CategoriesWay Back Wednesday

Way Back Wednesday: The Boys

Troka/Zalewski/Szulta

This is a picture of the men of the Troka, Zalewski, Szulta, and other families. The photo includes both my great-grandfather and his father-in-law, my great-great-grandfather. Also included are some great uncles and some other family members. Here are the names of everyone in the photo. Back row: Joseph Zalewski (my great-grandfather), Leo Troka (my great-granduncle), Steve Kolasinski, John Szulta (my great-great-granduncle), Roman Troka (my great-granduncle) – Front row: Barney Kuszewski, Jos. Malzewski, Joseph Troka (my great-great-grandfather), Ignatz Urmanski.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: April 18th – 24th

I plan on adding major events for both my family tree and my wife’s family tree from now on. That should help some of those less busy weeks. As always, you can find all of this information yourself on the Dates & Anniversaries page.

April 18th

1892 – MarriedThomas J CORRIGAN & Emma Jane FIRMENICH – Thomas and Emma are my great-great-grandparents on my father’s side. They were married at Sanborn, Ashland Co., Wisconsin. This was Thomas’ second marriage as his first wife died in about 1890. Thomas and Emma had 9 children, including my great-grandfather, Maurice CORRIGAN. Thomas passed away just before their last child, Sadie, was born in 1915. Emma later re-married 2 more times before she died in 1941.

1999 – Died – Richard ZALEWSKI – Richard is my grandfather on my father’s side. He was born 9 Dec 1921 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Joseph & Emily (TROKA) ZALEWSKI. He married my grandmother, Mary Jane CORRIGAN, on 11 Oct 1947 in Milwaukee. He passed away in Cedarburg, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin and is buried there at St. Francis-Borgia Cemetery. His death was one of the main reasons I got into genealogy in the first place.

April 19th

1678 – Born – Anna Maria LUDWIG – Anna Maria is my wife’s 8th-great-grandmother on her father’s side. She was born in Kurnbach, Baden, Germany. She married Johann Phillip NAST in 1703 and had 7 children. She passed away on 3 May 1748 at Kurnbach, Baden, Germany.

April 20th

1740 – Born – Nathaniel SHANNON – Nathaniel is my wife’s 6th-great-grandfather on her mother’s side. He was born in Portsmouth, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire to Nathaniel & Alice (FROST) SHANNON. He married Ann B CARD in February 1761. He passed away in September 1792 is Portsmouth.

1800 – Born – Antoine Joseph CALONNE – Antoine is my wife’s 4th-great-grandfather on her mother’s side. He was born in Grand-Leez, Namur, Belgium. He married Marie Eleanore Josephe ETIENNE in 1821. He passed away on 9 Dec 1870 in Grand-Leez.

1900 – Died – Charlotte STRASSMAN – Charlotte is my 3rd-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born 20 Jul 1817 in Germany. She married Johann W G LAST sometime before 1850 in Germany before emigrating in 1857. She passed away at Grafton, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin and is buried at Union Cemetery in Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin.

April 21st

1722 – Born – Thérèse DARD – Thérèse is my 7th-great-grandmother of my father’s side. She was born at Menoux, Haute-Saône, France. She married Pierre Francois QUINET in 1751 and had 7 children. She presumably passed away in France, as did her husband.

April 24th

1927 – Died – Johann THIELKE – Johann is my great-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born 26 Oct 1843 in Schwerin, Mecklenburg, Germany. He immigrated with his family in about 1854. He married Wilomene C RATHKE in 1891 and had one child, Arthur. He passed away at Grafton, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin and is buried there at St. Paul’s Cemetery.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: April 11th – 17th

Frank & Margaret Braatz
Frank & Margaret Braatz

The history in my family tree for this week. As always you can browse the dates yourself on the Dates & Anniversaries page.

April 11th

1939 – Died – Anna A (LINDNER) ZALEWSKIAnna is my great-great-grandmother on my father’s side. She was born 27 Nov 1865 in German Poland. She married Frank J ZALEWSKI in 1885 and emigrated to America in 1889, settling in Milwaukee. Frank and Anna had 9 children together. Anna passed away in Milwaukee at the age of 73 and is buried with her family at Holy Cross Cemetery in Milwaukee.

