© 2011 - Kaja Gwincińska

After some research, I think I’ve traced the marriage of my great-great grandparents, Frank Zalewski & Anna Lindner, to Parafia św. Barbary w Świętem (or the Parish of St. Barbara at Święte.) According to a translation of their Polish Wikipedia entry:

The parish was founded in about 1300 by the Teutonic Knights. During the Thirteen Years’ War the church was destroyed and the parish declined. The present wooden church was built in 1723 on the land of the owner of the village – Waclaw Kozlowski. The last thorough renovation of the church took place in the 1990s.

Also according to their (wonderful) website, this church is the largest wooden structure in the area and one of the largest in Poland.

Their website has a great photo gallery of the church, inside & out, including the adjacent cemetery. They also have a very cool gallery of the cemetery on All Saints Day, November 1st, 2011. The photo above is from that gallery. Click on it to view more photos from that day.

It’s very cool to see the actual church from across the world that your somewhat distant ancestors were married in and baptised some of their children in.

Here is my translation. You can find the original entry by visiting the University of Warsaw’s website that allows you to view the original book with a Firefox plugin. You can also view it on this site, without a plugin, though the site is in Polish so you may need some translation.

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 did not copy over, I plan to fix those once I have some time. 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.

Święte, In German: Schwenten, documented as: Swenten, Hennyngesdorff, Hennigisdorf, Henningisdorg, Svente, about 1400 Heiligsdorf, Hoenigsdorf, a knightly estate with a Catholic parish church, Grudziądz district, post office Goczałki (about 2.5km), together with rectory (3 houses, 52 inhabitants), 605 hectares  (457 under cultivation, 40 meadow, 8 forest); in 1885 14 houses, 40 homes, 231 inhabitants (177 Catholic, 54 Evangelical Protestant). School with 3 classes symultanna (220 students and 2 teachers). Church building called by the name of Saint Barbary, private patronage; In 1867 the parish (Deanery of Lasin) had 1150 souls, and in 1889: 1347. The composition of the parish, shall enter: Święte, Huta, Kozlowo, Krzywki, Lessenwalde, Nowy Folwark, Waldówko, Szalasy, Babki, Dohnastaedt, Goczałki, Osówko, Tymawa, M. Tymawa, Bellingswalde, Goryn, Kisielice, Spikora, Waldowo, Sobiewola and Limza.

Święte already existed before the arrival of the Crusaders and, according to the legend, took its name from here, the locals, as zealous Christians, suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Gentiles. When the Crusaders on the court originally founded a new village here, the court removed its ancient name and took from his osadzcy Henning, the name of Hennyngesdorf. But the name was not accepted by the people (refer to Ketrzynski “The Nation of Poland”, str. 98). Therefore, during the time of Pawla of Russdorf (1422-1441) returned the name of Swiete.

For the first time in 1314 it mentions privilege w. m. Karl von Trier, issued for Łasin. In 1366 renews w. m. Winrich von Kniprode privilege of the village, having a cover with peat bog 101 wlok and 11 morg boundaries account for: Waldowo, Szonowo, Lasin i Rogozno. The mayor has 7 vloka free for Chelmno law and collects 1/3 of court fines, 2/3 the law. The pastor has 6 free wlók; the rest of the inhabitants of wlok also possess almost ohelm. hereditarily, however, have every year on the Saint Martin to levy rent half of the fine and 2 hens. If he showed more or less wlók, this applies to it and rent. Dan Rogoźno, which is komturship, or aldermanship owned Swiete.

In 1369, the Mayor gives Jan Rogozinski or Wichholz, commune head in Hennyngsdorf, 13 1/2 morgs in the woods in addition to the orchards. In 1376, Jeske or Swenten occurs, ie the Holy Jasko (Ketrz., 1 c., 124).

In 1414, loss of the Teutonic Knights sing of Scripture, the village suffered 2226 grzywny worth of damage, also 3 people were killed.

