The Story of Jozef Kurkiewicz

It is very likely that Jozef Kurkiewicz (my 3rd great grandfather) was baptized but the birth record does not reflect it. Most of the records list the birth and baptism dates as well as the Godparents except those I have found between 1810 and 1826. Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths was initiated according to the Code of Napoleon on May 1rst, 1808. After Russia gained control in 1815, this practice continued. Priests were responsible for civil registrations from 1808 to 1825. After 1826, the civil records reverted to church records but kept the same format. ***** Jozef was born at 5 o’clock in the evening on September 8, 1815. His parents were Antoni, 32 and Marianna nee Kiszczynski, 28. He was born in house #60 in Tomaszow like his sister Jagnieska, who was born there three years earlier. The witnesses were Maciej Wyszynski, 42 and Maxym Zawalksi, 43. Jozef was the third child of 12 born to his parents. At least seven of their children did not survive to adulthood. Jozef’s father was a shoemaker, his mother came from a family of shoemakers and eventually Jozef himself would become a shoemaker. ***** Jozef was a 23 year old bachelor, living with his parents, when he married Ewa (Wiśniewska) Rachanska (my 3x great grandmother) on 30 July 1837. Witnesses to the marriage of Jozef and Ewa were Jan Recki and Antoni Lachowski, His parents were farming as well as repairing shoes in Tomaszów Lubelski. ***** Ewa was a 28 year old who had been widowed for six years. She was born in Tomaszów Lubelski to Błażej Wiśniewski and his wife Agnieszka nee Szczesnicki. Her mother was deceased at the time of this marriage and Ewa was living with her father on his farm. Her father had been a potter and also worked as a grave digger. Ewa’s first husband Wincenty Rachanski, had been a journeyman shoemaker. Wincenty and their only child Feliks both died in 1831, after Ewa and Wincenty had been married only about a year. Wincenty died during the time of the November Uprising which was November of 1830 to October of 1831. Wincenty and Ewa’s son Felix was born in October of 1830 and his father was still alive. When Feliks died in August of 1821, his father was deceased by this time. That year there were outbreaks of both cholera and influenza. ***** Together, Jozef and Ewa had five children – Paulina, Andrzej, Jakub, Franciszka, and Ignatious. Their oldest child Paulina (b. 1838) was my 2x great grandmother. Their youngest child Ignatious (b. 1851) is the 2x great-grandfather of Mike Liszewski. I “found” Mike as a DNA match on Ancestry and now collaborate regularly with his wife Connie. Like me, Mike was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Ignatius was born in Tomaszów on 18th July 1851 at 5 o'clock in the morning. Ignatius was a 53-year-old “petty-bourgeois” when he died. ***** On December 30 in 1874, the death of Jozef was recorded in Tomaszów Lubelski after he died the day before. The declarants were Jan Kamiński, age 45, and Walenty Lisikiewicz,age 28, both farmers from Tomaszów Lubelski. Jozef was 60 years old when he died and left behind a widowed wife, Ewa. Because records were recorded in Russian at this time, two dates were given -- December 30 and December 18. December 18 was from the Julian calendar, in use by Russia. The December 30 date is from the Gregorian calendar which Poland had been using and went back to using after 1917. It is the most commonly used calendar in the world. The difference between the Gregorian and Julian Calendars in the 19th century was 12 days. —----------------------- “ If your neighbor owns a small shop, she's a member of the petite bourgeoisie. According to Karl Marx, the political theorist who popularized this French term in the nineteenth century, the petite bourgeoisie is made up of capitalists who operate on a modest scale. In French, the phrase means "little townsfolk." https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/petite%20bourgeoisie ***** See “Who were the burghers in the family?” at https://polishfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/.../who-were...

The Story of Maciej Wiciejewski

garncarz = potter Born in the 1760s, Maciej Wiciejewski and Blazej Wisniewski (two of my four great grandfathers on Anthony Raczkiewicz’ mother’s side) worked as potters in the factory in Tomaszow Lubelski started by a Polish magnate Alexander Zamoyski and a ceramist. The company successfully made and sold faience--a type of tin-glazed pottery – and eventually the more-coveted porcelain. Unfortunately political changes occurred that doomed the factory and by 1827, the factory had closed. Maciej, who had risen to a foreman position, went back to grave digging – the occupation of his father. ***** Maciej was born to Jakub Wiciejewski and Marianna Plebanski. His father also had worked as a potter at the faience factory located on Lwowska Street. They lived in house #201 but no street name is given and the numbering of houses has changed since Marianna, his mother, died there in 1811. ***** Maciej Wiciejewski married Marianna nee Metalska and they had children who were born between 1814 and 1824 in houses 106 (the home of Maciej Mirowski, a shoemaker), 160, 206, and 207. Four of the six records are in house #206. By 1827, the records say Maciej and Marianna lived in 27. ***** Maciej and his wife had nine children: Salomea, Malgorzata, Marianna, Józef, Agnieszka, Antonina, Wojciech, Konstancja, and Walenty Józef. Marianna and Jozef died young. I can’t find any records for Agnieszka other than her birth. It is pretty fascinating to be able to trace back the occupation of relatives many years ago. The daughters married a furrier, a spoon maker, a shoe maker, and a carpenter. Two of them had occupations listed – day laborer and shoemaker/cobbler. One son became a blacksmith and the other son did a lot of things including being a spoon maker, being an innkeeper in Para as well as being a peasant farmer there. ***** Their oldest child Salomea (my 3x great grandmother) had her first born in 1824, in house #27 - - her father’s house. She had married Andrzej Kaszucki, a furrier, the year before. Her parents had their last child (Walenty) two and a half months earlier so there would have been two newborns in the house along with six of Maciej and Marianna’s other children. ***** Daughter Małgorzata Wiciejewska married Marcin Ceronoski, an apprentice spoon maker, and she was a day laborer when she died. Daughter Antonina married Mateusz Bulewicz, a shoemaker/cobbler and she was listed as one herself at her death twenty years later. ***** TWINS! Wojciech and Konstancja were the 7th and 8th of the nine children. The father was listed as the "renowned" Maciej Wiciejewski, was aged 36 and still worked as a potter. Their first born, Salomea was 15 years old when they were born. What happened to the twins when they grew up? Konstancja married Jan Nitka, a 46 year old widower of the Greek Catholic rite from Rusianow, Galicia, Austria. Konstancja died as a widow at age 77 in the village of Rybnica. She likely moved there when she was married. Wojciech married Victoria Melin from Dabrowa. He was an apprentice blacksmith at the time. He later married Anna Makar from Majdany Jozefow whose parents were deceased and she was working as a maid in Tomaszow Lubelski. Wojiech died at age 50 before his wife. ***** Maciej and Marianna’s youngest son Walenty Jozef married Helena Józefko, from Komadów but residing in Tomaszów, working as a home helper. Walenty worked as a spoon maker, innkeeper in Para, and peasant farmer in Para, His second wife Ewa Tarczulowna, was the daughter of shoemakers. ***** In 1817, after Maciej and Marianna had six children, he was a witness for his sister Katarzyna’s wedding. She lived with him, since their parents were deceased. He was also a witness for the marriage of two other younger sisters. Since they were younger, it is possible, but the record doesn’t say, that they lived with him also. All three sisters married in their late 20’s. ***** Maciej Wiciejewski died in Tomaszów on December 23, 1839 at 4 o'clock in the evening. He was 76 years old and left behind a widowed wife Maryanna née Metelski. On the next day (Christmas Eve), two declarants, Grzegorz Nazareswicz, 51 and Łukasz Nazareswicz, 41 both blacksmiths in Tomaszów Lubelski, verified his death for the officials. I do not know who they were except that one of his sons also worked as a blacksmith. .

The Life of Jan Dubiel Jr.

Jan Dubiel was born December 3 1926 in Rogozno, Poland. (He would have been my mother’s cousin -- my 1rst cousin 1x removed.) Jan’s parents were Jan Dubiel and Paulina nee Raczkiewicz. Jan was 37 and Paulina was 25 when their son Jan was born. Jan was the third of their six children. The others were Leokadia, Bronislawa, Jozefa, Edward and Halina. (The youngest child Halina is still alive.) Jan worked as a truck driver and as a farmer. He and his wife Józefa (Pankiewicz) are the parents of Jerzy Dubiel (deceased), Maria Wawrzusiszyn and Andrzej Dubiel, Jan died on May 29, 1991 at the age of 64. Eugeniusz Raczkiewicz wrote, “ Rest in eternal peace!” His wife Jozefa died ten years later on July 19, 2009.

