The LIfe of Wladyslaw Bielak

Władysław (Waldemar) Bielak was born on July 19, 1922 to Jan Bielak and his wife Stanisława (Raczkiewicz), one of the five children that they had. His Godmother was Mary Kufta, his mother’s sister. Mary moved to the U.S. a little over a year later. He married Zofia Kawalec and worked as a farmer in Sabaudia, Poland. He also worked as a miller and raised pigeons. Their children are Wiesław (1955) and Jerzy “Jurek” Bielak, (1961), They have six grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren. Wladyslaw died a year ago on April 10, 2022 at the age of 99. He reposed at the Chapel at the Municipal Cemetery in Tomaszów and was buried after Holy Mass on April 12, 2022.

The Life of Jan Raczkiewicz (Junior)

What does it mean to be “unlucky in love?” Jan Raczkiewicz faced significant hardships in his life and the stories about him sound like he was willing to take risks to make things better. Unfortunately, though, things didn’t always turn out well for him – especially in the area of love. It turns out that Jan was unlucky in love. ***** Jan’s existence was unknown to the current U.S. family of his siblings. He moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan before his other siblings Antoni, Jozef and Mary arrived. There is evidence of his move and his marriage but then no other records are available in Grand Rapids. Did he move from Grand Rapids? Did he have children? Where was he buried? This story of Jan answers these questions and more. ***** Jan was born on June 23, 1888, in Sabaudia, Poland. He was the firstborn child of Jan and Katarzyna. Jan’s father (also named Jan) was a 24-year-old peasant in the village of Sabaudia, Poland and his mother Katarzyna was 17-years-old when he was born. His parents had been married for two and a half years. Katarzyna’s family were from the nearby city of Tomaszow Lubelski and worked as furriers. Marcin Skurcz, 20, and Maciej Bend, 28, two local farmers, were witnesses. His Godparents were Marcin Skurcz and Antonina Mazej when he was baptized in the Roman Catholic church. His parents were both Roman Catholic but his mother’s father Stefan Jozef Kaszucki was Greek Catholic. ***** What was the world like at the time of Jan’s birth? Galicia (the term at the time for the area they lived in) was still in the last of seven famines. Even though serfdom had been abolished fifty years earlier, peasants were not wealthy. Peasants owned land but as it was portioned out to their adult children so many owned less than an acre and much of that acre was made up of up to many separate plots of land. They usually did not earn enough to pay taxes. As he grew older, Jan worked as a farmer and day laborer. ***** When Jan was 22 years old, he was encouraged by his father to leave home for economic reasons and because of the challenges of being Polish in a country taken over by Russia . On February 3, 1910, Jan traveled with three other residents of the area from Hamburg, Germany to New York on the ship Pennsylvania. The ships were originally “used to haul goods such as cotton, tobacco, and other raw products from America to Europe.” The companies began advertising to immigrants to fill their cargo holds for the return trip which was the least expensive way to travel to the United States.” (Emigration from Poland. Stephen Szabados.) From New York, Jan made his way to Grand Rapids, Michigan. The likely reason for Grand Rapids, Michigan to be selected as the final destination was that the city was heavily promoted overseas for the opportunities in the furniture industry. Also, many Poles were already in Grand Rapids so the word would have gotten back to them in Poland that there were opportunities available. ***** Jan lived and worked on the west side of the city of Grand Rapids. Jan’s two brothers Jozef and Antoni joined him in 1913. “In a few cases, the father or a son went first to earn the passage for the rest of the household.” (Emigration from Poland. Stephen Szabados.) Like other immigrants, Jan moved around quite a bit during the first five years he was in the U.S. ***** Jan had a job as a cabinet maker at Phoenix Furniture Company and Johnson Furniture Company but then made a career change. He switched to shoe repair for a few years at Adolph Montrim Shoe Repair, then went back to the furniture industry. Was the career change for a good or bad reason? It is hard to tell. Was he fired as a cabinet maker? Or was he trying out something new that could become his own business if it was successful? It is also possible that there was another factor involved. Jan had a big year in 1915 for some reason. Besides switching careers, he was also engaged to be married. And the big shocker is that he was shot – two times actually – on the same night. So what was going on in Jan’s life at the time? ***** The first hint that he might have faced some challenges in his life came from shocking local news in The Grand Rapids