The rent book from the year 1435 shows 99 wlók, the Mayor of whom has 7, and parish has 6; rents were 88, also an inn. In the year 1442 there were 101 wlók; 7 office of village leader, 6 ​​parish priest, 22 empty.

In the year 1454, there is Jocusch or Swenten, ie the Holy Jakusz (Kętrz., 1 c.).

In the year 1599, Święte acquires and Wałdówko the widow of Starosta of Radzyń, Hugonie Dabrowskim, Katarzyna of Dzialynskich from the heirs after Mik. Kostce de Szembek.

Around 1667 Jan Dabrowski holds the goods, his father had before him, Feliks. Beware inspector found a church destroyed, does not know whether it was the only parish or chapel; claimed it was a brick foundation. By the lake lay a cemetery. It was said that the church had the title of Saint Barbara and that the parish had four wlók but no one knew how to mark their boundaries. On the spot of the church a cross stood tall (refer to p. 489). Already at that time the wlók was converted into a rural manor. According to the fare paid for the Święte simple 12 grzywny in the year 1722 was the heir of Kozlowski, who was committed for so long used the role of parish rectory. Łasin to pay annually in 60 florians by his son Waclaw K. heir to the Święte and Goczalkach, asked the bishop of the parish priest, appointed to him 4 wlok, partly overgrown chróstem, issued the church in 1736 and erected a wall of Prussia parsonage. The first priest Adempski was that in the year 1733 was institution.

After Kozłowski took over the goods in about the year 1741 the local judge of Chelmno Adam Kosowski took possession of the land. He is sued pomieniony parish process for the rest of the collected wlok and won it, such that once again included the rectory 6 wlok valued as a privilege of the Teutonic Order in the year 1366, for the parish, was then six peasants in the Field of Swiete, 8 in Krzywce, 6 in Wałdówku, 2 in Józefów, in addition to five homesteads in Lessenwalde.

In the year 1777 belonged to the local key: Święte , Huta, Kozlowo, Krzywka and Waldówko, 89 wlok total 6 1/2 morgs, between 20 morgs that of meadows, 20 wlok forest, a vegetable garden and fruit by 3 morgs, lake by 9 morgs, framing wilderness of a wlok and 24 morgs, an inn, windmill, in addition the judiciary, the right to hunting, brewing beer and patronage of the church. Święte itself included 57 wlok and 6 1/2 acres and brought in, together with the forest and garden, 596 talar 88 grzywny net profit.

In year 1786 Franciszek Leski owned Święte and the colony of (the same name) Święte. The same was purchased by them subhasty Karol Ferdynand of Gersdorff for 20,200 talar (refer to Gesch. d. Graud. Kr. v. Froehlich, str. 308—311). Ks. Fr.

Słownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego – Warsaw [1895, vol. 11, p.694]. Retrieved from http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_XI/694 on 8 Nov 2011.

When I first arrived, I just double-checked some of the local Milwaukee church records for some more information and also to try to find Frank ZALEWSKI’s brother’s marriage record (Jacob to Pauline WONDKOWSKI.) Still no luck in finding that record. I had thought that maybe they got married at another church, but there were no other churches in the area with records back to 1891-92. Only St. Hedwig’s church had records that old from that area. Jacob and Pauline baptised most of their children there, but I could not find a marriage record. I’m hoping they didn’t get married before they came to Milwaukee since that would be tough to track down.

After lunch I got back and I asked the volunteer on site about my order. She was somewhat new, but she tried looking through all of the orders from the past to see if maybe it didn’t get sent out, etc. She then asked me to get the film number from the Family Search website and she’d look it up that way. Before I could sit and check, she found my order. In big letters written over the card it said, “Film already here. Needs refund.” I guess the film was already on-site when I ordered it, though the volunteer that day obviously didn’t help me check. Either way the news is great.

