The Story of Lukasz Grabek & Katarzyna Krawczyk

When Lukasz Grabek (my 3x great grandfather) got married, he had been living with his mother and stepfather. Born around 1798 in Majdan Gorny, Lukasz’s parents were Walenty Grabek and Teresa nee Walawander. His father died when he was 14 and his mother remarried a year later to Grzegorz Lebiedowski. Both Lukasz and his stepfather were working as peasant farmers when he married at age 25. The bride, Katarzyna Krawczyk, age 20, was from Łaszczówka, about four and a half miles away, outside of the city of Tomaszow Lubelski to the southeast. Katarzyna was the daughter of Antoni Krawczyk and his first wife Dorota née Lokaj who also were peasant farmers. Her mother Dorota died four months after her wedding. Katarzyna’s siblings were 5 to 16 years old when Dorota died and their father remarried within two months of her death. ***** The banns were announced on November 9 and 16, 1823 and the wedding of Lukasz and Katarzyna was on November 21, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, in Tomaszów. The witnesses were Marcin Walawender, 55, (Lukasz’ uncle), Jan Garbul ,30, Józef Litwin, 54 and Bartłomiej Krawczyk, 36 (Katarzyna’s uncle.) They were all peasant farmers. The first two were from Majdan Górny, the groom’s village and the other two were from Łaszczówka, the bride’s village. ***** Lukasz and Katarzyna had at least six children with three daughters living to adulthood. Rozalia (1827) married Jakub Raczkiewicz from Majdan Górny. Her husband’s parents were Jan Raczkiewicz and Apolonia Gołębiowska (my 4x great grandparents.) Jozef (1830) died in Infancy and Jakub (1831) died in early childhood. Apolonia (1834) married Antoni Kowal, son of Sebastyan Kowol and Zofia née Kuzniarz, peasant farmers from Majdan Górny. Franciszka (1837) died at age 10 though the record says she was aged 20. Marianna (my 2x great grandmother) was born 1843 and married twice. She married Antoni Raczkiewicz, son of Michał Raczkiewicz and Anna Dominik (my 3x great grandparents), peasants from Sabaudia and also Tomasz Kędra, from Jeziernia, the son of Michał Kędra and Anastasia Król. ***** After living in Majdan Gorny for the previous 31 years, Katarzyna died on March 28, 1853 at approximately 50 years old. The cause of death is not given, but there was “The Great Famine” in Galicia from 1853 to 1855. The witnesses reporting her death were Jakob Raczkiewicz, 29 and Josef Sidor, 36. Their youngest child was ten years old when Katarzyna died but it doesn’t appear her husband remarried. Eight years later, on January 23, 1861, Lukasz died at 5:00 in the evening at age 61. Jakub Raczkiewicz, age 31, (his son-in-law), and Piotr Raczkiewicz, age 50, (his son-in-law’s uncle), presented themselves and confirmed that he had died. ***** The image is of a funeral in Galicia in 1882. Image: By Teodor Axentowicz - http://www.pinakoteka.zascianek.pl/Axentowicz/Index.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12546957

The LIfe of Leokadia Dubiel & Stanislzw Tryndoch

Stasio was an uhlan (cavalryman) in the inter-war period in Hrubieszów. The Uhlan date from the Middle Ages when they went in advance of the armored knights. By the time of the inter-war period, they were no longer using them to break through an enemy line. They retained the ability to move around quickly on horseback but then they dismounted before fighting. In the picture, Stasio is seated on a horse outside of a brick stable with open wooden doors. His uniform includes a full length, dark, heavy wool coat. The coat has a wide, pointed collar, large buttons down the middle and on the cuffs, and a dark leather belt cinched at the waist with a metal buckle. His rimmed cap has a metal badge in the center. His boots are dark leather with a metal buckle Leokadia (Łodzią) Dubiel (my mother’s cousin) married Stanisław (Stasio) Tryndoch and they lived in Rogozno, Poland. Stanislaw and Leokadia had two children – Stanisława (Stasia) and Edwarda (Edyta), five grandchildren and several great grandchildren. Stasio was born in 1913 and Leokadia was born on May 3, 1922. She was the oldest of six children of Jan Dubiel and Paulina nee Raczkiewicz (my great aunt.) Jan and Paulina (my great aunt) had six children in Rogozno, Poland: four girls and two boys. Leokadia (Lodzia) Tryndoch was the oldest daughter of the four girls and two boys. Leokadia died March 28, 1999. She was 77 years old when she died.

