|
It all started with Grandmother Hattie's scrapebook. Hedwig had started a scrapbook of newspaper clippings and school articles some time late in her life. Some names I recognized others I had never heard of though I knew these were people who must have been special to her. There were no dates, no written notes. I had never met my grandmother as she died five years before I was born. This was the spark to resurrecting 'the family tree'.
Surnames: Ashman Bartleheim Beard Burgin Dubois Durell Grabowski Layton Ethington Mateyunas Michalak Montgomery Schlling Slawoszewski Slawski Szelakiewicz Weigel are a few.
Our family story starts with Jacob Michalak along with his two sisters, Magadeline and Anna, brother Joseph immigrating to Toledo, Ohio in the 1880's.
Jacob married Catherine Winkler and they settled in the Lagrinka Polish neighborhood, attending services at St. Hedwig's Church. They left their families and married children, moving to West Branch, Michigan to farm and raise steers. Only to be robbed, sell what little they had left to the county and went to live at the poor farm. On a Sunday September 10th, 1933 Jacob died at the age of 83 due to "excitement" as the Ogemaw County Herald would word it. There was a fire in the county barn and Jacob rushing up the stairs to retrieve their belongings suffered a heart attack. I still don't know what became of Catherine.
One of their daughters moved with them from Toledo and later married a John Brandt settling in Roscommon, Michigan.
A son to Jacob and Catherine Michalak is Valentine Michalak; my grandfather. Valentine, married Hedwig Slawoszewski, whose father, Joseph Slawoszewski came to this country in 1872. His name was changed to Slayton by one son and Slawski by a nephew? Joseph's sister, Josephine married a grocer by the name of Peter Szelakiewicz, a colorful character, who had the misfortune (my gain) of being part of the Polish Parish Riots of St. Hedwig's Chruch in the mid 1800's.
The history of the Toledo Polish community is still scattered in the archieves of the city's vital records and treasured by the descendants of the polish pioneers of Lagrinka and Kuhschwantz (Lagrange Street/Nebraska neighborhoods).
Anyone who has information to share is welcome to contact me via email. If you are looking for information and can't make a trip to Toledo I would be happy to help as best I can with the research of your polish surnames.
|
