Andreas Dauer Marriages

A while back, I had been researching my Plenzler family further to seek out some new connections for my great-grandmother’s (Eva Dauer) family. I knew for sometime her father was Andreas Dauer and her mother was Maria Aumiller. I’ve been frustrated at not being able to locate any Aumiller data. I’ve known the name of my great-great grandmother, Maria Aumiller, for sometime. Her name was located on Eva’s and Joseph’s marriage record and I was able to locate her marriage records to Andreas Dauer through the Poznan Project. The trail for the Aumillers has gone cold for me at that point; however, the search for my great-grandmother’s lineage really hasn’t gone totally dead.

Through more pouring over the Poznan Project and the Basia database, I’ve learned a bit more about Eva’s father, Andreas, and have uncovered a sister to Eva, her name was Katharina and a half-sister whose name was Margaretha.

Andreas’ lifestory seems to be fairly typical of others in my mom’s line–in fact, I’ve come to expect multiple marriages for many ancestors from this period. They are widowed and move on to remarry and are likely to have additional children. Additionally, they seemed to have likely married into families they had known for a considerable time and from the same village. This was the same story for Andreas. He married three times, was widowed twice, and the marriages were witnessed by those with names that keep re-appearing in my family tree! A few years ago, while in the midst of a very busy email conversation with several cousins and the Sobieskis, it was discovered that Andreas was first married to Marianna Hirsch.  This marriage occurred 14 January 1839 in the parish in Czapury. The record states that this was a first marriage for both and that Andreas was 27 and Marianna was 25. It is interesting to note that two of the witnesses were Georgius Aumiller and Joannes Aumiller. It’s quite possible these were relatives of Andreas’ third wife (and my great-great grandmother), Maria. No children were located for this marriage; however, Marianna Hirsch likely died within a few years of the marriage because Andreas has married Marianna Reimlein on August 15, 1841. The marriage record for Andreas and Marianna Hirsch is located here: Page 1 and Page 2 (two pages to the record).

The marriage of Andreas and Marianna Reimlein was witnessed by a Georgius Plenzler and a Josephus Aumiller. (Fancy that!) The marriage again occurred in Czapury and states that Andreas was a widower, age 30. The marriage record for Andreas and Marianna Reimlein is here: Page 1 and Page 2 (two pages to the record). Andreas and Marianna Reimlein had at least one child that I was able to locate: Margaretha Dauer whose birth would have occurred about 1842. I was able to locate Margaretha through the Basia database when seeking more data on Andreas.

A query on Andreas produced a marriage record from the Wiry Registry Office for a Margaretha Dauer Torz to Valentine Olejniczak. This record states that Margaretha Torz geb (maiden name) Dauer was the daughter of Andreas Dauer and Maria Reimlein and that Margaretha was widowed. The marriage occurred in 1880. I have not yet found the first name of Margaretha’s first husband nor whether there were any children of this marriage. Margaretha would have about age 38 at the time of this marriage and Valentine was about age 23. Valentine was the son of Johann Olejniczak and Francisca Jankowiak.

The marriage of Andreas and Marianna Reimlein ended with her death on 19 December 1844. This record is an LDS scan from the parish in Czapury I had received via the Sobieskis. It is difficult to read but does state that Marianna was the daughter of Joseph Reimlein and that Andreas Dauer reported the death. The record is here: Page 1 and Page 2 (#132, near the bottom of the scanned page).

Now we finally get to the marriage of Andreas Dauer and Maria Aumiller. Maria was actually wife number three to Andreas. I had known earlier that Andreas was a widower–see Andreas Dauer and Maria Aumiller marriage record (a downloadable version of the record is located here as well with the translation). However, at that time I had no idea that there were two previous wives and a child from a prior marriage. Another surprise came when I located another child to Andreas and Maria Aumiller, Katharina. I never had any indication that my great-grandmother, Eva, had any siblings. As with her half-sister, Margaretha, Katharina appeared after a query for Andreas on the Basia database. A record for her marriage to Casimir Borowicz was in the search results.

The marriage of Katharina Dauer to Casimir Borowicz occurred in Gluszyna in 1884 and a record of it is held in the Piotrowo Registry Office of the Poznan State Records. A copy is located here: Page 1 and Page 2. Casimir was the son of Joseph Borowicz and Katharina Matelska, born in Dopiewiec. Katharina Dauer is stated as the daughter of Andreas Dauer and Maria Aumiller.