April 12th

1923 – Married – Maurice Earl CORRIGAN & Agnes Katherine BRAATZ – Maurice and Agnes are my great-grandparents on my father’s side. Maurice was born 28 Dec 1898 in Sanborn, Ashland Co., Wisconsin and Agnes was born 4 Feb 1903 in Mellen, Ashland Co., Wisconsin. They were married at Iron Mountain, Dickinson Co., Michigan and had 5 children. Maurice passed away in 1993 and Agnes in 1998. They are buried at St. Agnes Cemetery in Ashland, Wisconsin.

April 14th

1856 – Died – Jacobus Franciscus KREBBEKX – Jacobus is my 4th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born 1 Mar 1818 in Hoofdplaat, Zeeland, Netherlands. He married Maria Sophia SCHALLOIR in 1840 and together they had 2 children. Jacobus passed away at Hoofdplaat, Zeeland, Netherlands.

April 17th

1867 – Born – Frank F BRAATZ, Sr – Frank is my great-great-grandfather on my father’s side. He was born in Germany to Wilhelm & Maria (KLEGIN) BRAATZ before immigrating in about 1867. Frank married Margaret K STEARNS in 1891 and had 5 children, including my great-grandmother Agnes. Frank passed away on 10 Jul 1948 in Ashland, Wisconsin and is buried there at Mt. Hope Cemetery.

CategoriesCorriganWay Back WednesdayZalewski

Way Back Wednesday

Zalewski Wedding

This is from my grandparent’s wedding, Richard & Mary Jane (CORRIGAN) ZALEWSKI on October 11, 1947 at St. Gall’s Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I particularly enjoy the two kids on the sides of the church. I’m not even sure if they’re part of the family.

Click the photo for a larger version.

CategoriesWay Back Wednesday

Way Back Wednesday

I received this photo from another researcher that is also looking into some of my Polish family. They also just happen to cross with my ZALEWSKI family. This is a photo she sent me that is from July 1941 that includes my great-grandfather, Joseph ZALEWSKI, on the right and my great-uncle Robert ZALEWSKI in the middle. I’m not sure who the other man is at the moment, but he looks sorta familiar. It says it was taken at “the lake” but I’m not sure where that is. There are a lot of lakes around here. My grandfather, Richard ZALEWSKI, is probably away at Navy school in Florida around this time. Robert and Richard’s mother, Emily, would have just recently passed away unexpectedly in May 1941 from a stroke.

I like how my great-grandfather looks like he just stepped out of The Sopranos with that big ol’ cigar in his mouth. Well..a Polish version, like The Sopranskis or something.

Click the photo for a larger version.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: March 14th-20th

The dates and anniversaries for my family for this week in March, though it’s not a very busy week. As always, you can find info for any day using the Dates and Anniversaries page.

March 14th

1764 – Born – John Baptiste III GADIOU St. Louis – John is my 5th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born at Yamachiche, St. Maurice, Quebec, Canada. He married Marie-Catherine GIGNAC in 1790 and had 4 children. He passed away on 16 Mar 1836 at Yamachiche, St. Maurice, Quebec, Canada.

March 17th

1960 – Died – Angeline R ZALEWSKI – Angeline, also sometimes known as Amelia, is my great-grandaunt on my father’s side. She was born 6 Jul 1887 in Poland Germany. As with the Zalewski family, I’m not exactly sure where in Europe the family is from.  She immigrated to America with her parents in 1889 and settled in Milwaukee. She married Martin PIERZCHALSKI in 1912. She passed away in Milwaukee and is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery there.

CategoriesWay Back Wednesday

Way Back Wednesday

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.”

CategoriesMilitarySaturday in the AtticZalewski

Sunday in the Attic

One of the big mysteries I am trying to solve in my genealogy is to find more information on my great-grandfather, Joseph Zalewski’s, military history. According to a previous family researcher, all of his military files were burned in the extremely destructive 1973 National Personnel Records Center fire. So, all the information I had was that he served in World War I, possibly in France at some point. By sheer luck, during a random Google Books search, I found him listed in a book about the 86th Division headquartered at Camp Grant in Illinois. From there I was able to determine that they were shipped to France in 1918, but never saw combat due to the Armistice. Though, it did mention that a lot of the division was broken apart and used in other divisions at the time. I did a more in-depth post about this find about a year ago.