The Story of Antoni Krawczyk & Dorota Kozyra & Barbara Probola

A period of mourning is typical before a spouse remarries. The length of the mourning period may have been short in Poland in the past, especially if there were young children involved. Anthony Krawczyk (my 4x great grandfather) wed Barbara Probola on May 22, 1824. This was Antoni’s second marriage. His wife Dorota (Kozrya) Krawczyk (my 4x great grandmother) died two months earlier on March 22, 1824 when she was 45 years old. Her death was reported by Antoni Krawczyk, 42, her husband, and Jozef Litwin, 60, a neighbor in Laszczowka where they lived. Her death information was in the record for her husband's remarriage two months later to Barbara Probola. ***** Having children that needed care might explain why Antoni remarried so quickly. Antoni and his first wife had seven children together and at least four of them were living when he remarried, Three of them lived at home and the youngest was six years old. His oldest daughter Katarzyna (my 3x great grandmother) was married November 1823, four months before her mother died. ***** His new wife Barbara was 32 years old and the daughter of Sebastyan Probola and Anna nee Bartnim, who were once peasant farmers but were deceased when Barbara married. Barbara was living with her brother-in-law in Łaszczówka. ***** Antoni was a 42 year old peasant farmer residing in Łaszczówka. His parents also were once peasant farmers in the same village but were deceased. His parents Kazimierz Krawczyk and Rozalia nee Kubak were from this village in the mid 1700s and many of his children remained there (my 3x great grandmother moved to Majdan Gorny when she married and her daughter Marianna Grabek - my 2x great grandmother - moved to Sabaudia when she married.) There is a Łaszczówka and a Łaszczówka-Kolonia and I think they lived in the one that is not the colony, but I am not sure. They are not that far apart. Łaszczówka is a village about one mile east of Tomaszów Lubelski in Tomaszów Lubelski County, Lublin Voivodeship (area administered by a governor.) It has about 1,000 residents. It was a town from the mid 1500s until 1870 and it regained its status as a town in 2010. It is the seat of the gmina (community) called Gmina Łaszczów. From a record on the Kaszucki side, I believe there was an estate there that produced tobacco. One son-in-law worked as a servant, perhaps on this estate. ***** Antoni’s children with Dorota were Katarzyna (about 1800 - 1803), Marianna (1807), Mikołaj (1809), Marianna (1814), Łukasz (1811), Tomasz (1815), and Franciszka (1818). Mikołaj and Marianna died young at age one and age three. The first Marianna likely died early, though her death record was not available. Katarzyna (my 3x great grandmother) married Łukasz Grabek, a peasant from Majdan Gorny, living with his mother and stepfather. Łukasz married Katarzyna Litwin whose parents were peasants from Łaszczówka. Tomasz married Dorota Kozyra from Łaszczówka who was living in Tomaszów with her uncle since her parents were deceased and then they lived in Sznury. Franciszka married Sebastian Rejman whose parents were peasant farmers from Ruda Wolowska. ***** Antoni and his second wife Barbara had an additional four children: Marianna (1825), Agnieszka (1828), Maciej (1830), and Wawrzyniec (1833). Marianna married Marcin Jakubus, born in Majdan Górny, but working as a servant in Łaszczówka. Agnieszka married Jakub Kozyra, a peasant farmer born in Majdan Górny and living in Bondyrz. Maciej married Ewa Rejman, from Ruda Woloski. Ewa was the sister of Sebastian Rejman, married to Ewa’s half sister Franciszka ten years earlier. Wawrzyniec married Katarzyna (Krupa) Dziura, a widow from Łaszczówka. ***** Antoni died in Laszczowka on February 4, 1841 when he was 60 years old. He left behind his second wife Barbara. His older children of Dorota were all married when he died. His children with Barbara were eight to sixteen years old. I am unable to find out if Barbara remarried.