When  I first sat down to browse the microfilm, I wasn’t sure if it was the right place. It’s been so long since I originally ordered it. The title page said “Schwenten, West Prussia.” I had thought for some reason that West Prussia was more west, so I had wondered if this area was in present day Germany, not Poland. It was not and I was wrong, this was the right microfilm. I first went to try to find my great-great grandfather’s, Frank ZALEWSKI’s, baptism record in about 1858. I had no luck. Actually, as I was browsing I was disheartened by the fact that I saw no Zalewski or similar surnames in any of the listings. I was starting to think I had the wrong area. Then in about 1865, I ran across the surname “LINDNER.” Then I saw the baptism was for an Anna LINDNER. Her parents names basically matched the names I was given over a decade ago from another researcher. This was my great-great grandmother’s baptism record. She was baptised in Schwenten and her parents were Johan LINDNER and Eva SOŃEFELD (I originally had Eva Zemfeld.) Schwenten is now called Święte and it’s located in Gmina Łasin, Grudziądz County, Poland. (Google Map Link)

That was a refreshing find and it gave me hope for more finds. I only had a little over an hour before the FHL closed for the day. I ended up finding more siblings of Anna while browsing including her sisters Catharine, Josephine, Marianne, and Eva. I ended up finding Catharine and Josephine in marriage records in Milwaukee, so it looks like a lot of that family came here, too. That’s a new avenue of research. I also found the baptism records of Frank and Anna’s first three children: Martha, Angelika, and Elisabeth, all baptised in Schwenten. Elisabeth was named “Elsa” on the passenger list, but it seems she died not long after the voyage.

The kicker in my finds was the marriage record of Frank and Anna in 1884. All my notes always said they were married in Poznan, Poland, which is nearby but not that close. Obviously, it was pulling my research in the wrong direction. Their marriage records states that they were married in Schwenten on 2 Nov 1884. Frank is listed as Frank SALEWSKI. Sadly, no parent’s names listed. It lists Frank as residing in Gottschalk which is the location I found previously that pointed me in this direction. Gottschalk is now called Goczałki which is just south of Święte.

I also happened upon Anna’s parent’s marriage record for 2 Mar 1862. It also listed their ages so I was able to get approximate birth years. I found this right near the end so I will need to do more research when I have another chance. I will hopefully be able to keep going back generation by generation, though the records get tougher to read back then. Overall, it was an immensely successful trip. I have now pinpointed the origination location of my ZALEWSKI ancestors which is one of the big goals I’ve had for the last decade. Now comes the fun part of finding more information from that area.

Photo: hr.icio@flickr

According to a description of it on the “Genealogy of Halychyna/Eastern Galicia” website:

This massive collection took over 20 years to publish all 15 volumes. [15 volumes. 1880-1902.]  The gazetteer was published when officially there was no Poland in existence. From 1772 to 1918, Poland was dominated by three empires: Austria (later known as Austria-Hungary), Russia and Prussia. The gazetteer contains a great wealth of information on cities, towns, and villages, as well as mountains, rivers, and other geographic points of interest in the lands that were once a part of the old Kingdom of Poland.

When I searched for the location that I was pretty positive was the origin location of my ZALEWSKI and LINDNER ancestors, Gottschalk or Goczałki, there were a few entries. But, after some searching I think I narrowed it down to one entry. The entry is located in Volume 2, Page 755 under Goczałkowo. You can use the online search engine to find an entry, though you do need to install a document viewer plugin, but it works nicely.

The book gives amazingly detailed descriptions of even the smallest towns.

Here is the (somewhat) original entry in the dictionary for Goczałkowo. There may have been some mistakes when they translated the characters in the book into electronic format.

