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Janiak and Sopczak Families
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nick3371



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Post Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2020 2:15 pm      Post subject: Janiak and Sopczak Families
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Hello,

I am looking for information on the Janiak and Sopczak families from Konin, Poland.

Walenty Janiak and Jessie Chletska had four known children:

1. Wojciech "Archie" Janiak (Janeck) was born around 1882 near Konin, Poland. He immigrated to the USA around 1907 and settled in Chelsea, Massachusetts and Manchester, Massachusetts. He married Teofilia Sopczyk/Szopczak around 1901 in Poland and had two children born in Poland- Josef Janiak (born 28 February 1902 in Brzyzno or Brzeźno, Poland) and Marianna Janiak (born 15 July 1907 in Berzberk, Poland). I couldn't locate Berzberk on a map but I believe it is the same at Brzezno.
2. Walenty Janiak: born around 14 February 1874 in Konin, Poland. He married Mary Kulchar/Kulchinska and had two children Stephen (born 1895 in Konin) and Eleonora (born December 1904 in Wolka or Wola Podlinska, Poland)
3. John Janiak: born around 1862.
4. Mary Janiak: She married ____ Korczyk.

Teofilia Sopczyk/Szopczak was born around 1 April 1877 in Konin, Poland. She was the daughter of Archie or Joseph Szopczak and Nakomocia/Napomanska Lygoskia. I am unsure how to spell these names but this is what records show. Teofilia also had a brother named Josef who lived in Konin. Teofilia immigrated to the USA in 1911.

I am looking to find the marriage record of Wojciech and Teofilia and their children's birth records. I am also looking to locate their own birth records. Any advice on where to look online or how to obtain these records would be great!

Thank you,

Nick



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Sophia
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Post Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 8:34 pm      Post subject: Re: Janiak and Sopczak Families
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nick3371 wrote:
Hello,

I am looking for information on the Janiak and Sopczak families from Konin, Poland.

Walenty Janiak and Jessie Chletska had four known children:

1. Wojciech "Archie" Janiak (Janeck) was born around 1882 near Konin, Poland. He immigrated to the USA around 1907 and settled in Chelsea, Massachusetts and Manchester, Massachusetts. He married Teofilia Sopczyk/Szopczak around 1901 in Poland and had two children born in Poland- Josef Janiak (born 28 February 1902 in Brzyzno or Brzeźno, Poland) and Marianna Janiak (born 15 July 1907 in Berzberk, Poland). I couldn't locate Berzberk on a map but I believe it is the same at Brzezno.
2. Walenty Janiak: born around 14 February 1874 in Konin, Poland. He married Mary Kulchar/Kulchinska and had two children Stephen (born 1895 in Konin) and Eleonora (born December 1904 in Wolka or Wola Podlinska, Poland)
3. John Janiak: born around 1862.
4. Mary Janiak: She married ____ Korczyk.

Teofilia Sopczyk/Szopczak was born around 1 April 1877 in Konin, Poland. She was the daughter of Archie or Joseph Szopczak and Nakomocia/Napomanska Lygoskia. I am unsure how to spell these names but this is what records show. Teofilia also had a brother named Josef who lived in Konin. Teofilia immigrated to the USA in 1911.

I am looking to find the marriage record of Wojciech and Teofilia and their children's birth records. I am also looking to locate their own birth records. Any advice on where to look online or how to obtain these records would be great!

