Lublin - Looking for Klepacki - Klepadlo - Klepackzi - Blaschik - etc Ancestors

I am searching for my Grandfather's family.

His name was Zygumndt Klepacki. He was born in 1878 - went to the US around 1900-1905. Settled in Hudson, Jersey City New Jersey.

Zygmundt also had at least two brothers and a sister who also went to the United States between 1900-1905 - they settled near New Jersey, in New York area.

Their names were: Leon/Leo Klepacki, Casimir/Kazimir/Charles Klepacki, Josephine Klepacki.

My Grandfather, Zygmundt, married Stanislawa Blasczyzk (whom I believe was from Stary Gostkow)

Would love to know if I have any distant cousins left - or the origins of our family. If anyone is likewise searching for their family after they left for the US, I will be happy to help in any way that I can.

. Dziękuję

KLEPACKI: root-word klepacz (smith, hammerer, tinker); possibly patronymic nick for the smith's son (compare English Smihson)

B£ASZCZYK: patronymic tag from Błażej (Blaise's boy).

Polonius3 - many thanks for this. I appreciate knowing anything I can find out.

Nancy

Merged: Family of Siegmund/Zigmundt Klepacki and Stanislawa Blasczyck - after Moving to US -

Photographs of my paternal Grandfather, Zigmundt Klepacki, taken in his later years, with his sons (my father and uncles) Henry/Hank (Henderick Dominick) Joseph, John and Stanley M. in New Jersey. These photos are ca 1930's

Photographs of my paternal Grandmother, Stanislawa Blasczyzk, taken in her later years, with my aunts, Dorothy and Nell in New Jersey, The photos are ca 1940's 1950's

Zigmundt Klepacki is believed to have been a Cossack officer. He was born in 1878/1879. Supposedly he had two brothers, Leon/Leo and Casimir/Casimiri/Kasimir who also moved to New Jersey between 1895 and 1906. There was also believed to have been a sister, Josephine - who also moved to the US, New York area during that time. We do not know what became of Leon/Casimiri aka "Charles" and Josephine, other than Leon is buried in Holy Name Cemetery in New Jersey.

Zigmundt, Casimiri, Leon and Josephine were believed to have been from either Lublin or Suwalki.

Stanislawa Blasczyzk was believed to have been from Stary Gostkow

If any of these resemble people someone else is also searching for, feel free to contact me.

Thank you,

Nancy Klepacki

• 
  Stanislawa Blasczyzk Klepacki, Nell and Dorota
  
• 
  Stanislawa Klepacki, Christine Klepacki, Nell Klepacki
  
• 
  Klepacki Men!! John, Joe, Stanley M., Henry and Zigmundt
  
• 
  Joe Klepacki wedding with Nell Klepacki and Zigmundt
  

Check if you are in any way related to the Klepackis family, which used to reside in several towns in the Stanisławów Province (I and II Republic of Poland, and in between - in Galicia, Austria), today's Ivano-Frankowsk, Western Ukraine. The towns mentioned are: Kałusz (Kalush), Peczeniżyn (Pechenizhyn), Kołomyja (Kolomea). Several people maintain Klepacki family tree on Geni. You could start in here for example, with Antoni/Anton Klepacki, [geni.com/people/Antoni-Klepacki/6000000000624048795]. Not much is known about him, but his profession - a cooper.

The same name appears in some Austrian documents, such as this:
- Ortsfamilienbuch Kalusz/Galizien 1784-1870 , [wujek2.ia.pw.edu.pl/wm/archiwum/ofb/OFBKalusz1784-1870.pdf]
where the same occupation is mentioned, as well as some his residency dates and places are listed:
- 30.07.1873 in Kalusz/Galicia
- 1890 in Peczenizyn/Galicia
- 10.11.1893 in Kolomea {Kołomyja}/Galicia

He was married to Anna Klepacka Holzhäuser (both Roman Catholics). This Austrian document mentions two children: Michaelina and Anton who died in the age of four of cholera. The marriage of Anton and Anna Małgorzata Holzhauser (born 1853) can be confirmed in [geni.com/people/Antoni-Klepacki/6000000000624048795] . You can examine all the vital record of this family tree, provided that you are registered (they offer 7-days free membership). I did not register, I leave it to you - if you care.

