First Puzzle Pieces

This is part of the photograph that makes up the backdrop for this blog. The photo that has "haunted" me for over a decade. I have copied it.  I have dissected it. Thanks to some good people who are both family and friends that I made along the way; I can now say, "I think I have the photo's origins and surrounding story." Or at least most of it. 

The couple seated left of center is Stella and Andrew Brzezinski and since the photo was found in the attic of a member of the Brzezinski family it seemed a safe assumption that this was a celebration surrounding their wedding. 

Stella Kurzynowski was born November 28, 1897 in Jackson, Michigan.  She was the eldest daughter of Juljan Kurzynowski and Mary Chlebus Kurzynowski, Russian Poles from Suwalki who came to the U.S. in May of 1892 with their infant son Bernard.

Andrew Brzezinski was born in Poland on November 22, 1892 and arrived in the United States on August 8 1907.       * Note the reference to Blackstone St. in Jackson, Mich.

They were married on December 28, 1913 making her 16 and him 21.  They lived long happy lives and produced many children, Grandchildren, and Great-Grandchildren.

The rest of the individuals will be identified as time goes on and I can add more facts that have led to my ultimate conclusions about not only this photo but others and the amazing story of my family behind it.

Just a quick side note;  I had the good fortune to visit with the Brzezinski's son, Joe when I first started my dive into my family's past in Jackson. (2007)  This is what he had to say about his mother:  

Me:  Your Mother was very beautiful.

Joe:  Yes, yes she was and she knew it. LOL

Me:   How About your Grandmother?  What do you remember about her?

Joe:  I was told that Grandma Mary owned the first car north of Michigan Ave and she drove me in it to my Baptism at St. Joe's.

Other than that she didn't like us kids leaving the neighborhood.

Stop by again for more unraveling of the story behind the "photo from the attic".

Clue to take note of.....The year of their wedding......

Blurred Lines For Some....

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_City_of_Danzig  

When researching Jackson Polish genealogy you will find that there are many variations of places that family members were born.  It can get real confusing.  The same individual can carry a "Germany", "Poland", and or "Russia" birthplace label depending on the document you find it in.  This is because depending on the year, parts of Poland were declared parts of other countries.  Plus the Ports of call emigrants left from actually changed hands which would not seem a problem unless they were born in the Port before sailing. Add to that the laboriously confusing Polish surnames, lazy record keepers, and horrible handwriting. Pretty muddled mess for sure. 

There is one thing that I can say with certainty.  Jackson County was a "Polish Settlement".  It was settled overwhelmingly with families from Suwalki and its surrounding area. Someone knew someone who knew someone to help them get to the Port of New York and to Jackson. Those Poles created a community here that is just as much of our heart and soul as any other. 

Second Thoughts....

           The biggest problem I have had with doing my familial genealogy is assuming records, newspapers and photo identifications are correct.  The third one is the topic of this post.

This is a portion of the photo that sits as the backdrop to this blog.  I had assumed that the gentleman with the moustache was my Great Grand-Father Julius and the figure on the floor I could not identify.  However since then I have discovered these two photos.  That would be Jan Chlebus with the moustache and Great-GrandFather Julius on the right. So what do you all think?  Is that Chlebus on the left and Julius sitting on the floor?  (There is more to this story believe me.)

Be Open To All The Possibilities !

 

    Shortly before my Father’s passing I began working on his genealogy.  I asked him all sorts of questions. I interviewed some of his oldest relatives. They offered many stories, some photos and answered some very pointed questions. His family’s story expanded exponentially the more research that I did. It became obvious that I needed a singular focus.

    His grand-parents, Marianna and Julian Kurzynowski emigrated from Poland and came to settle in Jackson.  The story from my Dad was that they came here because my Great-Grandmother Marianna Kurzynowski had two uncles who were already settled here. Their names were John Chlebus and Stan Laski.

    My Dad’s family is very large and intertwined with many other families in Jackson’s Polish community. Tracking all those families through the generations became overwhelming pretty quickly. So when I discovered that John Chlebus was identified in several different places as the first Polish immigrant to permanently settle in Jackson, I decided to focus my work on him and his story.

   Many of those early immigrants were related in one way or another.  Poles saved their money and sent for their family members or others from their village in Poland. They knew each other.  Prominent Polish families got their start in what was considered an area of the city filled with derelicts and “foreigners”.  "Muttonville" was made up of the neighborhoods that surrounded and were north of what is now the Keeley Park. Somewhere behind the Park, near the railroad tracks and the river there was a meat processing plant. Hence the nickname.

   John Chlebus is, part of my family’s history, part of Jackson's and part of Jackson Catholic's as well.  Complex, courageous, trusting and empathetic to a fault.  John Chlebus changed the DNA of Jackson forever.

"John Chlebus was a practical man.  He was ignorant at first of the peculiar methods of business and society employed here.  Fortunately, he was blessed with plenty of shrewdness which eventually made him the most outstanding pole in the city.  He arrived in 1877 and started a grocery on the corner of Blackstone and the northern Polish community of Jackson was in the first period of formation.

