Forum | PolishOrigins :: View topic - Surname mystery Styzej vs. Szcryzen

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Steve Sr.

Joined: 09 Mar 2025
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Location: Illinois, U.S.A.
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2025 12:30 pm Post subject: Surname mystery Styzej vs. Szcryzen

On my grandparents marriage license, the surname used by the county clerk (above) is Styzej. On the bottom (after their marriage) the surname used is Szcryzen. In their actual marriage record from St. Stanislaus B&M in Chicago dated Feb. 3, 1914, her maiden name is Szcryzen. The record also states her father's name as Paulus (Paul) Szcryzen.

Everyone in our family is wondering why the difference. Styzej vs. Szcryzen ?

Any insight much appreciated.

Thank you.

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dnowicki
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Posted: Sun Mar 23, 2025 2:05 pm Post subject: Re: Surname mystery Styzej vs. Szcryzen

Steve Sr. wrote:

Hi Steve Sr.,

The county clerk was not Polish and he spelled her surname as he thought it should be spelled. The priest was Polish and spelled the surname as it should be spelled in Polish. The groom's parents are Joseph/

Notice that the ecclesiastical marriage record gives the names of the parents of the bride and of the groom and also names the parishes where the bride and the groom were baptized in Europe. Paulus is Paul in English and Paweł in Polish. The groom's parents are Joseph/Józef and Frances/Franciszka.

I hope this solves the mystery.

Dave

Sophia
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2025 8:00 am Post subject: Re: Surname mystery Styzej vs. Szcryzen

Steve Sr. wrote:

Hi Steve,

I agree with what Dave wrote. However, you are not spelling the name correctly. It is written as Szczyżeń in these documents. There is no letter "R" in the name.

Having said that, I am unable to find this surname in my usual resources, so far. I do see Szczyż, Szczyżański, Szczyżyński, Szczyżowski, Szczyżyca, and all are rare. The name Styżej does exist, as well.

What the county clerk did get right is the spelling Zofia, the Polish form of Sophia. I happen to think it is a wonderful name.

Best regards,
Sophia

Steve Sr.

Joined: 09 Mar 2025
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Location: Illinois, U.S.A.
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Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2025 11:46 am Post subject:

Dave: Your explanation makes sense. Thank you!

Sophia: Interpreting the spelling as written in someone else's handwriting has been - and will always - be a challenge. So, now we have another mystery so-to-speak. The true/accurate spelling of Zofia's last name. Sometimes we just have to accept these little mysteries and move on.

Perhaps in time. Thank you both again.

Steve

Trish
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2025 3:08 pm Post subject: Re: Surname mystery Styzej vs. Szcryzen

Steve Sr. wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I attached the obituary for Zofia. It stated her maiden name was Styzej. It also lists a brother named Frank Styzej. I just thought this was interesting and might help figure out the correct surname for Zofia.

Regards,
Trish

Chicago_Tribune_1973_07_24_26.pdf

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Trish
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2025 3:25 pm Post subject:

Hi Again,

This may help.

Franciszek Styzej married Katarzyna Niewinna. Here is the naturalization record for Katarzyna which lists information for both her and Franciszek.

This post was updated:

Marriage Information for Francizek and Katarzyna.
Name Franciszek Styżej
Gender Male
Event Type Marriage
Birth Date 1894
Marriage Date 17 lut 1914 (17 Feb 1914)
Marriage Place Bychawka, Lublin, Poland
Marriage Age 20
Father Paweł Styżej
Mother Marianna Szewczyk
Spouse Katarzyna Niewinna
Father Paweł Niewinny
Mother Antonina Koper
Source Information
Poland, Roman Catholic Church Books Index, 1742-1964 [

Regards,
Trish

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Sophia
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2025 4:08 pm Post subject: Re: Surname mystery Styzej vs. Szcryzen

Trish wrote:

Steve Sr. wrote:

Oh! Well, that does surprise me. The Surname Mystery has now become The Case of the Accurate County Clerk and the Creative Priest. Nice find, Trish!

I am puzzled why the priest wrote Szczyzen, when Zofia's surname was Styzej, but that's genealogy for you.

Sophia

Trish
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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2025 4:16 pm Post subject: Re: Surname mystery Styzej vs. Szcryzen

Sophia wrote:

Hi Sophia, Steve, and Dave,
I did not find the manifest for Zofia. However, Zofia's brother, Franciszek Styżej is listed on the same manifest as Roman. Franciszek is on the line under Roman's name on the manifest.

I did find records on ancestry.com that don't seem to be on Geneteka. (Unless I am looking at the wrong area.)

Here is the death information for Zofia's father, Pawel. There is no actual record, just the transcription.

Name Paweł Styżej
Gender Male
Event Type Death
Birth Date 1872
Death Date 5 lis 1918 (5 Nov 1918)
Death Place Bychawka, Lublin, Poland
Death Age 46
Father Jan Styżej
Mother Katarzyna Stefaniak
Spouse Marianna Szewczyk

Steve, I can send you the information on Pawel's children if you want it. It's mostly marriage information.

Regards,
Trish

Steve Sr.

