Ronald Raczkiewicz born November 10, 1939

Ronald Raczkiewicz (my uncle) was born November 10, 1939. His parents were Anthony Raczkiewicz and Apolonia nee Skrobot. He was the youngest of their four children. Ron was born when his father was 46 and his mother 37 years old. The family lived at 501 Milwaukee NW. Anthony, his father, worked as a tacker in a leather tannery. Ron’s siblings were Lorraine, age 18, Anthony Jr., age 14, and Shirley, age 3.

Curt Wolf

News Flash! A living relative was found! (11/9/2021 update-- found him last Fall) In the process of doing genealogy, I found a 4th cousin who was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, just like me. His relatives came to Grand Rapids in the same time period as my grandfather Anthony Raczkiewicz. His name is Curt Wolf and he has done extensive genealogy research and even visited Tomaszów Lubelski! On September 21, 2020, I finally sent a message to Curt Wolf on the Ancestry website. I had found hints from his tree on “Ancestry” ( where I am a paid member) and on “My Heritage” (where I have limited access since I am not a paid member.) Our common ancestors are Andrzej Kaszuckii (1799-1861) and Salomea Wiciejewska (1804-1877) -- 3rd great grandparents. Their son Jozef Kaszucki had Katarzyna Kaszucki (my great grandmother.) Their daughter Julianna Kaszucka had Jozef Niedzwicki, (Curt’s great grandfather.) Jozef and his wife Paulina nee Eifler were married in 1906 in Tomaszow Lubelski and came to Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1910, the same year Anthony’s older brother Jan arrived and a few years before Anthony arrived in 1912. Jozef and Paulina Niedzwicki are buried in Holy Cross Cemetery like my grandparents. Curt’s mother Lucille (Krezewski) Wolf passed away in May of 2020. Curt did missionary work with his wife for a year in Moldova and was able to visit Poland. He has done extensive genealogy work and has hired a genealogist. He was able to visit Tomaszow Lubelski with a translator and hear family stories from a distant relative and see where they lived. Besides sharing his tree and lots of information, he provided me with contact information for Tomasz Raczkiewicz, my first Polish connection.

Tomaszów Lubelski video

Różowa Walizka (Pink Suitcase) “Tomaszów Lubelski is already 400 years old, but it does not look old at all. The city is constantly developing and changing. There is a great sports complex here, which includes swimming pools, pitches, a roller-skating track and ski runs. In the center you can try delicious ice cream and very good dishes of world cuisine. It is also worth visiting places related to the city's multiculturalism, i.e. sacred buildings, see the kettle and learn more about the history of Tomaszów at the Regional Museum. We invite.” ***** https://youtu.be/H9CjVDWvscQ from Stasia

Jan Raszkiewicz Born 7 November 1864

Jan Raszkiewicz was born on 7th November 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 community a few miles outside of the town of Tomaszow. 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 baptised the next day and his Godparents were Jakób Herda and Magdalena Bendrowa. During this time period, many of the family records have their last name spelled Raszkiewicz (with an “s”) rather than Raczkiewicz (with a “c.”) His birth record is #280 ***** 1864/280 (Raszkiewicz) "It happened in Tomaszów 8th of november 1864 at 10 a.m. appeared Antoni Raszkieiwcz (?) a peasant from village Sabaudia, 23 years old, in the presence of Jakóba Herdy a peasant from Majdan Górny 32 years old and Jana Skurcza a peasant form village Sabaudia 30 years old and showed us a child (male) born in Sabaudia 7th the same month and year (november 1864) at 8 a.m. from his lawful wife Marianny nee Grabek 20 years old. Child at a baptism got the name Jan. Godparents were Jakób Skórcz and Marianna Bendrowa. This has been read and signed by us because they can't write."

