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!
Chicago 1890 to 1900
This week the focus is on the last decade of the 20th century. Where the Czachorowskys were, what they were doing. We don't have a census to consult for 1890 unfortunately, but we do have city directories and other documents. Let's dig in!
1890, Bernard is still on 14th, Anton (Anthony?!) and his sons Bernard and Frank are still on Maxwell, Leo and Mary with son Frank are all still on Canal. Quiet year .....
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| 1890 |
1891, Whoa! What? Is this our 'mystery' Frank again? The other two Franks are accounted for at the homes of their fathers. Leo's got a new job! Insurance Agent. Wonder if Mary has retired?
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| 1891 |
1892, Anthony, Benjamin (Anton and Bernard) and Frank are still on Maxwell, but it looks like Leo has moved again - 488 Hermitage Av is the new address. No listing for Mary.
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| 1892 |
1893, Anton has gone 'legit'! He and Frank are on Maxwell, Bernard (the older Bernard or Anton's son?) is living on Frank Street (oh now come on .... Frank!?) this year. Leo and Frank stay put on Hermitage. And Leo has managed to keep at the insurance agent gig!
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| 1893 |
1894, Okay looks like Anton (son of Anton) might be getting into banking? But he is still doing the housemover thing with Anton Sr and brother Bernard (who is the one living on Frank St) Leo and Frank? Same old, same old.
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| 1894 |
1895, Maxwell St has changed to 13th Place this year. Everybody seems to be keeping on. But where's Bernard (the elder) been? We haven't seen him since 1891. (Must have won that lawsuit - might take a while to blow through $100,000!)
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| 1895 |
1896, Looks like most everybody was avoiding the city directory this year .....
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| 1896 |
1897, Well, well! Old Bernard's back! Who is Julius? Frank L has moved into his own home on S Winchester and I suspect this is Leo B, Leo's son - either that or Leo has a new job ...... again .....
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| 1897 |
1898, Our new friend Julius has a brother - Louis - didn't our 'mystery' Frank live on 18th St? And yes, that was Leo B in 1897, looks like he moved out of 488 S Hermitage and is now on Winchester Av too. Bernard's still hanging in there on 14th ..
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| 1898 |
1899, Julius and Louis are still in the picture. Related? Further investigation is in order. Oh, look! Mary's back! She's moved to Myrtle. Wonder what happened to Leo? Last time we saw him was in 1896.
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| 1899 |
1900, Seems Anton Jr is an artist now, and shortened his name? Leo B is now living with his mother on Myrtle. Bernard is gone again. Leo is still missing.
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| 1900 |
Let's re-look at the family tree. And the daughters of Leo and Anton.
A newspaper search found little for the decade, but I did find a few things. And a sad thing.
In 1888 Leo was sued for $1,130.51 - this bears further investigation ...
1893 was a busy year, a Czachorowsky was a member of the Chicago Minstrel Club - I found him listed among the performers! (Look under 'football')
And Mary Czachorowsky, Anton's daughter, married Peter Wagner.
In 1896 Leo's daughter Annie married Frank Weyl. And his son Frank married Bertha Mueller (could find no announcement for that)
1898, Leo died. I did not find a funeral notice, just this listing for burial permits.
A few more Chicago records can be found on Ancestry.com. Among them the Chicago Voter's Registration of 1890 and 1892.
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| 1890 Voters Registration |
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| 1892 Voters Registration |
Not much we don't already know from the city directories. We do learn that Anton, at least, was naturalized in 1870 or 1872, or so he claims. Might find more information at IRAD.
On FamilySearch I found an indexed marriage record for Frank Czachorowsky, Anton's son. He married Rosa Redeker in 1888. I will need to look for the record at IRAD.
That brings us to the 1900 census. I LOVE this census!
Mary is the head of the household, Leo having died in 1898. She is living with her daughters Mary and Clara and son Leo B. She reports that she has been in the US since 1861, she is a widow who was married for 31 years, she is the mother of 7 children, 5 of whom are still alive.
This one is tricky. And I promise to explain it all in more detail later. Anton is listed as the Father Head - still a house mover - A F the artist is there too (as Czach - the B-in-law) Oh, and look! B! B as in Bernard! 67 year old carpenter listed as F-in-law. Clearly the census taker was a bit confused - Mary Wagner is Anton's daughter, she married Peter Wagner in 1893. So Anton Jr would be Peter's brother-in-law, as recorded by the census taker. Anton would be the father-in-law, but he really should have been the 'Head' as he is the home owner (hence the strike through) Bernard really confused him! Still does not prove Bernard is Anton's brother, but the pair living in the same household lend a very strong argument to the case! Finally! A breakthrough! Just wish the census taker had been more careful -
This is the listing for Frank, Anton's son. Same careless census taker (same page of the census) Listed Frank as "C".
And finally Frank L, Leo's son.
By 1900 we're starting to see new families form, a few deaths, and several moves - both home and job. The next post will begin to feature our individual cast of characters. Looking at them individually instead of as a collective.
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| the Czachorowskys 1890 to 1900 |
My take-aways for this week:
until next time .............
