandfather on my father’s side. He was born in Poland/Prussia and immigrated to America in 1888 or 1889 settling in Milwaukee. He married Clara SZULTA at St. Hedwig’s Church in Milwaukee on 29 Jan 1894. Joseph was tragically hit and killed by a drunk driver on his way to church on New Year’s morning 1962. You can see a partial transcription of the story on his family page.

November 18th

1872 – Died – Johann Peter FIRMENICH – Peter is my 4th-great-grandfather on my father’s side. He was born about 7 Jul 1794 in Koeln, Rheinland, Prussia. He immigrated to America with his family in 1847 settling just north of Milwaukee. He passed away at Brown Co., Wisconsin.

November 19th

1863 – Died – Friedrich MUHM – Friedrich is my 4th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born on 20 Feb 1801 in Schwbendorf, Landkreis, Maurburg, Hessen, Germany. He married Sophia Elizabeth STRASSMAN in 1844. They moved to the Germantown, Washington Co., Wisconsin area where Friedrich passed away.

1903 – Died – Janneke DEES – Janneke is my 4th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born about 1817 at Biervliet, Zeeland, Netherlands. She married Jacobus Bernardus VAN PARIJS in 1835 and had 5 children, including my ancestor Charles Ludovicus VAN PARIJS. She passed away in IJzendijke, Zeeland, Netherlands.

November 20th

1818 – Died – Gertrude OPPERMAN – Gertrude is my 5th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born about 1782 in Germany. She married Friedrich Ernest MUHM and had 2 children. She passed away in Schwbendorf, Landkreis, Maurburg, Hessen, Germany.

CategoriesFamily TreeFeaturedSiteZalewski

Everything I Know About Frank Zalewski

I have a new site to show all of you. But, first, how it all came to be.

While I was searching for more information on a passenger ship from one of my ancestors a few months back, I ran across a site called “Everything I Know About Hyman Victor.” The site is basically one man’s story about his great-grandfather. It shows off all of the vital records, memories, and information about Mr. Victor.

I was very impressed by both the idea and the layout of the website. Since I noticed the site was built using WordPress, just like this site, I emailed the owner of the website and asked him about how he put it together. He was a very nice guy and said that he would send me some of the files I would need. Recently, I received these files and started putting together a site for my great-great-grandfather, Frank Zalewski.

I wanted to do this for a few reasons. First, I wanted to create a nice site dedicated to Frank and his life. Secondly, going back over a lot of this information may bring me new discoveries. Sadly, I didn’t find anything new, but now all my information is better organized.

I can’t take too much credit for the site, since most of the work was done by Elliot Malkin at Everything I Know About Hyman Victor. Thank you Elliot for the help. Though, I did tweak a few things for my own use.

Without further delay, I bring you Everything I Know About Frank Zalewski.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: Nov 8th-14th

November 11

1630 – Born – Jean CUSSON-CALLIOU – Jean is my 10th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born at St. Marguerite-sur-Durclair, Rouen, Normandie, France. He married Marie FOUBERT in 1656.  He passed away on 8 Apr 1718 at St. Sulpice, Quebec, Canada.

1719 – Born – Josephte CHEVREFILS-BELISLE – Josephte is my 7th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born at Montreal, Ile de Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She married Antoine LAFOND in 1750. She passed away on 13 Jun 1774 at Baie-du-Febvre, Yamaska, Quebec, Canada.

My younger brother, Joel, also calls November 11th his birthday. Happy 25th birthday!

November 12

1934 – Died – Ida SCHAVANDIE – Ida is my 3rd-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born on 6 Sep 1852 in Prussia. She married Peter MUHM in 1870 and had 3 daughters, including my ancestor Minnie MUHM. She passed away at Antigo, Langlade Co., Wisconsin and is buried there at Elmwood Cemetery.

November 14

1848 – Married – William CORRIGAN & Mary McCANN – William and Mary are my 3rd-great-grandparents on my father’s side. Both were born in Ireland in the 1820s (though stories also say William was born in New York) and immigrated with their families, settling in Ontario, Canada. They had 12 children, including my great-great-grandfather, Thomas CORRIGAN. William passed away first in 1876 and Mary in 1884. I assume they’re both buried in the Uptergrove, Ontario, Canada area.

CategoriesTell Me ThursdayThielke

Tell Me Thursday: Wedding

Click for larger
Click for larger

This is a photo from my grandparent’s wedding on August 28, 1948 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Port Washington, Wisconsin. The church is known for it’s large decorations and ceiling. It’s also frequently painted along with downtown Port Washington as it sits on a high hill overlooking the downtown area. You can see it in the third photo down on this page.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: Nov 1st-7th

Happy Día de los Muertos! Ok, I’m back. I didn’t have any time for genealogy research, so I fell behind on everything.

November 2

1901 – Born – Leon Joseph DEBROUX – Leon is my great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born in Phlox, Langlade Co., Wisconsin to Joseph & Mary Philomene (LAURENT) DEBROUX. He married Mildred VAN PRICE in 1921. He passed away on 15 Sep 1982 in Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin and is buried there at St. Mary’s Cemetery.

1976 – Died – Frank Edward Zalewski, Jr. – Frank, Jr is my great-great-uncle on my father’s side. He was born October 1899 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Not much is known about Frank, Jr. He seemed to have never married and is buried with his parents at Holy Cross Cemetery in Milwaukee. I have heard that he may have had a drinking problem, which may have made his life difficult.

November 5

1806 – Born – Marie DesAnges MANSEAU – Marie is my 4th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born at Baie-du-Febvre, Yamaska, Quebec, Canada to Antoine & Catharine (CLOUTIER) MANSEAU. She married Ephraim Gadious dit ST. LOUIS in 1831. She passed away on 16 Oct 1895 at Florence, Florence Co., Wisconsin.