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August Zajkowski
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jazyjoez



Joined: 29 Oct 2020
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Post Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2020 12:02 pm      Post subject: August Zajkowski
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Looking to find out more about my grandfather, August Zajkowski, who emigrated to the USA (Wilkes-Barre, PA) in 1900. He died in a mining accident in W-B in 1920. I think he may have some siblings but don't know if any of them came over. I believe he arrived in May of 1900 in Ellis Island, NYC on board the SS Palatia (listed as Saikowsky, age eighteen). Letter of Intent to become US citizen says he lived in Piaski, Russia Poland. Passenger Listing says he came from (lived in) Sorti. This is all I've been able to find out about him. He died in July 1920 before becoming a US citizen. His age listed on tombstone is 37. PA. Death Certificate lists birthday as Sept. 10 1884.

Thanks for any leads or tips anyone can provide on where to look for records.

Sincerely,
Joe Z.
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mcdonald0517
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Post Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2020 3:52 pm      Post subject:
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Hello Joe,

Welcome to the forum. Your ancestor, August, definitely had a brother. If you look at his passenger list in the column for relative or friend you are destined to see in the US, you will see the name Alexander Saitowsky of Wilkes Barre.

When I searched for Alexander in ancestry.com, the 1900 census shows him living with his family in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. He died in 1920. I found his death certificate which indicates the names of his parents as Franciszek Zajkowski and Mary Malinowska. The death certificate for August also names his father as Franciszek Zajkowski. So they are definitely brothers.

If you would like copies of these documents let me know.

Alexander had several children before he died including one set of twins! I also found several marriage records for Alexander’s children so that means you likely have living cousins in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania.

I will look for more info later.

Best,
Cynthia
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jazyjoez



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Post Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2020 5:44 pm      Post subject: Alex Zajkowski
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Thanks Cynthia! I already have a lot of the info on Alex Zajkowski and his family on Grant Street which I believe is not too far from my grandpa's place on North Sherman Street in the Heights section of W-B. I am hesitant to call Alex a brother of August at this point as the info on Death Certs can be sketchy at times I have run across many DCs where the informant was a close relative and was dead wrong. Also, no one ever mentioned any Zajkowski's living nearby. No one from the "old neighborhood" knows anything about the Zajkowski line. And all of dad's siblings are gone now so I can't prod them for info. But my aunt is the one who gave my sister and thus me all the scoops on the family tree and not one mention of any Zajkowski in W-B related to grandpa.

But I do find it strange that not only did he live nearby, he died within a month of my grandfather (June and July 1920) AND buried in the same St. Mary's cemetery in the Georgetown section of W-B, so you never know. They might be brothers!

And stranger still is a fella named Walter Zajkowski buried right next to my dad (minus the "j" in the last name) in the National Cemetery for vets out on Long Island! One of these days I'll look into that fella too!!

Thanks again. Keep the ideas coming. We are bound to poke a hole in the wall sometime!

Sincerely,
Joe Z.
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Tina Ellis



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Post Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2020 10:42 pm      Post subject:
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mcdonald0517 wrote:
Hello Joe,

Welcome to the forum. Your ancestor, August, definitely had a brother. If you look at his passenger list in the column for relative or friend you are destined to see in the US, you will see the name Alexander Saitowsky of Wilkes Barre.

When I searched for Alexander in ancestry.com, the 1900 census shows him living with his family in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. He died in 1920. I found his death certificate which indicates the names of his parents as Franciszek Zajkowski and Mary Malinowska. The death certificate for August also names his father as Franciszek Zajkowski. So they are definitely brothers.

If you would like copies of these documents let me know.

Alexander had several children before he died including one set of twins! I also found several marriage records for Alexander’s children so that means you likely have living cousins in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania.

I will look for more info later.

Best,
Cynthia
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mcdonald0517
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Post Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 5:02 pm      Post subject:
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Hi Joe,

I spent some time looking around. The good news is that you know his place of birth - Piaski, In former Russian Partition of Poland. The bad news is, there are over 50 locations in Poland with the name Piaski, and about half of them would have been in the former Russian area of Poland. I cannot find the last residence you provided in Poland- it must have been spelled or transcribed incorrectly on the passenger list.

