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maia5973

Joined: 22 Mar 2019
Replies: 4
Location: Quincy, Illinois
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Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 11:46 am Post subject: Deciphering Town name on death certificate

Hi friends, I am glad to be on this forum! My mother and I are looking forward to our trip to Poland in October with Polish Origins!
In the meantime, I am trying to get our family tree in order. Attached is a copy of my great grandmother Katarzyna Koziol, née Kot death certificate from 1932. This was in Chicago, Illinois.
I cannot decipher the hand writing on line #12, Birthplace.
What is that capital letter? We do not know her place of birth, although her husband came from Kozodrza. Is it Kozodrzie? Something else? As you can see, the coroner was Polish too.
Any help your experienced eyes could give me would be so appreciated!

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Elzbieta Porteneuve
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Joined: 09 Nov 2012
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Location: Paris, France
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Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 7:11 pm Post subject: Re: Deciphering Town name on death certificate

maia5973 wrote:

Hi Maia,

The letter "K" is probably the most strange on this death certificate, just look on line #2 "K"atarzyna and "K"oziol.
In line "BIRTHPLACE" the first letter is like "K" in Koziol, I see it written Kozodzia. The village name is Kozodrza, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kozodrza
In line #13 the name is John Kot - her father name?

Best,
Elzbieta

maia5973

Joined: 22 Mar 2019
Replies: 4
Location: Quincy, Illinois
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Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 7:20 pm Post subject: Thank you!

Elzbieta, I appreciate your assistance. My first thought was also a K, but then a friend suggested it looked like a Cyrillic letter P.
Merci beaucoup.

Magroski49
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Joined: 10 Nov 2008
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Location: Joao Pessoa - Brazil
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Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 8:07 am Post subject: Re: Deciphering Town name on death certificate

Elzbieta Porteneuve wrote:

maia5973 wrote:

Hi, Elzbieta and Maia
There is a Katarzyna Kot, whose father's name was Jan, and her age is close to your Katarzyna.
Link to the passenger list below. I could not locate, even in SGKP or in Galicia villages names database a place named Grodnie Male/Maly (or even Hródnie).
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C95Y-GSCM-6?i=988&cc=1368704

Gilberto

Elzbieta Porteneuve
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Joined: 09 Nov 2012
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Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 2:40 pm Post subject: Re: Deciphering Town name on death certificate

Magroski49 wrote:

Elzbieta Porteneuve wrote:

maia5973 wrote:

Hi Gilberto,

Indeed, Katarzyna Kot and her father Jan Kot, it fits together:

"Koenig Albert" 16 Jan 1909, from Bremen:
Katarzyna is 22 yo, married, servant, yes-yes (read-write, she is litterate), Austria Galicia, Grodi?e male;
father Jan Kot, Grod??e male, Mass => US family is in Massachussets, it fits, Jan settled there!

=> Katarzyna Kot birth circa 1886, place Kozodrza; deceased 1932, 46 yo at death
=> father Jan Kot birth circa 1866 or less, is 42 or more in 1909

I have no more chance than you - I could not find anything for the village Grod* male or Grud* male.
Consulted the old geography book for Ropczyce (where Kozodrza fits), old WIG maps, nothing. I even made a search with "maly" or "male" only on https://mapa.szukacz.pl/mapnik.html, for podkarpackie.

There is Borek Maly nearby, vilage "Mala" not far away, "Maly Jasien", but nothing even close to Grod* Grud* (grodek being a word to say little village).

Best,
Elzbieta

maia5973

Joined: 22 Mar 2019
Replies: 4
Location: Quincy, Illinois
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Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 4:17 pm Post subject:

Gilberto, I am familiar with that manifest on Ancestry.com. The age fits, we do know she was born May 1888. I don’t know why that is not listed on her death certificate. Two items are incorrect with family facts, however. She settled in Chicago and married my g-grandfather there April 1912 (I have their inscribed rings). Her father in the registry is listed as Jan and her mother Maria.
This link I found more correct: Kaiser Wilhelm II on October 12, 1909. (Sorry I cant link)
Why do you think some people are so hard to find in the Archives?

dnowicki
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Joined: 28 Dec 2011
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Location: Michigan City, Indiana
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Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 9:49 pm Post subject: Re: Deciphering Town name on death certificate

Elzbieta Porteneuve wrote:

Magroski49 wrote:

Elzbieta Porteneuve wrote:

maia5973 wrote:

Hi Elżbieta, Gilberto, & Maia,

The church marriage record from St. Adalbert (17 & Paulina, Chicago) answers quite a few questions. The wedding took place on April 24, 1912. The groom was 21 years old and the bride was 24. They both had been baptized in the parish of Witkowice, powiat Ropczyce. Whether they were born in Wiktowice or in one of the villages which were part of the parish is not stated in the record. The parents of the groom were Szymon Kozioł and Katarzyna Trafecka. The parents of the bride were Jan and Maria.

About the death certificate...It is a standard death certificate used in Cook County, Illinois, not a Coroner’s Certificate. The portion of the certificate you posted was filled out by the undertaker/funeral director based on information provided by the widower. (This was standard procedure in Chicago.) The doctor filled out the medical portion with the cause of death (which appears on the right of the certificate but is cut off in the image). Chicago was city of ethnic neighborhoods and thus it makes perfect sense for the undertaker to have been of Polish descent. The undertaker was undoubtedly a son of immigrants who was born in Chicago. From the early 20th Century through at least 1970 the style of business handwriting taught in grammar schools was known as the Palmer Method. Some people used that method unmodified during their entire life; others modified it to a greater or to a lesser degree to suit themselves. The undertaker was not at all consistent with his upper case K but if you look at the attached sample of the alphabet according to the Palmer Method it is possible to understand how he took the standard K and made it his own style. (We spent interminable hours in grammar school practicing the Palmer Method. For me the method went by the boards as an undergrad when taking notes in class caused me to make my own modifications for the sake of speed.)

Anyway, I believe that the church marriage record should provide a good starting point for further research.

Wishing you all an enjoyable spring—except for Gilberto to whom I wish an enjoyable autumn,

Dave

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Last edited by dnowicki on Mon Mar 25, 2019 8:07 am; edited 1 time in total

maia5973

Joined: 22 Mar 2019
Replies: 4
Location: Quincy, Illinois
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Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2019 8:06 am Post subject: Thank you!

Dave, your research is very impressive and through! Yes, that is the church record. The groom’s mother is actually Ferfecka. His side I have had no trouble finding at all, but poor Katarzyna was been quite a struggle. Hoping to maybe find more when we visit in October.

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