Forum | PolishOrigins :: View topic - Surnames Franckiewicz and Harko

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Skrumpie

Joined: 02 Apr 2012
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 8:19 am Post subject: Surnames Franckiewicz and Harko

I am looking for my paternal grandparents. I know that Michael Nicolas (or Nicolas Michael) Franckiewicz emigrated to Canada in 1909, and he listed on his WWII Draft Card that he was born in Lomza, Poland, but in other places he is listed as having been born in Russia. I don't know the names of either parent. I know that he returned to France in WWI as part of the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps, and I believe the movie WAR HORSE is about those Corps.

My paternal grandmother is Sophie Harko, whose father was Joseph, born February 2, 1874 in Zamosjsce, Poland, and mother was Michalina Mihalski, born March 18, 1874, town unknown. According to the 1910 Census, the family emigrated to America in 1906, through Ellis Island, eventually settling in Cleveland, Ohio.

Family lore says that Joseph Harko's father's name was Piotr or Pioti, and he (Pioti/Piotr) was an orphan who was found by his adoptive parents, names unknown, when he was two, and that the family adopted for him the surname Harko which was the village nearest where he was found. Whether this is true or not I cannot tell. I have no information about Pioti's wife, who would have been Joseph's mother.

I cannot find Mike Franckiewicz entering the U.S. or Canada on shipping lines, and he does not show up in any records I can find until his marriage to Sophie Harko on May 17, 1920 in Cleveland, Ohio, and thereafter in the 1920 Census. It is said that he worked for awhile as a logger in Canada, then went to New York to work on the Holland Tunnel, but I don't think the timeframe there is correct.

Nor can I find the Harko family entering the U.S., but I do find them on the 1910 Census, originally misspelled as Hurka or Hurko, in Cleveland, Ohio. Family lore also claims that Joseph arrived in America in style, having traveled first class on the ship and there is supposed to be floating around somewhere a picture of the family on the deck of the ship, framed by the Statue of Liberty, but I have never seen it.

Michael Franckiewicz was born in 1892, Sophie Harko in 1899.

I will appreciate any information that can be provided. Oh, as an aside, I have seen the Franckiewicz name spelled Frankiewicz and Fronkewcz, and probably a few other spellings which are probably americanized. Thanks again.

Magroski49
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 9:44 am Post subject:

Skrumpe,

Michael/Mike = Michal
Nicholas = Mikolaj
Lomza was located in what was then called Kingdom of Poland, which was ruled by Russia, during the partitions time. That is why records mention immigrantas as being from "Russia" or "Russia-Poland".
I have found a Michal Frankiewicz (among many) in www.stevemorse.org He was born in 1893 in Bialobrzeg, which is located about 20 miles west of Lomza. However, his final destination was Milawkee, in 1913.

Gilberto

Skrumpie

Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Replies: 16

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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 7:19 am Post subject:

Thank you for your help. I had no idea about the difference in the name Nicholas. I went to the stevemorse website, but don't know where to begin. If you don't mind and can remember, can you tell me where you found the Michal Frankiewicz on that list? I know that he emigrated to Canada first, and I know that he was a logger there, but I don't know for how long, only that he married my grandmother in Ohio in 1920, and I think they'd known each other for about a year. I looked up logging in Canada at that time, and it appears most of the larger camps were in the middle and west of the country, so it is possible he did enter the U.S. through Milwaukee, but of course he didn't stay there, so perhaps it is not the same man. Again, thank you Gilberto.

Magroski49
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 8:55 am Post subject:

Skrumpie,

No problem. In www.stevemorse.org click on Ellis Island Gold Form (it is the 1st linf of that page)
Type Michal in First Name Field and select the option Starts With
Type Frankiewicz in Last Name field (Starts with). One can also select Sounds Like or Is phonetically if not pretty sure of the spelling.
It will display a list of 8 Michal Frankiewicz. Their approximate year of birth and arrival are listed.
Under the column Scanned Manifest click on View. This will take you to EI foundation webpage and you will have to subscribe (free) to view the manifest.
Once the EI page is open you will notice that only the first part of the manifest is displayed. To see the 2nd page locate and click on Next (this is a bit tricky: sometimes the next part of the document is found by clicking on Previous, and vice-versa).
Now click on the magnifyng lenses to zoom out the manifest. It will open in another window.

Happy Easter!

Skrumpie

Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Replies: 16

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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 10:13 am Post subject:

Yesterday I found a website-- http://www.geneteka.genealodzy.pl-- after searching under the surname Harko that contained what I believe to be confirmation of a marriage between Jozef Harko and Michalina Wilmansky. I had thought Michalina's last name was Mihalski, but happened upon a document on ancestry.com, the birth of a child, that had in the notes the name Wilmansky, which appears to be the mother's maiden name.

