Steve's Genealogy Blog

A Lesson on the Genealogical Proof Standard 

A couple of years ago, while searching for Polish parish records on microfilm at the Family History Library, I tried tracing the ancestry of my Niedziałkowski ancestors.

I knew my grandfather was from the Szwelice parish and I was able to find the Birth and Baptismal Record for my grandfather’s siblings Józef, Sabina, and Stanisław Niedziałkowski .  All of their records showed that their parents (my great grandparents) were Teofil Niedziałkowski and Ksawera Zygmuntowicz.

I also found the Birth and Baptismal Records for my great grandfather Teofil Niedziałkowski’s siblings, Karolina, Julianna, and Franciszek Niedzialkowski .  All their records showed that their parents (my great-great grandparents) were Wojciech Niedziałkowski and Julianna Gutowska.

I wasn’t able to find the Birth and Baptismal record for either my grandfather or my great grandfather, but I knew I was following the correct family because the information in the Polish parish records agreed with information I already had obtained from family records and Massachusetts vital records.

With certainty I was on the right track, I looked for the Birth and Baptismal Record for my great-great grandmother, Julianna Gutowska, born in about 1836 .  I searched the Szwelice parish records and found a Birth and Baptismal Record for Julianna Gutowska .  Translated from the Polish, the record states:

94 Głodki

This happened in the church-owned village of Szwelice on the 17th / 29th day of December 1836 at one o’clock in the afternoon .  Mikołaj Gutowski presented himself, age 27, from Głodki, in the presence of Maciej Chrzanowski, age 40, and Kasper Trościński, age 60, from Głodki, and he showed us a female child born in Głodki yesterday at four o’clock in the morning, born to his wife Rosalia née Biedrzycka, age 18 .  At Holy Baptism performed this day, the child was given the name Julianna, and her Godparents were Stanisław and Maryanna Trościński .  This document was read aloud to the declarants and witnesses and signed only by us, because those appearing and the witnesses mentioned in this document cannot write.

Rev. Ignatius Kołakowski, Pastor of Szwelice

Well, it looked like I found the Birth and Baptismal Record for my great-great grandmother!  She was born in the right year in the same parish as my Niedziałkowski ancestors .  I merrily researched the families of Mikołaj Gutowski and Rozalia Biedrzycka without much difficulty since this line was well documented in the Szwelice records.

Then I found another record – the Death Record for my grandmother, Julianna née Gutowska Niedziałkowska .  Translated from the Russian, this record reads:

â„– 38 .  Pomoski

This happened in the village of Szwelice on April 13th / 26th 1900 at 12 Noon .  Wojciech Niedziałkowski, the husband of the deceased, age 65, and Piotr Napierkowski, age 60, farmers living in Pomaski, appeared and stated that on April 12th / 25th of this year at 4 o’clock in the morning in Pomaski, Julianna Niedziałkowska died, age 67, born in Warsaw, Holy Cross parish, and living with her husband as a farmer woman in Pomaski, the daughter of the deceased Wojciech and Anna née Jabłonowski Gutowski .  She is survived by her husband, the widower Wojciech Niedziałkowski .  After eyewitness testimony on the death of Julianna Niedziałkowska, this document was read to the declarant, who is illiterate, and was signed by us alone .  Id. Administrator of the parish of Szwelice, Assistant Pastor, Keeper of the Documents of the Civil State -.

Father [Sędzicki]

At this point, everything fell apart .  I was certain this was the Death Record for my great-great grandmother .  However, it states that Julianna’s parents were Wojciech Gutowski and Anna Jabłonowski and that Julianna was born in Warsaw, Holy Cross Parish .  I had been researching the wrong family!

I have not yet found the Birth and Baptismal Record for Julianna Gutowska .  Like many of my other ancestors, her records have eluded me .  I searched the Baptismal Records for Holy Cross Parish in Warsaw, but that parish is extremely large, performing thousands of baptisms a year – and the records aren’t indexed – and the records are in Russian.

The lesson here is don’t assume someone is your ancestor just because they have the right name and were born at what you think was the right time and place .  I have since learned that the Genealogical Proof Standard requires much more.

A Polish proverb says:

“Nauka nie poszła w las.”

Literally, this is translated as “The lesson didn’t go into the forest” .  It means “The lesson has not been forgotten”.

My Uncle Fred Niedzialkowski married Janice Quintin in 1948 and they spent the rest of their lives together .  Uncle Fred died on 23 January 2005.

Aunt Janice was big on genealogy .  She had a huge chart of her own ancestry hanging on a wall in her house and at least two huge binders full of documents relating to her family.

Janice Virginia (Quintin) Niedzialkowski, 1925-2005

In February 2005, a month after Uncle Fred died, I was in Massachusetts for a weeklong genealogy research trip .  I stopped in to visit Aunt Janice while I was there and she and I talked quite a bit about family history .  She told me a lot of family stories I had never heard before .  Since I didn’t have a voice recorder, I took notes .  Here are some of the stories Janice told me on 20 February 2005 .  To make things a bit easier, let me note here that my Niedzialkowski grandparents were known to everyone as “Ma” and “Pa” .  All notes in square brackets are my own comments.

Ma’s sister Stefania was a nun – she lived in Worcester .  Ma went to clean Stefania’s house twice a week .  Ma always had tape on her fingers – she cleaned rooms at the hotel – it was called the Bancroft Hotel then – and her fingers were cracked and bandaged .  With her earnings from the hotel, Ma paid for the house on Barnes Ave. herself.