I was only able to see from the Geni records that Anton and Anna had two daughters of the same name: (Józefa born 1875-10-24) and (Józefa born 1878-05-19). I can only presume that the older one died as a child, so they named the younger one after the other. They also had two sons: Władysław (1879-11-03) and Zygmunt (1881-06-16). All the children were born in Kałusz.

You have been referring to your father using all sort of good and bad versions of the name Zygmunt (Polish): Zygumndt (corrupted, no such name exists), Zygmundt (corrupted), Zigmundt (good, German version), Siegmund (German), etc. You also said that he was born in 1878 in Poland and had two brothers Leo and Casimir (Leon and Kazimierz) and one sister Josephine. The birthday does not match by three years, location generally matches (Poland, Galicia), brothers do not match, but the sister's name matches: Josephine = Józefa in Polish. Checking the vital records on Genie should give you all you need to accept or reject this search path.

The Galicia/Ukraine origin could be your connection to your "Cossack officer" story. However, these Klepackis seem to be Polish not Ukrainian, as they are Roman Catholics. Unless they are really Uniates (Eastern Catholic).

Boletus - thank you with all my heart. At least I have some pathways to search, thanks to the help I've received. God bless!

Nancy Klepacki

łMy name is Jamie Blaschik (Błaszczyk). my father James Blaschik (1930 USA Conn) Błaszczyk... pronounced "bla zzz chik". My grandfather Stanley Blaschik (Blaszczyk) is buried in USA Connectcut with his 9 brothers and sisters.....John , Felix, Stanley, Joseph

My father James says that great grandpa Joseph told them they changed the spelling but it is Blaszczyk and I am hoping to find out why or when they changed it.

My grandpa Stanley's mother (Julia Trojanowski Blaszczyk 1868-1943) and father Joseph Blaschik Blaszczyk 1869-1962) I believe were related to your

Stanislawa Blasczyzk. I know you were looking for the other side of your family but I have been looking for Blaschik's or Blaszczyk's... that moved evidently from Poland at some point and settled in the northeast part of the USA. Pennsylvania, Connecticut Wisconsin New York... etc. etc a few but very few went to South Fla.

I am wondering if Stanislawa is the same as Władysław Blaszczyk. I do have a pic of Julia trojanowski Blaszczyk and her husband Joseph Blaszczyk but I can't see how to apply in mail.

sincerely Jamie Blasczcyk Blaschik

To all - apologies for not posting in such a while.

Up until today, most of my queries regarding my Grandfather and Grandmother's information had reached dead ends. In today's mail, I received a packet from a cousin. This packet contains my grandfather's naturalization/immigration papers, marriage license and other stories/photos. For anyone researching the Klepacki/Klepacka - Blasczyk - Blaszczyk names.

A note - someone above questioned the spelling of my grandfather's name - all I can say is: His immigration form - typed- spells his name as : Zygmont. He, himself, hand signed his first name as Zygmunt. Again - I truly do not know who is wrong/right - the spelling on his tombstone is different still - Siegmund.

UNITED STATES DOCUMENT

United States of America #94865
Declaration of Intention
.
State of New Jersey, County of Hudson, Jersey City, N.J

Zygmunt lists his date of birth as July 8th, 1879 in the village of Krasnopol.

He was married to Stanislawa (we called her Stella) Blasczyk on July 4th, 1905 (in the USA)

The form states that Stanislawa was born in Kalish (Kaliz?) Poland on May 8th, 1889.

______________________

According to these papers, Zygumunt had at least two brothers: Casimir (Charles) Leo/Leon and one sister, Josephine. They all came to the USA (unknown if they came together or at different times) at the sponsorship of an "Uncle". Zygmunt was said to have been a "Cossack". In America, he was employed as a carpenter. From what I can gather, up until around 1920 - the Klepacki's all lived in or around Jersey City NJ or Bayonne area of New York. A family falling out is rumored to have caused Charles and Josephine to move away. Leo/Leon died relatively young of tuberculosis. According to the papers I have, Zygmunt fought in the Spanish American war but I can find no other confirmation of this. One piece of Zygmunt's carpentry/woodworking skill survives to this day, in a church in Jersey City, NJ. The shrine of the "Miraculous Crucifix" at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church on Monmouth Street. The corpus and crucifix were made by Zygmunt.

