After finding Damian Niedzialkowski’s Naturalization Records, I discovered that, during the Naturalization Process, Damian changed his name to Damian Cosky.
This surname change was not unusual. My Chmielewski relatives changed their surname to Meleski, and my Dziura relatives changed their surname to Dziurzynski. Other Niedzialkowski relatives changed their surnames to Niedzialkoski, Niedzial, and Newman. I’ve also learned that other Niedzialkowskis changed their surname to Sunday (a translation of the name).
The surname change from Niedzialkowski to Cosky revealed why Damian seemed to disappear from the Worcester, Massachusetts records after his naturalization, leading me to speculate that he and his family moved away from Worcester. Knowing that he changed his name, I’ve been able to determine that he and his wife remained in Worcester, appearing with the surname Coski in City Directories and other records.
The Social Security Death Index includes the following entries for Damian and his wife Caroline:
Name: Damian Cosky
Birth Date: 15 May 1895
Death Date: May 1967
Social Security Number: 017-09-0781
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: Massachusetts
Death Residence ZIP Code: 01606Name: Caroline Cosky
Birth Date: 16 Dec 1897
Death Date: Dec 1981
Social Security Number: 030-12-8047
State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: Massachusetts
Death Residence ZIP Code: 01606
Further, the Massachusetts Death Index, 1970-2003 includes the following entry:
Name: Caroline A Cosky
Certificate: 055881
Death Place: Worcester
Death Date: 22 Dec 1981
Birth Date: 16 Dec 1897
Information from Damian’s naturalization records provides clues for additional research, including clues to immigration records, Polish church records, Massachusetts vital records, Massachusetts land records, and Massachusetts court records. I still don’t know if or how Damian Niedzialkowski is related to me, but this additional information gives me hope that I’ll be able to discover the answer to these questions.
Written for the Carnival of Eastern European Genealogy.
Copyright © 2008 by Stephen J. Danko