The Story of Antoni Józef Kurkiewicz & Marianna Kiszczyński

Antoni Jozef Kurkiewicz (my 4x great grandfather) worked as a shoemaker. He was the son of Marcin Kurkiewicz and Franciszka nee Rzeczycki. His parents were from Mościska but they died in Tomaszów Lubelski and were “ławników" (jurors) of the town. His wife Marianna’s parents (Lukasz & Justyna Kiszczyński) were also shoemakers. Their son later carried on the shoemaker tradition. “Shoemakers are generally hardworking, thrifty, they like order and cleanliness.” Villages had many shoemakers and they owned homes and farms. The skills of the trade were learned in shoemaking school under the guidance of a master. It included an apprenticeship where skills were learned such as taking measurements and sewing leather on a machine. The town of Tomaszow possibly had an association with which the shoemakers needed to register. ***** The wife of the shoemaker would be very involved in the business. She used the flesh of the pig for meat, turning it into ham and sausages. The husband used the bristles on the pig for sewing boots and shoes and the skin for the leather. Another way they got leather was to buy cow leather from a tanner or from a merchant who purchased the leather for resale. Many shoemakers also had a maid. ***** Shoemakers made strong and expensive boots made to order. They also brought ready-made ones to weekly markets to sell. Families made minor repairs themselves and had a shoemaker’s awl and homemade awl at home in order to do this. Cobblers would go to the neighborhoods of the peasants to perform shoe repair. ***** Besides Antoni Jozef, there are many shoemakers and cobblers in the family tree. In fact, generations later in the U.S., Jan Raczkiewicz tried shoemaking in Grand Rapids in 1915. (The picture is of an unknown shoemaker in 1914 at Adolph Montrim Shoe Repairer at 316 Bridge St. NW. Jan worked there for a short time.) His brother Antoni also worked in a related business of leather tanning when he moved to Grand Rapids. ***** Antoni and Marianna had 12 children, at least seven of which died in childhood: Agnieszka (b. 1812) lived for two years, Wincenty/Felix (b. 1823) lived under three months, Marianna (1824) lived for three months, Marcin (b. 1825) lived for four months, Wojciech (b. 1826) lived for four months, Maciej (b. 1829)) lived for six months, and Wiktoria (b. 1830) lived for four weeks. One boy and four girls lived to adulthood: Jozef, Katarzyna, Tekla and Apolonia. Jozef (my 3x great grandfather) was born in 1815. In 1837 he was a shoemaker and married Ewa Rachanski, a widow. She was a daughter of Błażej Wiśniewski, farmer residing here in Tomaszów, Two of the four daughters married Greek Catholic shoemakers and two of the three daughters died shortly after marriage. Katarzyna (b. 1818) and married Jan Roczniak, an apprentice carpenter who built carriages, in 1837. Tekla (b. Abt. 1808) and married Antoni Romanowicz, a Greek Catholic shoemaker in 1832. She died less than two years later. Apolonia (b. 1821) and married Jan Eifler in 1840 from the colony of Rogozno. His mother Anna was a laborer and no father is named for him. She died eight months later at age 21, along with her newborn. Marianna (b. 1833) married at age 16 to Jan Kamienski, a Greek Catholic shoemaker. ***** Marianna (my 4x great grandmother) died on 15 April, 15 1846 at 3:00 in the afternoon in Tomaszow Lubelski. She left behind her husband Antoni, who was also aged 60 at the time. Antoni Jozef and their son Jozef (my 3x great grandfather) reported the death the next day at 9:00 in the morning. Jozef was 27 years old and the oldest male child. While he was the third born child, his two older sisters were already deceased--one at age three and the other at age 25. He had been married for several years and his mother was alive for the birth of several of his children. ***** Six years later, Antoni Jozef Kurkiewicz, age 67, died March 20 1852 at 7:00 in the morning in Tomaszów Lubelski. The cause of death is not given. A cholera outbreak was going on in Poland at the time. When Antoni died, three of his children were still alive – Jozef, Katarzyna Roczniak, and possibly Marianna Kamienska. Antoni Jozef’s son Jozef, age 37 and his son-in-law Jan Kaminski, age 23, both farmers from Tomaszów Lubelskie. went two days later to report the death. ***** Sources: P. 84 -85 Memoirs of a Peasant” Jan Slomka and https://www.historiaregionu.org/uhnow https://www.facebook.com/groups/264767850370094/permalink/1763933803786817 1914 in GR