As far as my grandmother, Stanislawa goes - she reportedly had a brother, Joseph/Josef and a sister, referred to as "Bertha" - I wonder if this could have been the "Bronislawa" I have seen in some of my searching? I will post more over the weekend. God bless you all in your searches!

jblaschik
Jamie - do you know about this link?

findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=93016650

I hope this helps!

yes, that link takes you to my great grandmother and grandfather's son William's grave. William would have been my father great uncle. Julia and Joseph my grandfathers parents...Stanley Blaschik. He was married to Stella Blaschik my grandmother. I have emailed my father James Blaschik to question the Klepacki's in our family.

PLEASE excuse my error. I am so new at this. Stella is my aunt. Mary Blasczyk Blaschik is my grandmother, married to Stanley Blaschik.

Many people are getting too sensitive while being corrected in Polish spelling of first names and surnames of their ancestors. Some of them got visibly angry. You have to realize that nobody here really cares how do you spell your names or names of your grandfathers in America, Canada or Australia. But you need to be reminded that you will not get anywhere far in Poland and Polish archives with your made up Americanized names. That's why you are being corrected, not for some perverse pleasure of some sort.

That's said, I already explained it to you: both forms Siegmund (alt. Sigmund) and Zygmunt are correct. The former is German, the latter is Polish spelling. They all came from the name Sigismund - a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German sigu "victory" + munt "hand, protection".

Many European nobles and several Polish Kings wore this name:
Sigismund I the Old (1467–1548), King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania => Polish spelling: Zygmunt I Stary
Sigismund II Augustus (1520–1572), King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania => Polish spelling: Zygmunt II August
Sigismund III Vasa (1566–1632), King of Sweden (as Sigismund) and Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania => Polish spelling: Zygmunt III Waza

The Royal Sigismund Bell (Polish: Królewski Dzwon Zygmunt or Dzwon Zygmunta) is the largest of the five bells hanging in the Sigismund Tower of the Wawel Cathedral in the Polish city of Kraków. It was cast in 1520 by Hans Behem and named after its patron, Sigismund I, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, who commissioned it.


As I explained above - there is no right or wrong when choosing between Siegmund and Zygmunt. Some Polish parishes use Latinized first names and I would not be surprised to see Polish birth certificates with the names like Sigismund.

However, the ZYGMONT is a name made up by the American authorities. I know that many people use it over there - probably because the MONT is a familiar sound, close to MOUNT, or something?

Blaszczyk :
as it turns out Stella was the second wife of my grandfather Stanley Blaszczyk . I have a Josephine Blasczyk 1883-1945 who was the daughter of my great grandparents Joseph (1869) and Julia Trojanowski Blaszczyk (1868). Julia and Joseph had 10 children. William, Joseph, Stanley, Louis, John and Felix and his sisters, Josephine Blaszczyk Krashefski, Mary Blaszczyk Shea, Frances Blaszczyk Ingui and Genevieve Blaszczyk Slater

Jamie (Blaszczyk) Blaschik

My father James Blaszczyk (Blaschik) just notified me that his father Stanley (1894), son of Joseph Blaszczyk(1869) and Julia (1868) had a sister Stella Blaszczyk

These is the quintessential information. Without it you would not go anywhere in Poland's archives. Now you have at least the starting points for your searches in Poland.

1. Stanisława Błaszczyk, born in KALISZ, Wielkopolska Voivodship (Greater Poland Province), 1889-05-08
German spelling: Kalisch, Poznan Provinz, Prussia

2. Zygmunt Klepacki, born in Krasnopol, 1879-06-08
Krasnopol comes from the combination of words "krasny" (lovely, colourful, red) + pol (from Greek "polis", a city).
However, here are some ambiguities, since there are, or were in the past, several places of this name in former Poland. I know of at least three, and there were possibly some more:

a. Krasnopol (old name), now Niżankowice (ukr. Нижанковичі), region Stary Sambor, Lwów (Lviv) Province,
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ni%C5%BCankowice_(Ukraina)
b. Krasnopol, Żytomierz Province, Ukraine
c. Krasnopol, gmina Krasnopol, Sejny County, Podlaskie Voivodship, NE Poland.
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krasnopol_(wojew%C3%B3dztwo_podlaskie)

The surname Klepacki (fem. Klepacka) is quote popular in Podlaskie Voivodship. See this map moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/klepacki.html and pay attention to red colours there.