The Life of Irene (Kufta) Mastee

Irene Kufta (my 1rst cousin 1x removed –my mother’s cousin) was born on April 20, 1928, in Muskegon, Michigan. She was the second born of three daughters of Frank Kufta and Mary nee Raczkiewicz (my great aunt). Irene Kufta married Albert “Al” Mastee on September 4, 1948. Al and Irene were members of St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church. They had two children, Diane Murphy and David Mastee and five grandchildren. They enjoyed traveling and sitting outside on their porch. Granddaughter Anna Marie Flores remembers that “Muskegon always had that small town charm. They were very hard workers.” Like most of us, she regrets not knowing more about their stores and remembers they were private about the past. Irene died on December 9, 2019. Her daughter-in-law Mastee shared, “Our prayers are with her. Always in our hearts.”

The Life of Mieczysław Raczkiewicz

Mieczysław Raczkiewicz (my 1rst cousin 1x removed –my mother’s cousin) was born December 13, 1947 in Rogozno, Poland. He is the youngest of two sons born to Boleslaw Raczkiewicz (my grandfather’s youngest brother) and Jozefa Janina Bender. ***** I will let his son Tomasz introduce him by sharing what he wrote to me in October of 2020: “My grandfather Bolesław is really your grandfather's brother. He lived in Savoie (Sabaudia) and died in a hospital in Tomaszów Lubelski at the age of 97. He is buried in the cemetery in Tomaszów Lubelski. He was a locksmith by trade, but worked most of his life as a farmer. He had two sons - the elder Eugeniusz, an engineer, and my father Mieczysław, who was a doctor of infectious diseases. My mother, Stanisława, spent most of her life working with people with intellectual disabilities and created several learning, care and work centers for them.” “I am 47 years old, I live in Poznań and by profession I am an opera singer and actor. I work at the Grand Theater in Poznań and other theaters. I have two brothers - Marcin who died 4 years ago and Jacek, who is an IT specialist and lives in Stockholm. Jacek lived and worked in Boston for several years. I also have a sister, Magdalena, who lives near Warsaw and is a psychologist.”

The Life of Mary (Raczkiewicz) Kufta

I don’t remember knowing as a child that my Grandpa Tony Raczkiewicz had a sister who ended up living in Muskegon, Michigan. While researching family history, I had the pleasure of getting to communicate with Mary’s daughter, Theresa Parkanzky (my 1rst cousin 1x removed.) Theresa wrote: “I remember as a child going to my uncle's home and as I recall his name was Tony and his brother was Joe? Nothing was ever discussed regarding my mother Mary’s background.” Shirley (Raczkiewicz) Longwell (my mother) remembers visiting Mary and her husband Frank’s house one time (maybe she went more) and that they went to a baseball game while she was there. Frank and Mary attended Shirley’s marriage to Roy Longwell in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1957. ***** It turns out that Mary played an important role in keeping connections with family in Poland alive. It was pretty common for relatives in Poland and the United States to write letters to each other. After Mary moved to the U.S., she wrote letters regularly to family in Poland, updating the family with news and sending pictures of her family. “Polish immigrants were prolific letter writers to their relatives in Poland. . . Their letters were about their new life, encouragement to family members to join them, directions and recommendations on how to get to the port, what to avoid, how to survive, etc. Money for the voyage was often sent.” (Emigration from Poland. Stephen Szabados) ***** That connection ended though, almost 40 years ago. The memories and stories about her letters lingered though so when I made my first contact with the Raczkiewicz family in Poland, Tomasz Raczkiewicz knew about the relative Mary because of letters written to his grandfather Boleslaw, though he didn’t know about Anthony and Jan who also moved. Eugeniusz Raczkiewicz, remembered Mary’s letters to his father Boleslaw who was Mary’s youngest brother. Amazingly, when I shared a baptismal picture of Theresa with Eugeniusz, he told me had seen it before and also remembered pictures of Theresa in her nurse’s uniform when she graduated from college. Mary’s youngest daughter Theresa also remembered the letters. ***** MARY’S BIRTH: When I first learned about Mary, it appeared that May 29, 1892 was her birthday. There are many reasons for this: some immigrants celebrated their name day instead of their birthday or maybe didn’t really know their own birthdate and there is also more than one “Mary Kufta.” I had December 16, 1902 and May 29, 1892 as possibilities until fairly recently. Her birth record is not in the database I am using but Andrzej Dubiel (2x cousin) found it through the archive. It turns out her birthdate is December 16, 1899. ***** Here is a translation of the record: 1899/385 “Took place in the town Tomaszów on December 21st,1899/January 2nd,1900 at 11 o'clock in the morning. Appeared in person Jan Raczkiewicz, age 35, peasant, living in the village Sabaudia< gmina Tomaszów Lubelski>, and in the presence of witnesses Marcin Matej, age 30, and Tomasz Kendra, age 55,both peasants living in the villages Sabaudia and Podhorce ,he presented to Us a child of female sex, stated that this child was born in the village Sabaudia on December 4th/16th,1899 at 6 o'clock in the afternoon to his lawful wife Katarzyna nee Kaszócka, 28 years old. At the Holy baptism performed on this day, this child was given the name Marianna in honor of Saint Mary Cleophas and her godparents were 1st witness and Marianna Skurcz(?).This act was read aloud to the illiterate present and signed only by Us.” ***** You will notice that there are two dates listed -- one is from the Julian calendar and the other from the Gregorian calendar. The Julian calendar was used by the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church. All births, marriages and deaths were registered by the churches. During the time period of 1868 to 1917, since Russia had control of the area in which my ancestors lived, the priests were required to write the records in Russian. During this time that Poland was occupied by Russia, the use of Polish in the schools and in civil records was prohibited. Poland (and the rest of Europe) had previously been using the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar in use worldwide today. After 1917 the records returned to being written in Polish and the use of the Gregorian calendar was resumed. So when there are two dates listed, the second one is the one that would fit our current calendar. ***** https://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/Poland/Questions.htm?fbclid=IwAR0-qOyOzvUNtD40zc7STCLkvz7AqGqLxotH4sQ1IkvwfDB2VeLfP4hJX-0#q7 ***** Mary was the sixth of nine children and one of three girls born to Jan Raczkiewicz and Katarzyna Kaszucki. For some reason there was a delay of seventeen days before her father Jan and the witnesses went to Tomaszów Lubelski to report her birth. Most times it is donw the same day or within a few days but no reason was given for the delay. Maybe there was a lot of snow or maybe they were busy with a new baby and their other five children who were ages two to 11. At the baptism, she was given the name Marianna in honor of Saint Mary Cleophas, one of the women named Mary who were present at the tomb of Jesus. She was known later in life as Mary or Marion. When Mary was 2 years old her sister Paulina was born, when she was 5 years old, her brother Franciszek was born and when she was seven, her brother Boleslaw was born. ***** IMMIGRATION When Mary was eleven years old, her oldest brother Jan left Poland for the United States. Then when she was thirteen years old, (1912) Anthony (my grandpa) and his brother Jozef left for Canada with a final destination of Michigan in the U.S.. ***** Eleven years later (1923) she left for the U.S. Mary was 22 years old according to what was written on the manifest but was actually 24. She was single, working as a farm laborer, and could read and write. She was 5’1’ tall, with a medium complexion, fair hair and gray eyes. Her father was deceased. Mary left behind her mother Katarzyna and siblings Stanislawa (28), Piotr (26), Paulina (22), Franciszek (19) and Boleslaw (17.) Her brother Piotr was listed as her contact in Poland and he paid her fare so I assume he also accompanied her to the port from their home. They lived in Sabaudia (near Tomaszów Lubelski). I later learned that Zibaldy is how the agents were writing “Sabaudia.” ***** Mary departed from Southampton, England which is almost 1200 miles from her place of birth. Earlier, Jan had traveled from Hamburg to New York and Anthony and Joseph had traveled from Antwerp to Quebec. Each of these three trips commenced from different ports. It is impossible to know why the immigrants chose different ports. Gdynia, the newly constructed Polish seaport was available for only a few months before Mary traveled. It might not have been an option when the trip was booked or could have been more expensive. Mary’s port was a few hundred miles closer than traveling from Antwerp but it added about 300 miles to her trip compared to leaving from Hamburg. The Hamburg Uprisings were occurring in Hamburg during the time she traveled so that may have been a factor. ***** Mary left Southampton England on the ship SS Melita to Quebec, Canada, traveling third class. This ship had 550 cabins and 1,200 third class beds. She arrived in Quebec, Canada on October 5, 1923. ***** From Quebec, she took a train to Detroit like Anthony and Joseph had done before her. ***** Mary had $30 when the manifest was completed for her train ride for Quebec to Detroit Michigan. This is worth a little over $450 in today’s dollars. Upon arrival in Quebec, Mary would have met both Canadian and U.S officials since her ultimate destination was the United States. She would have been issued a certificate of admission which was later shown when the train crossed the border into the United States. The train ride from Quebec to the border would have taken several days. Once at the border, Detroit was very close. At this point it is unknown how Mary traveled from Detroit to Grand Rapids. Anthony, her brother, never had a car but maybe the help of someone else was enlisted. Possibly, she took a train the rest of the way. ***** Mary was going to her brother Anthony Raczkiewicz (my grandfather), who lived at the time at 208 Lexington NW, Grand Rapids, Michigan with his second wife Pauline. They lived there about two years at that time and would soon be moving to a house on Milwaukee Avenue. At the time Anthony owned a pool hall on Bridge Street on the Westside of Grand Rapids. He did that for a few years but then went back to working in a tanning factory. Anthony and Pauline’s two oldest children were Lorraine, who would have been about five years old and Anthony Jr., who would have been about one years old. Joseph (their brother) may have been living with them since he often did. Jan was back in Poland, near Poznan. ***** FAMILY LIFE: After Mary had been in the U.S for three years, she and Frank Kufta were married on April 15, 1926. Frank’s age was 32. Mary’s age was given as 23 but she would have been 26. It was common that immigrants didn’t have their birth certificate with them, so they didn’t always know their exact age. Father Casmimir Skory, the pastor of St. Adalbert Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, presided over the wedding. Witnesses were Joseph Raczkiewicz (my great uncle) of Grand Rapids, and Helen Kufta, (Frank’s sister) of Muskegon. ***** Frank was born in Poland and immigrated in 1909 and had already been in the United States for at least 15 years. When they married, she was a factory worker in Grand Rapids living with her brother and his family and he lived and worked in Muskegon, 42 miles away. I don’t know how they met but there was an interurban train between Grand Rapids and Muskegon at the time. ***** Frank and Mary had their daughter Wanda in 1927 and their daughter Irene in 1928. By 1930, Mary and Frank lived at 729 6th St. in Muskegon Heights, MI, and their house was worth $4,000. Frank was 37 years old, worked in an iron foundry and could speak English. Mary was 28 and could not speak English. Wanda was age three and Irene was age two. Frank and Mary had their daughter Theresa in 1935. By 1940, they were in the same house and it was worth only $3,000. Frank had a 6th grade education and was in the process of becoming a citizen. Mary had a 3rd grade education and was still an alien. Wanda was 13, Irene was 12 and Teresa was four years old. ***** On May 19, 1943, Mary was naturalized as a citizen of the United States. ***** MARY’S DEATH AND THE LAST LETTER: As Mary got older, her daughter Theresa helped her mother more in her letter writing to family in Poland. Theresa helped with this duty by going to the post office often and even helped address the envelopes for her mother. The last letter to Poland was written by Theresa to Boleslaw, informing him of Mary’s death. Mary died April 15, 1989 at the age of 89, almost 90, in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. She was almost 90 years old. Eugeniusz remembered his father Boleslaw receiving the last letter and Eugeniusz said, “I recall that Father after receiving the news of his sister Maria's death said: May God give her heaven!.” ***** —------------------------ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4GT-HDP : 29 July 2019), Teresa E Kufta in household of Frank Kufta, Ward 2, Muskegon Heights, Muskegon Heights City, Muskegon, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 61-57, sheet 14B, line 51, family 314, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 1796. ***** Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 15 December 2019), memorial page for Frank Kufta (unknown–9 Mar 1972), Find A Grave Memorial no. 110691638, citing St. Mary's Cemetery, Muskegon, Muskegon County, Michigan, USA ; Maintained by St. Mary (contributor 47982892) . ***** "Michigan Death Index, 1971-1996," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZTT-VT7 : 4 December 2014), Mary Kufta, 15 Apr 1989; from "Michigan, Deaths, 1971-1996," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 1998); citing Muskegon, Muskegon, Michigan, death certificate number 22865, Michigan Department of Vital and Health Records, Lansing. ***** Image: By uploaded by Nickpo - Private collection, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7562509 ***** (This wonderful picture was recently sent to me by Mary’s daughter Theresa (Kufta) Parkanzky. My grandfather and grandmother are in the second row--2nd and 3rd. My great uncle Joe is next to the bride. Frank’’s sister Helen Kufta is seated to the groom’s left. My aunt Lorraine is the child seated in front. I think the oldest brother Jan and his wife are back in Poland by this time.)

