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PolishLibrarian
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Post Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 2:23 pm      Post subject:
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You also earlier stated: Now as for the 1940 census my grandma died in 1934 and grandpa died in 1939. Aunt Zophie was married and aunt Helen moved to Chicago. So, Stella being the oldest at home made her "head of Household".

You might want to consider looking for the probate records after Grandpa George died. Presumably the home was left to Stella. There might be some info contained there about the family that you don't already know (not necessarily his parents, etc. but maybe siblings). Probate records for Rusk County are not at the ARC in Eau Claire, so you should try the Rusk County Courthouse first for those.

Also do you have obituaries for Grandpa George and Grandma Mary? My grmother's sister died in 1949 and her obituary said she had a brother living in Poland (a male...so much easier to trace even though there was no first name, turns out he was Wojceich). This led to me keep searching for living relatives in Poland. I have since been to Poland and met Woj.'s daughter living about 1.5 mi. from my grandmother's village and his son who now lives in Chicago (both are actually my age even though they are my father's first cousins and my father was born in 1920 - their father was 56 & 58 when they were born). ~PL
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starshadow
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Post Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 3:23 pm      Post subject:
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Sorry for the typos, my eyes were really tired that night. Marianna's maiden name was spelled Skoczen not Skozcen.

You're right, the birth records for Homrzyska only go to 1874. But I searched the marriage records for Homrzyska from 1880 back to 1855, and that was the only marriage for Jozef Sekuła. There were also a few other Sekułas getting married in Homrzyska during that span.

Sekuła, Skoczen, Cabak, Rogoz, Dziadosz, are all common names in Homrzyska. I have all of them in my tree in one way or another. Skoczen is a direct ancestor.

Do you know if Wojciech ever spent time near Indiana PA when he came over? I just realized some of my own relatives spent time in Hawkins Wisc.
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starshadow
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Post Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 5:32 pm      Post subject:
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And Marianna's age was 18, not 19.
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starshadow
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Post Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 10:26 pm      Post subject:
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Searching the birth records for Homrzyska from 1871 to 1874:

1. Catharina born 15 Nov 1872 to Josephus Sekula and Marianna Skoczen;

2. Josephus born 17 Mar 1874 to Josephus Sekula and Marianna Skoczen.
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Pepse



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Post Posted: Sun May 12, 2013 10:54 pm      Post subject:
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Polish Librarian, I will look into contacting Rusk Co. courthouse for any info they might have. And the Ladysmith newspaper. Interesting though is that I talked to a cousin in Wausau Sunday night and she reminded me that Hawkins use to have a weekly newspaper and I am thinking/hoping that the ladysmith newspaper has their old archives. Or that I can get a lead in to where that stuff might be.

Starshadow. I sent you an e-mail.

Later. Jim.
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starshadow
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Post Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 4:53 pm      Post subject:
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The Polish name "Wojciech" was translated as "Adalbertus" in Latin records (Albert in English). Your grandfather probably used George because it sounded close to "Voy-tsieh" (hard "h").

There was indeed an "Adalbertus Sekula" born to Jozef Sekula and Maryanna Skoczen in Homrzyska, house #70. But on Feb 1st 1880, not the date you have for your grandfather's birthday (April 27th?). That was how it was listed in the indexes (skorowidz). But there were also a few other "Adalbertus Sekula's" born in Homrzyska around the same period.
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starshadow
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Post Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 5:04 pm      Post subject:
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The 2 main things you need to find are:

1. The marriage record of George Sekola and Mary Cabak. That document should have all their parents' names.

2. The naturalization records ("declaration of intention" and "petition for naturalization") of either George Sekola, or his wife Mary. Those would contain a bunch of important data, like places of birth, etc.
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dnowicki
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Post Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 5:49 pm      Post subject:
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A short clarification on the Latin forms of first names....Adalbertus=Adalbert or Wojciech in Polish and Albertus=Albert. What transpired in post-classical Latin in regard to first names is that first names used in the vernacular of various ethnic groups were given Latin forms. Although many are similar, they are not identical. Adalbertus is the Latin form of a Slavic first name and Albertus is the Latin form of an Anglo-Saxon first name. Even though individuals may have used them interchangeably, they are Latin forms of two distinct first names. There also are quite a few Latin first names encountered in records which really are ancient Roman names like Claudius (Kladeusz/Claude) or Marius (Mariusz/Marius), etc.
Why so many men who immigrated to America used the name George in place of Wojciech/Adalbert is a mystery to me. It is easy to understand Stanislaw (Stanislaus) using Stanley because of the general similarity in sound, but Wojciech becoming Geroge....?????
Dave
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Pepse



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Post Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 1:28 pm      Post subject:
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Well, for starters I contacted the Ladysmith News and they said all their archives are at the library on microfilm. So I called that library and it is free access to everything on microfilm including the Hawkins newspaper that folded in the 1970's; back to the 1880's. But I, or someone, has to physically go there and view it.

Now tell me what I need to acquire from Rusk County probate. Want to get it right.

starshadow, my grandpa's Declaration of Intention is on page 3 here. That is all MI had in there archives. WI has nothing. As I see it he never finished his naturalization. If you notice in our conversations here they traveled back and forth from Hawkins to Gogebic Co. MI frequently. Michigan has no information for my grandma Mary Cabak. But as was mentioned here is that prior to 1920? she did not have to file for naturalization because she was married.

