FRANK ZALEWSKI

Frank Zalewski, 82, of 2630 N. Buffum st., was found dead on the floor of his home late Friday afternoon by his son, [my great-grandfather] Joseph, a police officer, who came to visit him. He had been living alone since his wife died two years ago. Death was due to natural causes, according to coroner’s assistants.

Mr. Zalewski was born in Germany and came to this country 51 years ago. He worked for the department of public works for 39 years, retiring six years ago. He and his wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1935. Funeral services will be held at 8:30 a.m. at St.  Casimir’s church, with burial in Holy Cross cemetery.

Survivors include two sons, Joseph and Frank, jr., and five daughters, Mrs. Angeline Pierzchalski, Mrs. Mary Gierszewski, Mrs. Frances Cybela, Mrs. Helen Stroinski and Mrs. Agnes Walczak.

You can actually view the obituary in the newspaper using Google’s News Archive website. I found it when I searched for “Zalewski” in their archives. Fortunately, he had a larger obituary that was picked up by Google’s character recognition software. Most of the normal obituaries aren’t picked up.

© 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.

Anyone following the latest research into my ZALEWSKI line knows that I’ve run across the GWIAZDOWSKI surname on a few occasions. They have something to do with my ZALEWSKI family, but I’m still not 100% sure what it is. Research points to many conflicting options: These are Frank ZALEWSKI’s parents, these are Frank’s aunt and uncle, or maybe they’re just good friends. I have more research to do with the Polish/German church records I recently found at the FHL.

Above: More evidence that they’re related to me somehow is that (among other things) they’re buried with members of the Jacob ZALEWSKI family (the brother of Frank) at Holy Cross Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their plot is located at the back part of the GORALSKI stone (another family somehow related to me.)

[Find-A-Grave link]

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

Mary Jane Corrigan - 1938

After the break, I have embedded the memorial video that I created. Even though you may not know her, I hope you enjoy the video.

I tried uploading it to YouTube, but it kept finding one of the songs in the movie and flagging the video for copyright, which then removes the audio track. I didn’t feel like refuting that due to “Fair Use” and then have to wait. I just hosted it myself. Hopefully, it will stream nicely for you, though you may need to let if buffer.

Thank you for the inspiration
Thank you for the smiles
All the unconditional love
That carried me for miles
It carried me for miles

But most of all thank you for my life

These were the best of times
I’ll miss these days
Your spirit lit my life each day

My heart is bleeding bad
But I’ll be okay
Your spirit guides my life each day

– Dream Theater – “The Best of Times”

The music in the video, in case anyone was curious. Use the links to hear samples and/or purchase the songs.

1. Jordan Rudess – “The Spirit Carries On” which is actually a piano cover of his band Dream Theater’s version of “The Spirit Carries On.”
2. Dream Theater – “The Best of Times” which the lyrics above are from. The movie uses the intro part.
3. Piano cover of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” composed by Scott D. Davis.
4. “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” by Bing Crosby. I’m told my Grandpa used to play it for my Grandma.

Richard & Mary Jane (Corrigan) Zalewski.
Wedding Day, October 11, 1947

Today we lost my grandmother, Mary Jane Zalewski, one of the world’s biggest fans of Irish heritage. Born in Ashland, Wisconsin on April 27, 1926 along with her twin brother, Tommy, to Maurice & Agnes (Braatz) Corrigan. Story has it that they were born so small that my great-grandmother would bundle them up and put them on the stove door to keep them warm. While in Milwaukee visiting her aunt Ethel Corrigan, who ended up marrying my grandfather’s cousin, Edy Strelka, she met my grandfather, Richard Zalewski. They tied the knot on October 11, 1947 and had their first child, my uncle, in 1948. My dad soon followed in 1951 and then my aunt in 1960.

Throughout my life, they always lived in the little house in Cedarburg, Wisconsin that we used to visit for Christmas Eve and many other times throughout the year. My paternal grandparents were very loving, as most grandparents, but they were also stern. Grandpa would scold us for sneaking into the basement or jumping into the window wells, but Grandpa and Grandma also used to have the greatest toys to play with including the matchbox car track and the puzzles. She was always a big fan of Ireland and anything Irish. Even though she was probably just as much German (and some French) than she was Irish, no one dared to correct her on it. She was a CORRIGAN and she was full-blooded Irish and that’s that!