The Story of Apolonia (Gołębiowska) Raczkiewicz

Apolonia Gołębiowska (my 4x great grandmother was born around 1792 in Majdan Górny. Her parents, Franciszek Gołębiowski and Katarzyna Chmiel, were born in the 1750-60s and this was as far back on any of the branches I have been able to go. I have found only two siblings for her: Pawel and Michal, both peasant farmers. Both were married, with Michal married three or four times. ***** Apolonia’s husband Jan Raczkiewicz was a peasant farmer also from Majdan Górny. Together they had nine children: Michal, (my 3x great grandfather) about 1805, Piotr, about 1809, Wojciech, 1813, Katarzyna, 1815, Szymon, 1818, Marcin, 1821, Jakub, 1824, Marianna, 1828, and Agnieszka, 1831. ***** Their six sons all were peasant farmers in Majdan Gorny except Michal who later moved to Sabaudia. Together, hey had eleven wives, four of whom were widows, because of a high mortality rate. Two of them married women who are related to me from other branches of the family. Michal’s first wife was from Majdan Gorny. When he remarried at 67 years old, Michal married a 47 year old widow who was related to us another way (1rst cousin 5x removed) as a child of Lukasz Krawczyk and Marianna Bucior. (my 3x great grandparents.) Piotr was married twice also and his second wife was also a widow. Wojciech married a woman from Majdan Gorny. Szymon’s first wife was from Łaszczówka and his second wife was a widow from Majdan Gorny. Marcin’s first wife was a widow from Ruda Woloska, his second wife was from Majdan Gorny, and his third wife was from Wieprzowe Jezioro. Jakub’s wife Rozalia Grabek was also related to us another way as the child of : Łukasz Grabek and Katarzyna Krawczyk (my 3x great grandparents.) ***** Only one of their three daughters survived to adulthood. Katarzyna married Sebastian Jeruzal, a widower from Majdan Gorny. The two youngest girls, Marianna and Agnes, died young. ***** Apolonia’s husband Jan likely helped to report the deaths of both of her parents. Her father Franciszek died on February 13, 1813 at age 60 in house #20 in Majdan Górny. The declarants were his son Michał Gołembioski, 40 , peasant farmer residing in Gurnia and Jan Raszkiewicz, 38 , his neighbor. The record doesn’t say this but it was likely his son-in-law. Her mother Katarzyna (Chmiel) Gołębiowska died on February 20, 1820 at 6:00pm at age 80 in house #30. The declarants were Pawel Golebiowski, 24, her son and Jan Raszkiewicz, 36, her son-in-law (Apolonia’s husband.) ***** Apolonia and Jan lived in house #71 in Majdan Górny. Since their son Michal (my 3x great grandparent) was the oldest, he and his wife were having their first child when Apolonia, his mother was having her seventh. Michal and Anna lived in house #100 in Majdan Górny, the house of Tomasz Dominik, Anna's father. I think it is really cool to have house numbers from that long ago! They aren’t available in very many of the records. ***** Apolonia died on Monday, December 16, 1844 at 6:00 p.m. She left behind her husband Jan, age 66. On Wednesday, at 10am, her husband Jan and Andrzej Typek, 44, another peasant farmer, went the 4.5 miles to Tomaszów to report her death at 10 a.m.. ***** I will share something I recently learned. I thought her last name was Golebiowska. I think the -iowska and the male -iowski is added on in one of the many ways Polish words are changed--in this case to indicate male and female, maybe also indicate married. Her last name was likely Goleb or possibly Golab--I am finding and sorting records with both spellings. I have been told spelling wasn’t as big an issue back then. It can also be hard to tell a cursive “e” from a cursive “a.” Also, many names mean something--they may tell where the person came from or their occupation. ”Golab” means “pigeon.” I am not sure why the family had that name. *****

