Steve's Genealogy Blog

Each year when I review my progress on the New Year’s Resolutions I made a year previously I find that, while I’ve made progress on all my resolutions, I don’t always complete the resolutions. I suppose that the reason for this situation is that my resolutions tend to have finite goals such as “complete this task” rather than goals such as “make progress on this task”.

With that in mind, I expect that I may not complete all my goals for the coming year. Some are, indeed, difficult:

1 .  Complete the coursework for a Professional Learning Certificate in Genealogical Studies (PLCGS) through the National Institute for Genealogical Studies / University of Toronto. With graduation looming in May, I expect to complete the one final course I need to wrap up this project.
 
2 .  Complete the requirements to become a Certified Genealogist. In reality, everything I do in genealogy helps me toward this goal. I can see the finish line in sight. Will I get there this year?

3 .  Recruit a larger participation in the Danko Surname Study and the Niedziałkowski Surname Study, especially the DNA projects associated with those studies. In March, I’ll be attending the 5th International Conference on Genetic Genealogy for Family Tree DNA Group Administrators, and I hope I will learn how to jump start these projects.

4 .  Visit Poland. It’s been many years since I last visited Poland and I now know a whole lot more about my ancestors than I did when I last visited. I hope to visit archives, wander the streets of the villages where my ancestors lived, and meet my relatives. This project will take a lot of planning, but it should be fun and productive.

5 .  Enter source citation information into my genealogy database. I have been faithful at attaching source citations to the information on this blog, but I’ve been lax at transferring that information to my genealogy software. As part of this project, I intend to set up source citation templates for myself, based on Elizabeth Shown Mills’ Evidence Explained and the Chicago Manual of Style, that reflect what I feel are the best practices for source citation.

Attempting to achieve these resolutions is a challenging goal for 2009, although the work that I’ve already accomplished in the past ten years has well prepared me to achieve them.

Written for the 63rd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy – New Year’s Resolutions!

Copyright © 2009 by Stephen J. Danko

Several of the vital records from Norwich, Connecticut mention Andrzej (Andrew) Izbicki and Amelia Gwiazdowska. The marriages of their daughters Paulina, Stephanie, Anna, and Frances, the birth of their daughter Helen, and the death of Andrew himself are all documented in the Norwich vital records. Further details about the family can be obtained from the 1900 US Federal Census.

1910 US Federal Census Record for the Andrew Izbicki Family

SOURCE: “1900 United States Census,” database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 December 2008), entry for Anthony Tibiskie and family, Norwich, New London Co., Connecticut.

Click on the images above to enlarge them. This record shows that Andrew and Amelia were married in about 1881. Andrew was born in Russia-Poland in April 1857 and Amelia was born in Russia-Poland in May 1858. Andrew immigrated in 1867, but apparently returned to Russia-Poland to marry Amelia. Amelia immigrated with her children in 1889.

Their children were:

• Lena (Paulina) born in Russia-Poland in December 1882,
• Stefa (Stephanie) born in Russia-Poland in July 1884,
• William born in Massachusetts in June 1889,
• Fannie (Frances) born in Massachusetts in December 1891,
• Anna born in Connecticut in January 1892,
• Rosey (Rozalia) born in Connecticut in March 1897, and
• Leo born in Connecticut in May 1899.

In addition to the children, Andrew’s brother is listed with the family:

• Alexander born in Russia-Poland in April 1874 and immigrated in 1894.

Alexander was further documented in the Norwich Vital Records in his marriage record and the births of his children Joseph, Aloysius, and Cecilia.

Copyright © 2008 by Stephen J. Danko

The Family History Library has microfilmed a number of the early 20th century vital record books from Norwich and, in those microfilms, I found the records for 23 births, 13 marriages (including one where two Izbickis wed each other), and 6 deaths of individuals with the Izbicki surname. To view these records, please follow the link to Izbicki Documents (there’s also a link in the sidebar of this blog).

After examining the Norwich marriage records and Norwich birth records, I examined the death records and was able to connect all of these to the family groups already established.

Two of the deaths were identified as sons of John Izbicki and Alexandra Jakubowski:

• George (Joseph Theodore) Izbicki who was born 21 Apr 1917 and died 18 Oct 1917 and
• Alexander (Alexander John) Izbicki who was born 21 Apr 1917 and died 21 Oct 1917.

One was identified as the husband of Amelia Gwiazdowska:

• Andrew Izbicki, son of George Izbicki, and who was born in 1857 and died 01 Mar 1920.

One was identified as the husband of Amelia Pachuka, the brother of Stanislaw Izbicki (who in turn married Mary Krzsiewska), and the father of Leocadia and Pauline:

• Ignacy Izbicki, son of Andrew Izbicki and Victoria Bierdziewska, and who was born in about 1866 and died 31 May 1919.

One was identified as the son of Anthony Izbicki and Josephine Korenkiewicz and the brother of Anthony, Regina, John, and Anthony:

• Anthony Izbicki who was born 28 Dec 1903 and died 10 Aug 1917.

One was identified as the daughter of Wladislaw (Walter) Izbicki and Elizabeth Zukowski and the sister of Joseph, Joseph, Helen, Annie, and Margaret Elizabeth:

• Mary Izbitski who was born on 02 July 1910 and died the same day.

Copyright © 2008 by Stephen J. Danko

The Family History Library has microfilmed a number of the early 20th century vital record books from Norwich and, in those microfilms, I found the records for 23 births, 13 marriages (including one where two Izbickis wed each other), and 6 deaths of individuals with the Izbicki surname. To view these records, please follow the link to Izbicki Documents (there’s also a link in the sidebar of this blog).

