For over 150 years, Milwaukee has been home to a large community of people of Polish descent. The Milwaukee Polonia Project hopes to show the interweaving, intertwining family trees that resulted in this community. It is hoped that, eventually, all the families can be connected to one another. The Milwaukee Polonia Project is also a means to explore our common history and celebrate our shared heritage.

THE ACTUAL DATABASE OF THE TREE IS NOW LOCATED AT THE MILWAUKEE POLONIA PROJECT TREE at Tribal Pages. (We still have much work to do, so don't assume that families are shown completely.) YOU DO NOT NEED A PASSWORD TO ACCESS INFORMATION ON DECEASED INDIVIDUALS.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Featured Profile #31 - Martin Gorecki

Martin Gorecki (1871 - 1928)

Martin Gorecki was born in Bydgoszcz on October 20, 1871.  He was educated in the public schools there and when he was 18, he came to America.  It is not known where he wed his first wife, Agnes, (whether it was in Poland or America) but by 1892, the couple was living in Pennsylvania.  It was there that they had what appears to be their only child, John Gorecki.

In 1902, the famly moved to Milwaukee where Martin got a job at the Schlitz Brewery.  He joined the Beer Bottlers' Union Local 213 and then later transferred to the Brewers' Union No. 9.  He represented both unions as a delegate to the Federated Trades Council.  He became active in the Polish School Society, an organization promoting the teaching of Polish in public schools.  The underlying goal of this effort was to move children away from parochial schools and out from under the influence of the clergy.  Not surprisingly, this effort was opposed by the Catholic clergy who wished to increase enrollment in the parochial schools by the exclusive instruction of Polish.  The Polish School Society was backed by the Socialists (known in Milwaukee as the Social Democrats) and Martin used his leadership in the Society to recruit Poles to that party.  He helped organize five branches of Polish Social Democrats in Milwaukee and to found the weekly Polish Socialist newspaper, Naprzod (Forward.)

By 1904, Martin was ready to run for public office.  He ran as a Social Democrat for the Wisconsin Assembly, 14th Ward, but came in second behind Democrat John Szymarek.  He tried again in 1906, but lost to Democrat Joseph Domachowski (Featured Profile #5) by less than 100 votes.  Gorecki challenged Domachowski again in 1908, but in the interim Domachowski had solidified his hold on the seat, so Gorecki did not even get half the vote total of Domachowski.

However, by the time the next election rolled around in 1910, the situation had dramatically improved.  Years of the corrupt administration of Mayor David S. Rose had left Milwaukeans disillusioned with the Democrats.  Sensing this discontentment, the Socialists launched a major campaign to take the reins of the city.  Gorecki switched his sights from the State Assembly to run for the City Council.  When Milwaukeans went to the polls, they were ready for a change and that sentiment swept most of the Socialist candidates into public office.  Socialists took 10 of the 16 county supervisor seats and two judgeships.  They also took 21 of the 35 alderman positions, one of which was won by Martin Gorecki.

Gorecki served two years as alderman-at-large and then, 1912, ran again for State Assembly.  This time he won, defeating runner-up Democrat Joseph Posanski by 400 votes.  He became a member of the standing committees for insurance banking and public welfare. He served only one term in the State Assembly and did not seek re-election in 1914.

It is not clear what he did after his term in the State Assembly.  He started The Cymbal, a Polish humorous newspaper in 1915, but it is not known how long this lasted.  The 1920 census lists him as living on Mitchell Street with his wife, niece and twelve boarders, which makes it look like some group home.  But, that's about all we know.

