This is a photo of my Grandpa, Richard Zalewski, and my younger brother, Joel in 1986. I’m assuming it’s around Easter since that’s where the photo was in the album. I like the fact that they’re wearing matching shirts, or as we called them, “Grandpa Shirts.”
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This is a photo from my grandmother’s 8th Grade class in November 1939. My grandmother, Mary Jane CORRIGAN, is in the 3rd row from the left and 4th from the back. Her twin brother, my great-uncle, Tommy is also in the class. He is the boy the in the far bottom right corner, closest to the camera.
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This photo was found in my grandmother’s collection and labeled “great-grandparents Braatz” which should make this couple, Wilhelm & Maria (KLEGIN) BRAATZ, my 3rd-great-grandparents on my father’s side. The child is not labeled, but I’m assuming it’s my great-great-grandfather, Frank BRAATZ, since he is their first child. I would also assume the photo was taken sometime in 1870 or so.
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This is a photo of my great-grandmother, Agnes (BRAATZ) CORRIGAN and her younger brother, Frank BRAATZ, Jr. There is no date on the photo, but if I had to guess I’d say it’s probably in 1910-11 or so.
I’ve decided to start putting the descriptions with my Wordless Wednesday posts instead of posting them the next day. I feel it’s sometimes confusing and more work to post the same thing twice rather than just saying it all on one day. I will still call it Wordless Wednesday, since that’s the name that everyone uses, but it will have words. Sue me.
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This is a photo of my great-great-grandother, Clara (Szulta) Troka and her two daughters, Francis & Emily. Emily is my great-grandmother who married Joseph Zalewski. Francis was better known as Sister Mary Clarentine when she joined the convent. There is no exact date written on this photo, but if I would have to guess I would say it was taken around 1910-1911 since Francis looks very young.
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This is one of the new photos I found this weekend when looking through my grandmother’s collection. This is the best photo that I have of my great-grandmother, Emily (Troka) ZALEWSKI. She passed away pretty young in 1941 at the age of 45, so there are not a lot of photos of her. This is her and my great-grandfather, Joseph ZALEWSKI on their wedding day in about 1919, since Joe had recently returned from World War I. I have yet to get the exact date of their wedding. I guess it’s one of those things I keep forgetting to dig for.
The other people are mostly unknown to me. The only other person that was labeled was the 2nd man in the back, Leo TROKA, Emily’s younger brother. The other three are not labeled. Though, strangely, there was a 1998 obituary taped to the back of the photograph inside of the frame for an Agnes (Binczak) MAJESKI, who seemed to have lived in that area of Milwaukee according to census records. The obituary was not specifically pointing at any certain individual, but it is possible that this woman is one of the women in the photo.
There are many more wonderful photos in this collection, so besides getting a treasure trove of great family photos, I shouldn’t run out of Wordless Wednesday/Tell Me Thursday posts for awhile.
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This photo was recently sent to me by another DeBroux/Laurent researcher. The ladies shown are the three youngest daughters of Jean-Baptiste LAURENT and Olivine Marie ST. LOUIS. They are Josephine KING, Philomene DEBROUX, and Milly RABIDEAU. Philomene is my great-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. I’m not sure when the photo was taken, but if I had to guess, I ‘d say somewhere from 1940-1950 since Philomene passed away in 1956.
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
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.