Herald. On February 15, 1915, apparently, Jan attended a wedding where he was involved in an argument. The problem followed him the few blocks he walked home to the apartment he shared with his two brothers. He was then shot several times with a 22 caliber revolver. One bullet lodged in his hand and the other bullet went into the left side of his chest and came out of the side of his body. He was treated at Butterworth Hospital. The argument began near First Street and Stocking Avenue, possibly at the reception rather than the wedding. There were two halls in that area at the time: the Taxpayers Hall (on First Street east of Stocking Avenue) and Swantek Hall (on Stocking Avenue at Second Street.) When interviewed, Jan was unable to identify the men involved or what the argument was about. Alcohol, limited English and a reluctance to report to the authorities are all possible reasons for the limited information and the convoluted story the police received. ***** How safe was life in Grand Rapids for the Polish immigrants at this time? Safety of the city has been in the news lately as Grand Rapids saw a sharp spike in shootings with 35 homicides in the year 2020 compared to 18 the year before. The pandemic and racial inequities are the probable reasons for the current increase. What was going on in 1915 in Grand Rapids and how safe was the city to which Jan and his brothers had recently immigrated? At the time there was prejudice against Catholics and Polish people and all the recent immigrant groups had conflicts with each other. The circumstances around Jan’s shooting is another one of the mysteries related to him. ***** As shocking as this news was, the follow-up article the next day titled, “Police Say John Raczkiewicz Was Not the Victim of Assailants” was even more shocking. “After telling a number of conflicting stories John Raczkiewicz aged 26 years yesterday is alleged to have confessed to officers that instead of being attacked and shot by an unknown assailant, he shot himself, giving as a reason, trouble with his girl.” Jan survived the shooting and eleven months later he married a woman from his hometown – there is no way to know if it was the same woman referred to in the article. Jan and Franciszka (Frances) Kudlicka were married on January 25, 1916, in Grand Rapids, Michigan at Sacred Heart Church. The witnesses were Joseph Raczkiewicz (Jan’s brother) and Stanislawa Kudilicka (Francis’ sister.) At the time, Jan had been in the U.S. for six years and was working as a shoemaker and Francis was in the U.S. for three years and was working as a dishwasher. ***** Jan and his two brothers Jozef and Antoni registered for the draft for World War I on June 5, 1917, in Precinct 9, Ward 1 of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Jan was 28, Joseph was 25 and Anthony was 22 years old. He lived with his wife Frances and his brother Jozef and Antoni lived nearby. Jan was a cabinet maker at Johnston Furniture Company. Since Jn was married, he requested an exemption from service. Jan was reported to be of medium height with a medium build and brown hair and blue eyes. ***** After this, the work records end in 1921 for Jan and his wife in the U.S. Some immigrants returned to Poland and a living nephew (recently discovered in Poland) was able to verify that this did happen. Eugeniusz Raczkiewicz remembered hearing about Jan’s return from his father, Boleslaw, who was the youngest of the siblings. Jan and his wife bought a farm near Gniezno in Goślina, Poland. Why would Jan have used his earnings from the U.S. to buy a farm near Gniezno? Gniezno is nearly 450 kilometers (or approximately 280 miles) from his roots in Tomaszow Lubelski. Tomaszow Lubelski is in southeastern Poland and Gniezno is northwest near Poznan, Poland. The distance would make family visits difficult and it is unclear where Jan and his wife would have found out about opportunities in the area. ***** A look at the churches in both Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Gniezno, Poland provides a clue. While Jan and his wife were married at Sacred Heart Church, his brother Anthony’s second marriage to my grandmother was at St. Adalbert Church. Also, St. Adalbert figured prominently in the lives of all the Poles who lived on the West side of Grand Rapids. St. Adalbert’s was originally created by Polish immigrants. Before the Raczkiewicz siblings made it to Grand Rapids, earlier Polish immigrants needed to escape Poland, after over 70 years of struggle against Prussia, Austria, and Russia. Various uprisings occurred in an attempt to reclaim Poland. The last uprising in the Poznan area in 1848 was unsuccessful. People directly involved faced punishment and possible death. Living conditions became deplorable for all of them and they lost the ability to live as Poles. In the time period of the late 1860s to 1870s, many Polish immigrants came to the U.S. This group of Poles was unhappy to