His wife in 1920 was his second wife, Mary Maternowski, sister of Stanley (Featured Profile #30) His first wife, Agnes, had died sometime after the 1910 census had been taken and Martin had remarried around April, 1913.  We know this because he was serving in the State Assembly at that time, and one of his fellow legislators had offered the following resolution:

If Gorecki ever gave the requested speech on marriage, it was not recorded. That is a shame because it would be interesting to know his views on the topic, especially in regard to the marriage of his son.  John Gorecki had grown up to be a tavern keeper.  Some time between 1910 and 1913, he had married.  His bride was fresh-off-the-boat Polish, from a family with few connections, little money, and less breeding.  As a Socialist, would Martin have discounted these factors and approved his son's choice of wife, or would his paternal instincts have predominated so that he wished for a better match for his son?  There was also the age factor; the bride was young, very young, possibly as young as 12, but certainly no older than 16.  We will probably never know what Martin's feelings toward this bride were.  What we do know is that this young girl would go on to achieve fame and recognition far beyond that ever obtained by Martin.  Mary Michalska will be the subject of our next featured profile, but in the meantime, it may be worth contemplating what it says about our American culture (or maybe humanity as a whole) that a woman whose sole talent was shaking her scantily-costumed body would greatly outshine the accomplishments of a man whose life was dedicated to the common good.

Relation to Nearest Featured Profile: (Stanley Maternowski, Featured Profile #30):  Brother-in-law


Path From Nearest Featured Profile:  Stanley Maternowski > sister, Mary (Maternowski) Gorecki  >husband, Martin Gorecki
Sources:

Gurda, John, The Making of Milwaukee, pgs. 202-211.

LeMay, Michael C., Transforming America:  Perspectives on U.S. Immigration

Martin Gorecki - in Wikipedia

Reese, William J., Power and Promise of School Reform: Grassroots Movements During the Progressive Era,   p.117

State of Wisconsin Assembly Journal 1913,  pp.  565

Wisconsin Blue Book for 1913, p. 675


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Point of Origin - Cekcyn

I have been holding off doing any further "Points of Origin" entries for a long time.  This is not because I don't think this information is important, but just the opposite.  This type of information can be invaluable to show possible relationships between families.  Sadly, point of origin information is not generally available through other sources because most sources cannot be easily searched by just a place name.

Therefore, I believe that making this information available is extremely important, and I have been contemplating the best way to convey the information that I have. Specifically, I wanted to find a way to list the individuals who had connections to any specific location rather than just family names.  Family names are ambiguous.  Unconnected families can have the same name and a researcher would not know if their family was connected to a particular locality unless they could match a specific individual.  I think I have finally hit upon a way to do this.  It is still not perfect, but it is the best that I can devise at this point in time.  Let me know what you think.  Also, I will update the roster below as more information becomes available.

Place Name:  Cekcyn, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland, Tuchola County
Name in German:  Polnisch-Cekzin

Approximate Coordinates:  53.5667° N, 18.0167° E or 53° 34' 0" North, 18° 1' 0" East


Cekcyn google map 

For an inter-active map:  click here 

For purposes of the Poznań Project it is located in the "Bydgoszcz - Wyrzysk - Złotów" Region.
Note: at least some records of this town also appear in the database of the Pomeranian Genealogical Association.

Individuals with life events at this locality:
"Life events" are birth, marriage or death.  It does not yet include the birth of a child, even though that would indicate the parent, especially the mother, lived there at the time. 

Not all individuals listed came to Milwaukee, but they are "connected" to someone who did.  A"Connected" is a loose term, because I tend to follow the lines as far as possible - otherwise, you never know where they will lead.

How to Read the Roster: Families are grouped together, as far as possible, with generations shown by numbered indentations. Individuals who are known to have come to Milwaukee are indicated by bold type.  Individuals with at least one known direct descendant who came to Milwaukee are indicated by italics.  All dates listed are for events in Cekcyn.  Material in brackets indicates relevant information about individuals who do not have life events in Cekcyn.  Note: families are not complete. Siblings will be listed only if they had a life event in Cekcyn, or if they or one of their descendants came to Milwaukee..