In this huge collection of photos and documents that I currently have from my grandmother, there are some documents about my great-grandfather including a military record. It looks to be his “Honorable Discharge” papers. About half-way down on the “Enlistment Record” side it has a hand-written line that says:

5th Co. 161 Depot Brigade. Last assignment to 323rd Machine Gun Bn.

Unfortunately, it looks as though the previous line may be missing, but I do now have more information on where he may have went after the 86th Division broke apart. I have yet to find much information on the 323rd Machine Gun Battalion, which looked to be part of the 83rd Division. I mostly find information on Ohio, since it looked to be originally stationed there.

Here are the two documents. Click the for larger versions.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: February 21 – 27

February 22

1890 – Died – William Henry THOMPSON – William is my 4th-great-grandfather on my father’s side. Unfortunately, I’m not exactly sure where and when he was born. The census and other records span from 1810 to 1816 and mention England, Ireland, and Scotland. He married Francis QUINET in 1839 and had 10 children. He passed away in Wrightstown, Brown Co., Wisconsin and is buried there at St. Paul’s Cemetery.

February 23

1831 – Born – Herman RATHKEHerman is my 3rd-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born in Germany and married Fredericke C HENKE. They had 3 children in Germany before immigrating to Wisconsin. Herman passed away on 9 Feb 1898 and is buried at Union Cemetery in Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin.

February 25

1632 – Married – Herman van CREIJBECK & Joanna PANSARS – Herman and Joanna are my 10th-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. They were both born in 1610 in Belgium. In 1646, they had a baby boy, Nicolaes van CRAYBECK, my ancestor. Herman passed away in 1649 and Joanna in 1653, which makes me wonder where Nicolaes grew up.

1883 – Married – Carl F H LAST & Augusta Johanna Wilkelumire LUEDTKE – Carl and Augusta are my great-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. They were married in Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin after immigrating with their families from Prussia. Together, Carl and Augusta had a whopping 16 children. Carl passed away in 1926, but Augusta lived to be 100-years-old and passed away in 1963.

February 27

1945 – Died – Marianna ZALEWSKI – Marianna is my great-grandaunt on my father’s side. Her birth location and dates differ depending on the record, though tracking this information could help me track the ZALEWSKI family. The dates I have are: March 1890 in Poland/Germany; 22 Mar 1891 in Baltimore; Maryland, 22 Mar 1891 in Ohio; and 1891 in Wisconsin. Since I do have a record of the ZALEWSKI family arriving in Baltimore in 1889 with no mention of Marianna, I can cancel out the Poland/Germany option. They were first found in Milwaukee in the 1892 city directory, so all of the other options still work. Marianna married Frank GIERSZEWSKI (before changing it to GIERSCH) in 1913 and passed away in 1945 in Milwaukee. She is buried with her husband at Holy Cross Cemetery in Milwaukee.

CategoriesWay Back Wednesday

Way Back Wednesday

Click for larger

The lady at the left is my great-great-grandmother, Anna (LINDNER) ZALEWSKI. There is no year on the photo, but it is before 1939 when Anna passed away. Maybe someone can tell from the car in the back. The remaininge two individuals were not noted on the photo, but I’m pretty sure the other lady is somehow related to Harry Potter.

CategoriesTreasure Chest Thursday

Treasure Chest Thursday

My first Treasure Chest Thursday. It seems like this will replace the “Tell Me Thursday” posts I used to do. I compressed that into Wordless Wednesday. I can’t guarantee I’ll have a post for every Thursday, but I’ll try.

Click for larger image

This is my great-grandfather, Joseph Zalewski’s, badge from when he was a Milwaukee Police Officer. He became a police officer on February 1, 1918 after returning from World War I. He served until he retired on September 21, 1951. In the recent collection of documents I received was a letter written to him from the Chief of Police about his resignation.