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Location: Illinois, U.S.A.
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Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2025 11:25 am Post subject:

Hi Trish, Sophia, and Dave,

I'll have to have a talk with my cousin some day since she's the one who questioned the surname difference on the marriage certificate, but I digress.

I knew Roman had a brother (Franciszek Styżej) and only learned yesterday they came over together. Both Roman and Frank celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with their spouses on April 8, 1964 since a relative sent a newspaper clipping a few years back.

Trish: Thank you for posting Zofia's obit. I may have found it eventually. The petition for naturalization record for Katarzyna is helpful as is the death record for Paweł Styżej. Please feel free to send the information on Pawel's children as well. It may help in my search on the Moroniak family.

Sophia: The website you furnished in my post about Bystrzyca vs. Bychawka can open many doors but I need to take it slow...information overload at times, and so easy to get side tracked. Many new resources online since I began tracing family roots years ago.

I will say that The Polish Origins Forum is simply wonderful as are the people here. If the surname mystery ever gets solved you'll all be the first to know.

For now, thank you (again) Trish and Sophia, and of course Dave.
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Trish
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Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2025 1:39 pm Post subject:

Steve Sr. wrote:

Trish: Thank you for posting Zofia's obit. I may have found it eventually. The petition for naturalization record for Katarzyna is helpful as is the death record for Paweł Styżej. Please feel free to send the information on Pawel's children as well. It may help in my search on the Moroniak family.

Hi Steve,

Attached is a PDF file with all the information I found on the children of Pawel Styzej. I hope you can view the document. If not, I copy and paste the information onto the forum. The information came from ancestry.com "Poland, Roman Catholic Church Books Index, 1742-1964".

As I stated, it is only transcriptions, not the actual document.

Regards,
Trish

Pawel Styzej Family.pdf

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Trish
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Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2025 2:32 pm Post subject:

Hi Steve,
This is all I could find on Roman's parents and sibilings.

Regards,
Trish

The Moroniak Family.pdf

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Steve Sr.

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Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2025 3:23 pm Post subject:

Thank You Trish! Have a great day! Very Happy

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dnowicki
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Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2025 8:03 am Post subject:

Trish wrote:

Hi Steve,
This is all I could find on Roman's parents and sibilings.

Regards,
Trish

Hi Steve et al.,

Trish has provided you with much valuable information. As she wrote, the data from Ancestry is indexes, not the actual documents. To keep your research from short circuiting due to info overload it may be a good time to slow down and revisit some of your early documents. I’m speaking about the ecclesiastical marriage record. I’m sure that you know the main points, like parents’ names, dates, etc. Perhaps some of the less obvious data may have escaped your notice. In the col. under the heading “Tempus et Ecclesia Baptismi vel locus Nativitatis Sponsi” (The Date & the Church of Baptism or the place of Birth of the groom) the priest in Chi-town entered what he was told—that the groom was 21 years old and was born in Bystrzyca and baptized in the parish of Bychawka. The Słownik geograficzny http://dir.icm.edu.pl/pl/Slownik_geograficzny/Tom_I/509 confirms that Bystrzyca belonged to the parish of Bychawka. In the col. under the heading “Tempus et Ecclesia Baptismi vel locus Nativitatis Sponsae” (The Date & the Church of Baptism or the place of Birth of the bride) the priest wrote: “anni 19...ut sponsi” (19 years old, the same [village & parish] as of the groom). If what the priest was told was accurate, both Roman and Sophia were from the same village and parish in Europe. Keep in mind that the priest did not see any documents and only was working from what he was told. The records from the parish of Bychawka would be the primary sources for birth data. Everything else like obits, newspaper clippings, etc. are considered secondary sources. I would recommend getting copies of the primary source docs.

Trish, you are not missing anything—Geneteka has nothing. I remembered reading that Lublin has its own genealogy site and it is https://regestry.lubgens.eu so I suppose that would be the site to use to locate the original documents.

That’s all I have to say about that (as Forrest Gump liked to say).

Wishing you success,

Dave

Trish
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Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2025 10:41 am Post subject:

dnowicki wrote:

Trish, you are not missing anything—Geneteka has nothing. I remembered reading that Lublin has its own genealogy site https://regestry.lubgens.eu/ and it is Bychawkaso I suppose that would be the site to use to locate the original documents.

Hi Dave and everybody,

Thank you for verifying that I wsn't missing information on Geneteka.

Sophia had posted the link https://regestry.lubgens.eu/ in a previous post of Steve's. It's wonderful webisite. Shame I don't have any family from Lublin.

The indexes on ancestry all seem to be from the Lublin area. I didn't see any other areas uploaded just yet. I'm happy to look anything up for anyone. The indexes at least have the names of the parents and dates which would make it easier to find on the records on https://regestry.lubgens.eu/

Dave, I agree with you. Those little added details could be a wealth of information.

Have a wonderful day!
Regards,
Trish

Steve Sr.

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Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2025 9:31 am Post subject:

Dave,

Your input was well received, especially your statement: “To keep your research from short circuiting due to info overload it may be a good time to slow down”. (I'm slowly tapping the brake pedal here!)

Comments regarding St. Stan's written marriage record much appreciated. “Someone somewhere” seems to have pulled the surname Szczyżeń out of a hat at one time for reasons unknown...for now.

Steve
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