The Story of Jozef Kurkiewicz

It is very likely that Jozef Kurkiewicz (3rd great grandfather) was baptized but the birth record does not reflect it. Most of the records list the birth and baptism dates as well as the Godparents except those I have found between 1810 and 1826. Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths was initiated according to the Code of Napoleon on May 1rst, 1808. After Russia gained control in 1815, this practice continued. Priests were responsible for civil registrations from 1808 to 1825. After 1826, the civil records reverted to church records but kept the same format. ***** Jozef was born at 5 o’clock in the evening on September 8, 1815. His parents were Antoni, 32 and Marianna nee Kiszczynski, 28. He was born in house #60 in Tomaszow like his sister Jagnieska, who was born there three years earlier. The witnesses were Maciej Wyszynski, 42 & Maxym Zawalksi, 43. Jozef was the third child of 12 born to his parents. At least seven of their children did not survive to adulthood. Jozef’s father was a shoemaker, his mother came from a family of shoemakers and eventually Jozef himself would become a shoemaker. ***** Jozef was a 23 year old bachelor, living with his parents, when he married Ewa (Wiśniewska) Rachanska (my 3x great grandmother) on 30 July 1837. Witnesses to the marriage of Jozef and Ewa: Jan Recki and Antoni Lachowski, His parents were farming as well as repairing shoes in Tomaszów Lubelski. ***** Ewa was a 28 year old who had been widowed for six years. She was born in Tomaszów Lubelski to Błażej Wiśniewski and his wife Agnieszka nee Szczesnicki. Her mother was deceased at the time of this marriage and Ewa was living with her father on his farm. Her father had been a potter and also worked as a grave digger. Ewa’s first husband Wincenty Rachanski, had been a journeyman shoemaker. Wincenty and their only child Feliks both died in 1831, after Ewa and Wincenty had been married only about a year. Wincenty died during the time of the November Uprising which was November of 1830 to October of 1831. Wincenty and Ewa’s son Felix was born in October of 1830 and his father was still alive. When Feliks died in August of 1821, his father was deceased by this time. That year there were outbreaks of both cholera and influenza. ***** Together, Jozef and Ewa had five children– Paulina, Andrzej, Jakub, Franciszka, and Ignatious. Their oldest child Paulina (b. 1838) was my 2x great grandmother. Their youngest child Ignatious (b. 1851) is the 2x great-grandfather of Mike Liszewski. I “found” Mike as a DNA match on Ancestry and now collaborate regularly with his wife Connie. Like me, Mike was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. ***** On December 30 in 1874, the death of Jozef was recorded in Tomaszów Lubelski. He died the day before. The declarants were Jan Kamiński, age 45, and Walenty Lisikiewicz,age 28, both farmers from Tomaszów Lubelski. Jozef was 60 years old when he died, and a shoemaker and a farmer, like his father. He left behind a widowed wife, Ewa. ***** Because records were recorded in Russian at this time, two dates were given -- December 30 and December 18. December 18 was from the Julian calendar, in use by Russia. The December 30 date is from the Gregorian calendar which Poland had been using and went back to using after 1917. It is the most commonly used calendar in the world. The difference between the Gregorian and Julian Calendars in the 19th century was 12 days.

The Life of Boleslaw Raczkiewicz

Bolesław Raczkiewicz (my great uncle) was born on November 19, 1906 at 2:00 in the afternoon. His parents, Jan Raczkiewicz, 42 and Katarzyna Kaszucka, 35, already had eight children ages two to eighteen years old when he was born. They were farmers in the village of Sabaudia. Six days after his birth, Jan and Lukasz Ważny, age 31, both from Sauadia and Antoni Kurkiewicz, 23, a resident of Tomaszów, went to the authorities and reported the birth. He was baptized that day and his Godparents were Antoni Kurkiewicz and Jósefa Kendrowa. He was given the name Bolesław, in honor of King Bolesław. King Bolesław was first a duke and then the first king of Poland and was known as “The Brave” and “The Great.” He expanded Poland and promoted Poland as a separate Catholic entity. ***** Bartosz Raczkiewicz related a story he heard from his father Eugeniusz about Boleslaw and his mother Katarzyna. When Boleslaw was young, he climbed up a tree and fell out of it. He broke his leg. At the hospital, the doctors wanted to amputate the leg. Katarzyna carried him on her shoulders and walked to the hospital in Lwów for treatment. Lwów is 120 kilometers away. She must have gotten a ride at some point since that is over 75 miles. The outcome is that Boleslaw kept his leg! ***** Boleslaw regularly saw his brothers and sisters who remained in Poland. For instance, Stanislaawa and her family lived on the same road where Boleslaw had his field so he visited her and her family often. Piotr lived a thirty kilometer horse-drawn cart ride away. The family would leave at dawn and return late at night, traveling over road bumps and through the forest. Boleslaw enjoyed going with Paulina to their parents’ apple and pear orchard. After 1921, Boleslaw’s oldest brother returned to Poland. Jan and his wife bought a farm in Gniezno, near Poznań. Despite a distance of 588 kilometers (365 miles), Boleslaw had a connection to him. When Jan died in 1928, Boleslaw was 26 years old. A year before Boleslaw married, his brother Franciszek was killed in the rotunda in Zamość by the Russian Army for taking food from his own farm. The army had laid claim to the property. Later, Boleslaw’s wife would tell this story and it was written down by her grandson Tomasz Raczkiewicz. A lot happened the year Boleslaw married. His mother Katarzyna died, at age 72, on March 11, 1944. Boleslaw was living with her. ***** He and Jozefa Janina Bender married in May of 1944 (exact date unknown--if anyone in Poland knows it, I would love to learn it!) He was 37 years old and she was 29 years old. Of Boleslaw’s eight siblings, the ones that likely attended the wedding were Stanislawa, Paulina and Piotr. His oldest brother Jan was deceased by this time (Jan’s wife Franciszka Kudlicka was remarried and deceased by April 1945 in Lublin, Poland.) Anthony (my grandfather), Joseph and Mary were still in the United States. Franciszek was killed the year before in the rotunda in Zamosc for attempting to “steal” his own corn. ***** Then two months later in July, their house was set on fire by the Russian army. This means that any photos they had were destroyed so any we have seen were shared by other people. Joanne (Raczkiewicz) created a painting of the house that was rebuilt. ***** A year after their marriage, Boleslaw and Jozefa’s son Eugenuisz was born (1945) and after that their son Miecyslaw was born (1947.) They are first cousins of my mother Shirley (1936.) ***** Bolesław was a locksmith by profession but worked most of his life as a farmer on a small farm. He had a horse and two to four cows and sold the milk in the city. Bolesław died in a hospital on May 9, 2001 He was 94 years old. He is buried in a cemetery in Tomaszow Lubelski. They had 7 grandchildren and now have 19 great grandchildren. ***** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boles%C5%82aw_I_the_Brave

The Story of Maria (Bielak) Dubowik

Maria Bielak (my 1rst cousin 1x removed) was born January 11, 1925. She was the fourth child of four children born to Jan Bielak and Stanislawa nee Raczkiewicz (my great aunt.) The family farmed in Sabaudia, Poland. Maria married Władysław Dubowik. Her husband was a police officer. They lived in Tomaszów Lubelski, Poland. They had 3 children: Wiesław (1947), Waldemar (1955), and Janus (1960.) Maria was a beautiful seamstress as a hobby, making dresses, coats and other items. Stasia Woj shared, “Marysia sewed me some coats. She also made a wedding dress! Good seamstress!” She sewed Stasia’s dress in 1965. In 1978, Maria took a trip to visit her aunt Mary (Raczkiewicz) Kufta in Muskegon, Michigan, when she was 53 years old. Little is known about that trip. Two of Mary’s daughters, Wanda and Irene, also lived in the area and were only a little younger than Maria so they likely enjoyed the visit with their cousin from Poland. On November 5, 1991, Maria died at age 66. Her husband died on April 17, 2007.