leave their homeland but also to leave the orchestras, operas, palaces, and markets of Poznan. Closer to home, they left Gniezno Cathedral (dedicated to St. Adalbert/Wojciech.) This is the saint who had converted Poland to Christianity. ***** Some of this group of earlier Poles made it to Grand Rapids where Catholicism had its roots in 1833 because of the work of missionaries from Yugoslavia, Hungary, and possibly Poland. The area lacked the amenities of a city like Poznan but the river, countryside, mines, and factories allowed for employment. In the beginning, they worshiped at a German-speaking church but then in 1880, they formed their first Polish-speaking parish. It was named after St. Adalbert like their church in Gniezno. Immigrants from other areas – Bialystok, Silesia joined them and by 1913, the current church was consecrated. (This was the year Jan’s brothers Jozef and Antoni arrived.) The new church in Grand Rapids was patterned after the one in Gniezno, with similar architecture. ***** The earlier Polish immigrants to Grand Rapids from the Poznan area recreated their beloved Gniezno Cathedral dedicated to St. Adalbert/St. Wojciech. These early Poles likely dreamed of buying land near Gniezno and returning to their beloved Poland. In the social halls, wedding receptions, and other places that they gathered, Jan likely learned of opportunities they knew about in communication with their relatives back in Poland. There is no way to know for sure why Jan left Grand Rapids and returned to Poland or why Jan selected Gniezno instead of Tomaszow Lubelskie for his return. The connections with the Poles from that area who made it to Grand Rapids earlier than the wave of immigrants that he was a part of, could be the reason. ***** Information about Jan’s death was provided by the same nephew who lives in Poland who remembered more about Jan from his father Boleslaw. “Jan and his wife did not have any children. She cheated him and he went to sleep in a field with potatoes and got sick (pneumonia) and died. We don’t know which year it was.” Potato fields are common in Poland and potatoes have been grown there for a very long time. In 1821, a famous Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz wrote a poem entitled “Kartofla” (meaning potato -- it is more commonly now called ziemniak.) Cheating spouses also have happened for a long time. Jan’s grief led him to the risky behavior of sleeping outside which it was believed caused the illness that claimed his life. ***** Jan died of a broken heart on April 5, 1928, in the Red Cross Town Hospital in Gniezno on Kilińskiego Street 6. He lived in nearby Goślinina and was 39 years and 9 months old. He was still married to Franciszka nee Kudlicka. He wrote a will dated February 14 – Valentine's Day!-- only a few weeks before he died. Sometime after this, Francis ended up remarried to Piotr Krasnicki 300 miles away in Lublin, Poland. This was an unfortunate end to the oldest brother who took many risks for a better life. ***** Jan’s life had many hardships – the need to build a new life in another country, a possible failed career attempt, an unfortunate encounter with a 22 caliber gun, and the unfaithfulness of his wife. One positive way his family was inspired by his willingness to take risks is by following his lead and moving to the U..S, where they all benefited from a new life. Life has challenges for everyone and Jan’s main challenge was being unlucky in love. ***** Photo of St. Adalberts: By WMrapids - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Basilica_of_St._Adalbert.jpg#/media/File:Basilica_of_St._Adalbert.jpg ***** Photo of Gniezno Cathedral: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Catedral_de_Gniezno,_Gniezno,_Polonia,_2014-09-20,_DD_45-47_HDR.jpg#/media/File:Catedral_de_Gniezno,_Gniezno,_Polonia,_2014-09-20,_DD_45-47_HDR.jpg

The Life of Jan Raczkiewicz (Son of Piotr)

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. ***** Renata Raczkiewicz, his daughter-in-law shared information with me about them on January 14, 2022. “Jan and Stanisława had their own farm. At the urging of their friends, they moved to Pruszków in the vicinity of Łaszczów, in their sixties. They bought a house, worked in the State Institute,” While studying in Warsaw, Eugeniusz Raczkiewicz often visited him in Pruszków. ***** Renata also said, “Their children attended schools, and they had three of them.” Wiesław was born on April 11, 1948, and is deceased. Ryszard was born in 1949 (not sure of the date) and is married to Helena (Szatkowska) Maria was born on January 3, 1956 and is married to Zbigniew Ziółkowski. There are five grandchildren and many great grandchildren. ***** Jan died April 3, 1974 in Pruszkow, Poland at the age of 46. (OR WAS IT 2007??? - I NEED HELP WITH THIS.) His father Piotr died in 1977 at the age of 79. Stanisława died on June 8, 2011.

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