   Chlebus was a plunging pioneer who quickly learned the ways of eking out an existence.  Within 10 years he had a solid group of Polish families living around him.  His grocery business had prospered and he started a saloon. A few years later he established a bakery a few blocks from his home.

   Now he was the motivating factor in the social, political and business life of his community.  New Polish residents went to him for advice. He gave it freely.  They wanted money to build their homes.  He loaned unselfishly.  He got new arrivals jobs in factories, in coal mines, in business places.

   He was a philanthropist. No charitable cause ever suffered because John Chlebus was among the first to contribute.  Broken down, homeless poles in the city were always certain of a warm spot in Chlebus’ home. He fed them and sent them away with money to buy clothes." 

William Kulesa 1937

Jozef Markiewicz Sr. - One Resourceful Pole

 Up until just recently I did not have a photo of my Maternal Great-Grandpa Markiewicz.  Thanks to a delightful interaction with the Serafin branch of my tree I have this one of he and my Great-Grandmother at the family farm. Jozef Markiewicz emigrated to this country before his wife and children.

Perhaps they did not have enough money to all come at once and had to rely on the Polish pipeline who helped their countrymen to get from the New York Harbor to Pennsylvania and points west.  It has been reported that Poles sent billions of dollars back to Poland in support of those they left behind. Whatever the case Jozef worked hard to get here and hard to find a place where they all could settle down together. 

This passenger list notes that Jozef Markiewicz was a married man traveling alone which makes me confident that this is my Great-Grandfather.  I have not gone into the Ellis Island Archives looking for him or any of my other relatives.  Why?  I don't know.  Bigger fish to fry I guess.  Besides The Markiewicz story is complex, historical, and the stuff of a tv miniseries.  Honestly, There was a soap opera that had to happen before Jozef Markiewicz introduced his daughters to my Great-Grandmother Mary Kurzynowski, the woman on a mission. 😉

Millions of Polish immigrants began their emigration stories in the Port of Hamburg, Germany.  Jozef was no exception. Hamburg made a hefty business out of emigration.  The majority of Jackson's Polish immigrants came through Hamburg.  The links below will hopefully help you better understand the "Hamburg Experience".

Vintage Photos of Hamburg

Hamburg's Emigration Story

Borsch Anyone?

Здравствуйте, добро пожаловать в мой блог !

Confused ?  Well, Had history gone differently by just a few miles I could very well be speaking Russian.  Or not exist at all since my parents would never have met at the "Paczki Dance" at St. Joseph's Church in Jackson, Michigan, USA.  Heck, half of the population of Jackson may not exist because THAT is how intertwined the descendants of the Poles from Suwalki are. They came, married, and multiplied in a fervent effort to keep their faith, language, and culture alive for as long as possible. 

There are several ways to determine where your ancestors in Poland may have come from.  They include but are not limited to Census Records, Death Certificates, and or the "Ship Manifest" of the vessel or vessels they boarded to get here. It is also quite possible that each will give you a different answer. For example, they could point to a birth in Poland, Russia, Prussia, or Germany depending on the answer given to the recorder at the time as well as their interest in being accurate. This is a copy of the boat manifest for my Great-Grandmother's Uncle Stanley Laski who (along with thousands of others) preceded her to American shores.

The Polish cities of Suwalki, Lomza, and Plock accounted for most of the emigration to the U.S. until 1904. Even as late as 1905 Suwalki still accounted for 1/3 of Russian Polish immigrants sailing to America. In Suwalki Poles were not allowed to own land, practice their faith and in some cases they could not speak their native language without fear of official retribution. When we look at where Suwalki is geographically we can see why when the opportunity presented itself they ran.

This is the oldest map of Poland that I could find. Suwalki sits atop of the rest of Poland and is a continual battleground for ownership between Lithuania, Poland and Russia. 
More on Suwalki History

This 1939 map shows the area as split up after WWI. Nothing is easy Suwalki...
Suwalki Agreement 

And last but certainly still "almost" part of there is the "Suwalski Gap".  Suwalki it seems is NATO's top choice for location most likely to host the beginning of WWIII.  Just yesterday Poland gave a not so subtle request/hope that the US troops being pulled from Germany will be sent to Poland. Yikes....I think I will pass on visiting the Motherland any time in the near or far future. The Suwalki Gap

Gotta Start Somewhere....

      Writer's block is an absolutely horrible thing for a writer with fabulous stories to tell to experience.  Especially when you are in your seventh week of quarantine and nothing but uninterrupted time at your keyboard.  I have never even considered doing a Blog but oh, well. This one is going to be mainly filled with short stories, long stories, fiction and facts.  Things I want to get down on (virtual) paper so that they are not lost forever.

        If that sounds rather egotistical to you.....tough. These stories are not about me.  Okay some are about me but those are only writing practice.  I am a life long "introvert" with severe "social anxiety" so I have no ability to think anything but the worst about myself.  After spending a life time trying literally EVERYTHING to change myself; I have made the choice to work around myself. Perhaps I can get down enough stories that you the reader will discover, as I have, that my anxieties are "genetic" and writing is also "genetic".  Oh, damn !  Here I am assuming that I will have actual human beings reading what I write.  It won't happen again....promise.  Just remember that "Patience" is virtue. 

CAJ