rsowaPO Top Contributor
Joined: 09 Nov 2013
Replies: 177
Location: Dundee, Michigan, USABack to top |
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:01 pm
Post subject: Errors in Parish Records
As I examine more of the parish register records for my Polish ancestors, I have discovered an issue that is hard to explain. Nearly all of the parish registers (both in Poland and the US) seem to be accurate regarding names and relationships. However, I have run across a few that don't appear correct.
For example, my grandmother was Stanislawa (Estelle) Polek. I am absolutely certain her mother was Francisca Bejenka. But the St. Joseph Church (Chicago: Hermitage Ave) parish register for Estelle's baptism lists her mother's name as "Francisca Winkel". The penmanship is crystal clear, so it can't be interpreted any other way. The records for my grandmother's other siblings (all baptized in the same church) correctly lists their mother's maiden name as Francisca Bejenka. Further, there is no record whatsoever for anyone in our family having the surname "Winkel". Also, I am certain my grandmother was not adopted.
My initial thought was that the Winkel name had been transposed from another record on the same page, but I have examined several register pages before and after my grandmother's baptism, and found no other record with the names "Winkel" or even "Bejenka". The link below is for register page...line #111, baptized 28 April 1895...along with six others on the same day.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12116-59416-40?cc=1452409&wc=M66G-VZ6:40037201,40074001
I think that Chicago church entries were often entered in batches, whenever the priest or scribe had time to do them. They might even do a month or two of entries at a time from notes kept by the priest. In fact, one telling feature of this record, is that the priests initials slowly drift to the right, from one entry to the next. That leads me to believe that most of these records were made in one sitting, with the chances for making a mistake, much higher.
I know what I described was rather long winded, but I wanted to see if anyone else agrees with what I think. That parish register records can be, and occasionally are, just flat-out wrong. If I am wrong, then I need to do a lot more research to validate such an odd record. But for now, I plan to assume that his was just an erroneous entry.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 3:17 pm
Post subject:
I have seen Chicago marriage records that seemed to be written quickly and with oblivious misspellings. Some names have been shortened such as Kat for Katarzyna and Nowak for Nowakowski. On my husband's side, I am researching two marriages of siblings who list different surnames for their mother, with the same first name. It is confusing!
I found this record to verify your Bejenka surname:
Home • Departments • Archives • Databases • Illinois Statewide Marriage Index
ILLINOIS STATE ARCHIVES
Illinois Statewide Marriage Index
Search Criteria: Bejenka
Groom Bride Date Volume Page Lic No. County
POLEK, SZYMAN BEJENKA, FRANCISKA 1890-11-10 00159451 COOK
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 3:43 pm
Post subject:
Have you checked the parish record where Frances & Simon were married on 11-10-1890?
St. Mary of Perpetual Help Church, Film #1763432
Maybe a Winkel will be listed there.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 4:28 pm
Post subject: Bejenka
I found a death for a Katie Bejenka. Perhaps she is a relative of Frances.
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Katie Bejenka death, age 30.pdf |
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rsowaPO Top Contributor
Joined: 09 Nov 2013
Replies: 177
Location: Dundee, Michigan, USABack to top |
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 4:57 pm
Post subject:
GenGirl...Thanks, I appreciate your research. But alas, I have those documents, and they don't shed any more light on the Winkel name. The parish register and the state issued marriage license properly list Franciska's maiden name as "Bejenka". Although both were issued five years before my grandmother was born.
In fact, the parish register for Simon and Francisca's marriage also includes her (correct) parents names, Joannis Bejenka and Katharinae Jankowska, both of which were also reported for Francisca's second marriage, and for the marriage of her sister. So the bottom line is that I have a preponderance of evidence for the correct (Bejenka) maiden name, and zero evidence for Winkel.
The obituary for "Katie Bejenka" is indeed a relation, Franciska's sister-in-law. I didn't have that death notice, but I do have the parish register record of her death (St Mary of Perpetual Help). Katherine (Stefanska) Bejenka and her husband Valentine (Franciska's brother), immigrated to Chicago in 1889, about a year after Franciska did. "Katie" died in childbirth, after giving birth to six other children, only four of whom lived beyond their first year.
Richard
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