When I was in my first year of college, my grandfather got sick and passed away on April 18, 1999. It was very sad to me since this was the first major death in my family and the first loss of a grandparent. I didn’t know how my grandmother would handle it. It turns out she did very well with herself. She drove (albeit slowly) where she needed to go, met with friends, knitted like she always did, and was usually in good spirits. Sadly, she fell while living alone and had to move to an assisted living center, but she still made the best of it. I ended up buying my grandparent’s old house from my grandmother and we currently still live here. It’s comforting at times. Unfortunately, during the last few years, Grandma started to forget things and had trouble getting around, but she was her normal self a lot of the time. Even at 85, she still loved her pizza and beer. I’m told that she passed away peacefully in her sleep and now she is in a better place, probably catching up with my Grandpa. He’s probably got the “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” vinyl record already playing on the record player.

We’ll miss you, Grandma. Thanks for everything. Ireland has one less fan today.

How do I live without the ones I love?
Time still turns the pages of the book it’s burned
Place in time always on my mind
And the light you left remains but it’s so hard to stay
When I have so much to say and you’re so far away

I love you, you were ready
The pain is strong and urges rise
But I’ll see you when it let’s me
Your pain is gone, your hands untied

- Avenged Sevenfold, “So Far Away”

1. Determine who your most recent unknown ancestor is – the one that you don’t even know his or her name.
2. Summarize what you know about his or her family, including resources that you have searched and the resources you should search but haven’t searched yet.

My most recent unknown ancestor is actually on my ZALEWSKI line. I am not sure about Frank J Zalewski’s parents’ names. Frank married Anna LINDNER in 1885 somewhere in German Poland, though I’m slowly cracking down this wall. Frank and Anna had 9 children, 2 boys and 7 girls. Just recently I have good feelings about tracking down the origin location of Frank and Anna before they emigrated to America. I have tracked this to a place called Gottschalk during the late 1800s which is probably now called Goczałki in present day Poland.

No records that I have searched including census, passenger lists, death records, or church records have named Frank’s parents. I did, in the last few years, connect him to his brother Jacob Zalewski who came over to America a few years later and also settled in Milwaukee.

That reminds me to check back with the Family History Library. I ordered the church records from the Goczałki area last time I was there and I sort of remember that they were supposed to arrive sometime in May. The FHL was supposed to mail me a postcard letting me know that they arrived. Either they forgot, or I put down some wrong info and the records didn’t arrive. These records will be my next research opportunity to hopefully extend my tree further back. I actually do not know Anna Lindner’s parents either, but I do have a little more possible info for them, including names.

This database contains U.S. Navy muster rolls and associated reports of changes for U.S. Navy enlisted personnel who served on U.S. Navy ships or in other naval activities between 31 January 1938 and 31 December 1949. Over 33 million records are contained in this database.

I ran a search on my grandfather and found many records. Most of them don’t contain any surprising information, but they can be used to track his movement through the Navy during WWII.

He is first found on 31 Jan 1941 at the U.S.S. Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida. It says he enlisted in 23 Oct 1940 in Chicago, which is close to his hometown of Milwaukee. His “rating” at this time is listed as “AS,” which in naval terms stands for Aviation Support Equipment Technician. It also notes on the page that he transferred from US NTS (probably Naval Training Station) Great Lakes, Illinois.

The next listing is from 28 Feb 1941, where he is still located at Pensacola. This listing mentions that he has a change in rating (CR). It specifically says, “Rating changed from AS, to Sea2c in accordance with Art. D-5108(1) BuNav Manual.” “Sea2C” is listed as Seaman 2nd Class.  He is listed again in Pensacola in 31 Mar 1941, still rated as S2c (Seaman 2nd Class.)

The next listing on 31 May 1941 has two entries. The first entry is from Pensacola which mentions that he was transferred to the NAS (Naval Air Station) in Miami, Florida on 23 May 1941. The next entry is from Miami stating that he was received from Pensacola on 28 May 1941. He is again listed in Miami on 30 Jun 1941, though no changes were made, still a Seaman 2nd Class.

His next change in rating came on 1 Jul 1941 at Miami, written as “to Sea1c. AUTH: BuNav Cir.Ltr. No. 27-41 corrected by BuNav Cir.Ltr. No. 66-41.” Not sure what all of that means, but he did get a promotion somewhere in there. He is still a Seaman 1st Class on 30 Sep 1941. According to Wikipedia, Sea1c is now called Petty Officer Third Class.

On 1 Dec 1941, Richard gets his next promotion from Sea1c to AMM3c, which during WWII stood for Aviation Machinist’s Mate, 3rd Class in his case. They were responsible for “maintaining aircraft engines and their related systems, including the induction, cooling, fuel, oil, compression, combustion, turbine, gas turbine compressor, exhaust and propeller systems” and many other things. The last muster roll entry for Miami is on 31 Mar 1942 where he is still listed as an AMM3c.