Goczalkowo al. Goczalki, niem. Gottschalk, ryc. dobra, pow. grudziaski, na bitym trakcie grudziasko-biskupskim, okolo 1 mile od m. Lasina i 1 mile od Biskupca, gdzie jest stacya kolei zel. torunsko-wystruckiej. Obejmuje obszaru ziemi mr. 3100, budyn. 23, dom. mieszk. 9, katol. 90, ewang. 96. Parafia Swiete, szkola w miejscu, poczta Lasin. G. lezalo w dawniejszej Pomezanii, na samem pograniczu z ziemia chelminska. Nazwe wzielo zapewne od niemieckiego posiadacza albo raczej soltysa Gotschalk, dlaczego sie tez po niem. „Gotschalksdorf” zowie. Nalezalo do obwodu dawniejszego czyli starostwa prabuckiego (Riesenburg) w Prusach ksiazecych. W XYI wieku posiadali te wies Czarlinsey. R. 1543 ksiaze pruski Albrecht wystawia nowy przywilej na G. trzem siostrom Czarlinskim (niem. Scherlinski) Annie, Urszuli i Elzbiecie, jaki ojciec ich zmarly Tomasz (Thomassen) posiadal, ale w ostatniej wojnie mu zaginal. G. (Gottsehalksdorff) mialo wtedy wlók 30, a obok niego zaraz drugie dobra, zwane po niem. „Wrozelsdorff”, liczyly wlók 12 i takze do nich nalezaly. Pomimo ze G. w Pomezanii lezalo, w granicach zlutrzalego ksiecia pruskiego, mieszkancy tutejsi dlugo jeszcze pozostali polscy. Jakoz r. 1601 zachodzi Pawel Stucki z G. R. 1619 Jan Goczalkowski odstepuje swój dzial w G. Rafalowi Goczalkowskiemu. Okolo r. 1629 zachodza posiadacze tutejsi szlachta: Maciej i Rafal Goczalkowski i Bartosz Jaromierski. R. 1667 znajdowalo siewG. 5 osobnych udzialów, które szlachta drobna posiadala. R. 1720 istnialo jeszcze jak dawniej kilka udzialów. Wtedy zaczal bogatszy niemiec Aleksander Fryderyk Becker, korzystajac z nieszczesliwych czasów, mniejsze czastki skupowac. R. 1721 odkupil wlók 14, które do Tymawy byly przylaczone, od Ernesta von Taube, r. 1722 wlók 7 od Adama Kosickiego, r. 1740 nabyl prawem zastawnem wlók 21 i to folw. Gotlibkowo i Worzelsdorf (które do Gr. nalezaly) za zl. 6000 na lat 40. W ten sposób posiadal razem wlók 42. Po smierci Aleksandra Fryder. Beckera odziedziczyla te dobra córka jego zamezna majorowa Buchholz. R. 1770 nabyl je syn Rafal Bucliholz porucznik pruski za tal. 10666. R. 1780 jest posiadaczem kapitan Jan Karol Borek, r. 1786 kapitan Ferdynand von Pfórtner, r. 1794 dworzanin królewski i radca legacyjny Otto Graf von Keyserling, r. 1797 vonHippel, do którego i lisnowskie dobra nalezaly. R. 1836 nabyl G. droga subbasty August Teodcr von Peterson, a od niego zas kupil G. i Dohnastiidt r. 1841 za tal. 53300 freiherr Hugo Maksymilian Fryderyk von Biumenthal. Ob. Frolich “Geschichte des Graudenzer Kreises” 82.

Got that? Easy, huh? Well, I ran it through Google Translate to at least get a better idea of what they were talking about and got this. It also includes a few tweaks by me based on translation guides. It doesn’t flow very well, but if you scan it over, a lot of it makes sense.

Goczalkowo also called Goczalki (in German, Gottschalk), a private noble village in the Grudziaski district on the beaten path from Grudziasko to Biskupskim, about 1 mile from the township and Lasin Biskupiec 1 mile from where the railway station zelazny Torunsko-Wystruckiej. This includes 3,100 morgs [morg = 1.2 acres] of land area, 23 buildings, 9 inhabitant houses, 90 Catholics, 96 Evangelists. Parish of the Holy, the school site, post office Lasin. G. Pomezanii lay in the earlier, on same token, the border with Chelmno. Probably took the name of the holder of a German mayor Gotschalk or rather, why have you also after the German “Gotschalksdorf” eccentric. Formerly belonged to the circuit or county Prabuckiego (Riesenburg) in Ducal Prussia.