1.  [Children of John Cyborowski and Catharina Frydrychowicz] 
     2.  Cyborowski, August -
           3.  [Cyborowski, Suzanna (his daughter) married Joseph Michalski in Milwaukee]
     2.  Cyborowski, Rosalia - Birth: Abt. 1857 [married Dziekan, August (see below)]
     2.  Cyborowski, Appolonia - Birth: Abt. 1858 [married Dziekan, Paul, (see below) in Milwaukee]
     2.  Cyborowski, Marianna - Birth: Abt. 1861
     2.  Cyborowski, Johann - Birth: Abt. 1863

1.  [Children of Paul Dziekan and Catharina Wenderski] 
     2.  Dziekan, August - Birth: Abt. 1850 [married Cyborowski, Rosalia (see above)]
          3.  Dziekan, Anastasia - Birth: 1881 [married Stephen Sobczyk in Milwaukee]
          3.  Dziekan, Johannes - Birth: Abt. 1883
     2.  Dziekan, Anna - Birth: Abt. 1852
     2.  Dziekan, Marianna - Birth: Abt. 1855
     2.  Dziekan, Johann - Birth: Abt. 1858
     2.  Dziekan, Paul - Birth: Abt. 1863 [married Cyborowski, Appolonia, (see above) in Milwaukee]
     2.  Dziekan, Katharyna - Birth: Abt. 1863
     2.  Dziekan, Ignatz - Birth: Abt. 1866
     2.  Dziekan, Joseph - Birth: Abt. 1868

1.  [Children of Jacubus Mulzof and Justina Borzyszkowski]
     2.  Mulzof, Petrus Paulus - Death: Bef. 1901, on 26 Nov 1849 in Cekcyn, married Myslinski, Marianna (See below).  Their children included:
           3.  Mosolf, Johnn - Death: 01 Nov 1853
           3.  Musolf, Joseph - Birth: 19 Nov 1853 married, in Cekcyn on 15 Nov 1875, Wolski, Franziska - Birth: 20 Jun 1856.  They had the following children:
                4.  Musolf, Julian - Birth: 23 Aug 1876 - Death: 11 Oct 1876
                4.  Musolf, Marianna - Birth: Jul 1878 - Death: 15 Sep 1878
                4.  Musolf, Antonia - Birth: 31 Jan 1880
                4.  Musolf, Antonina - Birth: 23 Jan 1881
                4.  Musolf, Joannes - Birth: 29 Aug 1883
                4.  Musolf, Agnes - Birth: 01 Feb 1886
                4.  Musolf, Peter - Birth: 17 Oct 1888
                4.  Musolf, Paul - Birth: 17 Oct 1888
                4.  Musolf, Franciscus - Birth: 03 Dec 1889 
          3.  Musolph, Paulus - Birth: 06 Jan 1856 - in Milwaukee married Brona, Rosalia - Birth: 08 Nov 1858
          3.  Mulzof, Antonius - Birth: 13 Jun 1858
          3.  Musolf, Ignatz - Birth: 25 Sep 1860
          3.  Musolf, Catharyna - Birth: 09 Jul 1863, on 27 Nov 1882 in Cekcyn, married Valentin Kielpinski
          3.  Mulzof, Adam - Birth: 19 Apr 1866 - Death: 19 Apr 1866
          3.  Mulzof, Josephine - Birth: 16 Apr 1867 -  Death: 29 Dec 1867
          3.  Mulzof, Franz - Birth: 15 Oct 1868 - Death: 18 Oct 1868
          3.  Mulsolf, Julianna - Birth: 25 Aug 1870 [married Ladislaus Hyronimus Schley in Milwaukee]
          3.  Mulzof, Franz - Birth: 03 Apr 1873 [married Martha Grohall in Milwaukee]
          3.  Musolf, Apollonia - Birth: 28 Jan 1875 [married Franciscus Josephus Joannes Grohall in Milwaukee]
          3.  Mulzof, Anastasia - Birth: 03 Oct 1879
     2.  Mulzof, Adalbert - on 04 Feb 1864 married in Cekcyn Wolski, Catharina - Birth: 22 Dec 1844
          3.  Musolf, Johann - Birth: 02 Jan 1865 - on 04 Nov 1889 in Cekcyn married Valeria Ryczkowski
          3.  Musolf, Agnes - Birth: 21 Jan 1867 - on 13 Feb 1893 in Cekcyn married Johann Schweda
          3.  Musolf, Maryanna - Birth: 15 Jun 1869 - Death: 06 Jul 1869
          3.  Musolf, Rosalia - Birth: 13 Jun 1870 - on 03 Feb 1897 in Cekcyn married Michael Siewert
          3.  Musolf, Thomas - Birth: 11 Dec 1872 - married Kolassa, Marianna - Birth: 18 Jan 1872
          3.  Musolf, Anna - Birth: 12 May 1875 -  on22 Jan 1895 in Cekcyn married Joseph Makowski
          3.  Musolf, Joseph - Birth: 24 Feb 1878 - on 15 Feb 1904 in Cekcyn married Rosalia Wolski
          3.  Musolf, Peter - Birth: 08 Sep 1880
          3.  Musolf, Theodor - Birth: 08 Nov 1882 - Death: 18 Dec 1882
 
