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johnlaw747

Joined: 5 Days ago at 9:40 am
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Posted: 5 Days ago at 10:35 am Post subject: Klosowski 19th century immigration & Ruthenian lands

Questions about Polish immigration, Ruthenian & Polish border lands, and Germany, birthplaces, and surnames....

My great-great grandmother was named Josephine Klosowski(a). Her father's name is Michael Klosowski and mother is Bronislawa (maiden name Sulkowska but not sure. They were Polish immigrants to Chicago in the 19th century.

On Ancestry I found a ship log showing that Michael Klosowski sailed over from Bremen to Baltimore with the oldest brother, Johann in 1884. I found a separate log showing the mother, Bronislawa sailed from Bremen to New York in 1885 with the rest of the children. My great great Grandma's name is recorded as Josefa on this ship log and it shows she was less than a year old on the trip. I assume Michael came first without the rest of the family to make money but not sure. All of the names and birthdays on the ship logs generally match the censuses from Chicago so I'm 99% sure these are in fact my ancestors.

Both ship logs show them as being from Germany and the censuses show them as being from "Ger Polish". I've been searching diligently to find birthplaces but was having no luck until recently I came across a website with access to Polish Catholic parish records. I searched through all of the different counties listed and was surprised when the name Michael Klosowski showed up in the birth records of a Catholic parish in western Ukraine called Brzozdowce. This record lists his birthday and Baptism as Sept. 3rd 1839 which is very close to a census from Chicago which lists his birth as Aug, 1839. Further, Michael's father's name is listed on the birth record as Joannes which is very close to the name of his oldest son. The occupation of the father was listed as agriculture which matches the occupation of Michael on his ship log also. This leads me to believe that this could very likely be the correct birth record of my ancestor. But this leads me to questions...why would the family be recorded on the ship logs as being born in "Ger Polish" rather than Austria or Russia?...I thought that western Ukraine was part of the Ruthenian lands which were divided between Austria and Russia, not Germany (Prussia)...was it common for Poles who lived further east to travel to Bremen to immigrate? Or maybe this ancestor, Michael was born in Ruthenian lands and was forced or decided to move further west in Polish lands. Was it common for American officials to misunderstand or mistakenly assume all Poles were German? So many questions, any help would be nice.

Edit. Michael Klosowski and Bronislawa Sulkowska (born around 1850) were married around 1871, I believe

Trish
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Joined: 23 Sep 2020
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Posted: 5 Days ago at 12:27 pm Post subject:

Hi Johnlaw and forum,

I am attaching a ship's manifest for Michael Klosowski and son, John. Michael is on line 822. The manifet does not list where the family is from.

Name Michael Klosowski
Gender Male
Age 44
Birth Date 1840
Port of Departure Bremen, Germany
Arrival Date 24 May 1884
Port of Arrival Baltimore, Maryland
Arrival Quarter May
Ship Name Strassburg
Page number 15

Per the death information from Chicago, Michael died in 1918. The record transcription shows Michael's father as Michael. Did you obtain a copy of the death record? Did you call the cemetery to see if Bronislawa is buried with him?

Name Michael Klosowski
Birth Date abt 1842
Birth Place Poland, Germany
Death Date 3 Jul 1918
Death Place Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Burial Date 8 Jul 1918
Cemetery Name St Adalberts
Death Age 76
Occupation Retired Wagon Maker
Race White
Marital Status W
Gender Male
Residence Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Father Name Michael Klosowski
Father Birth Place Poland, Germany
Mother Birth Place Poland, Germany
FHL Film Number 1852628

Here is the manifest for Bronislaw and the children. She is on line 219. The manifest does not list where the family is from.

Name Martha Klossowski
Gender Female
Ethnicity/ Nationality German
Age 5
Birth Date abt 1880
Place of Origin Germany
Departure Port Bremen, Germany
Destination USA
Arrival Date 28 Mar 1885
Arrival Port New York, New York, USA
Ship Name Main

I also found some of the baptismal records for the children born in Chicago. If you need them, let me know and I will post them.

Regards,
Trish

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Trish
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Joined: 23 Sep 2020
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Posted: 5 Days ago at 12:49 pm Post subject:

Hi again,

There is a tree on family search.

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/9NNX-JNY

If you go through the source information for Michael and Bronislawa, you will see links for the birth records for several of their children.

Michael and Bronislawa's marriage record is there too. here is the information for the record. The record is online.

Name Michael Klosowski
Sex Male
Age 30 years
Birth Year (Estimated) 1841
Spouse's Name Bronislava Sulkowska
Spouse's Sex Female
Spouse's Age 19 years
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated) 1852
Event Type Marriage
Event Date 23. Mai 1871
Event Place Kłecko, Gniezno, poznańskie, Polen
Page Number 61

Regards,
Trish

BarbOslo
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Joined: 19 Nov 2022
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Location: Norway
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Posted: 5 Days ago at 1:20 pm Post subject:

Hi both,
Here is a link to the wedding record that Trish mentioned in the previous post. Scan 2 no. 9. Note that Michael was a widower.
https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/jednostka/-/jednostka/1477088

Regards,
-Barb

BarbOslo
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Posted: 5 Days ago at 3:51 pm Post subject:

Trish wrote:

Hi,
Bronisława Sulikowska was born on December 17th, 1851 in Kłecko. Daughter of Wawrzyn* and Honorata née Echaust. Father was a wheelwright.
*Wawrzyn = Wawrzyniec, Laurenty, Laurentius

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSXF-RS9D-4?i=698&cc=4116415&cat=766718
No. 188

Regards,
-Barb

BarbOslo
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Posted: 5 Days ago at 4:51 pm Post subject:

Michał's first wife was Josepha Wojtkowiak. They were married on June 10th, 1870 in the parish of Łagiewniki Kościelne. The place is located a few kilometers from Kłecko. Michał, a bachelor, 30 years old from Kłecko. Josepha, a miss, 19 years old from Łagiewniki Kościelne.
No.3
https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/jednostka/-/jednostka/1480938

Josepha died on January 21st, 1871 in Kłecko. I don't see any kids from this marriage.
No.9
https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/jednostka/-/jednostka/1477089

The area where Michael comes from was German dominated. That explains why in the Manifest "Ger Polish" was noted.

-Barb

Sophia
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Joined: 05 Oct 2014
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Posted: 4 Days ago at 9:26 am Post subject:

Hi Johnlaw747, Trish and Barb,

Following up on the death certificate that Trish provided, you are in luck, because the Polish Genealogical Society of America (PGSA) has this in its index:

https://pgsa.org/pgsa-search/results/?pgsa_search=other_search&surname=Klosow&first_name=&type=match-first&records=prcuainsurance

Specifically, there is an insurance policy application for your Michal Klosowski, whose date of death was July 3, 1918. This is a policy with the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America (PRCUA) . The PGSA has a look-up service, for a very reasonable fee. I cannot guarantee that they will be able to retrieve his file, we only can tell that he is in their index. If they do find the file, it can contain very useful genealogical data.

Best of luck in your search,
Sophia

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