Steve’s Genealogy Blog

In grade school I always enjoyed the day that came every year when our teachers would ask what our mothers’ maiden names were. My mother’s maiden surname - Niedziałkowski - always got everyone’s attention because it was so unusual. My own surname - Dańko - hardly raised an eyebrow.

Not until I began studying my family history in the late 1990s did I begin to realize that those names might have some meaning behind them. After all, a name is a name right? Fairly soon after I started researching my ancestry seriously, the second edition of Fred Hoffman’s book on Polish surnames was published, and boy, was this a godsend!

Categories of Polish Surnames

In his book on Polish surnames, Fred Hoffman divides and discusses the surnames according to five general categories:

1. Personal Names and Coats of Arms
2. Toponyms (Place Names)
3. Occupations
4. Features or Objects (including verbs, animals, trees, plants, food, drink)
5. Foreign Names

Polish Surnames in My Family Tree 

The surnames in my family tree span all of these five groups. Here is a list of some of them with their origins and meanings:

Bal: bal- “to tell tales”, first name Baltazar, Hungarian personal name Bal
Bonislawski: village Bonisław, altered name Będzisław
Chmielewski: chmiel “hops”
Chotkowski: place names Chotków, Chotkowo
Chruścicki: chrust “dry twigs”
Dańko: dan- “given” or name element from Daniel
Dymek: dym “smoke” or name element from Dymitr
Dziura / Dziurzyński: dziura “hole”
Głowacz: głowa “head”
Goliński: goły “bare, naked”, golić “to shave”, or place name Golina
Grabowski: grab “hornbeam”, grabić “to rob”, grabie “rake”, old first name Grab, or toponym
Iwaniec: Ukrainian name Ivan = Polish name Jan (John)
Izbicki: izba “hut, chamber”
Jach: name element from Jan, Jakub, Jachym, etc.
Jara: jar- “sharp, strict”, jary “of the spring, robust, young”
Jedliński: jodła “fir tree”
Kolarowira: kolarz “wheelwright”
Malon: mały “small”, or a name root as in Małomir, also popular in toponyms
Marcinkiewicz: first name Marcin from the Latin Martinus (of or relating to Mars)
Markiewicz: first name Marek from the Latin Marcus (Mark)
Milewski: ancient names Miłobor, Miłosław with the root miły “dear, beloved”
Mossakowski: name Mojsław or Mojżesz (Moses)
Muszynski: mucha “housefly”
Niedziałkowski: nie działać “to do nothing”, niedziela “Sunday” (day of doing nothing)
Nosarzewski: nos “nose”
Panowski: pan “master, bridegroom”, names Pankracy, Pantelejmon, Opanas
Pomaski: village of Pomaski
Pszczółkowski: pszczoła “bee”
Ranow: rana “wound”, rano “early”, or name Ranimir
Skowroński: skowronek “lark’ (a kind of bird)
Ślimak: ślimak “snail, slug” or “slow fellow”
Sowa: sowa “owl”
Szymański: name Szymon (Simon) (Hebrew), meaning “Hear my affliction”
Tropiło / Trupiło: trop “trace, trail, scent”, tropić “to track”
Wojnowski: wojna “war, struggle”
Zygmuntowicz: name Zygmunt, Germanic *sigis “victory” + *mundo “protect, guard”

SOURCE: Hoffman, William F. 1998. Polish surnames: origins and meanings. Chicago: Polish Genealogical Society of America.

Evolution of Polish Surnames 

I am often amazed at the number of different surnames used in Poland. Because fixed surnames are a rather recent phenomenon in Poland (and elsewhere), most not being fixed until the 18th century, many surnames have developed through something of a divergent evolution, where a surname such as Markowicz might diverge into Markowicz and Markiewicz over time.

In fact, in addition to Markowicz and Markiewicz, a large number of names derive from the given name Marek and the numbers of individuals with these surnames in Poland in 1990 varied greatly, with only 1 person using the surname Marec, but with 16,202 people using the surname Marek. And, of course, not all the people in Poland with the same or similar surnames are related to each other. Many surnames arose independently all over Poland, resulting in a convergent evolution of surnames.