Salomea Kisczynska Born November 4, 1956

When checking my DNA matches on Ancestry as I started to do family history, it was hard to get started. There were very few matches to people related to Anthony Raczkiewicz. The matches I have also share very low amounts of DNA with me, meaning they are not closely related. Some currently live in Grand Rapids or had in the past so I was intrigued to find out more about them. In order to do that, I needed to build my family tree back farther and wider. ***** Salomea Kisczynska is a good example. She is my 2nd cousin four times removed. “Removed” refers to the number of generations of separations between Salomea and me. My fifth great-grandparent-- Jakub Wiciejewski and Anna nee Plebanska--are her great grandparents. I had her in my tree because I included siblings of each generation as much as I could. This helped when looking at my DNA matches. ***** One DNA match, in particular, was helpful. I discovered that we had a mutual person on our family tree--Salomea Kisczynska. The DNA match’s name is Patrice (Szymanski) Shay and she is my 5th cousin 1x removed. Salomea is Pat’s great-grandmother. Pat lives in the Grand Rapids area and her family tree was open for me to view. We corresponded and she shared some information that helped me with her “branch.” It was very satisfying to figure out this first connection! ***** Today is Salomea’s birthday. She was born on November 4, 1856, in Zawadki, Lubelskie, Poland, which is about 30 miles from the city of Tomaszow Lubelskie Poland. Her parents were Teofil and Wawrzyniec (or Lawrence.) Lawrence was a barkeeper and the two witnesses to her birth were peasant farmers from their town. Her mother died when she was 14. Salomea married Jakub Petryna on September 20, 1874, in Tomaszów Lubelski, Lubelskie, Poland when she was 17 years old. Jakub was born to a single mother, who was deceased when he got married. Jakub and Salomea had two children during their marriage, Antonina and Rozalia. Antonina married Kazmierez Syzmanski. Kazimierz is the grandfather of Pat! Hopefully, you can see the connection with the picture from the tree. *****

Michal Raczkiewicz Died November 4, 1882

Almost 140 years ago, Michał Raczkiewicz (my 3x great grandfather) died in the village of Sabaudia on November 4, 1882. He lived to the age of 80. His parents were Jan Raczkiewicz and Apolonia nee Gołębiowska Michal was their oldest child (out of 11.) The witnesses were both 45 year old farmers from Sabaudia. One witness was Jan Skurcz. The other witness was Jakub, the sixth child (out of 11) of Michal and his wife Anna nee Dominik. 1882/235 Raczkiewicz It happened in the town Tomaszów on Oct 24/Nov 5 1882 at 10am. Appeared in person Jakub Raczkiewicz and Jan Skurcz, farmers residing in village Sabaudia, both 45 years old, and declared that on Oct 23/Nov 4 of this year at 10am died in the village Sabaudia Michał Raczkiewicz, son of Jan and Apolonia, age 80. After personally confirming the death of Michał Raczkiewicz, this document was read to the witnesses, and due to their illiteracy, was signed by us only. Priest St. Skurzanowski Parson of the Tomaszów [RC parish]

Polish Halls In Grand Rapids

On September 27, 2021, my Mom, two sisters and I attended a Grand Rapids Public Museum panel presentation of the Polish Halls in our city. The panel discussed the history and purpose of the halls as well as their present status. 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. ***** The event was held at The Guest House which is a frequently used place for funeral lunches and other events. The Guest House is within walking distance of where my mother grew up. The event was catered by The Polish Girl and included kielbasa, kapusta, and a few other dishes. ***** The ethnic halls in Grand Rapids served many positive purposes such as a place to meet and socialize including wedding receptions, parties and other celebrations. Card parties, concerts, and beer drinking were common activities and were popular ways for people from Poland to socialize together. They all had a bar and were allowed to serve liquor to members after paying a federal liquor tax. ***** The halls provided the fundraising to open parishes such as St. Adalbert and Sacred Heart. Some paid sick and death benefits, some were patriotic or religious, cooperating with the local parish. Some offered citizenship and language classes. ***** The history of Polish Halls in Grand Rapids stretches back to 1886 when Jackson Hall was established and was the first Polish hall in the U.S.. Up through the 1960s and 1970s, the halls were still very active and there were dances every weekend. As the population moved to the suburbs and the “melting pot” effect continued to happen, the importance of the halls to the daily life of the immigrant waned. Liquor control laws also changed and there were more options such as brewing companies for people to frequent. (Did you know that Grand Rapids, Michigan was voted “Beer City” by readers of the publication USA Today?) Originally, membership was limited to Polish people (or people who married Polish people like my father.) Now, in order to survive, that membership qualification has been lifted. ***** The need for English classes, support, death and sick benefits, aid to each other in a new country, and working to build churches may be gone but the halls strive to keep the Polish traditions alive. ***** Anthony (my grandfather) was a member of St. Hyacinth, Polish Falcon Society and Polish National Alliance Society: St. Hyacinth, corner of Ninth and Muskegon, 1886, McReynolds & Fourth St., 1908, war bonds, clothing drives, Polish Falcon Society 957 Fulton St. Polish National Alliance Society (Jackson St., west of Lane Ave., 1878, active in Poland liberation, war bonds, political causes ***** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAYui7MK4SU