The farthest back I can trace my "Stachowiak" side is Valentine Stachowiak and Josephine Kowalczyk Stachowiak (my 2nd great grandparents). Valentine "Walenty" Stachowiak was born on 3 Feb 1833 in Posen, Poland. He married Josephine Kowalczyk (Kowalski) in 1853 in Grodziszczko, Poland. According to the Poznan Marriage Project ( a great source of information), Valentine was 24 years old and Josephine (born on 8 Mar 1835) was 17 at the time of their marriage.
Valentine and Josephine had 9 children -- Mary Ann (born in 1853), Petronella (born in 1856), Lawrence (born in 1861), Albert (born in 1865), Agnes (born in 1868), Joseph (born in 1870), Charles (my great grandfather who was born in 1871), Casimir (born in 1876) and Stanislaus (born in 1879). Valentine, Josephine and at least 7 of their children immigrated to the US in 1880. Their two oldest daughters -- Mary Ann and Petronella -- were already married and they immigrated in 1879 and 1880, respectively. I haven't found the immigration papers on any of them yet.
In 1882, Valentine and his family were living in Milwaukee. According to the city directory, it lists Valentine's occupation as "lab". I am not quite sure what that means. In 1885, his occupation is listed as "carpenter". Valentine died on 11 April 1904 in Milwaukee. So, if you go by the age from Poznan Marriage Project, he was 75 when he died but if you go with the birth date (according to findagrave.com) he was 71 years old. Either way, Valentine had a very long life. His wife Josephine died 10 Nov 1914 at the age of 79 and lived an even longer life. Both Valentine and Josephine are buried in St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee.
No comments:
Post a Comment