Many of these Polish surnames present some difficulty for native speakers of English. I’m often asked “How is that name pronounced?” The short answer a native speaker of Polish would give is “Just the way it’s spelled”, but that’s little comfort to most people. My mother’s maiden name, Niedziałkowski, is mispronounced by nearly all native speakers of English.

These difficulties of pronouncing the surname Niedziałkowski has led to a divergent evolution of the surname among my relatives in the United States, resulting in the surnames Niedzialkowski, Niedzialkoski, Niedzial, and even Newman, all in one family line.

My own mother, while in her teens, briefly changed her surname to Nigel.

But that’s another story.

Copyright © 2007 Stephen J. Danko

Birth and Early Life

My paternal grandfather, Michael Danko (Michał Dańko), was born in Nienadowa, Galicia on September 22, 1877, the son of Jakub Dańko, a farmer, and Agnieszka Sowa. He was delivered by the midwife Agnieszka Pilch, and was baptized in the Roman Catholic parish church in Dubiecko, Galicia on September 23, 1877 by the Reverend [H. Karakulski?]. His Godparents were Andrzej Giergont and Marianna, the widow of Kazimierz Fudali.

Photograph of Michał Danko - 1948

Michał had a number of siblings, but the only ones I’ve confirmed are Marianna, born 12 Jan 1884, and Marcin, born 11 Dec 1890. His mother reportedly died in 1895 or 1896, after she fell while picking cherries.

After the death of his mother, Michał’s father married Zofia Głowacz on 03 Sep 1896, and Zofia gave birth to Michał’s half-brother, Piotr Dańko, on 28 Jun 1898.

Marriage and the First Children

Michał married Marianna Dziurzyńska (Marianna Dziura) on 14 Aug 1898, probably in the Roman Catholic parish church in Dylągowa. The pair met only shortly before the marriage, which was apparently arranged.

Over the next few years, Michał’s wife gave birth to three children. The first was probably a son named Karol, but the details of this birth are missing. As a young child, Karol died in Galicia. A daughter, Zofia, was born on 12 Jan 1901, and a son, Jan, was born on 02 May 1905.

Immigration to the United States

When Michał was 27 years old, he set off by himself for Antwerp, boarded the S.S. Vaderland on 25 Feb 1905 and arrived in New York City on 07 Mar 1905. Upon arriving in New York, he was met by Isaac Flichtenfeld, a Jewish umbrella maker from Galicia, residing at 35 First Avenue in New York City. Michał had but $6 in his pocket when he arrived in America.

For reasons unknown, my grandfather then traveled to Worcester, Massachusetts, where he would spend the rest of his life.

Family Arrives in Worcester

Michał’s wife, daughter, and surviving son arrived in New York on the S.S. Vaderland on 24 May 1909, and his sister, Marianna, arrived on the S.S. Kaiserin Auguste Victoria 26 Jun 1909.

Paweł Goliński, the future husband of Michał’s sister Marianna, and Jan Dziurzyński, Michał’s brother-in-law, traveled together and arrived on the S.S. Grosser Kurfurst on 21 May 1912.

Jan Dziurzyński returned to Galicia sometime after 1930, but Paweł Goliński and Marianna Dańko Goliński lived near Michał in Worcester all their lives.

Home and Hearth

In 1909, when his wife and children arrived, Michał was living at 9 Redding Court, a house located between the Rural Cemetery and the railroad tracks. The railroad tracks were, in fact, directly behind the house.

In 1910, the family was living a block away at 3 Moran Court. The railroad tracks ran directly behind this house, too. The family shared their small, rented house with seven boarders, all Polish immigrants.

By 1920, the family had moved to 19 Prescott Place, and still the railroad tracks ran right behind the house. The family lived in this house for a while. They were still living there in 1930.

By 1942, the family was living at 15 Henchman Street. This house was just on the other side of the railroad tracks from the previous houses in which the family lived.

