Looking to find others interested in the Zychowski, Kozubal and Przybyla families who came from the Krosno area of Poland. I know my Zychowski ancestors came from a town called Cieklin just west of Krosno. My Kozubal ancestors are possibly from a town called Szczepancowa, even closer to Krosno.
My grandfather was Maciej (Mathew) ZYCHOWSKI. He was born in Dulabka and was baptized in St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church (Cieklin). He came to the U.S. in 1909 under the alias of Georg BIERNACKI and went to Ohio. He then came to Chicago, Il, married Katarzynia BANIA of Dzielice (also baptized in Cieklin) in 1912. They moved to Gary, IN, had a son and then moved back to Chicago. Other family and friends' surnames from the Cieklin area include: JENDRYCZKI, KMIECIK, and CIULA (pronunced chew-a), BUCZIAK, KAMINSKI, ZAK, MACUGA (mat-soo-ga), SWIETEK (schvan-tek), SETLAK, and BIALAS (byow-us)
Hi, Joan. I've "bumped" into you before online. I understand that there are a number of Zychowski families in St. Michael's parish. Any chance you know your great-grandfather's name? Have been trying to sort out the different families with a cousin who still goes back there and has run into difficulties in the local cemetaries and church records. For example, my great-grandfather is Francisek (Frank) Zychowski married to Agnes, but he's only one of three Frank Z's born in a 20 year period. Have you run into that problem as well?
My grandfather was illigitimate. According to his baptismal his mother way Mary (Marii) Zychowska daughter of Wawrynca (Lawrence) and Mary )Marii Ciul~a (pronounced chew-a) on the 18th of FEB 1889 in Dulabka. His godparents were Michal Jedryczka and Marie Swiatkowski This is the only info we were able to find on him. I speculate that the assumed name (Georg Biernacki) he came under might have been a step brother's name, as his mother did eventually marry, but no one knows what the surname was.
When I went to Poland, the priest at St. Michael's did not let us go through the books and I had to point out the records while looking at them upside down. I probably would have been able to piece together some more relatives if I could have gone through the book. I have found that most godparents and witnesses are relatives and have had wonderful luck finding relatives on my dad's side of the family. I would love to get my hands on microfilm for the church, but from what I understand it has not been microfilmed, or if it has, it is not available. I am planning on going back to Poland next year to further my genealogy. At least I have 2 families (Zychowski and Bania) that I'm researching. I did not check church death records. I hope to check next time on my grandmother's parents as they died in a local flood ca. 1931. I only found 4 Banias (not my g-grandparents) in the cemetary, but they "reuse" the graves every 25 years. I was also told that there was another local cemetary for the area.
Related: John Shebilla (Przybyla) - finding out about my grandfather
I knew your grandpa John Shebilla. He was my mom's brother. Are you a bland child? Your name is not Polish, unless it's modified. Maybe Przybyła?
PRZYBY£A: A small group of Polish surnames have been formed from the past tense of different verbs, and this is one of them. Literally it means 'she has arrived'. For some reason most are in the feminine, although Przybył (masculine) and Przybyło (neuter) are also ecnoutnered. This particular name would have typically been a nickname given to a newcomer to a given village.
Email me at RTDIV@ I have a great deal of genealogy information about Shebilla (Sheblia/Sheblio) from LaSalle.