The Story of Walenty Grabek & Theresa Walawender

The tradition of naming children based on the name days of saints was common in Poland. Walenty is often used for sons born on or near the Feast Day of St. Valentine. The Latin version Venentinus led to some records calling the boy Valentine. I have a few examples of Walenty/Valentine in my family tree. Walenty Grabek (my 4x great grandfather) was born in 1768 approximately. I don’t have access to his birth record to see if he was born on February 14. Walenty Wiciejewski (a 3x great uncle on the maternal side) was born February 9, 1824. Walenty Kupka was born February 14, 1822. He was the husband of my 5th cousin Katarzyna Kiszczynska. Other Walentys include Kurkiewicz, Gdańsk, Kowal, Przybysz, Kwiatkowski, and Gogulski. I have only found two children for him and his wife Teresa nee Walawender -- Lukasz (my 3rd great grandfather) and Zofia. Łukasz (abt. 1798) married Katarzyna Krawczyk from Łaszczówka and farmed in Majdan Górny. Zofia (abt. 1799) married Michał Kozyra and also farmed in Majdan Górny. Walenty Grabek died on March 19, 1812 at 6:00 in the evening in house #11 in Górno. He was only 44 years old. One of the witnesses -- Marcin Walewender -- was his wife’s brother. The other witness was Jan Prsybysz. They were both his neighbors. Eleven months after his death, his widowed wife Teresa re-married to Grzegorz Lebiedowski. Her husband’s death is listed in this marriage record except he is called Jozef -- not Walenty -- and the death is reported as January 1811 --not March 1812. Someone made an error in this record because later records when his children get married are clear that his name was Walenty. Teresa (my 3rd great-grandmother) and her second husband Gregorz Lebediowski had one child Agnieszka (1815) . Agniezka married Jan Steciuk/Styciuk in Grodek. Teresa died on September 23, 1840 in the village Grodek, at the age of 70. Her husband Grezegorz and her son Lukasz reported the death. Grzegorz died 14 years later on April 18, 1854 in Podhorce. His son-in-law Jan Styciuk and Antoni Knop, another peasant farmer. He must have remarried since he left behind a widowed wife Marya.