In the sixteenth century, the village had Czarlinsey. In 1543, Duke Albrecht of Prussia issued a new privilege on the three Sisters of Czarlinskim Goczalkowo (German Scherlinski) Anna, Ursula, Elizabeth, which their deceased father, Thomas (Thomassen) has any, but in the last war it missing. Goczalkowo (Gottsehalksdorff) was then fibers 30, and next to him just the second right, is called in German: “Wrozelsdorff”, consisted of fibers 12 and also belonged to them. Despite the fact that Goczalkowo Pomezanii was lying within the limits zlutrzalego Prince of Prussia, the local residents Polish remained much longer. In fact, there was Paul Stucki in Goczalkowo in 1601.

In 1619 Jan Goczalkowski waives his department in Mr challenged Rafael Goczalkowskiemu. Around 1629, the place holders of the local gentry: Matthew and Rafael Goczalkowski and Bartosz Jaromierski. In 1667 Goczalkowo sowing was located five separate shares, which had had a minor nobility. In 1720 as formerly existed even a few shares. Then began a richer German Alexander Frederick Becker, taking advantage of the unfortunate times, by buying the smaller parcels. In 1721 redeem fiber 14, which were attached to Tymawy from Ernest von Taube, 1722, the fiber 7 from Adam Kosickiego, in 1740 acquired the rights fiber bonds 21 and is manoral. Gotlibkowo and Worzelsdorf (which belonged to the Group) for ships. 6000 40s In this way the organization had the 42nd time the fiber Following the death of Alexander Fryder. Becker inherited the the good his daughter married the major’s wife Buchholz. In 1770 it has acquired the son of a Prussian Lieutenant Rafael Bucliholz ??for thallium. 10666. In 1780 is the holder of Captain John Charles Borek, the 1786 captain Ferdinand von Pfortner, 1794 a royal courtier and advisor legacyjny Otto Graf von Keyserling, 1797 vonHippel, to which belonged and lisnowskie the good. In 1836 Goczalkowo has acquired the road subbasty Teodcr August von Peterson, and from him while he bought the Goczalkowo and Dohnastiidt 1841 for thallium. 53300 Hugo Maximilian Freiherr Friedrich von Biumenthal. Ob. Frolich, “Geschichte des Kreises Graudenzer”82

Sadly, I had another version that I was fixing by hand based on other translations by people such as Al from Al’s Polish-American Genealogy and other translation guides online, but I think I lost it. I was pretty sure I saved it, but I guess not. I didn’t do too much with it, so it’s not a huge deal.

I have more work to do on getting this translated better. It’ll give me something to do while I wait for the microfilms for the area to arrive at my local Family History Library.

Al’s Polish-American Genealogy by Al Wierzba

This one has been on my blogroll for awhile, since Al posts useful Polish information and interesting tidbits on his blog. It doesn’t hurt that he’s also researching mainly in Milwaukee and Wisconsin. I visit it frequently. I actually just went there to copy the URL and got lost in some other posts. Keep up the good work, Al.

Steve’s Genealogy Blog by Stephen Danko

This one has also been on my blogroll for awhile. Steve mostly posts original family documents, but a lot (or maybe all of them) are Polish and he usually also posts translations and other useful information. It’s interesting to browse the documents and learn about the different areas and records.

Kartenmeister

Kartenmeister is a must bookmark for anyone with German/Polish/Prussian roots. According to its front page it’s “the most comprehensive database of its kind in the world. It contains 88,334 locations with over 38,691 name changes once, and 5,500 twice and more.” Using the site, you are able to search place names by German version or Polish version, get much information about the location and even other researchers looking for ancestors in these places. This is how I found the (hopefully) current location of my ZALEWSKI ancestors using the German name of “Gottschalk.” There is no equal.

Free Research Courses at FamilySearch

There are more than just Polish research classes here, but I really enjoyed the “Intro to Polish Research” course I watched the other day. It was very informative, easy to follow, and it helped me try some new things. I am currently watching the next video, “Advanced Polish Research.”  The presenter of the class, Ceil Wendt Jensen, was very well-versed in the subject matter and easy to listen to.