Pa worked at Worcester Pressed Steel .  He carried a big long wrench with him all day, but I don’t know what he did .  He wore a white shirt and bib overalls.

He called his car his “Budick” [Buick] .  He couldn’t afford antifreeze, so in the winter he drained the radiator every night and put fresh water in the next day.

When asked about her life in the old country, Ma said “I never want to go back there again .  There was so much misery” and when pressed on what life was like in Poland, Ma just said “Don’t talk foolish!”  Ma said that in Poland they had dirt floors in their house .  Ma said her father had a horse and wagon .  It tipped over and he was afraid that the horse was injured .  Ma’s scalp was a mess .  She said in Poland that she kept her hair in braids – Ma had clips in the braids .  She got too close to the fire and her hair caught fire.

When Ma came to the United States, she traveled in steerage and when she arrived at Ellis Island, she was too sick to even care about her belongings .  Ma had a place to stay her in Worcester when she came – Pa stayed at Sky Farm.

Ma and Pa had a grocery store on Prescott Street, and the family lived upstairs from the store .  If Pa had two customers in the store he would bang on the pipes to get Ma to come down to help him .  They went out of business because they extended credit to everyone during the depression, but nobody could pay.

Ma said she lost a child before Nat and another after Henry.

[The next entries refer to Pa’s Niedzialkoski cousins from Sky Farm]

Joe Niedzialkoski married a school teacher .  They had kids .  Joe was deaf.

Andrew was a good guy – he came to Ma’s funeral and Pa’s funeral.

John borrowed $20,000 from the government to start his own farm .  He walked off his father’s farm because his parents wouldn’t accept his girlfriend who was Swedish .  When he went out, he took the cow with him and left .  He never went back except for his parents’ funerals.

When John Sr. died, John Jr. inherited the house .  His mother still lives there .  They put in an artificial pond and another house with horses .  He’s done well .  He’s the only boy.

Fred worked at Sky Farm .  He wasn’t paid, but he ate well .  They had ducks, geese, chickens, lambs, and Elsa [Janice’s sister] would take her children up there .  They had no heat in the house [at Sky Farm] and no indoor plumbing .  The mother ruled the roost .  The kids would get dressed and run out to the barn to get warm between the cows .  Fred would go on the milk route .  He never got paid but he got a good breakfast.

[Janice now began to talk about her own family]

Fred was born on Endicott Street .  I was born at home at 8:15 AM .  I was 22 and Fred was 23 when we got married .  Fred tried to go to Art School in New York, but couldn’t get in .  He won $100 for designing a toilet cover in plastics at Worcester Art Museum when he went to school .  The curator of the Art Museum said “Never let him put his brushes down”, but Fred never picked up a brush again .  My brother could do woodworking, and Fred learned to do woodworking.

We had a flat that was alive with cockroaches .  It took 14 pounds of plaster to repair the walls .  It was a $12 per month cold water flat .  It had a collapsible bathtub .  We heated water on the stove .  That’s where we learned how to paper walls .  From 1948-1949 we lived at 10 Denny Street in Worcester, then we moved to 41 Cutler Street, then to 719 Main Street in Clinton .  A train used to go by overhead on Main Street in Clinton .  Then we moved to Gifford Drive.

The time the tornado came through, there was no wind, no birds, the sky was yellow .  I called my mother who said “Fred will be home all right” .  He got home at 9 PM .  The tornado took all the paint off the car .  We bought it brand new – it was a ’49 Plymouth .  The car lasted through all that.

I couldn’t wait to get away from the stairs at the old house on Gifford Drive .  We started to clean the multiple layers of paint off the woodwork .  My mother would take care of the kids and I’d strip the paint off and sand it .  It was colonial maple .  Part of that time, Fred was in the hospital with TB .  The only thing that wasn’t refinished was the bathroom .  When we bought the house on Gifford Drive, we put $10 down on a dirty table in their kitchen.

We had a sweet little kitten .  Jimmy [Fred and Janice’s son] went fishing and left the pole in the hall .  The cat bit into the hook .  I took the cat to the vet .  The vet said “Come back in an hour” .  I went back for kitty, and the cat was a rag from the anesthetic .  I paid the vet bill and put kitty on the back seat .  The floor of the car was rusted through and the cat fell through the floor .  Fred went out and beat the bushes to find the cat, but all he found was poison ivy.

[Janice now switched to talking about Fred’s brothers and sisters]

Mary [the wife of Fred’s brother Ray Niedzialkowski] was one of 11 children .  Her father graduated from high school in Dorchester or somewhere near .  For a graduation present he got a trip to Ireland .  He met Hannah [his future wife] there and married her within weeks .  They came back to the United States after Mary was born.

Nat worked for a lawyer – she always looked nice .  One of Ralph’s [Nat’s husband] sister’s sons died early from cancer.

Jane would go downtown at Christmastime with a buck and spend 19 cents for a toy Christmas present .  Ray would go to the dump and find something with wheels on it to make a toy with.

[and finally, Janice talked about the last time she saw Fred before he died]

When Fred was taken out of the house the last time on a stretcher, he said “I’ve got the Power and Light bill paid but it needs a stamp on it” .  I said “I’ll put two” .  Fred said “No, just one”.

Aunt Janice died on 05 April 2005, just a little over a month after I wrote all this down.