I have located a Katharina and Casimir Borowicz having immigrated to Erie, Pennsylvania and a residence record in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1917. I have not pursued this information further to verify.

At this point, the trail for Andreas Dauer and Maria Aumiller went cold for me. No death dates or possible immigration data for either–but I’ve certainly learned more than I’d hoped to about my great-great grandfather and discovered two new additional great-grand aunts!

 

 

Happy New Year and more Lisiecki/Plenzler

Happy New Year!

I did spend my holiday weekend binge-reading and researching to learn more about Mary Lisiecka’s possible remarriage and I have since come to the conclusion that she hadn’t remarried. Almost three years ago, there were long, involved email conversations with several individuals and had obtained more than a handful of LDS film scans through the Sobieskis.

In one of these conversations, we were discussing the death of Joseph Plenzler, my great-great grandfather (born 1823 in Wiorek and died in 1873 in Wiorek). I had started working back in 2012 or early 2013 to read all of that documentation sent and “connect some of the dots” and I had dropped the issue and never updated my tree. I realized that I hadn’t updated Joseph’s death date and started to work some more on his life this weekend when I realized there was a record of Mary’s death in the same email. Mary, who was born in Wiorek in 1825, died in Wiorek in 1875.

Records for Joseph’s death are here and here (two pages to document).

Records for Mary’s death are here and here (two pages to document).

Mary’s record is quite clear in identifying who she is–the daughter of Aldabertus Lisiecki and Barbara Nachengast. So, there goes my theory Mary was re-married after Joseph’s death but not for naught. From reviewing this marriage record of a Mary to Joannes Olejniczak, I realized that this Mary is the daughter of Joseph and Anna Maria Bajerlein, who would be my 3rd-great-grandparents (the record does state this); however, her age is given as 45 years old and the marriage occurred in 1884, placing her birth as 1839. The eldest sibling that I can locate of the family is Martin, born 1815. This marriage was witnessed by Bartholomeus Plenzler and Martin Lisiecki. So this does give some implied knowledge: Joseph Plenzler (father of Joseph Plenzler born in 1832) and his wife, Anna Maria Bajerlein, were alive through at least 1839. I have had difficulty locating data on my 3rd great-grandparents so far beyond dates and names.  There are two pages to this record: here and here. (I neglected to include both pages on the previous post.)

Regarding Martin Lisiecki, with that email exchange that I had reviewed more in-depth this weekend, he is a brother to Mary. There was a marriage record of Martin to an Antonia Melingier contained in that discussion that indicates he is the son of Adalbertus and Barbara. That record is here and here (two pages).

As a follow up to the mention I had made in the last post regarding Bartholomeus Plenzler (brother to the Joseph born in Wiorek in 1823), here’s the data that I’ve found. He was originally discovered while research my great-great grandmother, Mary Lisiecka. See these posts from July 12, 2012 and September 30, 2012.

Bartholomeus was an interesting character to trace because like Martin Lisiecki, I had come across references to him earlier as witnesses to events such as marriages or deaths. I knew that Bartholomeus had married a Barbara Hirsch in 1850, but I had not located any children from this marriage until I started mining the Basia database. Barbara and Bartholomeus had two children that I have been able to locate: Kunegunda, born in 1853 and died in 1883. I located this child through her death record. Interestingly, she married a man named Felix Lesiecki. Also note that this record indicates that the death was reported by an Adam Plenzler. I have not identified who Adam is yet.

(Note: I have noticed Lesiecki surname spelled as Lisiecki in many documents, many sources. I’m not sure if this is due to transcription issues, whether there are two separate surnames, or other matters that I don’t understand or know yet. I realized that I have used both versions. I do not have any connection of Felix to my great-grandmother’s (Mary) family. It’s possible but I have not found one yet. I also have never standardized on the spelling of the surname as I have with my Plenzler family’s surname.)

The second child I’ve located from the marriage of Bartholomeus and Barbara Hirsch was Eva, born in 1862. I’ve identified Eva via a marriage record to Johann Teszner. Record is located here and here (two pages to document).

I was completely stunned to see that he as well married a Lisiecki family member: Cunegunda, who was also a daughter of Adalbertus Lisiecki and Barbara Nachengast. She was a sister to my great-great grandmother, Mary Lisiecki. I have not located the marriage record yet for Bartholomeus and Cunegunda, but have found a birth record for a daughter from the marriage, Barbara, who was born 9 September 1878. Cunegunda died 5 June 1882.