All these houses have now been demolished.

The family never lived in “The Island” where most of the Polish community in Worcester was located.

More Children

Over the next years, Michał’s wife gave birth to several other children in Worcester: Stanisława, born 13 May 1910; Bronisława, born 03 Jan 1912, died 13 Jan 1913; Michael, born 13 Sep 1913; Bronisława, born 28 Oct 1915; Mary, born 07 Oct 1917, Joseph, born 02 Sep 1919; Helen; and my father, Francis.

The Great War and the Second Polish Republic

On 12 Sep 1918, Michał registered for the World War I draft, although he was not asked to serve.

On 11 Nov 1918, the Second Polish Republic was formed. My grandfather probably celebrated the liberation of his homeland from over a century of occupation by Austria. Because Michał was born in Galicia, the Austrian partition of Poland, he was legally a citizen of Austria, although his ethnicity was Polish.

In both the 1920 and 1930 censuses, MIchał reported that he had filed his Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United States. I have not found any evidence that he actually did become a citizen.

Education and Employment 

I was told that Michał was well-educated and worked as a teacher in Galicia. At the time he immigrated to the United States in 1905, he could read and write, although he probably couldn’t speak English very well, if at all. By the 1910 census, he reported that he could speak English. His wife never learned to speak English.

Postcard of American Steel and Wire - North Works

Like many Polish immigrants, Michał found employment at the American Steel and Wire plant located just a few blocks from where the family lived. There, he worked as a Wire Straightener or a Wire Cutter, among the most difficult and lowest paying jobs available.

With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, Michał was unemployed much of the time.

World War II

Michał registered for the World War II draft on 27 Apr 1942 as part of the “Old Men’s Draft”.

By the time he registered for the draft, three of his four sons were already serving in the military. His son Michael served in the U.S. Navy, Joseph served in the U.S. Army, and Francis served in the U.S. Naval Armed Guard. All three sons survived the war.

The Children Leave Home

By 1920, Michał’s daughter Zofia (Sophie) left home and was living and working in a boarding house. Soon after, she moved to Albany, New York.

In the early 1930s, Michał’s children Stanisława (Statia), Jan (John), and Helen followed Sophie and moved to Albany. Finally, in the 1940s, Francis and Michał’s wife, Marianna, also moved to Albany, leaving Michał by himself.

Michał’s children Bronisława (Bertha), Mary, Joseph, and Michael continued to live in Worcester.

Michał’s Death and Funeral

Michał died alone in a rooming house at 47 Main Street in Worcester on 02 Jan 1953 at age 76. His death was discovered by his son, Michael. Death was due to arteriosclerotic heart disease.

The Family of Michał Dańko - 1953

His wife and children all gathered in Worcester to mourn his passing. The only photographs I have of all Michał’s children together were taken at the time of his funeral.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

I had searched for my Great Aunt Mary in the 1910 US Federal Census without much luck.  Much to my surprise Barb Poole, who contributed a GuestBlog on May 20, found the record!   I guess there’s a lesson here… just because you can’t find someone in the census doesn’t mean they’re not enumerated.  Sometimes searching again at a later time or having someone else look for the record can result in success!  This isn’t the first time someone helped me find a record I couldn’t find on my own.  Genealogists seem to be some of the most helpful and supportive people around, and they seem to delight in helping someone else break down their brick walls almost as much as they enjoy their own discoveries.  Thanks again Barb!

The 1910 Census Record for Mary Danko shows that she was working as a servant in the home of the Cusenberg [?] family at 48 Coral Street in Worcester, Massachusetts.  This address is not far from where my grandfather, Michael Danko, was living at the time, and it is also not far from Our Lady of Częstochowa Church, the Polish parish in Worcester.  The census shows that she was 22 years old in 1910, indicating that she was born in 1887-1888, a date that agrees with all the other birth information I’ve found for Mary after she immigrated.  The Census record also shows that she was single, she was from Austria, she was Polish, and she immigrated in 1909.  All this information is consistent with what I already know about her.

This information is, however, still at odds with the date of birth I found on her birth/baptismal, emigration, and immigration records.  This discrepancy begs the question again; did my grandfather have two sisters named Marya and Marianna?  I took another look at the Ellis Island records for 1909.

A search of the Ellis Island records using Stephen Morse’s forms at http://www.stephenmorse.com provided three hits for the year 1909:

• Marianna Danko, age 25, from Nienadowa, Austria
• Marya Danko, age 27, from Nienadowa, Austria
• Marya Danko, age 22, from Wesoła, Austria

I believe that the first of these entries is the record for my Great Aunt Mary, and I know that the second of these entries is the record for my grandmother, Mary.  These two Marys listed my grandfather as brother and husband, respectively, and said that they were going to stay with my grandfather in Worcester.

The third immigrant is an enigmatic Marya Danko who was from Wesoła, Austria and traveled to Chicago.  Oddly enough, the manifest for this Marya Danko is the right age to be a match with my Great Aunt Mary (22 years old in 1909, meaning she was born in 1886-1887).  She listed her nearest relative as her father Jocolry [?] Danko living in Wesola.  This is clearly not my Great Aunt Mary, since Great Aunt Mary’s father Jakub died before 1909.

However, there are some interesting coincidences here:

• The village of Wesoła is located near my ancestors’ village of Nienadowa in Poland.
• Marya Danko from Wesoła stated that she was going to stay with her brother-in-law Jestrycj [?] Majda [?] in Chicago (Majda could be a misspelling of the surname Wejda).  My grandfather’s cousin Marcin Wejda accompanied Marianna Danko to Worcester.
• Marya Danko from Wesoła was traveling with Franciszka Sowa.  My great grandmother’s maiden name was Agnieszka Sowa.

While Marya Danko from Wesoła is not my Great Aunt Mary, perhaps there is a family connection there, nonetheless.  There are still mysteries here, but one mystery solved is where Great Aunt Mary was and what she was doing in 1910!

Great Aunt Mary (Danko) Golinski was married in 1915 and she had several children, including Victoria and John. 

Mary’s marriage record and the birth record for her first child, Victoria, were recorded in a ledger, rather than on standardized marriage and birth certificates.  The birth of Mary’s son John, however, was recorded on a standard certificate.  When I requested copies of these three documents, I was somewhat disappointed by the documents I received for Mary’s marriage and Victoria’s birth because I received transcriptions rather than photocopies of the original records.

Mary’s marriage record arrived as a Copy of Record of Marriage and contained several misspellings and a couple of crossed out entries.  The entries that appear to be transcription errors are:

• The name of the groom’s father is recorded as Gan Golinski, but should be Jan Golinski
• The name of the groom’s mother is recorded as Mary Darasz, but should be Mary Daraz 
• The name of the bride’s mother is recorded as Agnes Sousa, but should be Agnes Sowa
• The name of the bride’s father is recorded as Joseph Jacob Danko, apparently to correct an error during transcription since the father’s name was Jacob Danko
• The form used to record the transcription was outdated, since it assumed that the document would be recorded in the 20th century and included the preprinted year 19__, which had to be crossed out to write in the correct year 2002

The marriage record reports Mary’s age at the time of the marriage as 28 years on October 4, 1915, indicating that Mary was born in 1886 or 1887.

The birth of Mary’s first child, Victoria, is reported as a Copy of Record of Birth.  This document also contained an apparent transcription error:

• Mary’s maiden name is reported as Dauleo, but should be Danko

The transcription unfortunately doesn’t include the parents’ dates of birth.

The Return of a Birth for John Golinski is more complete than that for Victoria, and is the original record rather than a transcription.  Still, this document includes two entries that were apparently erased and typed over:

• The birthplaces of both the father and mother were originally entered as Poland, but were corrected to read Austria Poland

The record does, however, show that Mary was 33 years old when John was born on Jan. 2, 1922, indicating that Mary was born between 1888 and 1889.

