Rafal:
Thank you again for all that you do for me! We have discovered a family tragedy. 18 July 1882, not only did Anna Kolk (my ancestor) die along with her sister-in-law, Eleanora (who left a 1-1/2 year old baby daughter, Wladyslaw), but Eleanora's 25 year old sister, Maryanna, died also that day at 2pm! It would be very interesting to find out what caused their deaths. All three died in Bogate, a village 2.7 km from Krasiniec (a half hour walk). The record for Maryanna was located between those of Anna and Eleanora. I checked for other casualties that day and found none. An interesting, but sad, part of our family history.
I have located the village of Opaleniec and Lesiny Wielki in both current and historic (1890) maps of Poland. Checking the history of the area, I am finding a great many emigrations of Catholic Poles from Southern East Prussia due to repressive Prussian policies. I wonder if my people were a part of this migration...
Here is the birth record of my grandmother, Jadwiga Kolk. I'm interested in the name of the village (I know about Brzesc Kujawski) Is it Usadaba? I can't find it on a map. Also, the interesting part of this family is no children were born between 1890 and 1900 - and they moved from Krasiniec to Brzesc. I can only think that maybe my great-grandfather was somehow involved with the building of sugar beet manufacturing plants.
Kathy, the Russian word is not 'usadaba', but 'usad'ba' 'усадьба' [the fifth letter is the so-called soft sign, which marks what we linguists call palatalization or softening, something that you have in Polish characters ś,ć,ń,ź] and it corresponds to Polish 'dwór' or English 'manor house, homestead'. You are right in your guess that Michał Kolk was a craftsman employed by the owner of the manor house, who probably also owned the nearby sugarplant. If so, the place is now up for sale!
The record itself says that on 30 Sept 1906 Michał Kolk, a carpenter or joiner from the usad'ba, aged 43, in the presence of Adam Kaźmierski, 33, a bricklayer or mason, and Marcin Beński, 40, a householder, showed a baby girl born in the BK manor/homestead at 8pm on 16 Sept of his lawful wife Franciszka Kiszel, 39. During the baptism ceremony performed by Father Stefan Kuliński the girl was christened as Jadwiga Joanna and the godparents were Władysław ?Kołaczewski and Joanna ?Marzęcka (I'm not sure if I deciphered their surnames correctly). In the last sentence there is an explanation that the baptism was so much delayed on account of the father's absence.
Rafal:
My mother sends so many thanks and blessings to you for everything. I called her with the latest "news" and she wanted me to send you her personal thanks for all you have done. You have made her very happy. She has begun to share many memories of her grandparents (Brzeczkowski, Pierzgalski, Kolk and Kiszel) with me. She is going to contact her younger brother (who lives in my grandparents home) to see if there are any papers there.
I am attaching the birth records of my uncle Henry (Henryk), and my aunts Angeline (Aniela) and Jennie (Janina). I have the dates deciphered. I am looking for any information which may indicate where they came from and Michal's occupation. Michal was a master cabinetmaker and woodworker. He did all the crown moulding work for the mayor's mansion in Buffalo, NY. It is beautiful work and many people still admire it. He was one of the first members to join the Carpenters and Joiners Union in Buffalo and received many awards for his craftmanship. My grandfather, Henry Brzeczkowski, followed in his footsteps and was a carpenter and owned a large contracting business. I have special wood working tools that my great grandfather brought with him from Poland in 1909.
Rafal, again many thanks for your hard work and the joy it is bringing to my family.
Rafal:
I have attached a picture of my Kolk family taken in Wloclawek in 1909 before they left for America. My Uncle Stefan had already came to the USA and my Aunt Myrtle (Maryanna) was working when the picture was taken.
Pleased to hear your mother is happy to learn all this. My best regards to her. As for the three baptism records:
Henryk, born 1am 4 May 1902
Aniela Janina, 4am 12 Aug 1904
Janina Leokadia, 8am 1 Oct 1908
It's nice to see all of them in the photo that you posted last night. There is no info about their parents' places of origin. In Aniela's record Michał is described as the sugarplant joiner, in the other two as the manor house joiner. Most of the godparents are sugarplant workers.
Rafal:
Thank you again for all you have done. My research continues for the birthplace of my Aunt Maryanna (born 8 Feb 1890). I suspect that Michal left Krasiniec to find work in other areas of Poland. My great-grandmother, Francis Kiszel (or Kisiel) may have left Krasiniec and returned to her own village where Aunt Maryanna may have been born. This search continues...
I also suspect in reading the history of the Krasiniec area and knowing my family's thirst for freedom and justice, Michal may have become acquainted with some people who may have been involved with political freedom and social justice issues. My mother related that he was a volunteer fireman both in Poland and in the US. The photographer of the picture I sent to you yesterday was a noted industrialist and social activist from Wloclawek and one of the founders of the first volunteer fire brigades in that city.
Additionally, my Uncle Stefan came to the US in 1906 at age 19 on a forged passport using an assumed name (I believe to escape the Russian army draft). I finally found him on the ship manifest. The path is leading me to solve many mysteries and I find that my instincts are proving to be correct (so far). This is so different from the Perzgalski family (whom, with your help) I have traced back 7 generations to 30 of 32 four times great grandparents of my great-grandmother! But, they have all lived in Częstochowa. The Brzeczkowski's have resided for 5 generations in the Wieniec-Brześć Kujawski area. I have traced all 24 of the three times great-grandparents of my great-grandfather.
And, I have you to thank for getting me started on this wonderful journey!
Have a wonderful day and I'm sure we will talk again soon.
Kasia
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