Thank you,

Nick


[/b]



Hi Nick,
I've been looking at this request for a while now and trying to figure out if I can help you. Perhaps I can assist with the names. You are showing one as Wojciech "Archie" Janiak (Janeck). First, I have to say how refreshing it is to find a Wojciech who didn't become George in the U.S. While there was no particular reason for that to happen, it almost always did! It's a first for me to see someone take up the name "Archie" - - a fine name, don't get me wrong -- and yet you have two of them, the other being the father of "Teofilia Sopczyk/Szopczak", or else her father's name was Joseph. It seems like you must have documents that disagree with each other. If it's a matter of not being able to read handwriting, feel free to post an image of any document that you have and I'll try to decipher it for you. I would use the spelling Teofila (rather than Teofilia). The Szopczak spelling does not seem quite right for a Polish surname. Sopczyk exists but is quite rare. Sobczyk and Sobczak are far more common. Janiak is a good spelling, yet you have (Janeck) after that; does it mean you are uncertain of it, or does it mean you know he is Janiak but that he changed how he spelled the name, once in the U.S.?
Best regards,
Sophia
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nick3371



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Post Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 11:39 pm      Post subject: Janiak and Sopczak Families
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Hi Sophia,

Archie was also called Albert in a few records. I read that Adalbert is the English version of Wojciech but some how he chose Archie! For the last name Janiak, it also switches from time to time. It is most often found as Janiak but sometimes as Janeck or Janik. Many of Archie and Teofila's children put Janiak-Janeck in their own obituaries so I think they accepted either, though I'm not sure of the original spelling. Teofila and her children immigrated after Archie and spelled it as "Janiak".

Teofila's father was listed as "Joseph" on her death certificate, with her daughter as the informant. It was listed as "Archie" on her Social Security application, but this is only from an index I found online, not the original record-so it might be a transcription error from her husband's name. On her immigration record, her brother is listed as "Josef Sobcak" for her nearest relative. Her mother is shown as Nakomocia and Napomanska on her death record and her social security application.

As for her last name, I found many different versions according to different records. It was written as Sopczak in her obituary and her death certificate. It was written as Sopczyk in husband's obituary and death certificate. It was written as Sopsak on her social security application. It was written as Sopcok, Sopock, Soposa,
Dapcak, and Sczopczak on different children's birth records. And as Czobczak on her son's social security application (tough only an index, not the original record).

I'm not sure which spelling is correct for any of these! I'd like to do some research in Poland on the family but am unsure what to do next. I don't know what records are available for Konin- if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear!

Thank you!

Nick [/b]
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Sophia
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Post Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 6:42 am      Post subject: Re: Janiak and Sopczak Families
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nick3371 wrote:
Hi Sophia,

Archie was also called Albert in a few records. I read that Adalbert is the English version of Wojciech but some how he chose Archie! For the last name Janiak, it also switches from time to time. It is most often found as Janiak but sometimes as Janeck or Janik. Many of Archie and Teofila's children put Janiak-Janeck in their own obituaries so I think they accepted either, though I'm not sure of the original spelling. Teofila and her children immigrated after Archie and spelled it as "Janiak".

Teofila's father was listed as "Joseph" on her death certificate, with her daughter as the informant. It was listed as "Archie" on her Social Security application, but this is only from an index I found online, not the original record-so it might be a transcription error from her husband's name. On her immigration record, her brother is listed as "Josef Sobcak" for her nearest relative. Her mother is shown as Nakomocia and Napomanska on her death record and her social security application.

As for her last name, I found many different versions according to different records. It was written as Sopczak in her obituary and her death certificate. It was written as Sopczyk in husband's obituary and death certificate. It was written as Sopsak on her social security application. It was written as Sopcok, Sopock, Soposa,
Dapcak, and Sczopczak on different children's birth records. And as Czobczak on her son's social security application (tough only an index, not the original record).

I'm not sure which spelling is correct for any of these! I'd like to do some research in Poland on the family but am unsure what to do next. I don't know what records are available for Konin- if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear!

Thank you!