To narrow it down, I suggest you try to find both his civil marriage application and the sacramental Marriage record from the local church. The civil record should be in the county records office. The church would likely be a Polish Catholic Church in WB. You might find more information in those records that would Help narrow down the location and provide names of his parents.

I understand your caution in claiming Alexander as his brother. Just keep in mind that August named his brother Alexander living in WB as The person he was meeting in the USA. It is clearly written on his passenger list. So he did have a brother Alexander living in WB. Question is- is the Alex who died in 1920 the same Alex who is his brother On the passenger list? Perhaps the family never spoke of Alexander because he died the same year as August, so the family just didn’t know of him. I have seen that happen quite often in my research.

Perhaps other community members can offer other suggestions.

Good luck in your search,
Cynthia
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Sophia
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Post Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 5:59 pm      Post subject:
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Hi Joe Z and Cynthia,
The indexer of the ship manifest for August did not write "Sorti,", they wrote "Sotri." And what is actually written on the manifest surely is not Sotri. Did you see there is another guy, line 18 (Kasimir Kurpowniczky?), coming from the same town as August and going to Wilkes-Barre also? So you have another chance to see how this town is written. I see "Sefzi" rather than "Sotri" but am still not sure what to make of this. Perhaps you can track down this co-traveler Kasimir, and discover where he was from.
Sophia
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jazyjoez



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Post Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2020 8:19 pm      Post subject: August Zajkowski Residence 1900
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Cynthia and Others,
Thanks for looking over the passenger listing and coming up with suggestions. I too at the outset noticed the numberof Piaski places listed in Poland. So you can see my frustration. As well as with poor transcription of the Last Known Residence! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I did find the marriage record in St. Mary's in Wilkes-Barre on Park Avenue long ago but it did not provide any useful information as to where August lived in Poland. Likewise the civil record as well. Find both attached to verify I did not miss anything all these years ago now. I've been at this for some 30 years now! Frustrating to not be able to find your grandfathers line!! Now, grandma is a different story! I have pushed back to 1783 now with grandma's line!! Hence my renewed interest in finding my grandfather's line.

Thanks again.
Joe Z



ZajkowskiBieniewiczMarriage31Jan1910ChurchRecord.tif
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Zajkowski/Bieniewicz Church Marriage Record 1910
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marcelproust
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Post Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2020 12:08 am      Post subject:
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Maybe it would not be useful information but i have found Zajkowski Wacław who is burried at the cemetery in Monte Cassino.
What is interesting, that he was born in Piaski, in the county of Białystok, which i believe is a part of the city Białystok, the
podlaskie voivodeship.

Here is the intormation.

http://cmpi.fondazionemm2c.org/pl/pochowani-na-monte-cassino/cart/1014/waclaw-zajkowski.html

I wouldn't treat it as something important, but maybe ... who knows

Besides the passengers list gives the name as Sajkowski.

Another thing: I noticed that the passenger list, at the entry number 18 shows another person who came from the same place that looks very similiar to the place that August came from.

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mcdonald0517
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Post Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2020 3:04 pm      Post subject:
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Hi Joe,

I spent some time doing a "survey" of immigration patterns for both the surnames of "Zajkowski" and "Kurpowniczky" (on same passenger list as August; suggested by both Sophie and Marcel) traveling to Pennsylvania.

I then plotted their locations on a current map of Poland using googlemaps. The majority of them originated in Podlaskie Voivodeship of Poland.

If I were you, I would start researching the parish records for the 3 Piaski locations in Podlaskie:

Piaski, Białystok, a district of the city of Białystok (urban location: Osiedle Piaski)
Piaski, Białystok County (rural location)
Piaski, Hajnówka County (rural location)

I also spent some time staring at the map trying to see if any village came close to the last residence listed on the passenger list: "Sefzi" (Sewzi, Sewzy) that looked or sounded like it. Nothing jumped out. However, I notice I found it difficult to tell the difference between the scribe's capital "S" and "L" on the passenger list. There is a village called Lewsze about 43 km southeast of the urban location of Osiedle Piaski.

Anyway, with the brick wall you are facing, this would be my suggestion. Perhaps Sophie and Marcel can add to this or has another approach to suggest.

wishing you good luck in your research,
cynthia
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jazyjoez



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Post Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 12:06 pm      Post subject: Re: August Zajkowski Residence 1900
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jazyjoez wrote:
Cynthia and Others,
I did find the marriage record in St. Mary's in Wilkes-Barre on Park Avenue long ago but it did not provide any useful information as to where August lived in Poland.


Sorry, I incorrectly identified the church where my grandparents, August Zajkowski and Stella Bieniewicz got married. St. Mary's on Park Avenue in WB is where they settled AFTER they married in Plymouth and moved to the Heights section of WB. They actually married in Plymouth at St. Casmir if memory serves me correctly. I can't find the reference just now for some reason. There is another thread on the Ancestry BB's about finding that church is anyone cares to do a search and read up on it. Quite an adventure a few years ago! Adventures like that is what makes this hobby so fun at times!

Sincerely,
Joe Z
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Tina Ellis



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Post Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 7:36 pm      Post subject:
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Maybe someday, we will learn they were cousins or maybe brothers. Smile
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Sophia
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Post Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 7:46 pm      Post subject:
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Hi Joe,
It does not seem like the marriage records you have are providing any further clues. Cynthia has given you several good suggestions to pursue. Following Cynthia's thoughts that the wojewodztwo Podlaskie is your best bet, I would add one other wild guess to the possible town of origin, based simply on the "overall shape" of the town named on the ship manifests, and that is Zajki. Zajki is a village in Gmina Trzcianne, in Woj. Podlaskie. You can see it on google maps. When I say I like the "shape" of the town name, I mean that, just like "Sotri" or "Sefzi," it is a short, five-letter name, it ends in "i", it has a "j" as the center letter which could be written with that long swooping shape that you see in the manifest, that sort of thing. It's a fuzzy suggestion, I know. But wouldn't it be fun to be the Zajkowski family from Zajki?
Best of luck to you in your research,
Sophia
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mcdonald0517
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Post Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 8:49 pm      Post subject:
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Hi Sophia,

Funny you mention Zajki .... I found several other Zajkowski people in my survey who came from that village and traveled to Pennsylvania. I also wondered if that last residence could be a badly written form of Zajki! I don’t think your suggestion is as wild as it seems... it has strong possibilities.

Zajki in Gmina Trzcianne is located 11.7 km from Piaski in Gmina Tykocin.

August could have been born in Piaski and then last resided in Zajki before immigrating.

There is enough evidence to at least make those parishes primary targets for research.

Good idea!
Cynthia
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dnowicki
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Post Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 10:13 pm      Post subject:
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mcdonald0517 wrote:
Hi Sophia,

Funny you mention Zajki .... I found several other Zajkowski people in my survey who came from that village and traveled to Pennsylvania. I also wondered if that last residence could be a badly written form of Zajki! I don’t think your suggestion is as wild as it seems... it has strong possibilities.

Zajki in Gmina Trzcianne is located 11.7 km from Piaski in Gmina Tykocin.

August could have been born in Piaski and then last resided in Zajki before immigrating.

There is enough evidence to at least make those parishes primary targets for research.

Good idea!
Cynthia


Hi Sophia, Cynthia, & Joe,

The parish for that village of Piaski is Tykocin. Records for that parish are available on Family Search for 1826-70 and later records are housed in the Polish National Archive in Białystok but only for the years 1890-1915. Unfortunately the birth of August occurred during the gap years. The idea of searching Tykocin is a good one but will require an alternate approach and search method if it is to bear fruit. The RC parish for Zajki is Gielczyn, but if August's place of birth is Piaski the fact that he may have resided in Zajki before emigrating would not yield his birth record.

With wishes for good luck,

Dave
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jazyjoez



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Post Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2020 9:50 am      Post subject: Zajkowski/Bieniewicz Church Marriage
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All,
Seems I was wrong again on the church my grandparents were married in!! That will teach me for relying on memory alone! The following URL will lead you to my original posting on the marriage record from St. John the Baptist (Polish) Church in Larksville, Pa. that I posted long ago on the ancestry BBs.

https://www.ancestry.com/boards/localities.northam.usa.states.pennsylvania.counties.luzerne/20428.2

Sorry for the confusion. Hope this makes things a littler clearer for you all. I do appreciate all the help and suggestions and work that you have put into this effort in helping me break down this ZAJKOWSKI wall of mine.

Sincerely,
Joe Z.
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