The Life of Anthony John Raczkiewicz

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Anthony John Raczkiewicz (my grandfather) died at his residence on October 31, 1980, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His obituary indicated that he was 85 years old but after finding his birth record in Poland, he was actually 87 years old. He reposed at the Arsulowicz Brothers Mortuary, West on Stocking Avenue and a funeral Mass was celebrated in the Basilica of St. Adalbert. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery. According to the obituary in the newspaper, he was survived by his wife, Pauline, son Anthony Jr. and wife Cecilia, son Ronald and wife Pamela, daughter Shirley and her husband Roy Longwell, John Dykstra, surviving spouse of his daughter Lorraine, as well as nine grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and his sister, Mrs. Frank (Mary) Kufta of Muskegon Heights. Additionally, he was survived by his youngest brother Boleslaw in Tomaszów Lubelski, Poland but the writers of the obituary either didn’t know or remember this. XXXXXXXX When Anthony was born on March 13, 1893, in the village of Sabaudia, his father, Jan, was 28 and his mother, Katarzna (nee Kaszucka), was 24 years old. Jan was a peasant farmer and his wife had come from a family of furriers from the city. Their family already consisted of five-year-old Jan and four-year-old Jozef. Mikołaj Roczniak, 30 years old, and Andrzej Lisikiewicz, 23 years old, accompanied Jan to report the birth of his son in the city of Tomaszów Lubelski. His Godfather was Mikolaj and the Godmother’s name hasn’t been deciphered in the record, which is written in Russian. The document was read out loud, and signed by the priest, because they could not read or write (at least in Russian.) XXXXXXXX Anthony and his brother Joseph traveled to the United States for a better life in 1912. When Katarzyna said goodbye to 19 year old Antoni and his brother Joseph, it was likely that she was never going to see him again. Her oldest son Jan had left two years earlier. Eugeniusz Raczkiewicz explained that there is a figurine that was built in Sabaudia in 1909. “I believe that my Grandma Katarzyna said goodbye from this place and blessed her sons and daughter before the long journey. It used to stand at the end of the village. The figurine says: God bless these inhabitants.” The remaining six children were ages six to seventeen. Her husband Jan was still alive (and would be alive for three more years) and his sons had been encouraged to go by him and he helped with the cost and the planning. XXXXXXXX Anthony and Joseph sailed from Antwerp, Belgium on September 18, 1912 but first had 700 miles of travel, some by rail to get there from home. They sailed on the SS Mount Temple with the destination of Quebec, Canada, arriving on October 2, after 17 days on the ocean. They arrived by in the United States at Detroit, Michigan, on October 4, 1912 by train, entering as permanent residents. Their final destination of Grand Rapids, Michigan is where their brother Jan already lived. XXXXXXXX Anthony Raczkiewicz married his first wife Klementyna Gołębiewska in Grand Rapids, MI on June 20, 1916, about four years after he arrived in the U.S.,. Anthony’s brother Joseph was one of the witnesses. The other was Catherine Nadwornik (spelling?), who was on the ship with Klementyna when she came to the U.S. and was also from the same area in Poland. Klementyna was born November 23, 1897 in Tomaszów Lubelski. Her parents were Wojciech Golebiowski, 35, a blacksmith and Katarzyna (nee Roczniak), 37. The witnesses were Ludwik Skiginski, 45 and Konstanty Kudlicki, 34 and her Godparents were Ludwik Skiginski and Antonina Roczniak. XXXXXXXX Anthony and Klementyna were married for less than two years when she passed away on April 4, 1918, from complications of childbirth. Their daughter Bronislawa, who was born in Bay City, Michigan (where Klementyna had family) three days earlier, was taken to D.A. Blodgett Children’s Home for medical care. Bronislawa also passed away there in July from a congenital heart problem. XXXXXXXX When Anthony was 22 years old and registered for the World War I draft, his physical description was medium height, medium build, gray eyes, light brown hair and a deformed finger. At age 47 when he registered for the draft for World War II, his physical description was 5’5, 145 pounds, blue eyes, brown hair, and light complexion. His youngest brother Boleslaw resembled Anthony in appearance according to his son Eugeniusz Raczkiewicz. .”Po obejrzeniu zdjęć mojego Stryja Antoniego to tak jakbym widział swojego Ojca Bolesława.” “After seeing the photos of my Uncle Antoni, it is as if I saw my Father Bolesław.” XXXXXXXX Anthony married Apolonia Skrobot (my grandmother) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on September 6, 1920. The wedding was at St. Adalbert Church. Reverend C Skory performed the marriage and Joseph Raczkiewicz and J. (Juuie?) Sagauska are listed as witnesses. Joseph was Anthony’s older brother and I think J. Sagauska was “Jennie” who my mother remembered was a long term friend of Joseph. The record says he was 25 years old but I know he was 27 since I have now seen his translated birth certificate. Apolonia (Pauline) was 18 according to the records but with a birthdate of April 1904, she was actually 16 ½ years old. This might explain the later confusion where family members thought she would “lie” about her age and claim to be younger than she was. (In the 1930 census, she claims she was 17 when married. The marriage document indicates 18. Birth dates vary . . . XXXXXXXX At the time of the marriage, Anthony was a cabinet maker. Pauline traveled from Oil City, Pennsylvania to Grand Rapids with a friend to visit relatives. Her parents were Polish immigrants and she spoke Polish, Russian and English. She met and married Anthony while on the visit. Her wedding dress, veil and bouquet were very elaborate. She told her family the wedding gown was featured in the window of Wurzburg’s Department Store in downtown Grand Rapids. She bought and wore the matching shoes even though they were the wrong size and pinched her feet. When Anthony came to the United States in 1912, he was a farm laborer in Poland. During his first years in the U.S., he was a laborer, polisher and a tanner. In the earliest Polk Directory I could find that listed him (1914), Anthony is a laborer. In 1915, Anthony was a polisher. In June, 1916, when Anthony got married, he was a laborer/polisher and his fiance, Klementyna/Clementena, was a factory hand. When he registered for the WWI draft the following June,1917, Anthony (22) was a tanner at the tannery. In the 1920 census, he was still working at the tannery. XXXXXXXX Anthony tried to run a business for a few years. In 1921, Anthony left the tannery and was a clerk at Charles (Powlski) Powlowski’s Billiards at 612 Bridge St. NW. This location had opened in 1916 as the Buddy Theater, opened by the Buddy Brothers. Pool halls must have been a popular entertainment with 13 listed in the city that year. Charles Powlowski was from the same part of Poland, immigrated to Grand Rapids and married his wife the same year Anthony married Pauline. Charles also had a soft drink store at 511 Bridge St. NW. By 1922, the city had 30 billiard halls and Anthony (Radzkiewicz) was listed in the city directory as the owner. He had five competitors on Bridge Street alone. In 1923, he was co-owners with Mr. Czarnopis and there were 33 pool halls in Grand Rapids. This was likely Stanislaw Czarnopis who came to the US with Anthony’s brother Jan. The family legend is that Anthony made $100 a day and there may have been gambling happening on the premises. His daughter Shirley Longwell remembers hearing these stories but it was “before her time.” Interestingly, Grand Rapids had gone dry, at midnight, April 30, 1918 and the state soon followed with Prohibition voted in until it was repealed in 1933. It is unclear if gambling or alcohol contributed to the money made or the demise of his business. By 1924 the number of pool halls grew to 34 but sadly, Anthony was no longer running one of them and there was no longer a listing in the city directory. Anthony was again listed as a laborer. After his pool hall experience, Anthon went back to factory work and like everyone, was affected by the Great Depression. In 1928 Anthony was still a laborer and in 1929 Anthony was listed as a worker. In 1930, Anthon was listed as a tacker at Keifer Tannery and made $6500. “The early 1930's, of course, were the years of the Great Depression. With its onslaught in 1929 and its relentless persistence, the community of St. Adalbert's suffered many setbacks, beginning with the closing of the Polish-American Bank, located at the intersection of Bridge, Lexington, and Stocking. As a result of its closing, many parishioners lost a large share of their life's savings. The setbacks continued with the folding of small businesses and the slowdown of larger industries, resulting in layoffs and, at least, cutbacks in working hours.” http://www.mipolonia.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/St.-Adalbert_1881-1981_Grand-Rapids_MI.pdf XXXXXXXX Anthony worked 40 weeks in 1940 for a $1,000 annual salary continuing his work as a Lacquer at a tannery. He continued as a tannery worker and Lacquer through 1959. His daughter Shirley remembers him bringing home castoff pieces of leather and her sister Lorraine had some of them in her home. In 1942, when he registered for the WWII draft, Anthony was still working at Keifer Tannery at 240 Front St. NW which was owned by Irving Orr who lived at 915 Cambridge Dr. SE., a 3,000 square foot home newly built in the affluent nearby city of East Grand Rapids. XXXXXXXX Anthony was a member of St. Hyacinth, Polish Falcon Society and Polish National Alliance Society. Card parties, weddings, concerts, dances and beer drinking were common activities and were popular ways for people from Poland to socialize together. Grand Rapids had forty or fifty “halls” owned by private societies of different immigrant groups. There were more Polish ones than any other nationality and there were eight Polish ones on the West side. XXXXXXXX The Grandpa of my memory was a man who spoke little English, who made me feel like I was his favorite and layed on the couch or sat on the front porch, spitting out chewing tobacco into a coffee can. He proudly tended his roses and made sure his yard never had dandelions. Grandpa had a sweet tooth and a favorite holiday gift to give him were chocolate covered cherries. He would give me and my sisters Linda and Lori a quarter each to get lots of penny candy at the candy store around the corner on Bridge Street. He would walk us to the bakery for sour cream cookies, paczki, and rye bread.