After examining the Norwich marriage records, I examined the birth records and was able to discern seven family groups.

The first family group includes children of Anthony Izbicki and Josephine Kowalewicz[?] (this couple also had a daughter Victoria who is represented in the marriage records):

• Anthony Izbicki who was born on 06 Jun 1895,
• Anthony Izbicki who was born on 06 Jun 1896 (possibly a duplicate entry for Anthony Izbicki whose birth was reported in 1895),
• John Izbicki who was born on 28 Dec 1898, and
• Regina Izbicki who was born on 23 Sep 1900.

The second family group includes children of Andrew Izbicki and Amelia Gwiazdowska (this couple also had four daughters named Paulina, Stephanie, Frances, and Anna who are represented in the Norwich marriage records):

• Rozalia Izbicki who was born on 16 Jun 1896.

The third family group includes children of Walter Izbicki and Elizabeth Zuchowski:

• Joseph Izbicki who was born on 22 Jul 1905 (recorded in the registers twice),
• Mary Izbicki who was born on 02 Jul 1910,
• Helen Izbicki who was born on 17 May 1911,
• Annie Izbicki who was born on 15 Nov 1913, and
• Margaret Elizabeth Izbicki who was born on 26 Sep 1918.

The fourth family group includes children of Alexander Izbicki and Josephine Danielowicz (this couple is also represented in the Norwich marriage records):

• Joseph Izbicki who was born on 26 Jan 1907,
• Aloysius Izbicki who was born on 21 Jan 1913,
• Cecilia Izbicki who was born on 01 Sep 1916.

The fifth family group includes children of Stanley Izbicki and Mary Krzesiewicz (this couple is also represented in the Norwich marriage records):

• Edward Izbicki who was born on 27 Nov 1911 and
• Regina Izbicki who was born on 25 Oct 1908.

The sixth family group includes children of John Izbicki and Alexandra Jakubowski:

• Edwina (Ida) Izbicki who was born on 01 May 1915,
• Alexander John Izbicki (twin) who was born on 21 Apr 1917,
• Joseph Theodore Izbicki (twin) who was born on 21 Apr 1917,
• Malvina Marcela Izbicki who was born on 16 Jan 1919, and
• Nellie Mary Izbicki who was born on 02 Apr 1920.

The seventh family group includes children of Antoni Izbicki and Josephine Izbicka (this couple is also represented in the Norwich marriage records):

• Walter Izbicki who was born on 10 Mar 1917 and
• Leonora Izbicki who was born on 25 May 1919.

All these children were born in Norwich, New London Co., Connecticut. Other members of these family groups may have been born in other towns.

Copyright © 2008 by Stephen J. Danko

While I was researching the Izbicki family of Worcester, Massachusetts (related to me by the marriage of my cousin Rita Meleski), I was contacted by someone who was also interested in the Izbicki surname, albeit a line of Izbickis who immigrated to Norwich, Connecticut.

The Family History Library has microfilmed a number of the early 20th century vital record books from Norwich and, in those microfilms, I found the records for 23 births, 13 marriages (including one where two Izbickis wed each other), and 6 deaths of individuals with the Izbicki surname . To view these records, please follow the link to Izbicki Documents (there’s also a link in the sidebar of this blog).

How can these records help understand the relationships among all the people mentioned in these records? Are all these Izbickis related to each other? Did they all originate from the same village in Poland?

At first pass, I examined the marriage records and was able to discern four family groups and four other individuals who are not siblings with any of the others.

The first family group includes children of Wojciech Izbicki and Teofila Gwiazdowska:

• Alexander Izbicki who married Josephine Danielowicz on 02 Jul 1900 and
• Veronica Izbicki who married Ladislas Cieslikowski on 21 Sep 1903.

The second family group includes children of Andrzej Izbicki and Emilia Gwiazdowska:

• Paulina Izbicki who married Ladislas Krzesicki on 22 Sep 1903,
• Stephanie Izbicki who married Ladislas Namistko on 25 Sep 1905,
• Frances Izbicki who married Kazimir Szalkowski on 16 Feb 1914, and
• Anna Izbicki who married Jan Janik on 10 Aug 1915.

The third family group includes children of Ignacy Izbicki and Emilia Pachuka:

• Leocadia Izbicki who married Anthony Nowosatko on 23 Jun 1908 and
• Pauline Izbicki who married Peter Sawrcki on 01 May 1912.

The fourth family group includes children of Dominik Izbicki and Michalina Cholod:

• Josephine Izbicki who married Anthony Izbicki on 08 May 1911 and
• Stephania Izbicki who married  John Jabokowksi on 19 Jan 1915.

The remaining individuals are:

• Stanislaw Izbicki who was the son of Andrzej Izbicki and Wiktoria Bierdziewska and who married Mary Krzesiewska on 20 Feb 1906;
• Victoria Izbicki who was the daughter of Antoni Izbicki and Josephine Kovenkwicz and who married Alexander Wawzynwicz on 06 Jun 1910;
• Anthony Izbicki who was the son of Józef Izbicki and Wiktoria Zdanzewicz and who married Josephine Izbicki on 08 May 1911; and
• Alexandra Izbicki who was the daughter of Piotr Izbicki and Antonia Sotokowska and who married Stanislaw Wawrznowiec on 21 Oct 1914.

Copyright © 2008 by Stephen J. Danko