On our way from Elk to Kumelsk, we came across a sign taking us a slightly different way than the main paved road. We took the ‘road less traveled’ and were amazed to find a very old rock road that appeared to have been laid by hand. It was several kilometers long but took us into Kumelsk the ‘back way.’
The village of Kumelsk was Rajmund Wierzbicki’s last place of residence before going to America. His mother, Barbara Dąbrowska Wierzbicka was living there when he left Poland in 1909.
As we entered Kumelsk by way of the rock road, Zenon asked a man on a tractor a few questions which guided us to a house in the village belonging to someone thought to have Dąbrowskis in her family. As it turned out, the lady was working in her yard full of beautiful
flowers and came to the fence to talk to Zenon. She said her name was Ursula Żebrowska, she was 83 years old, and her maiden name was Dąbrowska. Since Rajmund’s mother was named Barbara Dąbrowska we were hoping for a connection.
Though she was hesitant at first, before long Zenon’s gentle persistence had her talking and she asked us to sit with her on her porch. Her father’s name was Aleksander Dąbrowski and her grandfather was, if she remembered correctly, Mikołaj Dąbrowski. She said that her memory was not very good anymore but she remembered there was a Barbara Dąbrowksa in the family. According to her story, all the Dąbrowski families in the area of Kumelsk were closely related because there was only one Dąbrowski family that moved into the area.
Until I can do more research, an exact relationship to Ursula can not be determined. If Rajmund Wierzbicki’s mother, Barbara Dąbrowska, was Mikołaj Dąbrowski’s sister, Ursula could be as closely kin as my second cousin once removed! More research ahead on this one!
What a wonderful visit with a sweet lady! As we were leaving Ursula’s house, we asked about the Sadowskis living in the area. She
pointed up the street to a house a few doors away and said relatives of the Sadowskis lived there. Thank you Ursula!
We knocked on the door of the ‘Sadowski’ house but there was no answer. We asked a couple of teenagers on the road and were told the owners, the Grzymala family, were out. The young girl was the daughter of the family so Zenon gave her a business card and requested that her mother call him about our coming for a visit.
Thank you for all your hard work in documenting this information.