July 2014 - Zalewski Family Genealogy

Wearer of Hats

Posted on 28 July 2014by Brian Zalewski

The twenty-third ancestor in my 52-week challenge is my wife’s maternal great-great-grandfather, Gustave Ferdinand Joseph GYRION.

Gustave was born 24 January 1858 in the village of Warisoulx in the Walloon region of the Namur Province of Belgium. His parents were Casimir GYRION and Desiree CALONNE. Sometime around 1877 or 1879, he left Belgium and settled in Wisconsin. His first marriage was to a woman named Millie DeWitte in about 1880. Millie died not long after the marriage and Gustave married Josephine FRANCOIS in about 1889 in Outagamie County, Wisconsin.

According to the note attached to the photo at the right, that is Gustave and his wife, Josephine, year unknown. It is also not known if Gustave always wore his hats on the side of his head, or if it was just a windy day.

Throughout his life, Gustave worked in the paper industry as did a lot of other men in this area of central Wisconsin. In 1900 and 1905, he is listed as a general laborer at a paper mill. In 1910, he is listed as an Engineer, but no note of where he did this. In 1920, he is listed as an Oiler. According to Wikipedia, an oiler is a worker whose main job is to oil machinery. So, this was more than likely still related to the paper mill.

On 25 August 1934, Gustave passed away in Plover, Wisconsin, leaving his wife Josephine. He is buried nearby at the Plover Cemetery.

This post is 23 of 52 in the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Challenge” begun by Amy Johnson Crow.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Henry Stearns to Georg Heinrich Stiern

Posted on 20 July 2014by Brian Zalewski

The twenty-second ancestor in my 52-week challenge is my paternal 3rd-great-grandfather, Georg Heinrich STIERN (also known as Henry STEARNS.)

I had him in my database a Henry Stearns for a long time. He was my great-grandmother’s grandfather and my information ended with him. After my paternal grandmother passed away, we found some old documents in her boxes of old family stuff. One such document was an old German booklet. It turns out that this was Henry’s passport from when his family left Germany and came to the US in 1888.

You can see the title page from the document at the right. It turns out his full name is Georg Heinrich Steirn. On another page in the booklet, it lists his current family members, including his wife Katherina SCHUMACHER.

With this information, I was able to track his family down using some of FamilySearch’s German baptism and marriage records. So, now I have names a few generations back from both Henry and his wife back into the Baden-WÃ¼rttemberg area of Germany.

Henry passed away on 28 July 1900 somewhere is Wisconsin, most likely Waupaca County where he is noted to be buried at Oakwood Cemetery.

This post is 22 of 52 in the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Challenge” begun by Amy Johnson Crow.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Anna Lindner

Posted on 13 July 2014by Brian Zalewski

The twenty-first ancestor in my 52 week challenge is my great-great-grandmother, Anna (LINDNER) ZALEWSKI. I didn’t get a post up last week since I was out for the holidays and didn’t get a chance to write it. Anna is the husband of who I like to call my “primary” ancestor, Frank ZALEWSKI. Frank, and his family, are the ancestors that I spend a lot of my research time on. I want to figure out where Frank came from. It’s probably mostly due to the fact that this is my surname line.

Anna (left) and two unknown individuals.

Anna was born 15 August 1865 in what was Schwenten in Graudenz, Westpruessen, Germany at the time. The town is now called ÅšwiÄ™te in GrudziÄ…dz County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. Her parents are Johann and Eva (SoÅ„efeld) Lindner. I found their names at the same time that I finally tracked down the marriage of Anna and Frank. Anna and her family were from Schwenten, but unfortunately Frank was not.

Anna married Frank Zalewski (or Salewski in the record) on 2 Nov 1884 in Schwenten. Their first three children, Martha, Angeline, and Elisabeth were born in Schwenten before the family made the long, hard trip to America in 1889. They made their way from Balitmore to Milwaukee and are recorded there in 1892. My ancestor, and their first son, Joseph was born in Milwaukee in 1893.

Anna’s parents had more children and a lot of them also settled in Milwaukee according to Milwaukee church records. This is a helpful line of research since they may have traveled together.

On 11 Apr 1939, Anna passed away in Milwaukee at the age of 73. She is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery with her husband Frank and her youngest son, Frank, Jr.

This post is 21 of 52 in the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Challenge” begun by Amy Johnson Crow.