The Story of Rozalia nee Kobak ^ Kazimierz Krawczyk

Besides the Raczkiewicz family (Pawel and Franciszka) originating from Łaszczówka, another branch of the family also originated from there. Łaszczówka is a village about one mile east of Tomaszów Lubelski. It currently has about 1,000 residents. Krwawczyk family members lived there for several generations. I can trace three generations of Krawczyks in Łaszczówka. Kazmierez Krawczyk (my 5x great grandfather) and Rozalia nee Kobak (my 5x great grandmother) lived and died there. Kazimierz was born about 1748 and Rozalia sometime between 1764 and 1768. They worked as peasant farmers. Their children were Antoni, my 4x great grandfather (abt. 1779), Franciszek (abt. 1782), Wojciech (abt. 1791), Bartlomiej (about 1793) and Lukasz (abt. 1779.) Antoni was a peasant farmer in Łaszczówka, married to two women from Łaszczówka: first married to Dorota Kozyra for twenty years and then to Barbara Probola. There is no information on Franciszek. When their son Wojciech was married in 1812 to Rozalia Kukiz, the record reports that they were residing in Łosiniec. They may have moved there and then moved back or this could be an error. Her family and the witnesses were from Łosiniec. Their son Bartłomiej was a blacksmith residing in Łaszczówka, who married Anna Biszczard, whose family was farmers residing in Ruda. Lucasz was a peasant farmer residing in Sznury, married to Marianna Bucior. Rozalia died in house #5 in Łaszczów on November 27 1814 at 2:00 in the afternoon. She was 50 years old. Reporting the death two days later in Tomaszów, were her husband Kazimierz, 60, working as a peasant farmer in Łaszczów and Jakub Kraczkiewicz, 50, a neighbor. Kazimierz lived nine more years. He was a 75 year-old widower when he died on March 16, 1823, at 1:00 in the morning. His two sons, Wojciech and Bartłomiej, 30, went to report the death in Tomaszow Lubelski. They were both peasants. Kazimierz lived with his son Wojciech and Wojciech’s wife Rozalia when he died in their house #10 in Łaszczówka. Kazimierz probably moved in with them sometime after 1814 when his wife Rozalia died. Both his wife and his daughter-in-law were named Rozalia. Kazimierz and Rozalia’s children all died in Łaszczówka except for Lukasz, who died in Sznury.