One old fragmentary database shows 50 Klepackis born between 1800 and 1885 in that province; particularly in Rajgród, Suwałki,Trzcianne and Tykocin but none of them are particularly related to Krasnopol. Go here geneteka.genealodzy.pl , select "Podlaskie", type in Klepacki surname, the range of years to search, number or records per page (50, say), and type of the record: all, births, marriages, deaths.

Another database, related to family WIELKA, has an index of marriages from Krasnopol between 1808 and 1877. It shows one record related to Klepacki:
1847-01-09, Tomasz Klepacki married Leonarda Mochniewicz in Krasnopol

Without much of the search, I can only assume, that whatever data is available from this region - which was not burnt or damaged otherwise - is now in the archives of Suwałki:

Archiwum Państwowe w Suwałkach, ul. T. Kościuszki 69,
16-400 Suwałki, tel./fax 87 566 21 67,
e-mail: archiwum@suwalki.ap.gov.pl
So at one point you may want to contact them for search and retrieval of birth certificate of Zygmunt Klepacki. This would give you a confirmation of his birth, as well as the names of his parents. The service would cost you few bucks/ hour for search (maximum 10 hours) plus few bucks per printed copy.

Oh, my gosh - I am so grateful to EVERYONE! This information is truly a blessing! I please ask - no one has offended me or angered me in any way at all! I have learned that over the years and with time - especially in the early days when family came to the US - 'helpful' officials in trying to understand and record names, often unintentionally made mistakes in recording names. This is no one's fault - it all came from a hope and good intention, so please - if it sounded as though I took offense, I truly did not.

I have tried over decades to find out the information that all here have been so generous in sharing and I take all information as helpful and with good intent. I so wish I could travel to Poland but do not have the monetary means - perhaps someday. The family that I was lucky to know - who have all passed away - make me proud to have Polish heritage. I read of the struggles of travel to the distant places they settled and I feel very humbled.

I am happy and wish I could convey hugs, prayers and blessings to each and every one of you. In some way, I now feel that Poland is not so far away - at least not in my heart.

My private email - welcome to ALL of you to communicate to me if you wish - . If any of you are on "Facebook" I am Nancy St. Julien Klepacki-Harding. I hope to see some of you there and God willing - in future perhaps if fortune allows - I may actually meet some of you some day.

Respect and love to all - Nancy

Oh, I so hope we are getting close! "My" Stella/Stanislawa may have had a brother, Bronislaw, or sister, Bronislawa. I do know that I Had a great uncle by this name - two of my older cousins (who are in their 60's in age) remember him as "Uncle Blasczyzk" but cannot remember his first name. They were children when they knew him and he passed away many years ago.

I am still getting further information from several sources - again, thank you. I hope we may be able to help each other! There was some sort of falling out between the Klepacki and the Blasczyks - my great-uncles, "Charles" (Casimir) and Leon/Leo - moved their families to the Connecticut area some time between 1910 and 1940.

Nancy

Boletus - I love you! With all my heartfelt thanks!

To Boletus - or anyone else that might have information -

Is anyone familiar with the custom of 'arranged marriage' as it was in Poland in the late 1800s? I have been told by my cousins that the marriage of my grandmother, Stella/Stanislawa Blasczyzk and my grandfather, Zygmunt Klepacki was arranged when she was barely five years old. He was already in his teens. From the maps I have examined to see the distance between these families (his family in Krasnopol and her family in Kalusz) I was wondering if anyone had any ideas? I am completely un-informed and ignorant of these things. Was this a common tradition and if so, how/why were they arranged - was it to better the family with regard to property or money? I am very sad to say that the marriage of my grandparents - by all accounts - was not happy at all. I look at pictures of them and to my eyes - both were very beautiful people and they had lovely children who went on to become very good parents and very intelligent/skilled at their professions. I never knew my grandfather - he died in 1940, some twenty years before my birth. I only met my grandmother three times in my life. She spoke very little english but when the heart loves, words do not matter and I loved her enormously. I would just like to know something about this tradition and how it began or was conducted.