Germans to America (1850-1897) search tool by Steve Morse

While this search tool is helpful by itself, it’s much more powerful if you have access to Ancestry’s passenger lists. You can search by name, origin, destination and then use those results to find the corresponding passenger list image. I found my great-great-grandfather Frank Zalewski’s brother’s passenger list this way. There are also many other useful search tools on his main site, stevemorse.org.

Tonight, I went to the FamilySearch website to see what records they may have on Goczałki or Gottschalk, the area of Poland that I’m targeting in my latest research according to a recent post. I actually never got to finding the records since I was sidetracked by a link they had labeled “Free Classes.” I assumed these were classes at the local Family History Library and thought that they may be interesting. It would both get me to one of the libraries and also maybe learn more about how to use them. Instead, these are online classes. The one I picked was Introduction to Polish Research, which was about 53 minutes long. I paid attention for about 23 minutes when she was talking about ship manifests and origin locations. She recommended searching the passenger lists by origin location instead of by name. This way you could find other families that came from the same area. She also mentioned the amazing genealogy search website setup by Steve Morse at stevemorse.org.

I’ve used his site previously to find updated streets and addresses for Milwaukee and also converting the 1930 Census occupation codes. It’s not the prettiest site, but neither is Google. I never really got into the other search tools that he created, so I just started going down each of his passenger list tools pasting Gottschalk into the “Place of Origin” box. Not much luck. I did find Orlowski and Sobieski families, but I don’t have those names in my family tree. Then I got towards the bottom, beyond the Ancestry.com tools, and into a very basic looking one called Germans to America (1850-1897). It sounded too broad, but let’s try it. It came back with four people from Gottschalk, but one caught my eye, Jakob Salewski. The information didn’t give a port of arrival, but it did give an arrival date of 17 Sep 1891 and a ship name, the Rhynland. 1891 was the year of immigration listed on most of Jacob ZALEWSKI’s records. His age is also listed as 28, which calculates to about 1863, which also matches my Jacob.

I searched Ancestry’s immigration database for the keyword “Rhynland” and found one arriving in New York on 17 Sep 1891. Fortunately for me, Ancestry has a lot of New York passenger lists. What is interesting is that I’ve searched over and over for Zalewski, Salewski, and all other variations. I also tried all forms of Jacob and 1891 trying to find him. So, next, I browsed the New York records manually, picking 1891, then September, and then 17. As I had hoped, there was a “Rhynland” entry. I started browsing it manually page-by-page and found Jakob Salewski on page 16 of 19 and it did say he was from Gottschalk. This matches all of the other information I’ve been leaning towards. Interestingly, he is also traveling with two other men from Gottschalk, but they don’t ring a bell and who knows if they went to Milwaukee, also.

17 Sep 1891, Rhynland - Click for larger.

So, my next step (out of many other steps) is to see what records I can get for Goczałki and start digging. What a week.

I now have the baptism location of my 3rd-great-grandparents, Ignatz Peter SZULTA and Nepomuncena SYLDATK. Ignatz was born in Bukowa Góra in the Sulęczyno Parish of Kartuzy County, Pomorskie, Poland. Nepomuncena was born nearby at Gowidlino in the Sierakowice Parish. Their first three children, including my great-great grandmother Clara SZULTA, were all born in Sulęczyno before the family emigrated to America. I also found Ignatz’s parents, who are Anton SZULTA and Marianna MALSZYCKI and also Nepomuncena’s parents, who are Jacob SYLDATK and Tecla KREFFT.

Rita also found information that my great-great-grandfather, Joseph TROKA, was probably from Lipusz which is a village in Kościerzyna County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. The one family that still eludes me is my ZALEWSKI family. I have not yet been able to trace them back to Poland/Prussia. All I have is that Frank and Anna ZALEWSKI were married in the Poznan Province, but I have no source information on that besides it being listed on a family tree I have. I also know that they immigrated from the Port of Bremen, Germany, but that doesn’t really help pinpoint anything. I’ve checked the Poznan Project website and haven’t run across anything, but hopefully someone indexes their records at some point.

