CategoriesCemeteriesTombstone TuesdayZalewski

Tombstone Tuesday: Zalewski Family

Zalewski Family Stone
Frank & Anna Zalewski with son Frank, Holy Cross Cemetery, Milwaukee, WI

This week’s (and my first) Tombstone Tuesday is the one that helped me start my genealogy research. The first Zalewskis that came to America, Frank & Anna (Lindner) Zalewski. Their son Frank is also buried here with them. The headstone is located in Holy Cross Cemetery & Mausoleum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There are some other family members nearby including the Trokas and more of Frank & Anna’s children.

View the headstone at Find-a-Grave.

Also, in related news, I’ve started a new blog dealing with cemeteries in southeastern Wisconsin, named Graveyard Rabbit of Southeastern Wisconsin. It’s brand new, but I hope it will help many people in the future.

CategoriesFeaturedMilitaryTips & TricksZalewski

Thanks Google Books!

After getting more interested in the military history of my family tree due to the talks and searches I did on Saturday, I decided to try some other options. I usually don’t do a lot of searching on Google for family members, since I usually get a lot more misses than hits. I tried to narrow it down by using quotes and full names, locations, etc. Somehow, I had ended up on Google Books. I kept wanting to search their collection of books, so I decided to try now.

I had no luck finding anything on my grandparents in World War II. I then searched for my great-grandfather, Joseph ZALEWSKI, who was in World War I.  Unfortunately, his military records were destroyed in a fire in 1973 at the National Personnel Records Center – St Louis, Missouri, so it’s all been info based on word-of-mouth. But, lo and behold, what is this?

The first book I found was “Soldiers of the Great War.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t find his name in this book, but a lot of the text was very small. The second book was much more important, anyway. The second book was “The Official History of the Eighty-Sixth Division” published in 1921. On page 110, it listed a Joseph F Zalewski that lived at 900 Fratney St, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That was my great-grandfather’s exact address in that time period. Success!

Now we know exactly what division and battalion he was in when he shipped off to Europe. He was part of the 86th Divison, Company B, 331st Machine Gun Battalion. I scanned through most of the book trying to find any other important information. It did mention that when they were shipped off to France in August 1918 that they never saw combat before being shipped back in November, due to the Armistice. Stories say that Joseph saw combat and was involved in some “major battles.” My guess is that when they “skeletonized” the 86th Division before shipping them back that Joseph was sent to another division. I still need to find this information, but at least I have much more to work with.

Text not available

The Official History of the Eighty-Sixth Division
By John G. Little, United States Army 86th Division, States Publications Society

As luck would have it, I found a copy of this book on eBay by someone who was selling some of his grandfather’s military books. I was able to download a copy of the book in PDF form from Google Books, but having a hard-copy would be very cool.

So, again, repeating what I said in my last post about newspapers, never underestimate some of these lesser-known places for family information. They can be invaluable.

CategoriesCorriganFamily TreeWay Back Wednesday

Weekly Photo: Maurice Corrigan

Maurice Corrigan

Photo: Maurice Corrigan – Original owned by Mary Jane Zalewski (daughter of subject)

This is a photo of my great-grandfather, Maurice Corrigan. At least, that’s what it’s noted as. I’ve been told unofficially that they used to dress up boys in dress-type  clothing in the early 1900s for photographs. I have no reason to not believe this. I assume it was just a custom back then. Does anyone have more information on this custom?

CategoriesWay Back WednesdayZalewski

Weekly Photo: Dressed up!

Emily Troka (Middle)

The only woman I know in this photo (as was noted on it) is my great-grandmother, Emily (Troka) Zalewski, in the middle. I’m not sure who the other two women are since it’s not noted on the photo. This photo, again, is in my grandmother’s collection.

I never got to meet Emily, though neither did my dad. Emily passed away in 1941. My grandfather was only 20 at the time, so I know it must’ve been really hard on him. Not only did he lose his mother, he lost his grandfather (Frank Zalewski) later in 1941 and his grandmother (Anna Lindner) in 1939. I imagine it was also very tough on my great-grandfather, Joseph. I’m not sure what the cause of death was, but it must have been unexpected since she died at only 45 years of age.

At least in the photo she looks to be ready to go out on the town (or to church, I guess.) I can only assume that this was taken in Milwaukee, Wisconsin somewhere since Emily was born there and lived there her whole life.

CategoriesCarnival of GenealogyFamily TreeThielke

Been Around Awhile

I assume my great-great grandmother (whom also wins the award for the longest name in my family tree) Augusta Johanna Wilhelmina LUEDTKE has seen many things in her life. She was born in Prussia in July 1863, right smack in the middle of the American Civil War. A war which would shape the country she would someday grow old in. She was also born just weeks before automobile maker Henry Ford.

She married my great-great grandfather Charles Carl LAST in 1883 in Wisconsin and had a total of 16 children. Sixteen! (as far as I know) I know it gets cold here in the winter, but they must’ve had some really cold ones in the late 1800s.

She lost her husband in 1926, yet she lived on for another 40 years and sadly passed away just shy of two weeks after her 100th birthday on July 14th.

