Steve's Genealogy Blog

By 1940, my grandparents had moved again, and my grandfather’s occupation had apparently changed again.

Kostanty and Helen A. Niedzialkowski are listed in the 1940 Worcester Directory published by R.L. Polk & Co.

Worcester Directory 1940 Entry for Kostanty and Helen Niedzialkowski

SOURCE: Massachusetts City Directories, Worcester 1940, page 704, Kostanty Niedzialkoski; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 01 December 2007); citing Polk’s Worcester (Worcester County, Mass.) City Directory Vol. 1940 XCVII. 1940. Boston, MA: R.L. Polk & Co.

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Worcester Directory 1940 Entry for Kostanty and Helen Niedzialkowski. The brief record states the following:

• Kostanty Niedzialkowski was a steel worker who resided at 18 Huntington av,
• his wife’s name was Helen,
• his daughter, Natalie V. worked as an office secretary for Dorothy W. Carruth and resided at 18 Huntington av

My grandfather’s occupation as a steel worker may or may not be different than that of a press operator as described in earlier directories. Again, he may have worked at Worcester Pressed Steel, but the place of employment was not listed in this directory.

As of 1940, my Aunt Natalie was employed as an office secretary for Dorothy W. Carruth. The directory entry for Dorothy W. Carruth states that Ms. Carruth was a lawyer doing business from 332 Main, Room 316.

The residence, 18 Huntington Avenue, is the same as my grandfather’s first address when he immigrated to America and settled in Worcester. The building was probably owned by his uncle, Frank Niedzialkoski.

The name Damiano Niedzialkowski again appears in the directory. He may or may not be related to my grandfather, but the circumstantial evidence indicates that he is probably a distant relative.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

By examining the city directories, I’ve been able to find the various occupations in which my grandfather, Kostanty Niedzialkowski, was engaged. The directories list not only the occupation, but provide the time period and place of his employment. Sometimes, the exact name and address of the employer are provided. Sometimes, as is the case with the 1930 Worcester Directory, only the occupation is listed.

My grandparents, Kostanty and Helen Niedzialkowski, are listed in the 1936 Worcester Directory published by Sampson & Murdock Co.

Worcester Directory 1936 Entry for Kostanty and Helen Niedzialkowski

SOURCE: Massachusetts City Directories, Worcester 1936, page 739, Kostanty Niedzialkoski; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 01 December 2007); citing The Worcester directory Massachusetts for the year ending February, 1937. 1936. Worcester, MA: Sampson & Murdock Co.

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Worcester Directory 1936 Entry for Kostanty and Helen Niedzialkowski. The brief record states the following:

• Kostanty Niedzialkowski was a press operator who resided at 44 Bryson, and
• his wife’s name was Helen.

My grandfather was a press operator, but his place of employment was not stated. He may have been working for Worcester Pressed Steel, a company for which I know he worked for a number of years.

I believe the name of the street listed in the directory is misspelled. As far as I can tell, the correct address should be 44 Byron Street, an address not far from the corner of North and Prescott where they lived in 1935.

Also of interest in this record is the name of Dominic Niedzialkowski. I don’t know who this is, but his immigration passenger manifest shows that he had a brother named Steve in Worcester and he was from Pomaski, the same village from which my grandfather hailed. Further, his address in 1936 was 72 Perry Ave, close to the 42 Perry Ave address at which my grandparents resided in 1920. There is a chance Dominic may be related to my family, but I have not yet discovered any connection other than the surname, the place of settlement in the United States, and the place of origin.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

I don’t spend enough time with City Directories, even though many directories of Worcester, Massachusetts, where my grandparents lived, are online. Jasia of Creative Gene wrote a series of articles on city directories, describing in detail the wealth of information contained therein.

My grandfather, Kostanty Niedzialkowski, is listed in the 1921 Worcester Directory published by Sampson & Murdock Co.

Worcester Directory 1921 Entry for Kostanty Niedzialkoski

SOURCE: Massachusetts City Directories, Worcester 1921, page 489, Kostanty Niedzialkoski; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 01 December 2007); citing Worcester directory 1921 containing a general directory of the citizens, a business directory, and the city and county registers, with map. 1921. Worcester, MA: Sampson & Murdock Co.

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Worcester Directory 1921 Entry for Kostanty Niedzialkoski. The brief record states the following:

• K Niedzialkoski is listed as a grocer at 194 Prescott.
• His residence was the same as the business.

My grandfather’s surname is spelled Niedzialkoski, the same way many of the descendants of his uncle Frank spell the name today. Most of his life, however, my grandfather spelled the name Niedzialkowski, and his direct descendants still spell the name this way.

By 1921, my grandfather was no longer working as a springmaker, but was operating his own grocery business out of the first floor of the house he owned in Worcester, Massachusetts. My Uncle Ray told me that, when the store was busy with customers, my grandfather would bang on the pipes to signal my grandmother to come downstairs to help.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

I recently completed an online class in US: Occupational Records through the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. One source for occupational information discussed in the class was City and Business Directories.

My grandparents lived in Worcester, Massachusetts and, luckily, Ancestry.com has digitized a large number of Worcester Directories, many of which were provided by the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

My grandfather, Kostanty Niedzialkowski, immigrated to the United States from Russian Poland in May 1910. On his passenger manifest, he stated that he planned to stay with his uncle, Franciszek Niedzialkowsky, at 18 Huntington Ave., Worcester, Mass.

In the 1911 Worcester Directory published by Drew Allis Co., my grandfather is listed with his uncle at that same address.

Worcester Directory 1911 Entry for Frank & Kostanty Niedziatkosky

SOURCE: Massachusetts City Directories, Worcester 1911, page 508, Frank Niedziatkosky and Kostanty Niedziatkosky; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 November 2007); citing Worcester directory 1911 containing a general directory of the citizens, a business directory, and the city and county registers, with map. 1911. Worcester, Mass: Drew Allis Co.

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Worcester Directory 1911 Entry for Frank & Kostanty Niedziatkosky. The brief record states the following:

• Frank Niedziatkosky was a moulder at 100 Prescott and lived at 18 Huntington av;
• Kostanty Niedziatkosky was a springmaker for Morgan Spring Co and boarded at 18 Huntington av.

The spelling of the surname, Niedziatkosky, is in error. The Polish letter “ł” was incorrectly entered as the English letter “t”. This error is not unexpected. In Poland, the name was spelled “Niedziałkowski” but, in America, the name was often spelled without the “w” and with a “y” in place of the final “i”.

My grandfather’s occupation was a surprise to me. I never knew he worked as a springmaker at Morgan Spring Co. I don’t know how long he held this occupation but, for a young Polish immigrant who spoke little English and grew up on a farm, it was probably quite an exciting opportunity.

But where did Frank work? His occupation was moulder and he worked at 100 Prescott Street in Worcester, but that’s all I know. And where was Morgan Spring Co., where my grandfather worked? I have a couple more questions to answer, now.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko