Steve's Genealogy Blog

City Directories are useful sources of genealogical information on names, addresses, occupations, and marital relationships .  During the late 19th century and most of the 20th century, city directories were published in most major cities of the United States and they provide valuable information on the adults living in those cities .  While minor children are not listed in these directories, these resources provide information on adult residents that may be difficult to find elsewhere.

Many historic city directories can be found in public libraries .  Some directories have been digitized and are available online .  Ancestry.com has digitized a large number of city directories for Worcester County, Massachusetts, and Stanislaw Markiewicz is listed in some of these digitized directories.

1965 Worcester County Directory Entry for Markiewicz

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Worcester City Directory Record for the Surname Markiewicz – 1965 .  The entry shows the following members of the Stanley Markiewicz family:

• Stanley and wife Antonina; Stanley was retired, living at 320 Millbury in Worcester
• Steph[en] J and wife Mary E.; Steph[en] was an assembler at C&K, living at 63 Pocasset Ave.
• Walter P.; Walter was a wire drawer at Johnson Steel & Wire, living in Webster, Mass.
• Edw[ard] and wife Eleanor M; Edw[ard] was foreman at Woodbury & Co., living in West Boylston, Mass.
• Jane; Jane was a stitcher at David Clark Co., living at 320 Millbury
• Rich[ar]d H. and wife Teresa J; Rich[ar]d was a machinist at WG, living at 78-1/2 Ward

Stanley’s daughters Bernice and Helen are not listed under Markiewicz .  They would be listed with their husbands .  Admittedly, it’s difficult to be sure that Stephen, Walter, Edward, and Richard are actually Stanley’s sons from this information alone .  Knowledge of the occupations of the sons or the names of the sons’ wives would help confirm that the four men are, in fact, Stanley’s sons .  Jane, on the other hand, is living with Stanley and Antonia, suggesting that she is probably Stanley’s daughter.

A review of the obituaries for Stephen, Walter, and Edward confirms that the entries for these three men in the 1965 City Directory are, indeed, for Stanley’s sons .  The epitaph on Richard’s gravestone indicates that Richard’s wife was named Teresa, confirming that the entry for Richard in the 1965 City Directory is for Stanley’s fourth son.

The information in the directory provides good information on residence, occupation, and marital status at the time the directory was written .  Since the directory was written a year before it was published, the information in the 1965 City Directory was probably accurate in 1964.

Following an individual through time in the City Directory can provide approximate dates of employment at a given company, approximate year of marriage, approximate year of death of spouse (if the entry indicates that someone was a widow/widower), and the dates at which someone lived at a given address.

The entire page on which the Markiewicz entries appear is shown below.

Page 639 of the 1965 Worcester County Directory

Copyright © 2006 by Stephen J. Danko

In the United States all men between the ages of 18 and 45 were required to register for the draft, regardless of whether they were citizens .  Three separate registrations were conductd:

1. On June 5, 1917, all men born between June 6, 1886 and June 5, 1896 were required to register
2. On June 5, 1918, all men born between June 6, 1896 and June 5, 1897 were required to register, and on August 24, 1918, all men born between June 6, 1897 and August 23, 1897 were required to register
3. On September 12, 1918, all men born between September 11, 1872 and September 12, 1900 were required to register

Stanislaw Markiewicz should have registered for the draft on June 5, 1917 .  He actually registered on October 7, 1918.

World War I Draft Registration Card for Stanislaw Markiewicz (Front)

World War I Draft Registration Card for Stanislaw Markiewicz (Back)

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the WW1 Draft Card for Stanislaw Markiewicz – 1918 .  The card states that:

• Several numbers appear on the card:  one is apparently the Order No. 871a, another is 4782 at the bottom left of the front of the card, the third is 20-2-17.A on the back of the card
• Stanislaw Markiewicz was 26 years old when he registered;  he was born on Apr. 20, 1892
• At the time of registration, Stanislaw lived at 54 Lafayette, Worcester, Mass
• Stanislaw was an alien, born in Lubinsky, Poland-Russia
• His occupation was moulder at the Standard Foundry on Lamartine St.
• He listed his wife and 3 children as dependents
• He was married, his race was white, and he had no previous military experience
• He claimed exemption from the draft because he was an alien and he was married
• Stanislaw was of medium height, medium build, with blue eyes and dk. brown hair
• He had no disabilities
• He registered at Worcester, Mass. on Oct. 7, 1918 at the Local Board for Division No. 4

Copyright © 2006 by Stephen J. Danko

In 1930, Stanislaw Markiewicz was still living in Worcester, Massachusetts, but by this time was using the name Stanley Markiewicz . Â In addition, all his children were listed with Anglicized names, as opposed to the Polish names used in the 1920 Census.

1930 US Federal Census Record for Stanley Markiewicz

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the US Federal Census Record for Stanley Markiewicz – 1930 .  The record provides information that:

• In 1930, Stanley Markiewicz was a married white male, 39 years old, who owned a home worth $8400 on 19 Perry Avenue in Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts
• Stanley (and his parents) were born in Poland; he immigrated in 1912 and had filed his Declaration of Intention to become a citizen
• Stanislaw could read and write, and by 1930 he could speak English
• Stanislaw listed his occupation as a laborer in a loom works, but was not working at the time of the census; he was listed on line 12 [?] of the Unemployment Schedule and was not a veteran
• Stanislaw’s wife was Antonette, a married white female, 38 years old
• Antonette (and her parents) were born in Poland; she was an alien who immigrated in 1912
• Antonette could not read and write, and she couldn’t speak English
• The couple was married when Stanley was 21 and Antonette was 20
• The couple’s children were Stephen age 16, Bessie age 14, Wesley age 12, Edward age 10, Helen age 8, and Jane age 4 and 9/12, all born in Massachusetts
• Bessie, Wesley, Edward, and Helen were in school
• Stephen, Bessie, Wesley, and Edward could read and write and could speak English

As a side note, in the first half of the 20th Century, the neighborhood where the Markiewicz family was living in 1930 was predominantly a neighborhood of Polish immigrants .  In 1910, my own grandparents, Kostanty and Helen Niedzialkowski, lived at 42 Perry Avenue, about a block away from where the Markiewicz family lived in 1930 .  My grandparents may have known the Markiewicz family at the time .  In all likelihood, the two families both attended the nearby Church of Our Lady of Częstochowa.

Stanley reported his occupation as laborer in a loom works, although he was unemployed at the time of the census .  In the early part of the 20th century, The Crompton and Knowles Loom Works, located on Grand Street, employed a large number of Polish immigrants and may have been Stanley’s employer at one time.

Tomorrow: Â More about the family’s ancestral village of Braciejowice

Copyright © 2006 by Stephen J. Danko

Stanislaw Markiewicz arrived in New York City on May 29, 1912 .  He then traveled to South Framingham, Massachusetts where he stayed with a friend .  In 1920, he appears in the US Federal Census in Worcester, Massachusetts with a wife and four children.

1920 US Federal Census Record for Stanislaw Markiewicz

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the US Federal Census Record for Stanislaw Markiewicz – 1920 .  The record provides information that:

• In 1920, Stanislaw Markiewicz (spelled Markiwicz in the Census) was a married white male, 28 years old, renting his residence at 54 Lafayette Street in Worcester, Worcester Co., Massachusetts
• Stanislaw (and his parents) were born in Poland and spoke Polish; he was an alien who immigrated in 1912
• Stanislaw could read and write, but he couldn’t speak English
• Stanislaw was employed as a moulder in a factory
• Stanislaw’s wife was Annie, a married white female, 28 years old
• Annie (and her parents) were born in Poland and spoke Polish; she was an alien who immigrated in 1912
• Annie could read and write, but she couldn’t speak English
• The couple’s children were Stephen age 5, Bronislawa age 4, Waclaw age 2, and Edward age 0/12, all born in Massachusetts
• The family shared their home with two boarders, John Chronak age 42 and Stanislaw Jastremski age 47, both aliens born in Poland

Tomorrow:  Stanislaw in the 1930 Census

Copyright © 2006 by Stephen J. Danko