Let me summarize the information I have on Mary’s date of birth:

• Marianna’s Birth and Baptismal Record, a Church Record from Poland, shows that her birth date was January 12, 1884
• Marjanna’s Hamburg Passenger Record, shows that she was 25 years old in 1909, indicating that she was born in 1883-1884
• Marianna’s Passenger Arrival List, shows that she was 25 years old when she arrived at Ellis Island on June 26, 1909 and indicating that she was born in 1883-1884
• The Copy of Record of Marriage shows that she was 28 years old on October 4, 1915, indicating that she was born in 1886-1887
• The Copy of Record of Birth for Mary’s daughter Victoria does not show Mary’s age or date of birth
• The Return of a Birth for Mary’s son John shows that Mary was 33 years old on January 2, 1922, indicating that she was born in 1888-1889
• Mary’s SS-5 Application for Social Security Account and Tax Number shows that she was born on March 12, 1887
• The Social Security Death Index shows that Mary was born on March 12, 1887
• Information from Mary’s daughter Fran, indicated that Mary was born on March 12, 1887
• The Massachusetts Death Index does not show Mary’s birth date
• Mary’s Cemetery Burial Record shows that Mary was born in about 1886-1887
• Mary’s Gravestone Epitaph shows that Mary was born in 1887

So, where does all this lead me?  My grandfather’s sister, Marianna, was born on January 12, 1884, which is consistent with records up through her immigration to the United States.  My grandfather’s sister, Mary, was born on March 12, 1887, which is consistent with records after her immigration into the United States (with the exception of the Return of John’s Birth, which suggests she was born in 1888-1889).

Are Marianna and Mary the same person?  If so, why are there two apparently different birth dates?  If Marianna and Mary are different people, they must be sisters, but there is no evidence for two sisters named Marianna Danko and Mary Danko.  Perhaps Mary changed her birth date after her arrival in America.  I’d like to find a Census Record and other records for Mary between the time she arrived in America in 1909 and the time she was married in 1915, but finding those records will take some additional research.

Online Death Indexes provide useful sources of birth and death information.  For the most part, these Death Indexes are transcriptions of other Indexes and are subject to the errors associated with transcriptions. 

Ancestry.com offers the following State death indexes:

• Alabama 1908-1959
• Arkansas 1914-1950
• California 1940-1997
• Connecticut 1949-1971
• Florida 1877-1998
• Georgia 1919-1998
• Idaho 1911-1951
• Indiana 1882-1920
• Kentucky 1911-2000
• Louisiana 1900-1949
• Maine 1960-1997
• Massachusetts 1970-2003
• Michigan 1971-1996
• Minnesota 1908-2002
• Montana 1907-2002
• North Carolina 1908-1996
• Ohio 1958-2002
• Oregon 1903-1998
• Rhode Island 1630-1930
• South Carolina 1915-1952
• South Dakota 1905-1955
• Texas 1964-1998
• Utah 1905-1951
• Vermont 1981-2001
• Washington 1940-1996
• Wisconsin 1820-1907

Ancestry.com also holds the following Provincial Death Indexes:

• British Columbia 1872-1979
• Ontario 1869-1932

Other significant online death indexes include:

• Arizona 1878-1975 (with images of documents)
• Missouri pre-1910 (1883-1893)
• Missouri 1910-1955 (with images from 1910-1923)
• VitalSearch (scans of some state indexes)

My Great Aunt Mary is listed in the Massachusetts Death Index at Ancestry.com.  The information provided there includes:

• Name:  Mary M. Golinski
• Certificate Number:  045417
• Death Place:  Worcester
• Death Date: 18 Sep 1975
• Birth Place:  Other
• Birth Date:  –

For many of the entries in the Massachusetts Death Index, the birth date is provided.  Unfortunately, this is not the case for my Great Aunt Mary.  Nonetheless, the Death Index can certainly be considered a secondary source for death information and may even help locate the death certificate itself.