In any event, using the Babylon translator on the internet, I determined that Jozef's mother's maiden name (Naz. Matki) was Smyk. Michalina's mother's maiden name was Komorowska. Under the category for Miejscowosc, which I believe is place, was W-Wa Wszystrich Swietych, which I gather means All Saints Day, November 1, 1899.

Could this be the date of their marriage? Is Miejscowosc a place or just the word for place? There were some letter codes that I translated as birth, death, and then this one--Ksiega Malzenstwa which translated to paper marriage. Does this mean marriage license?

Wow, this is slow going! If anyone out there has any information or can lead me in any direction to find out more about these Polish relatives, your assistance would be appreciated more than you will ever know.

Thanks to all, and have a blessed, safe, and very happy Thanksgiving!

Magroski49
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 10:54 am Post subject:

Skrumpie wrote:

Welcome to the club!
W-wa = Warszawa
marriage record number 68, in 1899
Miejscowosc = place
the first "i" (informajca = information) are names of Jozef's parents: Timoteusz and Maryanna, nee Smyk
the second "i' are names of Michalina's parents: Michal and Anna Komorowska
the orange button SKAN leads you to the original document. Here: http://metryki.genealodzy.pl/metryka.php?ar=9&zs=9264d&sy=323&kt=1&skan=068.jpg and it is written in russian.
Ksiega malzenstwa = book of marriages, containg the marriage records.

Gilberto

Elzbieta Porteneuve
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Joined: 09 Nov 2012
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Location: Paris, France
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 10:55 am Post subject:

Hi Skrumpie,

Warsaw Wszystkich Swietych is a Church.
Kościół Wszystkich Świętych – kościół rzymskokatolicki znajdujący się przy pl. Grzybowskim 3/5 w Warszawie, siedziba parafii Wszystkich Świętych w Warszawie

When googling, I found something very precious, records from Wszystkich Swietych
https://sites.google.com/site/wszswwawametrykalia/Home/dane-2

Then when browsing that fantastic website I found even better:
https://sites.google.com/site/wszswwawametrykalia/Home/dane-2/skorowidze-sluby-gotowe
Małżeństwa 1866-1900: xls (ok 3.5 MB) - Marriages records.

Your records are in that Excel file, line 3809:

1899 68 Harko Józef Tymoteusz Marianna Smyk Wilmańska Michalina Michał Anna Komorowska

where fields are:
Rok Akt On Nazwisko On Imiona On Ojciec imiona On Matka imiona On Matka nazwisko Ona Nazwisko Ona Imiona Ona Ojciec imiona Ona Matka imiona Ona Matka nazwisko

Have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Elzbieta

Magroski49
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 10:58 am Post subject:

Marriage on January 22, as my extremely poor russian reads.

Skrumpie

Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Replies: 16

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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:30 pm Post subject:

Oh my goodness, thanks to both of you. I am literally in tears, having searched and searched with such minimal knowledge of my family and no one left to ask. I guess I have to put more words into that translator, LOL!

Would that marriage date be January 22, 1899? Again, thank you both so very, very much. I can't wait to go to the websites you have provided and I so appreciate your help.

What a wonderful Thanksgiving gift. God Bless you both!!

Skrumpie

Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Replies: 16

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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 1:00 pm Post subject:

Oh, by the way, can either of you tell me how I might find a way to reply on the http://www.geneteka.genealodzy.pl board? Of course, my reply would have to be in English, but I'd like to reach the person who edited or contributed that particular record. Thanks again.

Magroski49
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 1:27 pm Post subject:

Skrumpie wrote:

You are welcome. Yes, there is a way to get in touch with the volunteer, but you have to be a registered user of Genealodzy. Also, you must have in mind that some volunteers signed an agreement with the institution that holds the records, in order not to provide a whole transcription of the record (it is not this case, since the whole record was made available online). Some volunteers kept copies of the records themselves, whereas some have only the indexes transcibed. This volunteer nickname is WZI and he/she has transcribe more than 200,000 record so far.

Gilberto

Elzbieta Porteneuve
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Joined: 09 Nov 2012
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Location: Paris, France
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 6:49 pm Post subject:

Skrumpie,

I looked up Harko name in Birth records
- chrzest, chrzty means baptismal records -
https://sites.google.com/site/wszswwawametrykalia/Home/dane-2/chrztyurodzeniagotowe

I took
1866-1900 : ods ok 1852KB - dokument Open Office
(and downloaded Open Office to my Windows PC)

It is like Excel file, but Open Office.

Your records are in line 5212, with Harko being changed to Charko (Polish spelling of both is very similar, and one shall add Cyrillic used at that time in Poland under Russian rules).