There are two entries I also found on ships that are more than likely my grandfather. The “Service Numbers” on the entries match up from the earlier entries. I know the earlier entries were him due to records and photos I have. Though, he never saw combat, he may have been on a ship while it was docked in America. The first entry was on the USS Orizaba on 10 Jul 1944. Though, the ship is listed as travelling from San Francisco to “FRAY.” I’m not sure what “FRAY” is. This matches up with the history of the Orizaba as it says, “Back at San Francisco in June [1944], she underwent repairs; completed a run to the Marshalls and Marianas; and then sailed north to the Aleutians.” He is now listed as AMM1c, so he has been promoted to 1st Class since 1942.

The next and final entry I have found was for the USS Shangri-La on 1 October 1946. Again, the “Service Number” matches and this record matches up with the historical record of the ship, “she made a brief training cruise to Pearl Harbor, then wintered at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.” He is still rated as an AMM1c. This entry contains some information that I can’t quite figure out at the moment. I’ve browsed through the whole muster roll and can’t find explanation of the abbreviations and acronyms they’re using or what the columns mean.

USS Shangri-La, 10 Oct 1946. Ancestry.com. U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949 (database on-line).

His entry says:

Zalewski, Richard J — AMM1 — 2FFT WC DISCH — 28 — 30022228
Zalewski, Richard J — AMM1 — 1PEARL HARBOR — 20 — 30022228

The first entry may mean something like “For Further Transfer (FFT) Work Completed (WC) Discharge (DISCH)” I know he finished his naval work in 1946. Maybe this was the ship he took from Pearl Harbor back to the contiguous 50 states after serving in Hawaii.

While I was aware of a lot of my grandfather’s navy duties during WWII, it’s neat to see them written in government documents. Though, there is no information from his time spent in Hilo, Hawaii from which most of the photos I scanned a put online were from.

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.

I just wanted to make a quick trip and look over the records they had on “perpetual” loan. The lady who showed me around seemed confused when I said that, though all of the records I used said that they were on “indefinite” loan, so I’m sure it’s the same thing. They have all of the Milwaukee church records and vital records on-hand. I really wanted to look through the church records for both St. Hedwig’s and St. Casimir’s churches on the east side of Milwaukee since those two are where most of my Polish family attended. My main ZALEWSKI ancestors first went to Hedwig’s and then Casimir’s when they moved.

I was also really hoping to find the marriage record of Frank ZALEWSKI’s brother, Jacob to his wife Pauline WONDKOWSKI. I am somewhat lucky in the fact that Jacob was unmarried when he immigrated. This should hopefully allow me to find his marriage record and maybe his parent’s names (which would also be Frank’s parents, my 3rd-great-grandparents.) As luck would (not) have it, I couldn’t find the record. Jacob and Pauline baptised all of their children at St. Hedwig’s, but I could not find their marriage record. I looked countless times going back and forward a few years, too. It is possible that they may have been married at another church in the area, which I will pursue or there is a very rare possibility that they married elsewhere before coming to Milwaukee, which would not be fun to track down. Plus, I also found many spellings of Pauline’s last name, from WADKOWSKI to LUTKOWSKI.

I did, again, solidify the relationship between the ZALEWSKI, GWIAZDOWSKI, and GORALSKI families. A lot of both Frank’s and Jacob’s children were sponsored by one or more of the families. Frank and Anna ZALEWSKI’s last child, Agnes, was sponsored by both August and Anna GWIAZDOWSKI. It also seems that in some of the earlier baptism records, they listed the female sponsors with their maiden names as I found Pauline listed as Pauline LANDKOWSKA on my great-grandfather Joseph’s baptism record (which I posted about earlier this week.) Also, on their next child, Frances Dorothy ZALEWSKI, I found the female sponsor listed as Maria GWIAZDOWSKI, better known as Mary GORALSKI, which now (somewhat) proves that she is the daughter of both August & Anna, though it still messes up the fact that she is listed as Frank ZALEWSKI’s sister.

I also found some other possible family connections that I need to pursue, mainly on the LINDNER side, though some on the TROKA side, too. I ordered the records from what I hope is the original location of my ZALEWSKI and LINDNER ancestors, Goczałki (or more specifically, the parish of Święte.) We’ll see how that turns out once the records arrive, usually in about 6 weeks.

Image from crowderb@flickr