The Story of Jan Raczkiewicz

We don’t have a picture of Jan Raszkiewicz (my great grandfather.) He was born on November 7, 1864 in Sabaudia, Poland at 8 o'clock in the morning. His father was Antoni Raszkiewicz, 23, a peasant farmer and his mother was Maryanna née Grabek, 20. They were living in Sabaudia, a small village community that is five miles north of the town of Tomaszów. Jan’s parents had been born and raised as peasants in Majdan Gorny and their family was there for at least four generations back to the 1750s. Majdan Gorney is a small village about four miles east of Tomaszów. They had moved and were peasants in Sabaudia at this time. The witnesses who helped report the birth were Jakób Herda, 32, and Jan Skorcz, 30, peasant farmers from the same area. Jakub was the father’s brother-in-law. Jan was baptized the next day and his Godparents were Jakób Herda and Magdalena Bendrowa. His birth record is #280 and during this time period, many of the family records have their last name written as Raszkiewicz (with an “s”) rather than Raczkiewicz (with a “c.”) ***** One of the first translations that I received when I started learning family history was the marriage record of Jan Raczkiewicz and Katarzyna nee Kaszucka (my great grandparents.) Jan and Katarzyna Kaszucka were wed in Tomaszów Lubelski on November 15, 1885, when she was 16 years old according to the record, but actually 14 and ½ years old, according to her actual birth record. Jan was 21 years old. Katarzyna was born in the town of Tomaszów Lubelski. Parents of the bride were Jozef Kaszucki and Paulina nee Kurkiewicz. Her father was a burgher (a citizen of a town or city, typically a member of the wealthy bourgeoisie) in the town of Tomaszow and worked as a furrier. Witnesses for the wedding were Katarzyna’s father Jozef Kaszucki, 50, and Jan Skurcz, 50, a farmer in the village of Sabaudia. ***** Earlier, Jan had inherited land which later made it possible for him to marry. The information about his will was provided by Eugeniusz Raczkiewicz, his 2x great grandson. On November 4, 1882, Michał Raczkiewicz (my 3x great grandfather) died. He was Jan’s grandfather. Michałl had three sons who died in childhood, Marcin had died at age 25 and Jan’s father Antoni had died at age 26. That left the oldest son Jan and his son Jakub to potentially inherit his farm. Jan, age 57, was already farming land in Majdan Gorny, possibly from his wife’s family. Jakub had moved to Jezernia, where the family of his wife Katarzyna Kedrak lived. That left grandson Jan to be named in the will. Three years later Jan married. ***** His wife, Katarzyna Kaszucka (my grandfather’s mother) was born 21 April 1871 in the town of Tomaszow Lubelskie to Jozef Kaszucki and his second wife Paulina nee Kurkiewicz. Jozef was 41 when she was born. His first two children with his first wife died in infancy or early childhood. Paulina was 34 years old when Katarzyna was born and she was their fifth child together. The previous four children had died in infancy or early childhood. The death notices do not include cause of death but in their area of the world from 1850 to 1900 there were struggles for democracy and the effects of overpopulation. There were cholera and smallpox outbreaks during the years two of them died. One of Katarzyna’s godparents was Szymon Kubka.. The other one was Julianna Niedźwiecka. (the 2x great grandmother of new found 4th cousin Curt Wolf– who originally put me in touch with Tomasz Raczkiewicz, the first connection I made in Poland.) Curt mentioned that our families are therefore spiritually linked as well as geneticallyrelated. ***** When Kataryna’s father Stefan Jozef died (date unknown), he did not make a will since Katarzyna was his only remaining relative. He had two wives and seven children. Only Katarzyna made it to adulthood and both wives were deceased when Stefan Jozef died. ***** Jan and Katarzyna lived in Sabaudia and their nine children were born there. Their births were: Jan (1888), Jozef (1891), Antoni (1893), Stanislawa (1895), Piotr (1897), Mary (1899), Paulina (1901), Franciszek (1904), and Boleslaw (1906). Some stories have emerged about Jan related to his children. Eugeneniusz remembers, “My father told me - he (Jan) built the first Christmas tree in Savoie (Sabaudia) and taught his sons rhymes - wishes for Christmas and the New Year. I also made these wishes while walking on the so-called "stilts". Thanks to hearing about this memory, I asked Andzej Duebiel about it and he explained that, “during Christmas, boys went from house to house and wished everyone all the best. They carried oat's grains and dotted it. They were called "szczudraki".” Jan encouraged his oldest sons to go to the United States. He had contacts with various groups in the community in order to help figure this out and in 1910, Jan left and in 1912, Jozef and Antoni left. ***** Besides being a farmer, Jan provided transportation to Lviv, using carriages in the summer and sleighs in the winter. According to Eugeniusz Raczkiewicz, “My Grandfather Jan transported "gentlemen" - that's what my father used to say. He took them, among others, to Lviv at different times of the year. At the same time, he had a decision (oath) that he would not drink alcohol. Father said he swore to himself. I cannot answer in what form this promise was and to whom.” ***** A courier from Lviv (Ukraine) described Tomaszów Lubelski in October 1913 which he traveled by car