The Story of Michal Raczkiewicz

Michał Raczkiewicz (my 3x great grandfather) was born around 1805 in Majdan Górny.Poland. His parents were Jan Raczkiewicz and Apolonia nee Gołębiowska. His father Jan was born in Łaszczówka and his mother in Majdan Górny. The family farmed in Majdan Górny. Michał was their oldest child out of nine children. Four of the five last children died young in the time period of 1841-1851. Their cause of death is not given. During this time period, the peasants were struggling against serfdom and there were famines as well as cholera and typhus outbreaks. XXXXX Michał was a 19 year old bachelor living with his parents when he got married on January 17, 1824 at 12:00 p.m. The banns were announced previously on January 4th and January 11. The witnesses were Marcin Kukiełka, 40, Józef Pyc, 35, Sobek Jaruzal, 35, and Piotr Sobek, 40, all peasants residing in the village of Maydan Górny. Anna was 18 years old and also never before married. She lived with her parents Tomasz Dominik and Regina Wójcik, who were peasants in the same village. XXXXX Michał and Anna had eleven children between 1824 and 1850: Jan, Marianna Herda, Agnieszka Szynal, Marcin, Katarzyna Rekolicz/Reholicz, Jakub, Błażej, Antoni, Alexander, Andrzej, and Anna. The last four died as infants. They all remained as farmers in Majdan Górny or Sabaudia except for Jakub who ended up in Jezernia. Their son Antoni (my 2x great grandfather) moved to Sabaudia within two years of his marriage to Marianna Grabek who was also from Majdan Górny. XXXXX When he was about 64 years old, his wife Anna died on June 23, 1869 at the age of 63. Around six months later on January 16, 1870, Jan remarried at the age of 67. The bride was Katarzyna Szczepnaik who had been widowed five years earlier. She was 47 years old and was born in the village of Sznury to Łukasz Krawczyk and Marianna Bucior (my 5x great grandparents) from Łaszczówka. She was living in Rudka/Rutka. The witnesses were Marcin Raczkiewicz, 48, one of Michał’s younger brothers from Majdan Górny and Jan Skurcz, 30, from the village of Sabaudia. XXXXX Katarzyna died on February 1, 1878 at the age of 50 in the village of Sabaudia, leaving behind her widowed husband Michał. The death was reported by Jan Skurcz, 40 (again) and Tomasz Kędra, 38, both peasants from Sabaudia. Tomasz was the second husband of their daughter-in-law Marianna Grabek since Michał’s son Antoni (my 2x great grandfather) had died ten years earlier. XXXXX Michał died in the village of Sabaudia on November 4, 1882. He lived to the age of 80. The witnesses were both 45-year-old farmers from Sabaudia. One witness for the third time was Jan Skurcz. The other witness was Jakub, the sixth child of Michal and his wife Anna.

Paulina (Kurkiewicz) Kaszucka Died October 24, 1905

Paulina (Kurkiewicz) Kaszucka (my 2x great grandmother) died at 5pm in the afternoon on October 24, 1905 in Sabaudia at age 77. Paulina was a widow since her husband Jozef (Stefan Jozef) Kaszucka had already died but I don’t know the date. There were two witnesses who reported Paulina’s death. The first one was Jan Raczkiewicz (my great grandfather) who was 40 years old. He was Paulina’s son-in-law. He was married to Katarzyna, Paulina and her husband’s daughter. Katarzyna was their 5th child and the only one who made it into adulthood. Her husband Jan was the only living child in his family. All of their children (except for Boleslaw -- the youngest) would have known their babcia Paulina. The other witness was Maciej Bender who was 42 years old. He was the great grandfather of Eugeniusz Raczkiewicz and grandfather of his mother Josepha Janina. Both Jan and Maciej were peasants, residing in the village of Sabaudia. They traveled into the town of Tomaszow two days after Paulina’s death to provide the eye-witness confirmation of her death. When Paulina Kurkiewicz was born on June 27, 1838, in Tomaszów, Lubelskie, Poland, her father, Józef Kurkiewicz was 22, and her mother, Ewa, Wiśniewska, was 29. Her mother had previously been widowed. Paulina had five brothers and one sister including Ignacy Kurkiewicz (Mike and his sibling’s great grandfather) who married Antonina Czarnopys. Her husband Jozef was born on August 10, 1832, in Tomaszów Lubelski, the son of Salomea and Andrzej. He had six brothers and two sisters. He first married Katarzyna Szokalewicz in Tomaszów, Lubelskie, Poland, on February 9, 1851, when he was 18 years old. They were both Greek Catholics. They had two children together and they were baptized and confirmed according to the Eastern rite. His wife Katarzyna passed away on November 22, 1862, in Tomaszów, Lubelskie, Poland, at the age of 31. They had been married 11 years. Paulina was Józef’s second wife when they married On 25th January 1863, at 4:00 p.m. in Tomaszów Lubelski. The witnesses were Szymon Żółkiewski, a shoemaker, 53, and Marcin Halkiewicz, a farmer, 42, both of whom were residing in Tomaszów Jozef, age 30, of the Greek Uniate faith and Paulina, age 24, was of the Roman Catholic faith. The banns were announced in the Tomaszów Latin Church even though Józef was Greek Catholic. The banns were announced on 11th, 18th, 25th January -- so they started a month and a half after he was widowed. Normally, there is a rush to remarry if there are young children involved but four-year-old Joanna had died in October and her mother died a month later. Their other child Jan had died at six months old a few years earlier. Józef and his parents Andrzej Kaszucki and Salomea nee Wiciejowska were furriers. He had been born in Tomaszów Lubelski and was residing there with his parents. His father came from Uhnów, Ukraine. Paulina was the daughter of Józef Kurkiewicz and Ewa nee Wiśniewska, shoemakers from Tomaszów Lubelski. Józef and Paulina had five children together and the boys were baptized and confirmed according to the Eastern rite and the girls were baptized according to the Roman rite. By Zygmunt Put Zetpe0202 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17133870

Jan Raczkiewicz was born October 23, 1927

Jan Raczkiewicz (my 1rst cousin 1x removed) was born October 23, 1927 to Piotr Raczkiewicz and his wife Józefa Szczupakowska. He was their firstborn of two sons. He was born in Domanisz, near Łaszczów, when Piotr was 30 years old and Józefa was 21 years old. Jan married Stanisława Konopka from the Pieniny Mountains. I am not sure of the date of their wedding. They had three children: Wiesław on April 11, 1948, Ryszard in 1949 (not sure of the date) and Maria on January 3, 1956. Jan and Stanisława worked as state institution workers. Jan died April 3, 2007 in Pruszkow, Poland at the age of 80. Does anyone have a picture of him? By MOs810 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28932372

Teresa Lebiodowska Died Sept 23, 1840

Teresa Lebiedowska (my 4th great grandmother) died on September 23, 1840 at 1:00 a.m. at the age of 70 in the village of Grodek, Poland. Her husband Grzegorz, along with Lukasz Grabek, 45, a peasant from the village of Podhorce reported the death in Tomaszow on the next day. Lukasz was her son from her first husband Jozef Grabek. Teresa was born as Teresa Walawender in approximately the year 1777. She married Walenty Grabek, a peasant farmer. They had at least two children: Lukasz (my 3x great grandfather) and Zofia. Walenty died on March 19, 1812 at the age of 44 in Górno, in house number 11. Teresa, age 30, remarried on February 21, 1813 to Grzegorz Lebiodoski, age 34, a peasant farmer in the village of Majdan Górny. They both had been widowed. Together they had one child named Agnieszka who was born in Gorno in Grzeogorz’s house number 12 on March 11, 1815. Teresa’s son Lukasz was 25 and living with his mother and step father when he married Katarzyna Krawczyk, 20 from the village of Łaszczówka. On February 10, 1833, Teresa and Grzegorz’s daughter Agnieszka married Jan Steciuk, who was a peasant farmer from Podhorce. Teresa and Grzegorz lived in Podhorce at this time. Seven years later Teresa died. Grzegorz remarried in September of 1842 to Agnieszka Grandas, a widow of a farmer from Podhorce.