1.   Children of Myslinski, Franciscus - Death: 19 Apr 1852 and Schultz, Agnes - Death: 26 Feb 1865
     2.  Myslinski, Marianna - Birth: 04 Jan 1834 -  Death: Aft. 1901. Married Mulzof, Petrus Paulus on 26 Nov 1849 in Cekcyn (see above.)

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Status Update - August, 2013

Family Lines - I added the relations of Stanley Markowski (Featured Profile #30) on the Family Lines.  They now show with maroon boxes.  The chart of designated Family Lines now looks like this:


Family Names Added Since Last Update:
  
Bakowski
Bonierwicz
Bresiowi
Ciesinski
Cywinski
Hemerling
Jackowski
Kapelewski
Katczynski
Klysz
Korzeniewski
Krolikiewicz
Kubal
Kusak
Latuszek
Maguszurski
Markiewicz
Martenka
Naramski
Owsiany
Pilarski
Polinski
Prochnow
Pruszka
Rerek
Skretny
Sliga
Sobocinski
Stachurski
Szawlowski
Turek
Wendrich
Witkowski
Zander
Zasada
Zmudzinski
Zych

Profiles Added Since Last Update:  306

New Intra-Connections  (Lucht to Fons):
  
158)  ....Emil Maternowski > brother, Raymond Maternowski > wife, Martha (Sobczyk) Maternowski > mother, Anastasia (Dziekan) Sobczyk > mother, Rosalia (Cyborowski) Dziekan > brother, August Cyborowski > daughter, Suzanna (Cyborowski) Michalski > husband, Joseph Michalski....

159)  ....Anastasia (Dziekan) Sobczyk > father, August Dziekan > brother, Paul Dziekan > wife, Appolonia (Cyborowski) Dziekan > brother, August Cyborowski.... 

160)  ....Irene (Bilicki) Michalek > brother, Alois Bilicki > wife, Esther (Latus) Bilicki > father, Joseph Latus > sister, Angela (Latus) Chrzan > Clemens Chrzan > wife, Phyllis (Woida) Chrzan > father, Joseph Woida > sister, Wanda (Woida) Drozniakiewicz > husband, Frank Drozniakiewicz (II)....

161)  ....Joseph Latus > sister, Sophie (Latus) Chrzan > husband, John Chrzan > son, Clemens Chrzan....

162)  ...AndrewAndraszczyk > sister, Antionette (Andraszczyk) Kuligowski > son, Frank Kuligowski > wife, Frances (Bury) Andraszczyk > sister, Pearl (Bury) Zielinski > husband, Joseph Zielinski > brother, Fank Zielinski....

163)  ....Albin Komassa > wife, Sadie (Szymanski) Komassa > sister, Rose (Szymanski) Blonski > husband, John Blonski > brother, Stanley Blonski > wife, Regina (Jozwiak) Blonski > mother, Valeria (Czerwinski) Jozwiak > sister, Pelagia (Czerwinski) Michalski > husband, John Michalski (2) > sister, Maryanna (Michalski) Tutaj....