instead of cart or carriage. I have summarized his description and the link (below) goes to the full version. From the month of May until the end of September, an automobile went twice a day on a route through Tomaszow and to Lublin. There were white stones along both sides of the road for driving at night. The route passed a Russian customs stop where the people in charge spoke Polish. The Cossacks had a building there, serving as border guards. The Cossack’s attire was described as “disgustingly colored” and they “make an unpleasant impression” with “wild expressions on their faces.” Seeing them reminded the author of bloody descriptions of post-partition martyrdom. The author reflected sadly that it wasn’t long before there were no more border guards. ***** The author described his impression of Tomaszow mostly negatively. He saw what he described as the “hideous, green painted towers” of the Orthodox church as he approached the city of Tomaszow. The city was full of shops, stalls and mud. A horse pulling a cart struggled in the black mud. There was an obelisk in the square in memory of the reign of Nicholas II. Tobacco products were sold freely which amazed the author since as a Galician, he said he was used to a government monopoly on cigarettes. The people in the streets spoke Polish and were dressed from an earlier time. The Catholic church, there for 500 years and made of larch (a type of conifer) was blackened with age and neglect. ***** He ended with “Some young people go to America for bread.” It is true that Jan had gone earlier and only a year later than these remarks, my grandfather Anthony and his brother Joseph arrived in the U.S. https://www.historiaregionu.org/tomaszw-lubelski ***** What was happening in the world around him when Jan died? The death record does not give the cause of his death so there is no way for me to know for sure why he died at the early age of 50. World War 1 was happening and “in the summer of 1914 fierce battles raged around Tomaszow Lubelski and a fire broke out there, destroying many houses. In the summer of 1915 the area was conquered by the Austrians and the Germans.” Austria was in the middle of a cholera epidemic. There was an outbreak of typhus that had just started in Russia.. So was it related to the war or the illnesses that caused the death of Jan? More answers were provided by Eugeniusz Raczkiewicz, his grandson, on March 9, 2022. ***** The work he did transporting “gentleman” was likely difficult for Jan. “It was very cold during one of the trips. The "gentlemen" warmed up with alcoholic beverages, Grandpa did not drink and then he caught a cold and fell ill with pneumonia. Soon he died. He was buried in the cemetery in Tomaszów during the First World War. Soon the cemetery was dug, burying the fallen soldiers, and then my grandfather's grave was lost.” Jan’s death record was not available to me online since it happened only a little over 100 years ago. Andrzej Dubiel was able to get it from a Polish archive and shared it with me. I learned from Act 53 of the death record of 1915, that Jan died on March 8 (or February 23 Julian/Russian calendar) at 5:00 in the evening. Jan was 50 years old and his death record reported that he was born and living in Sabaudia, he was the son of Antoni Raczkiewicz and Katarzyna Grabek and he left behind widow Katarzyna Kaszucka. The next day at 10 o'clock in the morning. Marian Skurcz, 50 years old, from Sabaudia, and Walenty Liskiewicz, 59 years old, townsman from Tomaszów went and declared the death. ***** When Jan died, the six remaining children in Poland were between nine and 20 years old. The youngest child, Boleslaw, would have been nine years old (he is the grandfather of Tomasz and Jacek Rączkiewicz.) Their second youngest child Paulina would have been 14 years old (she is the grandmother of Andrzej Dubiel.) The oldest child of Jan and Katarzyna was also named Jan. He had left for the United States five years earlier and the next two children Anthony (my grandfather) and Joseph had left three years earlier. Jan, the son, had just been shot in front of his house in Grand Rapids, Michigan a month before his father died. I wonder if the relatives in Poland heard about the shooting? I also wonder how and when the three brothers in the U.S. heard that their father had died in Poland but Eugeniusz said his father never mentioned it to him. ***** Katarzyna lived another 29 years after her husband Jan died but did not ever remarry. Neither Jan nor Katarzyna had living siblings but they both had a lot of cousins. Katarzyna died March 11, 1944 in Sabaudia as a 73 year old widow. Reporting the death was her son Bolesław, a 37 year old farmer and Bronislaw Skurcz, a neighbor. When she died her son Franciszek had been killed the year before in the Rotunda in Zamosc and her three oldest children had lived in the U.S. for several decades. Stanislawa, Piotr, Paulina and Boleslaw lived in the area and were raising families of their own. ***** This picture came from Andrzej Dubiel (my 2nd cousin.) He got it from Anna (another 2nd cousin) who has these pictures . Anna is a granddaughter of Paulina Dubiel (my great aunt.) Her father and Andrzej’s father were brothers. Paulina lived with Anna's parents. Andrzej doesn’t know when the pictures were taken but thought Katarzyna looks old in it, so estimated about 1940. Based on the clothing and background, it seems like it could be older. What are your guesses?