Nick [/b]


Hi Nick,
There are records online for Konin, in the Polish archives. For example, there is this:
https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/zespol?p_p_id=Zespol&p_p_lifecycle=1&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&_Zespol_javax.portlet.action=zmienWidok&_Zespol_nameofjsp=jednostki&_Zespol_id_zespolu=22130
You can see that there are records for 1800-1918, births, marriages and deaths.
These are for the Roman Catholic church. Not sure what religion your ancestors were, and that is key to finding them.
I did look through them a bit, it is complicated by the fact that the records are written in Russian during the years of interest to you. I did not find any Janiak records but that was not a thorough search and in fact it may not be the right church because you said he was from "near Konin" so we've got to establish the right town. Have you found any passenger manifests?
I'm mulling over the possible surnames for Teofila. It would not surprise me to see that a name that had "Sob" in it would evolve to a spelling that had "Sop" in it, in English-language records, because of how this would be pronounced in Polish. For example, the letter "b" in the word "chleb" (bread) would sound like a "p" to you.
If you have any passenger manifests, could you upload an image?
Thanks,
Sophia

An addition to my notes above: The church in Konin would be the church for the town of Brzeźno. I can look at those church records again, once you have indicated which religion. It is helpful that you have such specific dates for the children of Wojciech and Teofila.
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nick3371



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Post Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 9:22 am      Post subject:
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Hi Sophia,

I believe that the family was Roan Catholic since they attended a Catholic Church in Chelsea, MA. Unless they converted while in the US, which is doubtful. Images 1 and 2 are the manifests for Teofila Janiak and two children. I never found a manifest for Wojciech-there are many I have found online but none are 100% obviously him.

I'm also attaching the Naturalization records for Josef Janiak and Marianna Janiak (children of Archie and Teofila) which show there birth place. I realize that in Teofila's manifest, the city looks spelled as "Kunin" not "Konin", but after looking at Brzyzno and Kalisz, two cities that appear on the Naturalization certificates, they are located near Konin.

Archie's brother Walenty Janiak lists his birth place as Konin, Soviet Union on his Social Security Application in July 1944. Walenty's son Stefan, lists his last residence as "Podlezna" on his manifest record, and there is a "Wola Podlezna" next to Konin. He also lists his birth place as Konin on this manifest record. Walenty's other child, Eleonora, immigrated with her mother and I think her last residence place is listed as "Wolja Podlezna" or something similar. Her birth is listed as Konin.

thank you for looking into this!

Nick



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Eleonora Janiak and mother Marya's manifest
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Stefan Janiak's manifest 2
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Stefan Janiak's manifest 1
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Teofila's ship manifest 2
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nick3371



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Post Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2020 9:27 am      Post subject:
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Here are more files that didn't send last time


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Marianna Janiak's naturalization
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Josef janiak naturalization
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Eleonora and Marya's manifest 2
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Sophia
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Post Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 6:05 am      Post subject:
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Hi Nick,
Thank you for uploading all of these documents. It is very helpful. I spent a bit of time yesterday going through the Roman Catholic records from Konin (via the link that I included for you) and so far I have failed to find anyone from your family. One positive thing is that the records include indices. Part of the difficulty for me is that the documents are written in Russian, which I do not read. What I am able to do, however, is get a transliteration of the surnames from the Latin alphabet into the cyrillic alphabet, and search through the indexes looking for the name. When I find something in the index that looks about right, I go to the actual record where the writer sometimes (but not always) wrote the name in both its Russian and Polish forms. So, I can tell you, there are Janiak entries, and Sobczak entries and I even saw a Ligodzka, so that is kind of exciting. These families are definitely in the Konin area. It would be better for you to get someone who can read Russian to go through the indices for you. As for me, I may go back and pull up the images for the church books from the protestant and the orthodox churches, just to see.
I want to add that, just because I saw Sobczak, it does not mean that I am giving up on it being Sopczyk. With Sopczyk in the obituary, it might be the right spelling
Don't give up hope,
Sophia
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Post Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 10:53 am      Post subject:
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Here is an example of a Sobczynski birth record (not your family) just so you can see what one looks like. That's fairly close to Sobczak. Just showing it as an example.
It is Akt 214.
Under that is Konin, written in Russian.
In the text, look at the end of the 3rd line, it says Wojciech. At the beginning of the 4th line it says Sobczynski.
Scroll down until almost the end, you see they underlined the child's name, Stanislawa. A few lines above that you can see the mother's name, Petronella.
So the names of the parents and of the child are written in their Polish form, in parentheses essentially, in the midst of the Russian text.
Just thought you'd like to see one. Maybe I will find a Janiak for you.
Best,
Sophia