1899 2523 Charko Zofia Józef Michalina Wilmanska
She is your paternal grandmother, Sophie Harko, born 1899.

With fields:
Rok Akt Nazwisko Imię lub Imiona Imiona ojca Imiona matki Nazwisko rodowe matki

In English:
Rok=Year
Akt=Record Number
Nazwisko=Last Name
Imie=First Name
Imię lub Imiona=First Name(s)
Imiona ojca=Father First Name(s); ojciec=Father
Imiona matki=Mother First Name(s); matka=Mother
Nazwisko rodowe matki=Mother Name (name when she was born, usually her Father name)

With Gilberto's method you should be able to get original Cyrillic birth certificate from Wszystkich Swietych Church.

Elzbieta

Elzbieta Porteneuve
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Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 11:00 am Post subject:

Skrumpie,

Just asked for help a native Russian speaker from my lab, and showed him Jozef Harko marriage certificate - but for him handwritten old documents are not easy (like latin handwritten for us ...).

I do not have russian keyboard, so I will use Polish spelling to write cyrillic.

The record gives dates in two calendars: Russian and Polish. Polish is the universal one, the one we use today. The Russian has 12 days of difference - twelve days backward. First date is given in Russian calendar, then in Polish, in brackets.

Year is 1899 (not written here, but we know from archives).

The first line seems be a standart : It did happen in Warsaw in ... (I guess Church Wszystkich Swietych)

In the second line we have Russian date 17 January - w semnadcat -, then in brackets a date of January 29th - dwadcat dewiatowo - denia janwaria.

In the 5th line, we have names of witness: Anton Leszek and ? (unable to decypher, ? Krieg?).

In 9th line, we have age of Jozef - tridcati odnowo goda - 31. His place is (something, Zavalevich???) from Tomaszowski (Ujazd? it seems like a generic name to designate a district/area; the same word is in line 18, where is a place of his wife, Lijnoweskiego ... ).

The age of his wife Michalina is 27 (line 17 - dwadcat sem).

Prior to the marrage some acts were done. In 23rd line: - 3 announcements - tri oblaszczenia - published in (?), two have dates 22 January - dwadcat wtora... - and 29 January - dwadcat dewiat... janwaria sevo goda - January this year.

It ends by - niegramotnoje - which means somewhone who does not know how to write.

===

Re: village Harko or similar

I looked up villages names in Poland, and found Hurko
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurko close to Przemysl, South-East corner of Poland.

Re: the place of Jozef half-decyphered from Russisan record of his marriage

There are at least two Tomaszow in Poland, which are called *today* more precisely Tomaszow Mazowiecki (region of Lodz) and Tomaszow Lubelski. You mention "Joseph, born February 2, 1874 in Zamosjsce, Poland" - if it is Zamosc, then maybe Tomaszow Lubelski. South-East corner of Poland.

===

I looked up for "Prośba o tłumaczenie z j.rosyjskiego" - request to translate records from Russian, by people skilled in genealogy, and found many volounteers doing it. I am quite sure you can give them the URL of Jozef Harko marriage, and someone will help you.
http://genealodzy.pl/modules.php?op=modload&name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=146001

I also found a big gem: old maps from Central Europe, it allow to see names from 1900.
http://lazarus.elte.hu/hun/digkonyv/topo/3felmeres.htm

Elzbieta

Elzbieta Porteneuve
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Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 1:02 pm Post subject:

I might have decypher the place of Wilmańska Michalina in her marriage record with Jozef Harko.

Line 18, cyrillic letters are:

во Вяловиержины Липнов...

Which makes:

w Białowieżynie, (gmina) Lipno

It's here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bia%C5%82owie%C5%BCyn

PolishLibrarian
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Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 1:48 pm Post subject:

Skrumpie~ I went looking for your grandmother’s (and family’s) arrival on Ellis Island (free to register and search). With the note posted previously about the name Charko being pronounced like Harko, I searched for last name sounds like Charko and arrival in 1906 and I found them! (I have a Hudoba relation whose name was originally spelled Chudoba)

I will list here how the family names are indexed. They arrived Oct. 21, 1906 from Hamburg on the ship Amerika. Traveling together were Josef Charko (age 40, farmer), wife Michelina (33), daughters Sofia (6), Stanislawa (4), son Michal (3) and daughter Iadeoiga (I think this looks like Jadwiga on the manifest) (7 months). All are listed as nationality - Russia, race or people - Polish, last residence - Lublin. They were going to a brother-in-law Ignacy Cicilinski in Lilly PA. This could be Josef’s sister’s husband or I suppose it could be Michelina’s sister’s husband. Seems likely it is not Michelina’s brother (not correct surname). Are these the names of Sophie's siblings?

Hope this helps. ~PolishLibrarian

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