Jozef Kurkiewicz born September 8, 1815

It is very likely that Jozef Kurkiewicz (3rd great grandfather) was baptized but the birth record does not reflect it. Most of the records list the birth and baptism dates as well as the Godparents except those I have found between 1810 and 1826. Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths was initiated according to the Code of Napoleon on May 1rst, 1808. After Russia gained control in 1815, this practice continued. Priests were responsible for civil registrations from 1808 to 1825. After 1826, the civil records reverted to church records but kept the same format. Jozef was born at 5 o’clock in the evening on September 8, 1815. His parents were Antoni, 32 and Marianna nee Kiszczynski, 28. He was born in house #60 in Tomaszow like his sister Jagnieska, who was born there three years earlier. The witnesses were Maciej Wyszynski, 42 & Maxym Zawalksi, 43. Jozef was the third child of 12 born to his parents. At least seven of their children did not survive to adulthood. Jozef’s father was a shoemaker, his mother came from a family of shoemakers and eventually Jozef himself would become a shoemaker. Image: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=207371

Marianna Plebanski Wiciejewska died on August 23, 1812

Marianna Plebanski Wiciejewska (my 5th great-grandmother)died on August 23, 1812 when she was 70 years old. She died in house #201 in Tomaszów Lubelski. She was born in approximately the year 1742. One witness was Rafal Lusawicki, a 38 years old who was her son-in-law. Jan Jablonski, 43, a neighbor, was the other witness. I don’t know what was the cause of death. Happening at the time was the Asiatic Cholera Epidemic, the Galician peasant uprising, and typhus from Napoleon's army. I am not sure when her husband Jakub Wiciejewska died but it was before Marianna since she was widowed.. The family worked as potters and farmers in Tomaszow Lubelski. Marianna and her husband had six children -- only one boy. He worked as a potter and the daughters married weavers and cabinet makers.

Edward Dubiel died August 9 1980

Edward Dubiel (my 1rst cousin 1x removed) died August 9, 1980. He and his wife Halina (Mandziuk) lived in Rogozno, Lubelskie, Poland. Rogozno is a village with farmland 5 kilometers outside of Tomaszów Lubelski. Edward was a carpenter. His grandaughter Ewalina Wawrzusiszyn says she inherited from him her patience for craftsmanship. www.wawrzusiszyn.com Edward and Halina had two children: Boguslaw Dubiel and Anna Wawryzusiszyn. Edward was born to Jan Dubiel and Paulina (Raczkiewicz.) Paulina was born in Sabaudia but moved to Rogozno after she married. They had six children: Leokadia, Bronislawa, Jan, Jozef, Edward and Halina.

Justyna Kiszczyńska died Autust 9, 1814

It is kind of amazing to know about relatives that are so many generations back. Justyna Kiszczyńska (my 5x great grandmother) was born in approximately 1758. She died 9 August 1814 at 10 o’clock at night, at age 56. She died in house number 89 in Tomaszow Lubelski. I do not know who her parents are because I can’t find birth or marriage records related to her and the informants did not know that information in order to relay it to the priest. The informants were Jakub Kiszczyński, son of the deceased, age 25 and Ambroży Kudlicki, age 56, a neighbor. Her husband Lukasz was already deceased. Her daughter Marianna (my 4x great grandmother) was 27 at the time and married to Antoni Jozef Kurkiewicz. At the time of her mother’s death, Marianna and her husband already had two of the 12 children they would have together. Her brother Jakub, one of the informants, and his wife Marianna nee Kurkiewicz had not yet married.

Stefan Józef Kaszucki was born in Tomaszów on August 10, 1832

Stefan Józef Kaszucki was born in Tomaszów on August 10, 1832 at 11 o'clock at night. He was my 2x great grandfather. His father was Andrzej Kaszucki, a 36 year old furrier. His father was Greek Catholic and Stefan Józef and his brothers were all baptized in that faith. His mother was Salomea née Wiciewski, age 24 whose family were potters. His mother and sisters were baptized in the Roman Catholic faith. Stefan Józef was baptized and confirmed on August 12 in the Greek Catholic church. The witnesses were Onufry Stopczynski 36, a watchmaker, and Szymon Hladeszywicz, 50, a shoemaker. The Godparents were Onufry Stopczanski and Małgorzata Kukiełkowicz. She was my 3x great aunt whose parents were Maciej Wiciejewski and Marianna Metalska (my 4x great grandparents) who were potters like Ewa’s family.

Ewa (Wiśniewska) Kurkiewicz died on August 10, 1889

at the age of 80. One witness reporting her death was her 38 year old son Ignacy Kurkiewicz. Ignacy was the grandfather of Mike Liszewski and his sisters (my newfound 3rd cousins 1x removed.) The other witness was Walenty Lisikiewicz, age 40. Ewa’s parents were Błażej Wiśniewski and Agnieszka nee Szcześniaka. Ewa was the oldest child born to Błażej and Agnieszka. Her father worked as a potter and later as a gravedigger. Her mother died when she was 14 years old and her father was engaged to one woman and then married another woman when Ewa was about 15 years old. Ewa first married Wincenty Rachanski, a shoemaker, when she was 21 years old and they lived in Krynice. Wincenty and their son Felix died the following year. Ewa returned to Tomaszow and six years later married Jozef Kurkiewicz, a shoemaker. She had five children with Jozef (Paulina--my 2x great grandmother, Andrzej, Jakub, Franciszka, Ignatius) Ewa’s husband Jozef Kurkiewicz (my 3rd great grandfather) died 15 years before Ewa.

Franciszka (Rzeczyczki) Kurkiewicz Died July 16 1829 & her husband Marcin Kurkiewiciz died July 16, 1828

Franciszka (Rzeczycki) Kurkiewicz (my 5th great grandmother) died 16 July 1829 at 3:00 in the morning. She was 80 years old. One witness was Antoni Kurkiewicz (my 4th great grandfather), her 44 year old son who was a shoemaker. The other witness was Jan Bratkiewicz, a 32 year old farmer. Franciszka was 80 years old and a native of Tomaszów Lubelski. ***** Her husband Marcin Kurkiewicz (5x great grandfather) died exactly one year earlier on 16 July 1828, also at the age of 80. Jan Bratkiewicz, (Marcin’s son-in-law) a 31 year old furrier, and Antoni Kurkiewicz, (his son) a 42 year old shoemaker, reported the death. He was from Mościsk. Maybe someone from Poland can suggest which of these possibilities it could be? ***** -Mościska kolonia Dorohusk chełmski lubelskie 0102628 -cisk ***** -Mościska wieś Rudnik krasnostawski lubelskie 0897734 -cisk mościski ***** -Mościska wieś Sosnowica parczewski lubelskie 0108312 -cisk mościski ***** -Mościska wieś Kąkolewnica radzyński lubelskie 0013310 -cisk mościski ***** Franciszka and Marcin were "Lawnikow" jurors, of the town of Tomaszow. I have found only two children for them (so far.) Antoni Jozef ( my 4x great grandfather) who married Marianna Kiszczynska and had 12 children. The other one was Jozefa who married Jan Bratkiewicz and Jan Redzki/Recki.

Pauline (Skrobat) Raczkiewicz Died on July 3, 1990

Pauline Raczkiewicz (my grandmother) died on July 3, 1990 In Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was given the name Apolonia Skrobot at birth in Oil City, Pennsylvania. Her parents were Wladyslaw (Walter) Skrobat and Anna nee Barszcz. The were both from the Moszczenica area of Poland with Walter coming to the US in the mid 1890s and Anna coming from Ropica Gorna in 1900. She was the oldest of 12 children, of which seven made it to adulthood. *****

Her husband Anthony passed away ten years earlier on October 31, 1980, at the age of 85. They had been married 60 years. ***** From her obituary: Pauline died on July 3, 1990, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at the age of 86. Surviving were her sons Anthony (Cecilia) and Ronald (Pamela), daughter Shirley (Roy) Longwell, 9 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren, three sisters Mary Schossler, Jane (Bill) Adams (both of Oil City, PA) and Victoria Palczewski (Grand Rapids) and a brother (Adam Scrobat) as well as several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Lorraine and grandson, Robert. ***** She was a member of the Basilica of St. Adalbert, Polish National Association and Ladies Rosary Society. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at the Basilica of St. Adalberts, Interment at Holy Cross Cemetery and visitors were received at Arsulowicz Brothers Mortuary, West at 585 Stocking Ave.

