The Czachorowskys are a conundrum. They seem to simply 'appear' in Chicago around 1868. Claiming to be from Prussia I have yet to determine their actual origins. Or their point of entry into the United States. Or why they chose Chicago. As I set out to research one family I discovered others. Curiosity getting the best of me, this turned into the study of five Czachorowsky families living in Chicago c. 1870. It is my hope with this series to make some discoveries to either link these families together, or prove they are not related. This is a real-time research project, I have not worked on this cluster before. I plan to share my discoveries and my frustrations in hopes that more eyes on the evidence will result in some sound conclusions. Join me as I explore these families, maybe we'll make some discoveries together!
What a ride. What started out as simply a hand drawn family tree and some scribbled notes from an almost forgotten conversation decades ago, we have come to discover the identity of our original subject and prove the suspected relationship between most of the other subjects of our study. DNA doesn't always work out this well. I'm still hoping for a breakthrough like this one on my own Paternal line.
Knowing our family came from Poland will help in uncovering additional records, if they exist.
We learned the sad fate of Leo. Perhaps you can now understand the reason I took some time to process that before I shared it with you. I still wish I knew why.
Since my original posts on Bernard, Anton and Pauline I have found a few additional bits of information. And one more thing on Leo. My fifth subject, Frank, I am almost certain turned out to be Anton's eldest son. Working for a few years as a clerk and living with his half uncle (is that a thing?). Since learning of the Zaremba family I was able to look up 'Uncle Frank' in the city directory, he was living at the same address as our mystery Frank.
So to bring this research up to date, and close the chapter, for now, let me fill you in on what else I have learned.
First up Bernard. I was unsure as to the actual identity of "Mena". Well, I did manage to find the pair again in the 1880 census under the last name "Shofroski". I learned he was married and that Mena was his wife.
While I have yet to discover the full identity of his wife or the actual marriage date, I did find her death date and the location of her burial. She died April 16, 1893 at the age of 48 and is buried in St Marys Cemetery in Evergreen Park. No maiden name was given on the death certificate, unfortunately.
A little more on Anton. In digging deeper into the actual location he said he was from before emigrating, Neu Szwederowo. The Wikipedia page on Szwederowo District explains a lot. Scrolling down to the Prussian Period information I learned that where he was from was more of a neighborhood, a very specific place near what was then Bromberg. It is approximately 82 kilometers from Nowe, an easy half day's travel by horse, and many people of the time were locating there for the promise of jobs. I also found the record of his marriage on FamilySearch. He married in Neuenburg on March 18th 1859. Hardly enough time for him to travel to America in the Summer of 1858 and back again in time to wed. (Which leads me to believe it was Leo that came over with his mother, not Anton)
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| Dziennik Chicagoski 29 Mar 1898 |
A few more odds and ends. I found a brother for Julianna Pior Ciachorowski Zaremba, Andreas. I have not researched him, but did find a mention of our Bernard in one Carl Pior's will in Chicago. A wee bit of sideways research - by no means complete - led me to conclude that Carl is most likely Andreas' son, Julianna was his aunt and Bernard, his cousin. Bonus, I have a DNA match to that family with our own Ciachorowski clan.
Always more to research!
I have put this all together in a Public Tree on Ancestry, search for Czachorowscy from Poland to America. I have a few more Ciachorowski marriages there and hope to expand the Polish research from that tree. Also, you can see where Carl Pior fits into the whole thing.
Thanks for coming along with me on this journey of discovery. It's been fun; exciting, sad, exhilarating. We've learned so much yet there is always more to learn. As I uncover more I will pop in from time to time and update you on my new findings. Until then .....
Happy hunting!
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