Bartholomeus married a third time, to Antonie Kolinska in 1882. The marriage record is here and here (again, two pages to the document).

 

Lesiecki and a new love: the Basia database

I realize I haven’t been posting for quite some time. Life has just been incredibly busy. Genealogical events have happened: a marriage in the family, graduations, and an engagement. My family continues to evolve, change, and progress and provide infinite sources of contentment as well as challenges. A huge career change happened for me as well the past few months and I’ve never denied my workaholic tendencies. (I get “lost” in what I am involved in–it’s a trait many introverts have–I just get involved in what I am doing and lose track of time and it’s the reason my genealogy is worked on in spurts. I seem to lack the ability to work steadily an hour here, and hour there on anything. I HAVE to do ALL that I can NOW! I often wonder what ancestor of mine was like that.) I guess this blog will need to suffer whenever I lack the time or ability to pay attention to it.

During the past several months, I did manage to get some research done as well as prowl both Calvary and Mount Carmel cemeteries. Nothing exciting came out of my cemetery prowls (yet, I haven’t worked on all of the photos) but I’ve found a database that I completely fell in love with: Basia. This database is an effort to transcribe and digitize the vital and civil records in the Polish National Archives based on an effort called the Asia project which is making these archived documents accessible. You can search either the Basia or Asia — but it is the Basia website that will provide you with scanned documents. (To use Asia, which will at least provide you with a list of all documents that reference the name or terms you are using, go here: http://szukajwarchiwach.pl/.) All documents and records available through Basia or Asia are from the Poznan area (I can’t tell if the effort will expand beyond Poznan). More historical documentation, from before the early 1900s is available in Basia it seems.

Basia can be read in English if you use the Chrome browser. I’ve tried it also with Firefox and IE–it works fine with any browser, but Chrome has an add-in that will translate non-English text on the fly. Asia, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to translate for me in Chrome. I am not sure why that is–the text does not seem to be coming via graphics but from the database. So if you are unable to read Polish, it would be handy to have Google translate open in another browser window. I love both of these websites, and because Basia has provided me very easily with a number of key documents I can’t sing its praises enough!

A while back, I had a theory that my 2nd great-grandmother, Mary Lesiecka, had remarried. I had found a reference to a marriage of Mary Lesiecka to a Joannes Olejniczak on the Poznan Project database but had never written to obtain the record. So upon discovering the Basia database, I had thought to check if my theory was true: that Mary had indeed remarried. That would have given me a timeframe for when my 2nd great-grandfather, Jozef Plenzler, had died. I hit the genealogical jackpot–I was probably more excited with what I had found than when I had won $200 in Las Vegas. The marriage occurred in 1884 in Głuszyna and both Mary and Joannes were indicated as being widowed. The original record is held in the Piotrowo Registry Office, Poznan State Archives. It is too large of a record to show but it does specifically state that Marie (Mary) is a widow of Jozef Plenzler of Wiorek who was the son of Anna Maria Bajerlein. A copy of the record is here.

Searching further for any Lesieckis, I hit more jackpots. I had Mary’s birth record thanks to an exchange I had with the Sobeckis a few years ago (Mary was born 11 September 1825, the parish record from Wiorek is here if you would like it — LDS film #1191623). And because of this exchange, I had known her parents were Adalbertus Lesiecki and Barbara Nachengast (this surname seems to have some debate, whether it is Nachengast or Norhengast, but I am tending to Nachengast with how it has been indexed with Basia–I have not been able to transcribe the name well through Mary’s birth/baptismal record).

Because of this information, I was able to locate two siblings for Mary: Johann and Cunegunda, as well as have found strong evidence for a third sibling, Martin.

Johann was located through his death record which mentions his parents, Adalbertus and Barbara. He died 8 October 1883 in Wiorek. And here’s another kicker: his wife was a Marie Plenzler. I have not yet identified who this Marie Plenzler is. Going out on a limb, I’m going to throw out a theory that it’s very possible she is a sister to my 2nd g-grandfather, Jozef. Johann’s death was reported by a Marcin or Martin Lesiecki. Because Martin was the person who has reported the deaths of Barbara, and Johann, I am theorizing that he indeed is a brother to Mary. Johann’s death record is located here. Martin is someone that will need to be researched later. (The research never fails to provide more puzzles to solve!)

