Solving the Confusion of Two Parisville Surnames: The Ciechanowski vs Smielewski Puzzle. Part 1.

By Charles Ciechanowski-Chinoski-Chase

(Part 2)

My great grandfather was Ambrose Ciechanowski (often mis-spelled as Cichanowski, Chucknowski, Chickenowskie, etc.).  He was one of the founders/pioneers of Parisville, located in Paris Township, Huron County, in the “Thumb” region of Michigan.

During my early research, I reviewed the June 24, 1880 Census for Paris Twp., Huron Co, Michigan.  The primary part of the listing (along with its mis-spellings) for the residence of Ambrose is shown below:

  (1) Peter was my grandfather

Everything was fine until I saw Casper (used interchangeably with Casimir) and Francis Smielewski being shown as father and mother. It certainly seemed very strange that a “Smielewski” should be the parent of a “Ciechanowski”. I had never previously heard of the name Smielewski, and thus was quite confused. Here was a major question that required extensive detective work to sort out the details.

Ciechanowski Family Data

Gr-grandfather Ambrose (Ambrozy) Ciechanowski, was born Sliwice, powiat Tuchola, in the province of Bydgoszcz, Poland. The small church town of Sliwice, German name Groß Schliewitz, is located on the river Sliwiczka and is 25 km. northeast of Tuchola and 80 km south-southwest of Gdansk.

Map Showing Location of Sliwice (Groß Schliewitz), Powiat Tuchola, in the Province of Bydgoszcz, Poland and its Proximity to Gdansk

Ambrose was one of five children born to Thomas (Tomasz) Ciechanowski (?-?) and Francisca Dobecka (1799-1894). The sibling data are as follows:

Smielewski Family Data

My initial challenge was to become familiar with the family with a surname—Smielewski. My research primarily centered around data found on LDS Film—714384. The head of the household was Casimir (Casper) Smielewski (1804-1880), also from the hamlet of Sliwice. His first wife was Catharine Gliniecka (?—Abt 1840). The data for their children are shown below:

GIVEN NAME	BIRTH DATE	BIRTH PLACE
Apolonia	2/8/1825	Sliwice
Maryanna	3/5/1826	Sliwice
Thomas	12/8/1827	Sliwice
Hedwig	10/6/1829	Sliwice
Elisabeth	11/18/1831	Sliwice
Catharina	9/24/1833	Sliwice
Rosalia	9/12/1836	Sliwice

The only death date I have is for Thomas Smielewski, who died May 25, 1909 in Paris Twp, Huron Co, MI.

After much pondering, I came up with the theory that Francisca Dobecka-Ciechanowski’s husband Thomas, and Casimir Smielewski’s wife, Catharine Gliniecka-Smielewski, must have died some time after their last child was born. Then, at some point, this widow and widower decided to join families. I could not find the death records to support this theory, but I was fortunate enough to find the marriage record to confirm the marriage of Casimir Smielewski and Francisca Dobecka on May 1, 1842 in Sliwice. The record for this marriage is shown below:

Copulatorum Records Title Page for the Village of Sliwice, 1842

Marriage Record of Casimir Smielewski and Francisca Dobecka-Ciechanowski, Dated 4 May 1842, in Sliwice, Poland

Close-up of Names Smielewski and Ciechanowski

So, this matrimonial union provided motherly support for the Smielewski children and both fatherly and financial support for the Ciechanowski children.

Part 2

Author: Charles Chase

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