“Uncle Joe’s” Birthday (Jozef Raczkiewicz)

Joseph Raczkiewicz (my grand uncle) was born February 18! The birth was reported on the 19th. This was a surprise to find in his birth record from Poland because he celebrated it on March 19. My Mother explained to us that he didn’t know when his real birthday was so he celebrated on the name day for St. Joseph. Even his US Social Security application lists March 19 as his birthday. The year is also wrong in this record since it lists 1894 but he was actually born in 1891. According to the birth record, Jozef Raczkiewicz was born at 3:00 in the afternoon on 6/18 February, 1891 in Sabaudia. (There are 2 dates in Russian records. The 1st date is the Julian calendar date which was used by the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church. The second is the Gregorian date -- used by the Polish, the rest of Europe and us today. In the 1800s, there was a 12 days difference between the dates.) Joe’s parents were Jan Raczkiewicz, a 26 year old peasant and Katarzyna nee Kaszucka, age 21. He was their second child. The oldest child Jan was two and a half years old when he was born. Joe was baptized 7/19 February in Tomaszow Lubelski. His Godparents were Wiktor Wiciewski and Jozefa Skurcz. “Uncle Joe” lived with my grandparents until his death so my sisters and I celebrated his birthday with him throughout our childhood. Joseph immigrated with his brother Anthony(my grandfather.) On the manifest for the ship Mount Temple, I learned that 20 year old Antoni and his 22 year old brother Josef, were born in Zabaldy (Sabaudia) and were farm laborers who could read and write. While they were considered Russian citizens, they were actually Polish. Their father, Jan, of “Zabaldy” (Sabaudia), Lublin, Russia had paid their passage and Antoni had an additional $18 in his pocket. It is about 700 miles from Poland to Antwerp. The current train ride would be 23 hours. https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Antwerp/Tomasz%C3%B3w-Lubelski Here are the addresses I found for Joseph. In my childhood, he didn’t work and the explanation was that he was hurt in the military, that it had caused epilepsy. He did work for many years when he got to the U.S.: 1914 Tacker (Keifer Tanning) 946 Dayton 1916 Finisher 327 Gunnison 1921 Cabinet maker 315 Gunnison 1928 Cabinet maker 501 Milwaukee 1948 (no occupation listed) 501 Milwaukee This picture was taken by Walter Filipkowski, an early photographer in Michigan. He was a furniture finisher in 1910 and had a photography studio at 346 (or 345 and ½ according to one record) from 1920 to 1922. Joe would have been between 29 and 31 years of age when the picture was taken. According to his World War 1 draft registration three years before he was described as having light colored hair, blue eyes and a slender build. I asked my Mom if she knew anything about the pearl ring on Joe’s left hand. She didn’t but she said she remembers a very large picture of Joe with an ornate frame hung in his room. We don’t know where that picture might be. https://clements.umich.edu/files/tinder_directory.pdf