Again - thank you to anyone who replies - everything is appreciated and Boletus has been a great, great help to me!

This may be our connection - just thought I'd post the pic.

PS - I could not use my login for some reason earlier - I am also "Alyoop2" I am sorry for any confusion.

• 
  My cousin Chris with our grandmother - Stella Blasczyzk Klepacki
  

Before we go any further, please answer this:
was Stanisława Błaszczyk born in KALISZ, Wielkopolska, Greater Poland (Western Poland, South of Konin, SE of Poznań)?
This is what you suggested:


Or was she born in KA£USZ (Kalush) Galicja (Galicia), Stanisławów Province, today's Ivano-Frankowsk, Western Ukraine - as I suggested for you to check in my old message from Mar 31, 12?

And this is what you seem to refer to now:


You are confusing me now when you say:


. It seems that you apparently know which places you have in mind. Which Krasnopol? Which Kalish/Kałush? I do not want to speculate further until I got your confirmation.

Take care.

Good Morning, Boletus -
The information I have is taken directly from the immigration form that my grandmother filled out - she stated in writing that she was born in "Kalish" and I am using her spelling of the name of that town. My Grandfather stated on his form that he was born in "Krasnopol" amd I am using his spelling. - well, then again, perhaps I am assuming this because although they were present and gave this information for the official US form, the form is typed - heaven help us - these spellings may be the result of error on the part of the person typing the answers as they were typewritten on this form. As you pointed out earlier - in trying to sound out these place names, someone unfamiliar with Polish place names or linguistic spellings could easily have made errors.

At "Ancestry.Com" - someone else looking for family in "Kalish" was advised there is another spelling - "Kaluz" - I am so new to all of this and the area and history is so broad/varied and subject to change that I hesitate to assume anything but I will happily take your advice - I trust your guidance.

So using the law of succinctness, I'll go with this data:

1. Stanisława Błaszczyk, born 1889-05-08, in KALISZ (German: KALISCH), Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) Voivodship, Poland (German: Prowinz Poznan, Prussia)
The motivation: you mentioned somewhere that she resided in Stary Gostków. The distance between the two is about 87 km by road, and that's close enough for the vicinity argument. The German version might be useful, because until 1914 Kalisz was part of Prussia, and the 19th century documents from there were written either in Polish or in German.

(for Polish pronunciation go here: translate.google.com/#pl/en/kalisz ,then press the little speaker in the left (Polish) pane)

2. Zygmunt Klepacki, born 1879-06-08, in Krasnopol, gmina Krasnopol, Sejny County, Podlaskie Voivodship, NE Poland
The motivation: the statistical distribution of Klepackis in Podlaskie Voivodship, coupled with database of other Klepackis there. Also, I rejected the other two Krasnopols for these reasons:

a. Krasnopol (old name), now Niżankowice (ukr. Нижанковичі), region Stary Sambor, Lwów (Lviv) Province. Apparently, the Krasnopol name was no longer used in 19 c., but Niżankowice

b. Krasnopol, Żytomierz Province, Ukraine - This one is way to far East into the Ukraine, to be in any way connected with Kalisz, Wielkopolska

So, as I suggested before, try to contact Suwałki Archive (I provided the address above) and get the baptism copy of Zygmunt Klepacki.

Regarding arranged marriages. This is not a subject I am very familiar with, but I know that some form of arranged marriages existed in Europe until XX century. Starting from the top: the royal marriages were always a matter of dynastic interests. Brides were chosen in order to set strong ties with other royal families, from abroad. Similarly, noble families tried expand their estates by connecting with other noble families. Among peasantry, the institution of swat and swatka (matchmakers) existed in 19 c. as well. Hard working people did have a leisure time, there were no clubs, movie theaters, and dating in general - with the exception of some occasional local dances perhaps.

The puzzle is the distance between Stary Gostków and Krasnopol. That's 440 km across the country by road, and as the crow flies, more or less. That's a big distance now, and that was a huge distance then - considering mode of transportation and crossing from Prussian to Russian partition. How do the two families knew each other is another puzzle.

Take care. I'll let you know if I find something useful. boletus.

Are you at all related to Josephine Blaszczyk Spouse: Stanley (Stanislaus) Grabarz (Poland, 1905-1997 Connecticut), and sons: Alfred and Joseph Grabarz?