The Birth and Death of Aunt Bronisława
My Aunt Bronisława Dańko died when she was one year old and was buried with two other infants in an unmarked grave in Notre Dame Cemetery in Worcester, Massachusetts. In order to erect on monument on the grave, the cemetery requires that the names of all three infants be included on the monument. The cemetery provided the following information on the three infants:
Notre Dame Cemetery No. 01 - Owner: Owner, unknown
Lot - Sec-3 Lot-1464 Grv-1A-1C
UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
3 3
3 3
3 1C 3
3 1B 3
3 1A 3
3 3
3 3
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAU
Space Deceased/Reserved Burial Date Age Container
1A Kurpiel, John 12/21/1912 1Month
1B Danka, Bronislawa 01/15/1913 1
1C Stonia, Franciszek 08/30/1914 8MonthsAAAEnd of ListAAA Perpetual Care Unpaid — No Activity Allowed Until Full Payment
Since the cemetery had misspelled my aunt’s surname and did not have the dates of birth or death for any of the three infants, I set out to find the birth and death records for the children. In the blog entry Aunt Bronislawa Has Been Misplaced, I described my efforts to find the vital records for the trio.
During my recent trip to the Massachusetts Archives, I found the records for all three children. My Aunt Bronisława’s birth record was recorded in a ledger in January 1913, although she had been born almost a year earlier.
Birth Record for Bronisława Dańko
In the image above, I cropped the ledger just under the entry for Bronisława, so it appears that she is the last entry on the page, but the original image included quite a few more entries below her name.
The entry states that:
- Bronislawa Danko was listed as entry number 961 in Massachusetts Births, volume 608, page 486
- She was a female child, born in the City of Worcester, Massachusetts on January 3, 1912
- Her father was Mike Danko and her mother was Mary Ginsky who resided in Worcester
- Her father was a laborer
- Both her parents were born in Austria
- Her birth was registered in the City of Worcester in January 1913
Note that her mother’s maiden name was actually Dziurzyńska, not Ginsky. This error was likely due to difficulties of hearing and spelling the polish surname or to transcription errors. The entry were made a year after the event and the family was probably not present at the time the birth was recorded in the ledger.
Bronisława’s death record was recorded on a standard form which was completed at the time of death.
Death Record for Bronisława Dańko
The Death Record states that:
- Bronislawa Danko’s death was recorded in Massachusetts Deaths volume 107, number 290
- She was a single, white female, born in Worcester on January 2, 1912 and was 1 year, 11 days old at the time of death
- Her father was Michal Danko who was born in Austria
- Her mother was named Mary and was born in Austria
- P. H. Nichol, M.D. attended her from January 7, 1913 until January 13, 1913
- She died at 2:30 PM on January 13, 1913 at the family home at 3 Moran Court in Worcester after suffering for 6 days with broncho pneumonia
- Michal Danko of Worcester was the informant
- The statement of death by P. H. Nichol, M.D. was made on January 14, 1913
- She was buried in Worcester on January 15, 1913 by the undertaker Lucian Karolkewicz of Worcester
- The Death Certificate was filed by the registrar on January 20, 1913
Note that the date of birth on the birth record is January 3, 1912, while that on the death certificate is January 2, 1912.
Tomorrow: The birth and death of John Kurpiel.
November 2nd, 2006 at 11:34 pm
[…] 5. MICHAEL JACOB DANKO (JAKUB, PAWEL, WOJCIECH, JÓZEF) was born 22 Sep 1877 in Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland, and died 02 Jan 1953 in Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts. He married MARIANNA DZIURZYNSKA 14 Aug 1898 in Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland, daughter of JAN DZIURA and MAGDALENA JARA who were married 16 Sep 1875 in Dubiecko, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland. Marianna was born 14 Aug 1881 in Sielnica, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland, and died 08 Sep 1969 in St. Peter’s Hospital /Albany, Albany Co., New York. Children of MICHAEL DANKO and MARIANNA DZIURZYNSKA are: i. SOPHIA MARY DANKO, b. 12 Jan 1901, Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland; d. 06 Oct 1977, Albany, Albany Co., New York; m. CLARK GIBSON, Bet. 12 Jan - 19 Jun 1923; b. 20 Jun 1894, Fairfield, Franklin Co., Vermont; d. 19 Jan 1984, Guilderland Center Nursing Home /Albany, Albany Co., New York. ii. CHARLES DANKO, b. Abt. 02 Apr 1902, Galicia, Austria-Poland; d. Bef. May 1909, Galicia, Austria-Poland. iii. JOHN JOSEPH DANKO, b. 02 May 1905, Nienadowa, Powiat Przemyski, Galicia, Austria-Poland; d. 30 Dec 1962, Albany, Albany Co., New York; m. ALICE HARRIET EUGENIA CHARRON, 27 Jun 1935, Ste. Marie’s Church /Cohoes, Albany Co., New York; b. 01 Oct 1904, Cohoes, Albany Co., New York; d. 25 Sep 1992, St. Peter’s Hospice /Albany, Albany Co., New York. iv. STATIA FRANCES DANKO, b. 13 May 1910, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; d. 21 Oct 1979, Albany, Albany Co., New York; m. ALFRED ALOYSIUS IWANIEC, SR., 29 Sep 1934, Albany, Albany Co., New York; b. 24 Sep 1914, Mount Vernon, Westchester Co., New York; d. 11 Sep 1964, Albany, Albany Co., New York. v. BRONISLAWA DANKO, b. 03 Jan 1912, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; d. 13 Jan 1913, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts. vi. MICHAEL JOHN DANKO, b. 13 Sep 1913, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; d. 19 Nov 1981, 15 Marion Avenue /Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; m. JEAN BARBARA SKOWRONSKI, 12 Jul 1952, St. Mary’s Church /Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; b. 31 Mar 1917, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; d. 18 Oct 1996, Memorial Health Care /Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts. vii. BERTHA THERESA DANKO, b. 28 Oct 1915, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; d. 29 Jul 1978, The Memorial Hospital /Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; m. GEORGE EDWARD JOSEPH MCGINN, 20 Oct 1934, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; b. 23 Sep 1908, Fredericton, York Co., New Brunswick, Canada; d. 21 Mar 1981, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts. viii. MARY THERESA DANKO, b. 07 Oct 1917, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; d. 05 Jan 1986, Hahnemann Hospital /Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; m. (1) NISHAN JOHN MOORADIAN, 25 Sep 1942, 118 Elm St. /Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; b. 04 Dec 1910, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; d. 07 Jun 1990, The Medical Center of Central Massachusetts - Memorial /Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; m. (2) OSCAR YOUSOUFIAN, 17 May 1950, Auburn, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; b. 16 Mar 1898, Erzeroum, Armenia; d. 02 Jun 1973, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts. ix. JOSEPH JOHN DANKO, SR., b. 02 Sep 1919, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; d. 05 Jul 1991, Medical Center of Central Massachusetts - Hahnemann /Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; m. HELEN FRANCES SKOWRONSKI, 23 Feb 1946, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts; b. 17 Mar 1923, Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts. […]
January 30th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Dear Sir
My grandfather was called Piotr Danko and lived in Nienadowa, Poland. My mother (his daughter - one of 3 children) was born in Poland (Nienadowa) as well. Both my grandparents and auntie (Marysia) and mother moved to England. My uncle Jozef Danko remained and now lives in Krakow. I believe that there must be some relationship with Michael Jakob Danko since they seem to have been born about the same time.