Cedarburg (Wisconsin) News — Wed 26 June 1963

Mrs. LAST, 100 Years Young

There will be an “open house” for immediate friends and relatives of the family at Columbia Hall, on Thursday afternoon, July 4 from 2 to 5 for Mrs. Augusta LAST who will 100 years young on the 3rd of July. Given by her children, they will later meet from 7 to 9 in the evening at the home of Mr & Mrs Arthur THIELKE, 1320 – 13th ave., Grafton, where she is now making her home.

So far, she is the only centenarian in my family tree. I have yet to interview my grandmother and even my mother about her. I imagine, due to everything that she lived through, that she was probably a tough, old woman. I can respect that. One-hundred years is a very long time. Rest in Peace, Augusta.

CategoriesFunGermanZalewski

Tanta

Well, I was going to write an article asking for some help, but I think I found my answer. When I was a kid, we used to visit my great grandmother (or who I thought was my great grandmother at the time.) As far as I can remember, we always called her “Tanta.” I always thought this was her name, but was told later on that this meant “Grandma” in German. My dad also used to call her this.

It turns out that Tanta was not my actual great grandmother, but my step-great grandmother. My real great grandmother had passed away in the early 1940s and my great grandfather remarried later on. Tanta was Agnes (Pulchinski) Zalewski.I was going to ask if anyone could verify that Tanta meant “Grandma.” I did a Google search a bit ago and found nothing of interest, but right before writing this post I had an idea. I did a search for “Tanta” on the German Google, google.de. The first few entries were for a city called “Tanta,” but then I found a few entries using Tanta to describe a family member. It looks like Tanta is also used for Aunt along with Grandma. I also found entries for the male version, Tante.

Now, is there anyone out there that has better verification than a few people using it on their websites? I’d like to know, since I was using it for most of my childhood. Thanks.

CategoriesCorriganIrishWay Back Wednesday

Sunday Photo: Tom Corrigan Family

Tom Corrigan Family

Today’s photo comes from my Irish roots, just in time for St. Patrick’s day. The original photo is my grandmother’s collection.

This photo was taken in Ashland, Wisconsin, year unknown, but I’d guess around 1892 or so looking at the ages of the children. Based of the number of children in this photo, I assume that this is Thomas Corrigan with the children from his first marriage along with his new wife, my great-great-grandmother. Thomas J. Corrigan was my great-great-grandfather and is pictured with his wife, Emma Jane (Firmenich.)

If that is true, than the children’s names are Joseph, William, Mary Ellen, Agnes and Thomas. At first, I had thought that this was photo of my great grandfather, Maurice Corrigan, but looking at all the details, I think these are his half-siblings.

CategoriesMilwaukeeWay Back WednesdayZalewski

Sunday Photo: Zalewski Family and Others

I’d thought I would try a weekly photo post since I have a good collection of photos and it may help spur a research idea. I got the idea from Miriam over at AnceStories.

 

Zalewski and Others

 

This week’s photo is from my Zalewski collection. The original photo is my grandmother’s collection. I’m not 100% sure who everyone in the photo is exactly, though I do know a few. The tall man on the right side is my great-grandfather, Joseph Zalewski and  I think that is his wife Emelia (Troka) Zalewski next to him. The man on the left with the cigar is my great-great-grandfather, Joseph Troka and his wife Clara (Szulta) behind him. I don’t know the others, but some of them look familiar. I assume this photo was taken before of after church, which means it was probably at St. Casimir’s church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

CategoriesFunGenetic GenealogyZalewski

Where was my Y-DNA and mtDNA in 1808?

DNA

I saw a post over at The Genetic Genealogist about this and I thought it’d be interesting to check my information.Though, it’s kind of a downer since I don’t really know exactly where my Y-DNA or my mtDNA was in 1808. I can only trace my Zalewski line back to about 1858 with Frank J. Zalewski, in what I think is Prussia (which could be many things.) I’d guess it was in the same general area, so it turns out to be about 4487 miles away traveling at about 22.5 miles per year.

My mtDNA line only goes back to about 1852 with the birth of Ida Schwinte, also in Prussia. I’m guessing the German part of Prussia on this one compared to the Russian/Polish part for my Y-DNA. I can really only assume it’s about the same distance, give or take a few hundred miles.

Well, this didn’t turn out to be as exciting as I though, but it’s still interesting to think about. I have many other lines traced back much further, but just not these two. Maybe it will help spark me to work more on these lines (though I’ve always had an urge to research my Zalewski line more.)

So, how about you? Where was your Y-DNA and mtDNA in 1808?

CategoriesSiteZalewski

Zalewski Update

Sorry for the low post count. Haven’t had a lot of time lately for Genealogy research. Should be back soon enough. For now, I wanted to make sure all new visitors see the Zalewski-related projects I’m working on in case they want to help out. Info linked below.

  • Working to compile the largest database of Zalewski family trees this side of Poland. – Zalewski Family Tree Project
  • Want to find out as much information as you can about the Zalewski surname and where it comes from? Is your Zalewski ancestor related to one of the many Zalewski families being researched by others? Zalewski DNA Project

Feel free to contact me about anything and everything, either in the comments or using my contact form. I’ll respond to everyone. Thanks.