Breaking down these brick walls piece by piece, while aggravating at times, is really very fun. Plus, I am meeting some great people. Hopefully we will help each other more along the way.

A pączki is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a flattened sphere and filled with confiture or other sweet filling. I bet you’re like, “Wait! Isn’t this just a donut?” According to Wikipedia, although they look like bismarcks or jelly doughnuts, pączki are made from especially rich dough containing eggs, fats, sugar and sometimes milk.

Sadly, I didn’t get one today. No one brought any in to the office and I didn’t think driving that far for one was worth it. Though, I am always for any sort of ethnic celebration that includes eating lots of donut-like foods.

Click for larger image

This is a photo of my great-great-grandparents, Joe & Clara (SZULTA) TROKA on their 50th wedding anniversary. The date of this photo would be somewhere around 29 Jan 1944 since they were married in 1894. They were married at St. Hedwig’s Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There is a very nice writeup and history for St. Hedwig’s at Wikipedia. Here is a closer photo from the “Polsih Churches of Milwaukee” website.

This entry is about Frank J ZALEWSKI, Sr. Frank is my great-great-grandfather and the oldest Zalewski entry in my family tree. As with most people, I’d like to dig deeper into my paternal (surname) line as far as I can. Unfortunately, this is probably the shortest line I have.

Frank Zalewski - 1909

Frank J ZALEWSKI, Sr was more than likely born 4 Sep 1858, though I also have February 1860 as listed in the 1900 Census and 1905 Wisconsin State Census records. All other records indicate 1858. Obviously, there are many different entries for birth place as that area of the world went through many changes. I’ve mainly seen Germany and Prussia listed, so it’s possible that it was in a more German area.

He married Ms. Anna LINDNER (b 27 Nov 1854) between 1883 and 1885 in what is listed as Poznan Province, South Prussia (Poland.) I have yet to cement this information as it was given to me by another Zalewski researcher a few years back, whom I think has now passed away. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any sources listed in the created booklet I was given. At least it gives me a general area to start my search.

In this booklet, these notes are listed:

There is some confusion, however, as  to the area of Poland in which Frank and Anna Zalewski resided prior to their emigration to the United States in 1890.  During a telephone interview with their granddaughter, Caroline (Walczak) Sullivan, conducted in January 1995, she indicated that Frank and Anna lived somewhere in the province of Poznan — an area of Poland then under German jurisdiction and known as South Prussia.  This would correspond with information supplied on the death certificate and in the newspaper obituary of Frank Zalewski, Sr in 1941.  Although neither source mentions Poznan as his place of birth, both list Germany as his country of orgin.  (Much of western Poland, including Poznan Province, became German territory after the three partitions of Poland at the end of the eighteenth century.)

There is, however, a conflicting story as to the area of Poland from which Frank and Anna originated.  During a 1993 telephone interview with another granddaughter, Irene (Zalewski) Lutzenberger, she indicated that her late father (Editor’s Note: my great-grandfather, Joseph Zalewski) had always said his parents came from eastern Poland — an area then under Russian rule.  Irene’s father also stated that when his parents entered the United States, their surname was spelled “Salefsky,” thereby reflecting the Russian influence.  Although no official documents can be found to verify this, it is interesting to note that in the 1934 obituary of another grandchild, Norbert Cybela, the maiden name of Norbert’s mother is spelled “Zalesky.”

It is hypothetically possible that Frank Zalewski, Sr is, indeed, born and raised in Russian Poland and, at some later point in his life, moved to the German section in which Poznan Province was located.  Although traveling across political borders was difficult in 19th-century Europe, to say the least, it was not impossible.  In Russian Poland, for example, all debts to the government, including military service in the czar’s army, had to be fulfilled before travel documents would be issued and borders would be crossed.  Two years of active military service followed by two years in the reserve forces was required of all males when they reached their twentieth birthday.  In Frank’s case, that would have accounted for the years 1878 through 1882.  We know he married Anna Lindner (a German) in January 1885, which means he probably relocated from Russian-held, eastern Poland to the German-held, western area sometime between 1882 and 1884. This, of course, is only speculation but would explain the Russian “sky” ending on the surname.