164)  ....Sadie (Szymanski) Komassa > sister, Anna (Szymanski) Koceja > husband, Roman Koceja > father, Joseph Koceja > brother, Michael Koceja > wife, Jenny (Domagala) Koceja > sister, Mary (Domagala) Lewandowski > daughter, Katherine (Lewandowski) Kwiatkowski > husband, Edward Kwiatkowski > brother, Harry Edward Kwiatkowski....

165)  .... Jenny (Domagala) Koceja > brother, Franciscus Domagala > wife, Mary (Cybulsk) Domagala > father, Petrus Cybulski > father, Joannes Cybulski > sister, Marianna (Cybulski) Hausz > daughter, Anna (Hausz) Plewa > daughter, Mary (Plewa) Michalski > husband, Stephen Michalski > sister, Maryana (Michalski) Tutaj....

165)  ....Petrus Cybulski > Marianna (Tutaj) [Baranczyk] Hausz > son (thru 1st husband) Jacobus Baranczyk > wife, Anna (Baranczyk) Baranczyk > brother, Michael Baranczyk > son, Frank Baranczyk....

167)  ....Joseph Koceja > brother, Nicholas Koceja > son, Myron Koceja > daughter, Virginia (Koceja) Kachelski > son, PRIVATE Kachelski > wife, PRIVATE (Karger) Kachelski > mother, PRIVATE (Schlegal) [Riviere] Karger > husband, Frank Riviere > mother, Victoria (Kowalkowski) Riviere > brother, Joseph Kowalkowski.... 

168)  ....Emil Maternowski > father, Stanley Maternowsk > brother, Martin Maternowski > first wife, Sophie (Bandkowski) Maternowski > sister, Louise (Bandkowsk) Malzahn > husband, Harry Malzahn.... 

169)  ....Martin Maternowski > second wife, Theresa (Szpera) [Pierdzioch] Maternowski > son, Eugene [Pierdzioch] Peters > wife, Dorothy (Kulwicki) Peters > father, Theodore Kulwicki > mother, Anna (Brozda) [Kulwicki] Kitzke....

170)  ....Franz Muzolf > son, Stanislaus Musolff > wife, Clara (Ryczek) Musolff > mother, Jadwiga (Pawlowski) Ryczek >mother, Valerie (Gacka) [Pawlowski] Rybarczyk > second husband, Michael Rybarczyk > father, Franciscus Rybarczyk > brother, Paul Rybarczyk > wife, Rosalia (Sromalla) [Rybarczyk] Jadogzinski....

171)  ....Clara (Ryczek) Musolff, > brother, Alois Ryczek > wife, Hildegarde (Buretta) Ryczek > sister, Martha (Buretta) Brodowski....

 PCN:  2.71
(For an explanation of the PCN - "Project Completeness Number") see Status Update - February, 2012 and Status Update - March, 2012)
Historical Data:

August, 2013: 2.71          
July, 2013: 4.28
June, 2013:  3.01
May, 2013: 6.33
April, 2013: 3.33
March, 2013:  8.2
February, 2013: 2.1
January, 2013:  8.0
December, 2012: 3.29
November, 2012: 6.0
October, 2012:  12.25
September, 2012:  6.4
August, 2012: 3.89
July, 2012:  4.57
June, 2012:  7.75
May, 2012:  9.33
April, 2012:  16.67
March, 2012:  16
February, 2012:  12.8
January, 2012:  19
 
Newly-Discovered Changed Names:
  
Maternowski to Martins
Pierdzioch to Peters
Wutschikowski to Wutt

New Alternate Spellings:

Bednarek Beduarek
Brzonkala Bosakala
Ciesinski Ciszynski
Enk Ink
Kaluzna Kolszna
Kapelewski Kapejewski
Korzeniewski Korzenowski Krycynski Karzeniewski Kozemierski Kezmierski Krzeminski                    Konomieski
Koslakiewicz Koslakowicz Koslakenicecz
Pierdzioch Pierdziock Piedzioch
Ryczek Riczek
Wloczywoda Wlocewada
Zmudzinski Smuctzinski Zunubzinski