Charles’ Grandfathers – Same Names!

#52Ancestors Week 6 Theme: Same Name

I use the weekly prompts on “52 Ancestors” website by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow to get ideas on what to write about each week. Sometimes they are helpful and sometimes I write about something else. This week the prompt is “same name.” As I was researching, I realized that Charles Pawlak’s maternal and paternal grandparents actually have the same first names – Michael! One grandfather to Charles is Michael Nowicki and the other grandfather is Michael Pawlak.

Let’s look at his maternal grandfather first – the father of Bronislawa Nowicka Pawlak. His name was Michael Nowicki and he was born on August 1832 in Roszkow, Wielkopolskie, Poland. . In the marriage record for Michael Nowicki and Tekla Zielinska, Michael was age 40 at time of the marriage in 1877. He was also a widower and his first wife was Agnes Dych (Agneieszka Dychowska) who he married in 1863 in Grylewo, Poznan, Poland. Agnes died before 1876 and they had at least two if not more children together. On 22 June 1877, he married Tekla (also written Thekla) who was 24 (her first marriage) in Labiszyn, Poznan, Poland.

Michael Nowicki’s parents were Martinus Nowicki and Francisca Kosmalski according to the Poznan Project information and his parents were married 24 October 1836 in Rogalinek, Poznan, Poland. Martin was 24 and Francisca was 18 at the time of marriage. Tekla’s parents were Antoni Zielinski andd Anna Milinowska.

Michael Nowicki was a coach driver in Poland. They were married ten years and had five children including Bronislawa. Sadly, Thecla Zielinska Nowicka died young – at age 35- of Typhus in Koscielec, Poland on 1887. About three weeks later, Michael Nowicki died on 10 June 1887 at age 50. The cause of death was intestinal inflammation. More will be coming in later posts about this family.

Charles Pawlak’s paternal grandparents, the parents of Stephan (Szczepan) Pawlak, were Michael Pawlak and Catherina Sprzaczkowski. Michael Pawlak was designated in his records as “Stellmacher” which means his occupation was either a coachmaker, railroad car maker, or carpenter. They lived in Radlowek, Kries Inowroclaw-Zacod, Poland in 1877 when Stephan was born. No information on their deaths has been found as yet.

According to a small black book kept by Bronislawa (Blanche), Stephan did have some brothers and a sister. His brothers were Andrew (Andrzej), John (Jan), and Frank (Franciszek). His sister was Joanna and was born 22 May 1888 in Gniezno, Inowroclaw. Stephan’s brother John was born in 1881 and died 13 Feb 1931 in Czarze, Poland. Clearly, their family needs more research!

If you wish to view any of my newly found sources as of 2024, please contact me and I will share what I have found. This blog is updated on 04/09/2024.

Sources:

Most of the information found on Family History Library microfilms:

229065, no. 27; 1194844, No. 4, p. 308; 2233216, No. 231; and 2329118

Copy of original birth certificates of Stephan Pawlak and Bronislawa Nowicka