Antoni Raczkiewicz Died July 1 1868

Both my 2x great grandfather Antoni Raczkiewicz and his wife, my 2x great grandmother Marianna nee Grabek were widowed and then remarried. This means that by the time he was 17 years old, my great grandfather Jan Raczkiewicz had lost both of his parents. ***** Antoni Raczkiewicz (my 2x great grandfather) died young (1 July 1868), a few months after his 26th birthday. I do not know the cause of death but there was an outbreak of cholera in Russia that year. The witnesses were Jan Skurcz, 27 and Andrzej Bonczko/Baczko?, 40, who were both farmers in Sabaudia. Antoni also was a farmer in Sabaudia. Antoni’s parents, Michal Raczkiewicz and Anna nee Dominik, were still alive and farming in Sabaudia. Antoni came from a family of eleven children, four of which died in childhood. ***** Antoni left behind his widowed wife, Marianna nee Grabek. They had two children, Jan and Marianna. Marianna died in infancy. Jan was four years old when his father died. (He later became my great grandfather, marrying Katarzyna Kaszucka.) ***** Antoni’s wife, Marianna nee Grabek remarried a year and a half after his death to Tomasz Kedra. Marianna and Tomasz had two children: Jozef and Katarzyna. Marianna (wife of Antoni first and Tomasz second) died when Tomasz’s children were eight and ten years old and Antoni’s son Jan was 17 years old. The father of Jozef and Katarzyna (Tomasz) remarried three months later to Anna nee Raczkiewicz (daughter of Jan Raczkiewicz and

Katarzyna nee Pisarczyk.) ***** Image credit: By https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/72/5d/1b3f72dc9b4c0588ffd1388133b3.jpgGallery: https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/V0010490.htmlWellcome Collection gallery (2018-03-31): https://wellcomecollection.org/works/cfcdztbq CC-BY-4.0, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36452978

Paulina Kurkiewicz born June 27, 1838

Paulina Kurkiewicz (my 2x great grandmother) was born June 27, 1838 at 8:00 in the evening. The witnesses were Jakób Palm , “ex traditional captain “, 50 and Tomasz Krotki, a writer in the Customs Office in Tomaszów ,58, both residing in Tomaszów. The godparents were Jakób Palm and Tekla Orzechowka. ***** Her parents were Józef Kurkiewicz and Ewa (nee Wiśniewska, previous married name Rachanska.) They are the couple that Mike Liszewski and his sisters Betty and Joan and I have in common. Paulina’s younger brother Ignatious is their great grandfather. This makes Mike and his sisters my third cousins 1 time removed. ***** Paulina was the first born of five children of Józef and Ewa. Ewa had been previously married to Wincenty Rachanski in the parish of Łabunie, Krynice, 16 kilometers north of Tomaszow Lubelski. Wincenty and their son Feliks died in 1831. When Feliks died at 9 months old -- his father predeceased him by one month. Wincenty was a likely casualty of the November Uprising. After their deaths, Ewa moved back to Tomaszow and lived with her father. She married Jozef around six years later, July 30, 1937 and Paulina was born around a year later. ***** Image credit: By F. D. Richards from Clinton, MI - Clematis 'Niobe' (Poland, 1970) 2020 photo, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=93803072

Regina (Wojcik) Dominik Died June 15 1853

When Regina (Wojcik) Dominik (my 4x great grandmother) in 1853, several other people died in Majdan Gorny. She died June 15 was an 80 year old peasant. The witnesses that reported the death in Tomaszów two days later were Michał Raczkiewicz and Kazmierz Mazur. Michal was 54 years old and from Sabuadia. He was Regina’s son-in-law, married to Anna (nee Dominik.) The other witness Kazmierz was 60 years old and was from Majdan Górno, where Regina was from. ***** Regina was a widow because her husband Tomasz had died 22 years earlier. Her husband had been previously married to Helena Szyydolwska and they had children together. Tomasz and Rozalia had at least four children: Rozalia, Anna, Magdalena, Antoni. ***** One of their children died in childhood when in 1814, 12 year old Rozalia “died of earth,” ( Zabita od ziemi) – possibly a farming accident. Their second child Anna (my 3x great grandmother) married Michal Raczkiewicz and had 11 children. ***** Their third and fourth children died in their 40s. Magdalena married Bartlomiej. She died two years after her mother as a 45 year old widow working as a day laborer. Antoni died as a beggar, nine months after his mother at the young age of 40. During the time period that Regina and Magdalena and Antoni died there was cholera and the Great Famine but no cause of death is given in the records. ***** Another death in 1853 in Majdan Gorny was Jan Raczkiewicz (my 4x great grandfather) who died in January at age 75. He was Anna nee Dominik’s father-in-law. Katarzyna (Krawczyk) Grabek (my 3x great grandmother) also died there in March at age 50. ***** By MichalPL - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=114597634

Paulina Raczkiewicz was born June 12, 1901

Stanislawa Raczkiewicz was born May 10, 1895

Stanisława Raczkiewicz (my great aunt) was born in the village of Sabaudia. Her parents were Jan, age 31 and Katarzyna, née Kaszucka, age 25. She was the 4th child of the nine children they had. Stanisława’s godparents were Franciszek Czarnopyś and Marianna Lisikiewicz. One witness was Marian Skurcz, 25, a peasant from Sabaudia. The other witness was Franciszek Czarnopyś, a 30 year old townsperson from Tomaszów Lubelski. (Franciszek was a grandson of Szczepan Czarnopyś and Pelagia nee Romanowicz. They were 2x great grandparents of my newfound 3rd cousin 1x removed Mike Liszewski and his sisters Joan (Liszewski) Kirkwood and Betty Liszewski.) ---------------------------------- 1895/106 It happened in Tomaszów, on April 28 (May 10), 1895, at 10 a.m., Jan Raczkiewicz, a Christian (I cannot read) from the village of Sabaudia, appeared in the presence of Franciszek Czarnopys (?) 30-year-old townsperson (?) From Tomaszów and Marian Skurcz 25 years old, a Christian from the village of Sabaudia, and told us that yesterday in the village of Sabaudia a daughter was born from his lawful wife Katarzyna, née Kaszucka, 25 years old. This child was baptized with the name of Stanisława. The witnesses were Franciszek Czarnopyś and Marianna Liskiewiczowa. Photo credit: By Ceyla de Wilka - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10320953

Bolosław Raczkiewicz died May 9, 2001

Antoni Raszkiewicz born May 4, 1842

Antoni Raszkiewicz (my 2x great grandfather) was born May 4 1842. It was spelled with an “s” instead of a “c.” This record was translated for me (5/23/2020) when I was first learning how to do this. I thanked the translator for helping me to just find the parents’ name because when I was using the entire translation aide, it was overwhelming since I don’t read Polish. (I can now pick out enough words in Polish but not Russian.) I told her I was making progress by inches and it was true. Thanks to the help of lots of people I am slowly learning the family story. Antoni’s parents Michal and Anna (mee Dominik) were married in 1824. They had 11 children -- Antoni was the 8th one. They were all born in Sabaudia. Antoni married Marianna Grabek in 1862 and they had two children. Antoni died young at age 26 in 1868. Marianna remarried Tomasz Kedra and they also had two children. Act 117/1842. It happened in Tomaszów on May 5, 1842 at 4 PM. Appeared Michał Raszkiewicz, peasant from Majdan Górny, 39 years old in the presence of Marcin Raszkiewicz (21) and Michał Sidora (25), both peasants from Majdan Górny. He declared the birth of a male child born in Majdan Górny on May 4 1842 at 10PM of his wife Anna born Dominik (38). The child was baptised the same day and given the name Antoni. His godparents were: Marcin Raszkiewicz and Katarzyna Prodrowa. Signed by the priest only since the others were illiterate. Signature of rector Plato Radkiewicz. https://szukajwarchiwach.pl/35/1937/0/2.1/3/skan/full/yc6JVckuAgDQWDPi1BanvA

Piotr Raczkiewicz was born May 13, 1897