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nick3371



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Post Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 2:28 pm      Post subject:
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Hi Sophia,

Thank you so much for searching these records! I will also look through them, but I have even more trouble deciphering the writing. Is there any way to contact the Catholic Diocese associated with Konin?

Best,

Nick
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Post Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 5:45 pm      Post subject:
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nick3371 wrote:
Hi Sophia,

Thank you so much for searching these records! I will also look through them, but I have even more trouble deciphering the writing. Is there any way to contact the Catholic Diocese associated with Konin?

Best,

Nick


Hi Sophia & Nick,

As usual, Sophia, you are making an excellent effort to help trace roots back to Europe by starting with info from docs on this side of the pond. It is tough & time consuming work and you excel at it. I have a suggestion which may make the work easier. Since Wola Podłężna plays a prominent role in many of the stateside records I would suggest that as search starting point for birth &/or marriage records. The parish to which Wola Podłężna belonged was Morzysław (which is now a part of the town of Konin. Sobczak & Janiak marriages in the parish of Morzysław are indexed on the Poznan Project. There is a marriage for a Józef Sobczak in 1853 in that parish—a possible parent of Teofila based on ages. The good news is that Morzysław might yield results. The bad news is that only some marriages and a few births have been indexed. Records are at Family Search but not for the years necessary to make essential connections and the available records must be viewed at a Family History Center or affiliate library. To access the years needed to make connections the records need to be searched on the same site Sophia used for the parish of Konin—a labor intensive task. Attached is a marriage from Morzysław for a Walenty Janiak in 1895. The given name of his wife matches with Nick’s info but not her maiden name. Anyway, I suppose that it is worth checking out.

I would favor the spelling of the surname as Sobczak for linguistic reasons. The consonants b & p are both labial plosives (b is voiced and p is unvoiced). When diction is not clear the two can be confused quite easily. Of course, this could be quite common in early 20th Century immigrant communities. The odds are very high that the clearly enunciated version should be Sobczak.

Nick, don’t let the places of birth on US docs be a major problem for you. During the 19th & early 20th Centuries all the places you named were in the powiat (county) of Konin and immigrants frequently named the powiat rather than the wieś (village) as the place where they were born. Don’t consider places, spellings of names, ages, etc. from documents from the USA as gospel. It is always a good idea to think outside the limits of that box. In my opinion, the best way to begin your research in Europe. If you want to research the parish of Morzysław you would need to do it in the same way Sophia did the parish of Konin. You asked about the diocese where Konin was located. During the 19th Century and until after WWI the diocese was the Diocese of Włocławek-Kalisz. The records are housed in the diocesan archives of Włocławek. Records for most of the years of the 19th Century from the diocesan archive have been filmed and are on Family Search but must be viewed at a Family History Center or affiliated library—not really a good option during the pandemic.

Wishing you happy and successful researching,

Dave



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Sophia
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Post Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 6:42 pm      Post subject:
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Dave! You're a prince! Thanks for the kind words. And thanks for the hint to look in Morzyslaw. Nick, here is your Eleanora Janiak, right where Dave said she would be.
Look at Akt 158. The father is Walenty. The mother is Marianna Kwiecinska.
Woo hoo!
Sophia



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Post Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 6:51 pm      Post subject:
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Nick, here's the one you really want. The marriage of Wojciech Janiak to Teofila Sobczak.
1901 in the Morzyslaw parish.
Sophia