Cunegunda was a complete surprise. She also married a Plenzler. Cunegunda was married to a Bartholomeus Plenzler, whom I had previously identified as a brother to my 2nd great-grandfather. It seems as Batholomeus was married a total of three times! (He actually warrants another separate post on this.) I was able to identify through the Basia database that Cunegunda and Bartholomeus had at least one child together, Barbara. Barbara’s civil birth record is here. Cunegunda’s death record is here.

Finally, I was able to locate a death record for Barbara Nachengast Lesiecki. Barbara died 8 January 1879. The record is located here.

It seems that, while very slowly, Polish genealogical records are becoming more available for the cost of an internet connection. Add the Basia and Asia websites to your bookmarks if you’ve identified relatives from the Poznan region of Poland. I have located much more than what I’ve indicated here with just the Lesieckis–I was able to find more information on my Plenzler family, so maybe if I find more free time, I’ll be able to post on it. (Well, New Year is coming up and I don’t care to go out for New Year’s Eve…)

I hope you all have had a peaceful and beautiful Christmas and wish you a wonderful New Year!

 

Update to Unidentified Jankowski Grave

As an update to this post: Unidentified Jankowski Grave–I did a little sleuthing back in March when I made a quick trip to Toledo. I had thought to go back and take a second photo of the grave before grass grew again for spring and managed to get a name hint. Antoni (1874 – 1928) and Pelagia Jankowski (1869 – 1947) are buried here. Each were born in Poland. Antoni was the son of Joseph Jankowski. Grave location in Calvary Cemetery: Grave: E 1/2, Range or Lot: 121, Section: 25.

 

Toledo’s World War I Veterans’ Experiences

***Updated 10.08.2014 to correct an error. I inadvertently indicated that Tony Scymanski’s mother and wife were named Mary Pieczynski. My error, I had not proofread this well prior to posting. Tony was married to a woman named Martha. I do not know her maiden name.****

Geneabloggers has had a World War I challenge. I thought it a good opportunity to discuss a few World War I tidbits I’d gathered a long time ago that have been sitting on my laptop ignored. While I work on my photos of Calvary, I will often research the person whose grave I’ve photographed. No particular reason, I just want to get to “know” those persons–who they were, what they may have experienced, how (or if) there is some possible connection to my family. In today’s post, I am in no way related to those I’ll be speaking of. But I do feel as if they could be ancestors due to their links to Toledo’s Polonia and our shared experiences and extended families.

Some time ago, I had come across Tony Scymanski via a newsclipping from the Toledo News Bee dated January 16, 1919. Tony had enlisted into the US Army at the age of 21. Tony was a member of the 325 Infantry, 82nd Division, having seen action in Argonne. He had written home to his brother, Frank. A reporter got a hold of the letter he had written and placed a piece on Tony in the News Bee:

Tony Scymanski Wounded Twice

Twenty-two days on the field of battle, and only two slight wounds as a result, is the story of Tony Scymanski, who writes to his brother Frank, of Blade st., to say he has fully recovered and hopes that the rumors of an early sailing come true. Scymanski was in the drive thru Argonne, and proud of the record of his division, the 82nd.

“Imagine how I feel,” he says, “when I walk down the street and the French say, ‘there goes a soldier that fought  hard.’ ”

Newsclipping from Toledo News Bee January 6, 1919 Tony Scymanski

Tony was born in Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania to Peter Szymanski and Mary Pieczynski. (I am unsure of where the name change had crept in. His death is recorded as Szymanski but the newsclipping and his stone reads Scymanski.) Tony did return to Toledo to gain employment as an rail inspector for Pere-Marquette and married a woman named Martha.

Tony died in 1948 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery.

Tony Scymanski Veteran Gravestone Calvary Cemetery

Another clipping I’d come across was dated March 7, 1918 about Alois Nowicki, who also was writing home to his brother, also named Frank.

Life In France is Like Camping

“Life here is like camping at Point Place,” writes Alois Nowicki of 1159 Blum st., from France, to his brother, Attorney Frank S. Nowicki. Sam Nowicki, another brother, is with the National Army, and Casimir Nowicki, a third brother, is with an aviation section about to leave for France.