Social Security Records, including the Social Security Death Index and the SS-5 Application for a Social Security Account Number, are some of the first records I examined when I first started to compile my family tree.  I used the information in the Social Security Death Index to discover or verify dates of birth and dates of death.  I also requested copies of the SS-5 cards, the Application for a Social Security Account Number to discover or verify information such as names of parents, place of birth, occupation, and address at the time of application.

The Social Security Death Index is generated from the Death Master File of the Social Security Administration (SSA).  The SSA does not generate the index itself.  The Death Master File currently includes over 77 million records of individuals who had a Social Security Number and whose deaths were reported to the SSA, usually when someone applied for Social Security Death Benefits.  In 1935 the Social Security Act was passed, and in 1936, the first Social Security cards were issued.  However, the Social Security Death Index was not initiated until 1962, when the SSA began using a computer database to process benefit requests.  For that reason, few individuals who died before 1962 are listed in the Social Security Death Index.  More information on the Social Security Death Index is available at Ancestry.com, and interesting information on the first Social Security Card and the lowest Social Security Number is available at the Social Security website.

The Social Security Death Index is available at Ancestry.com for a fee, but it is also available for free from other sources, including RootsWeb.com, and FamilySearch.org.  I prefer to use the Ancestry.com version of the index because the information is formatted in a way that I can directly cut and paste the information into the source information area of my genealogy database.  The RootsWeb version, however, has the most comprehensive search feature on the web; all the information in the Index is searchable.  The FamilySearch version of the index is not as full-featured as either of the other two indexes.  That said, if you can’t find someone in one index, you can always try the others.  Differences in the search algorithms and in the search interfaces may provide different results.

A copy of the original SS-5, the Application for Social Security Account Number, can be ordered from the Social Security Administration, as long as the requestor is the individual named, or if the individual is deceased.  A copy of the SS-5 can be ordered whether or not the individual is listed in the Social Security Death Index.  Currently, the SSA charges $27 for this copy, if the Social Security Number is provided, and $29 if the Social Security Number is not provided.  The SSA also offers a Numident, a computerized Numerical Identification record for a reduced price, but the Numident doesn’t provide all the information on the SS-5 and may contain transcription errors, so it’s not as useful for genealogical purposes as the SS-5.  The SSA also offers a copy of the Claim File for $14, but these Claim Files are usually destroyed within a few years after the final decision on a claim is made.  Once, instead of receiving the SS-5 I requested, I received a Form OAAN-7003, Employee’s Request for Change in Records instead.

Well, back to my Great Aunt Mary.  The information in the Social Security Death Index states:

Name: Mary Golinski
SSN: 033-38-4218
Last Residence: 01527 Millbury, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America
Born: 12 Mar 1887
Died: Sep 1975
State (Year) SSN issued: Massachusetts (1964-1965)

A couple of points to note here.  Sometimes, as in this case, the complete date of birth or death is not included.  If you search for a complete date, but don’t find what you’re looking for, try including only the month and year, or just the year.  The second point is that the Last Residence is not necessarily the place of death.

Finally, I obtained a copy of Mary’s SS-5.

The SS-5 states that:

• Her Social Security Number was 033-38-4218
• Her name was Mary Golinski
• Her full name at birth was Mary Danko
• Her date of birth was 3/12/87
• She was born in Austria Poland
• She was 77 years old on her last birthday
• She was a white female
• Her parents were Agnes Sawa and Jacob Danko
• She had never previously applied for or had a Social Security Number
• Her mailing address was Sullivan Place, Millbury, mass.
• She signed the form on 1/18/65

There are some miscellaneous notes on the card, including a stamp that reads “ORIGINAL PULLED FOR CLAIM”, a date APR 05 1965, another date JAN 2 [illegible], a stamp that reads “DAD-[illegible], the notation 5-11, and what appear to be two sets of initials in the two lower corners.

What I learned from the Social Security Death Index and the SS-5 was that Mary’s birth dates recorded in these two records agree with all the rest of the birth information I have found for her in other records generated after her arrival in the United States.  Records prior to and at the time of her arrival report an earlier birth date. 

Believe it or not, there are still more records to search to try to figure out this mystery.