Later. Jim.
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starshadow
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Post Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 4:39 pm      Post subject:
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I wonder if that date Wojciech was trying to write on his Declaration was "24 Stycznia" (January)? And then someone scribbled "December" or something over it?
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starshadow
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Post Posted: Fri May 17, 2013 11:52 pm      Post subject:
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By the way, the person Wojciech Sekula and Wojciech Rogoz were both going to meet was Michal Klimczak.
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PolishLibrarian
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Post Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 10:48 pm      Post subject:
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starshadow wrote:
I wonder if that date Wojciech was trying to write on his Declaration was "24 Stycznia" (January)? And then someone scribbled "December" or something over it?


I'm pretty sure that a court/government employee filled out the Declaration of Intention form (Wojciech just had to sign the form) and since Wojciech was applying for US citizenship I believe the date of birth would be written in English (not Polish) as is the other information on the form.

Jim~ Here is a link to an explanation of the value of probate records to a genealogist http://www.byub.org/ancestors/records/probate/intro.html . In my case my father and his siblings lost their parents when the oldest was 12 and the youngest 2 (my dad was 4). The children all ended up in a state run orphanage/school. They were all fostered out to farm families who agreed to keep a State School child until they reached 18 when they received $100 and were then free to do as they wish. My father actually stayed with his family after he turned 18 (and I considered them my grandparents growing up), but his older brother did not get on as well with his foster family and I discovered probate court records showing an application for appointment of his oldest sister (age 22) as his guardian. Although I didn't really learn anything new about the family in these records it was another piece of this uncle's story. I also found copies of the juvenile court records sending the children (wards of the state) to the orphanage and it indicated names of family members and friends who were contacted to see if they could take any of the children.

I would hope there is a name index for the Rusk County probate records and that you could find Wojciech's estate settlement. There probably would also be something appointing the sister as guardian for the younger children. Who knows, you might discover something new. It seems you don't live that far from Ladysmith (I'd highly recommend going there to look for obituaries in those newspapers - you have a date of death so it shouldn't be too difficult to find) or from the country courthouse. You sometimes have to do research in person (can't get everything over the Internet or by calling and having someone else do the research). My search has taken me to Arizona and numerous trips to the MN Historical Society which is 70 miles from my hometown where I travel to visit my mother once a year. Good luck and let us know if you have any luck with this line of inquiry. ~PL
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Pepse



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Post Posted: Sat May 25, 2013 9:42 pm      Post subject:
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Well, everything we have done so far is no good.

On Friday May 24, I went to the Rusk Co. Register of Deeds and to the local library there and looked at the death certificates for grandpa and grandma Sekola. Since we are dealing with my grandpa George (Wojciech) at this time this is what I have from the RoD's; not much. Date of death 07/17/1939 (ten days later than what I had understood, no biggie). Age at death: 59 years 3 months. That's about it. The death certificate was done by my aunt Zophie. But, to put that in perspective at least it works out to his birth being in April. Oh, one other item that may or may not be useful his middle name was Peter. And of course aunt Zophie (his oldest child/daughter) listed his place of birth as Austria (SURPRISE!). At least grandma's certificate was done by her brother John and was a little more complete, but of course her place of birth was Galicia. Also, there was nothing about them getting married in Rusk Co. Onto part 2.

So, I then went to the library and pulled up the microfilms for the death notices for grandpa and grandma. Well this is why what we were doing is "no good". The write up states George "came to this country in "1911", first to Pennsylvania and after 2 years came here" (Hawkins). "He was married after coming here to Ms Mary Cabak".

Now did he come directly to PA? Or to NY, and then to PA? Interesting because I thought he went to Bessemer, MI from PA then to Hawkins. But that is minor because it is a given that he worked in the mines is Gogebic Co., MI.

And of course grandma Mary's place of birth is Poland. And it states she came to America in 1912 and in 1915 came to Hawkins and married Mr. Sekola.

I find it very interesting that I didn't find a marriage certificate at the Register of Deeds for that marriage.

Also, I went to the Ellis Island Gold Form and had Zero results for Woj Seku in 1911.

Don't know what else to say.

Later. Jim.
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Cheri Vanden Berg
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Post Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 7:17 am      Post subject:
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Jim,
Though there are mistakes on naturalization records - my grandfather's date and ship were not correct - I would trust that more than an obituary or a death certificate, because death certificate information doesn't come from the person in question. WOJCIECH wrote in his declaration of intention that he arrived on 1907, and there is a Wojciech on the ship manifests that came that year. In the 1930 census it says he immigrated in 1907. In genealogy research, not everything is going to match up, and that's why it's helpful to get as much documentation as you can. Since your Aunt Zophie gave his birth date on his death certificate, of course that is going to match what it said on his gravestone. And like you said in your first post, you heard that he immigrated in 1911, so that is what the family believed, but that isn't what the documents are showing. Could they have gotten married in Gogebic county? In both 1920 and 1930 it says that Sophie and Helen were born in Michigan.


Last edited by Cheri Vanden Berg on Sun May 26, 2013 9:11 am; edited 1 time in total
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Cheri Vanden Berg
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Post Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 9:07 am      Post subject:
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I believe I found the Sekula family in 1920 in Hawkins, Rusk County, WI. It does say that "Joe" immigrated in 1907, so that is consistent...Yes, it does have the head of the household's name Joe instead of George. The enumerator was named Donald DeLarmo - not a Polish name - so he might not have understood. George's age is also wrong, but that happens frequently in the census. It also lists Mary, Sophie, and Helen with their correct ages. The biggest mistake the enumerator made was that he wrote that your grandfather was born in Germany. I don't think that anything else you have found says Germany, so I wouldn't take that seriously. It also says that Mary immigrated in 1907, if that isn't correct consider that in 1930 it says that she immigrated in 1915, and that must not be correct.

Now I see that I had already given you this census year months ago...


Last edited by Cheri Vanden Berg on Sun May 26, 2013 12:33 pm; edited 1 time in total
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