I’ve taken some of this into account when researching, but to no avail yet.

As noted above, Frank and Anna immigrated to the United States in about 1890. It’s listed that they arrived at the Port of Baltimore. I have found dates spanning from 1886-1892 in most of the census records, but I have yet to find a ship manifest or something similar. I even tried using the “Salefsky” spelling from above, since that’s how the name was pronounced in Europe. The notes I have list this about their immigration:

Frank Zalewski, Sr., his wife Anna, and their two oldest children – Martha and Angeline, emigrated to the US from the Baltic port of Danzig and arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1890.  The couple’s third child, Mary, was born in Baltimore in March 1891.  The family then traveled west to Nebraska and east, from there, to the Polish community in Chicago.  By May, 1892, the family had settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

When researching their third child, Mary, I have her born in places from Poland, Baltimore, Ohio and Milwaukee, so I’m not sure yet. I’ve done a bit of researching into Nebraska and Chicago, but I haven’t found any helpful record collections yet, especially since the 1890 census is mostly missing.

I found them in the 1900 Census for the City of Milwaukee, Ward 13. They lived at 900 Fratney St (which is now 2448 N Fratney) with a few other families.

1900 Census (Partial) - Click for larger

They are also listed in the 1905 Wisconsin State Census, but I have to find them in the 1895 State census, though that one isn’t as detailed. This one has Mary born in Poland Germany. Agnes, the last child, who was born in 1902, is now listed in this one.

1905 WI State Census - Click for larger

In all of the census records it has Frank listed as “Laborer” for the City Park System. I had heard that he basically worked as a garbage man. Someone has to do it, right? I assume there wasn’t much to choose from being a fresh, and probably poor, immigrant. They are then listed again in the 1910 Census in Milwaukee, still living at 900 Fratney St.

1910 Census (Partial) - Click for larger

Most of Frank and Anna’s children had moved out throughout these years with only son Frank, Jr and Agnes still living with them in 1920. Though, daughters Frances, Helen and Mary were living at the same residence with their respective families. They were still at 900 Fratney St on the northeast side of Milwaukee.

1920 Census - Click for larger

In 1930, only Frank, Jr was still living with Frank and Anna. Agnes had moved out and married Mr. Chester WALCZAK. This is the last record (obviously, since the 1940 Census is still not released) that I have Frank and Anna listed in. They were not living at 1008 Buffum St, which is still in the northeastern part of Milwaukee. That address is now considered 2630 N Buffum St, which if Google Maps is to be believed, is now just a park. Agnes and Chester also live at this residence as seem in the excerpt below.

1930 Census - Click for larger

According to the 1930 Census, Frank was retired by then. I haven’t found many records beyond the census records for Frank yet, though he is mentioned in some letters I found written to my grandfather, Richard Zalewski, from his mother, Emily (TROKA) ZALEWSKI (Frank’s daugher-in-law) in April 1941.

I got to go over by Grandpa (Daddy’s.) I go there every Monday, Friday and Saturday.

Will answer the letter in full next because I got to take care of Dad’s father.

It sounds like there may be more, but unfortunately, there are no more letters. Sadly, Emily unexpectedly passed away only days after the last letter on 1 May 1941. It seems as though Frank was ill in 1941. Which matches up to the fact that Frank passed away later that year on 8 Aug 1941 at his home in Milwaukee.

I know I’ve read his obituary in the Milwaukee Journal via the microfilm copies at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. I don’t think I made copies. I will need to get back and do that some day, but I don’t remember any new information listed. You never know, though, right?

So, that’s Frank. Say “hi” to Frank. My Zalewski brick wall. The reason I started this website.