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Post Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 7:27 pm      Post subject:
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Nick,
Teofila had a sister Jozefa. Born 1880, Akt 9. Morzyslaw parish. Take these images to the Russian Records Translations thread and request translations.
Going to give my eyes a rest now.
Sophia



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Post Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2020 10:19 pm      Post subject:
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Hi Sophia and Dave,

This is amazing! Finally a direct connection to my Polish ancestors! Dave, thank you so much for giving us this very useful hint. I am so happy to finally have more answers. Sophia, thank you so much for looking into Dave's hint! I know how tough it can be staring at the computer screen trying to decipher names and I appreciate it so much! You two are the best! I will look through the Morzyslaw records and see if I can find anything else. Would Brzyzno also be in the Morzyslaw parish records?

Thank you so much!

Nick
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Post Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2020 5:43 am      Post subject:
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Hi Nick,
Dave had mentioned the Poznan Project. From their website I pulled the following information about Morzyslaw records:

Morzysław (Konin*) 5214 1816 KN
Now part of Konin

Roman Catholic parish
USC Konin

Includes: Chorzyń, Cierpisz, Czarków, Długa Łąka, Glinka, Kaszuba, Kociętowy, Kurowo, Ladorudz, Łąka, Laskowiec, Międzylesie, Morzysław, Niesłuż, Nowy Czarków, Osada Konińska, Patrzyków, Rudzica, Skrzynka, Studzielnica, Święte, Szczepidło, Wola Podłężna, Zalesie, Źrekie

Diocesan Archive in Wloclawek
B 1722-1876 i1797-1807
M 1722-1810 1813-1882 i1797-1807
D 1788-1793 1797-1811 1813-1885 i1797-1807

State Archive in Poznan
B 1809-1813 1815- i1797-1807
M 1809-1813 1815- i1797-1807
D 1809-1813 1815- i1797-1807

Local Roman Catholic Parish
B 1867-
M 1826-
D 1885-

LDS microfilms
BMD 1809-1810 1813 1815-1823 746962
BMD 1824-1839 746963
BMD 1840-1848 746964
BMD 1849-1862 746965
BMD 1863-1865 746966
BMD 1866-1875 1191365 #6-15
BMD 1876-1877 1191366 #1-3
BMD 1879-1884 1608499 #5-10
B 1797-1810 2044362 #4-5
B 1811-1815 2044363 #1
B 1809-1810 1826-1833 2044363 #2-3
B 1826-1859 2044363 #4
B 1834-1847 2044364
B 1848-1862 2060880
B 1862-1866 2060881 #1
B 1860-1875 2060881 #2
B 1868-1871 2060881 #3
M 1797-1805 2060881 #4
M 1805-1811 2060882 #1
M 1809-1810 2060882 #2
M 1864-1882 2060882 #3
M 1868-1877 2060882 #4
D 1797-1811 2060882 #5-6
D 1809-1810 1826-1833 2060882 #7-8
D 1868-1885 1834-1848 2060883
D 1849-1865 2060884 #1
D 1864-1880 2060884 #2
D 1866-1878 2060884 #3
M 1722-1777 1779-1780 D 1788-1791 M 1780-1789 1777-1779 1788-1790 1794-1796 1790-1793 1796-1797 D 1786-1788 1791-1793 2060884 #4
B 1813-1825 M 1813-1825 D 1813-1825 2060885 #1
BMD 1815-1819 2060885 #2
BMD 1820-1825 2060886 #1
M 1826-1863 D 1826-1844 2060886 #2
D 1845-1863 2060887 #1
B i1797-1807 D i1797-1807 M i1797-1807 2060887 #2

From this, you can see which towns are part of the Morzyslaw records. You can also see that the year 1877 is not included in the archives where I have been searching, and for that reason you may not find Teofila's birth there. It appears that the LDS records do include that year, though.

Good luck with finding more records of your family! Don't hesistate to come back with additional questions.
Sophia
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