Categories52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

The Great Peshtigo Fire

PeshtigoFireCemeteryThe thirty-eighth ancestor in my 52-week challenge is my wife’s maternal 3rd-great-grandfather, Adrien FRANCOIS.

His birth is listed as 18 March 1832 in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Brabant, Belgium, which actually is not too far from where my Belgian ancestors originated. His parents are noted from his birth record as Guillaume Francois and Marie Josephe DENIS. In 1851, it says her married a woman named Flora Seetnogle, but I have no source for it, so it may or may not be definitive. She died not long after this in 1852. This was not my wife’s ancestor.

Francois emigrated to America from Antwerp, Belgium and arrived in New York on April 1856 aboard the Trumbull. He made his way west and settled in Door County, Wisconsin (which for you non-Wisconsinites, is the little arm on the east side of the state.) He married my wife’s ancestor, Fulvie Adelaide PIETTE (presumably there) in about 1863. Their daughter, and my wife’s ancestor, Josephine FRANCOIS, was born in Brussels, Door, Wisconsin in 1871.

There are also some random notes listed on his entry, though not well sourced (he is one of the ancestors that we have not yet cleaned up.) It is noted that he served in the US Civil War with Company F 34th Wisconsin Infantry from 1862 until he “deserted” in January 1863.

According to the book titled History of Door County Wisconsin it is said that he “lost house and contents, barn, crops, farming tools, and cattle in the Great Fire of Northeastern Wisconsin, October 1871.” Also listed here on a nice historical write-up of the event.

Francois was a farmer throughout most of the US Census records. It is not known yet when he died, though he is presumed to be buried somewhere in the Brussels area.

This post is 38 of 52 in the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Challenge” begun by Amy Johnson Crow.

Categories52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Michael John Corrigan

Erie CanalThe thirty-seventh ancestor in my 52-week challenge, is my paternal 4th-great-grandfather, Michael John CORRIGAN. He is the furthest back that Corrigan researchers have been able to track, as far as I know. Michael and his wife have a lot of descendants. Out of all of my lines, I have met and connected with more descendants of their’s than most others. Maybe their descendants just like to do genealogy more?

He was born about 1792 in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. My notes say that he was married on 20 December 1816 in Killeeshil Parish in County Tyrone to Elisabeth Roseann NUGENT. Together, they had a few children in Ireland before something made them leave and come to North America in about 1823. Somewhere during or after this trip, my ancestor, William Corrigan was born. Records say he was either born in the United States and born “at sea.”

They may have come to North America to find work, as they spent a bit of time in New York, possibly helping to build the Erie Canal as the entry on Wikipedia mentions:

Many of the laborers working on the canal were Scots Irish, who had recently come to the United States as a group of about 5,000 from Northern Ireland, most of whom were Protestants and wealthy enough to pay for this caravan.

After that, they moved north and settled in the Brock Township in Ontario, Canada. By the time of the 1852 Canadian Census, they had moved to the Mara Township, which was close by.

While I don’t have exact sources for this information, a Corrigan researcher sent me this a few years ago:

There was a rebellion in 1837 in Ontario and Michael Corrigan was among many families guilty of treason. The majority of them were pardoned and allowed to return on parole for three years after paying a security bond. Briefly, the rebellion was led by William Lyon Mackenzie against the authoritarian system, which culminated early in December 1837 with a abortive attempt to take over the government in Toronto. He had farmers joining him from all over the providence. Most of the rebels were captured or ran away as their take-over was foiled by government troops.

On a list of prisoners held at Parliament House in Toronto, December 13, 1837 was Michael Corrigan along with 312 others jailed there. Michael was arrested January 6, 1838 some weeks after the rebellion was quashed. He was released May 12, 1838 and pardoned on finding security to keep peace and be of good behavior for three years.

Michael passed away on 7 September 1859 in Mara Township. It is assumed he is buried near his wife at Saint Columbkille Roman Catholic Cemetery, in Uptergrove, Ontario, Canada, but his headstone has not yet been found as far as I can tell.

This post is 37 of 52 in the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Challenge” begun by Amy Johnson Crow.

Categories52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Johann Peter Firmenich

The thirty-sixth ancestor in my 52-week challenge is my 4th-great-grandfather, Johann Peter FIRMENICH (Think it’s pronounced Fer-meh-nick.)

I don’t have a lot of information on Johann. His birth date of 1792 in Prussia is estimated from US Census records (though, one lists him as being born in France.) There is a promising record over at the Germany Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898 collection at FamilySearch for a Joannes Petrus Firmenich born in 1794, but without some more info, I can’t say for certain. Though, the Firmenich name is not very common, so when I do find it, it’s usually somehow involved.

According to the Germany Marriages, 1558-1929 index at FamilySearch, he married Anna Maria VOISSEL on 30 Mar 1832 in Buervenich, Rheinland, Preussen, which looks to be near Zülpich in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. This also matches up with the birth location of their son, and my ancestor, Mathias Balthazar Firmenich, in Eicks in 1842, which is nearby.

I found a record in the Wisconsin Deaths from 1820-1907 for a Peter Firmenich on 18 Nov 1872, which I’m assuming is him as it is close to the location where he was last located in Brown County, Wisconsin. I have yet to find his burial location.

This post is 36 of 52 in the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Challenge” begun by Amy Johnson Crow.

CategoriesPolishSlownik Geograficzny TranslationZalewski

Slownik Geograficzny Translation – Gocza?ki

I decided to update one of the first Slownik Geograficzny translations that I did for the town that my great-great-grandfather, Frank J Zalewski, resided in when he was married in 1882Gocza?ki.