Toledo News Bee Clipping March 7, 1918 Alois Nowicki

I’m not certain that war time living would be like “camping at Point Place”–Point Place at that time was a sort of middle class resort area in Toledo with beaches and boats and fishing. Maybe Alois did not want to focus on the reality of Argonne, but wrote to reassure his family that he did find something to provide him with a sense of home, however fleeting? Alois certainly did not seem to have an easy time of of it. Per a Veterans Administration Hospital record from the hospital located in Dayton, Ohio, Alois was admitted there for pulmonary tuberculosis in 1925 and was discharged in 1927. By reading this record, one can see that he was admitted to the US Army through Camp Sherman near Chillicothe, Ohio. Camp Sherman was one of about 32 soldier training sites for World War I, and was a significant training site. Nearly 125,000 soldiers had been trained there. In fact, it was the third largest training camp at the time. It suffered a hard hit in late 1918 when the Spanish influenza epidemic hit when over 5,600 men were infected and well over 1,700 died in camp. A number of Toledo soldiers were inducted and trained through Camp Sherman.

Alois Nowicki Veteran’s Administration Record

The 1930 census places Alois in Pima County, Arizona with a wife, Hedwina and a daughter, Jean (who was born in Arizona). This census record is curious. It reflects no occupation or possible income source for Alois. This indicates to me perhaps Alois never recovered from tuberculosis and was residing there for possible health benefits. (Click the snippet to open in a new tab and enlarge.)

Alois Nowicki 1930 Census Pima County Arizona

Alois died March 31, 1938. I have not found whether he died in Arizona or in Ohio. Nor have I yet located his grave at Calvary. But his wife did apply for a veteran’s headstone and the address provided was in Toledo.

Alois Nowicki Veterans Gravestone Record

 

Update to Monday’s Mystery

Yesterday’s mystery seems to have been halfway cleared up. The wonders of social networking! A cousin through my dad’s family contacted me and her mom looked at the photo. Verdict was the two on the left were my paternal grandparents, Walter and Helena. I studied them against a photo of them taken in the backyard of the house they owned on Evesham, and I’m convinced it is them. Yesterday’s photo I would think was probably taken before Walter and Helena lived on Evesham. The house on Evesham was bought sometimes in the 1930s as the 1930 census shows them living a few blocks away in the first home they purchased at 622 Woodstock.

Walter and Helena Mierzejewski, Evesham

Now, the other half of yesterday’s mystery is who are the man and woman on the right? I am wondering whether it a sibling and spouse? A hunch I have, and it’s a long shot, is if it is Walter’s brother, Marcin or Marzel. Some oral history and some documented fact: Marcin did come to the US a few times with Walter. I had been able to document a few of his moves through manifests. The manifest below (see lines 11 and 12) is particularly intriguing to me as they are each heading to Masschusetts first–Wladyslaw to New Bedford and Marcin to Pittsfield. This is particularly interesting as there is quite a few Mierzejewskis in that region and many Mierzejewskis traveled westward through New England to Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan.

http://dmcmanus.biz/family/marzel_mierzejewski_11251909.pdf

Wladyslaw is stating that his contact in Poland is his wife, Helena, who lives in Borowiec, Lomza. Marcin is stating that his contact is his sister-in-law.

There are other miscellaneous manifests, from 1903 and 1907 from Hamburg that also show Walter and Marcel traveling to the US. Unfortunately, I have not yet located the manifests that indicate their arrival at a US port yet. So, I am fairly certain Walter and Marcin traveled together and separately for work in the US for a while prior to Walter and Helena permanently settling in Ohio in 1923.

The oral part of this story is that Marcin did not like living in the US and he eventually returned to Poland to remain permanently where he married a woman named Czeszlawa, in 1914. He died in Tomasz in 1965. I do know of a story that he did come to the US to visit Helena and Walter at least once. Walter died in 1946, so the visit would have had to occur prior to 1946. If I study both of these pictures, it’s clear to me that the two men are related in some fashion. While one has a prominent moustache, their facial features are very much alike: very round faces, downward slopes of the nose, and similar mouth and jaw features. Hopefully, by putting this out “there” someone can identify and maybe confirm that the two persons to the right are Marcin and his wife Czeszlawa.

 

 

A Monday mystery

Here is a photo found in some old belongings of my mother. There is no clue to who these four people are. I can’t even say if they are part of my mom’s family or my dad’s family. I do not recognize any of these people. No idea of the date the photo was taken. If anyone may recognize a face here, please let me know.