Gocza?ki is currently located in Gmina Łasin, GrudziÄ…dz County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland.

The translation is a work-in-progress and is obviously not completely perfect. I am grateful for some help from Al at Al’s Polish-American Genealogy, who has translated many entries himself. I will mark the words or phrases that I am confident are wrong or are not even translated as I could not find any information on them, with italics. The rest, while they may not flow very well, are mostly right and just need some small tweaking. Some of the diacritics on the letters may not have copied over correctly, I will fix those if  I see them. Any errors in the translations are completely my own.

A few terms that may be confusing are: morg: a unit of land measurement; in this area 1 morg = 0.631 acres – wlók: a unit of land measurement used in Poland, was generally about 30 morgs, but this can vary, depending on what part of Poland and what time-frame one is concerned with. Generally 30 morgs was considered a full-sized farm, big enough to support a family. There are others, though you can find most definitions here if you get confused. Other unique words will be defined in the translation.

Goczalkowo, also called Gocza?ki, in German: Gottschalk, a knightly estate, Grudziadz district, on the road from Grudziadz to Biskupiec, approximately 1 mile from the township Łasin and 1 mile from Biskupiec, where the ToruÅ„sko-Wystruckiej iron railway station is located. It covers 3100 morgs of land, 23 buildings, 9 inhabitants’ homes, 90 catholics, 96 evangelicals. Parish in ÅšwiÄ™te, the school site, mail at Łasin.

Gocza?ki was previously located in Pomezania, at the the border of Che?mno. Probably took the name of the holder of the German mayor Gotschalk or rather, a deviation of the German “Gotschalksdorf”. Belonged to the older Riesenburg Prussian ducal district. In the sixteenth century, this village was owned by a CzarliÅ„scy.

In the year 1543, Duke Albrecht of Prussia issued a new charter for Gocza?ki to the three CzarliÅ„skim (German Scherlinski) sisters Annie, Urszuli and Elzbiecie, which their deceased father Tomasz (Thomassen) possessed, but during the last war he went missing. Gocza?ki (Gottschalksdorff) was then 30 wlok and immediately next to it a second estate, that is called in German “Wrozelsdorff”, which consisted of 12 wlok and also belonged to them.

Although Gocza?ki in Pomezania lay within the limits zlutrza?ego(?) Prussian Prince, the people around here remained Polish for a long time. In fact, in 1601 there is a Pawel Stucki of Gocza?ki who in 1619 with Jan Goczalkowski waives his section in Gocza?ki to Rafalowi Goczalkowskiemu.

Around 1629, the place holders of the local gentry: Maciej and Rafal Goczalkowski and Bartosz Jaromierski.

In 1667 there were 5 separate shares in Gocza?ki, which had minor nobility.

In 1720, there were still a few of the shares from earlier. Then a wealthy German, Fryderyk Aleksander Backer, started using the unfortunate times and buying the smaller particles. In 1721. he bought the 14 wlok which were attached to Tymawy from Ernesta von Taube, in 1722 7 wlok from Adama Kosickiego, and in 1740 acquired the right to the mortgage of 21 wlok and a farm from Gotlibkowo and Worzelsdorf (which belonged to Gocza?ki) for 6000 gold for 40 years. Doing this, he had a total 42 wlok.

After the death of Aleksander Fryderyk Becker, his married daughter, Major Buchholz’s wife, inherited the estate. In 1770, it was acquired by the son of a Prussian lieutenant, Rafel Bucliholz “‹”‹for 10666 talar.

In 1780, Captain Jan Karol Borek is the owner, in 1786 Captain Ferdynand von Pfórtner, in 1794 a royal courtier and adviser Otto Graf von Keyserling, in 1797 von Hippel owned the estate and Lisowski.

Gocza?ki was acquired in 1836 by subhasty(?) August Teodcr von Peterson, and from him Gocza?ki and Dohnastiidt was purchased in 1841 for 53,300 talars by Baron Hugo Maksymilian Fryderyk von Blumenthal. Refer to Frolich, “Geschichte des Graudenzer Kreises” 82

S?ownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego – Warsaw [1895, vol. 2, p.755-756]. Retrieved from http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_II/755 on 5 Nov 2014.

Categories52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

The Whipples

The thirty-fifth ancestor in my 52-week challenge is my wife’s maternal 4th-great-grandfather, Lyman Eugene WHIPPLE.

According to the information we have, he was born in about 1816 in Smyrna, Chenango, New York to William Walton & Rosina Whipple. Sometime, probably in Ohio in the late 1830s, he married Cheney Mariah HEATH. My wife’s ancestor, Nancy Whipple, was born about 1849 in Ohio.

The 1850 US Census, when his family was living in what was then called Indian Lands, Marquette County, Wisconsin, his occupation was listed as a “Cooper.” According to Wikipedia, “examples of a cooper’s work include but are not limited to [the creation of] casks, barrels, buckets, tubs, butter churns, hogsheads, firkins, tierces, rundlets, puncheons, pipes, tuns, butts, pins and breakers.”

According to his bio, he entered military service August 13, 1862 in Berlin, Wisconsin into the Union Army Company C, 32nd Infantry Regiment during the Civil War.

His first wife, Mariah, passed away in 1864 in Wisconsin. He later married a woman named Catherine and moved to Minnesota. He passed away in Cass County, Minnesota in July 1894 and is buried there.

This post is 35 of 52 in the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Challenge” begun by Amy Johnson Crow.