My Family History Research

When I first started looking at my DNA matches, I thought I had figured it out. My father’s ancestral families came from West Prussia, the northern part of present day Poland that was occupied by Germany in the 1800s. My mother’s families came from Congress Poland, the east and central part of present day Poland that was controlled by Russia in the 1800s. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had been partitioned by the Kingdom of Prussia, the Russian Empire, and Habsburg Austria in the late 1700s.

Looking at my Ancestry DNA matches using the Leeds method of identifying family lines, I initially thought it would be easy.

• Matches with ancestors from Prussia would match with my father’s families.
• Matches with ancestors from Russia would match with my mothers’ families.

My DNA matches were confusing though. I was related to people whose ancestors came from Galicia, the southern part of Poland that was occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They lived south of the Wisła (Vistula) River from the Russian-occupied Sandomierz area where my mother’s family had come. Then I learned that Tomasz Witoń, my great-great-great-grandfather, had been born in Chmielów, Nowa Dęba, Tarnobrzeg, about 1795. Polish Wikipedia says, “In the years 1772-1835 Chmielów, as a former royal village, was the property of the Austrian Treasury.” I have roots in Galicia.

Something similar happened with my father’s families. Although his ancestors came from places in West Prussia, a surprising number of DNA matches on my father’s father’s side of the family reported ancestors from Russian Poland.

The Faltykowski family was one of those. AncestryDNA showed JW and I shared 65 centiMorgans across 3 segments, and I shared 56 and 43 centiMorgans of DNA with each of her daughters. We had five shared matches from my father’s Maciejewski family. Fifteen other shared DNA matches also had ancestors who reportedly came from Prussia or Russian occupied Poland.

I was able to find my DNA match’s immigrant grandmother Bronisława Faltynowska on the ship Bülow from Bremen, Germany, to New York on 20 Dec 1912 with her siblings Wacław and Julianna and their mother Julianna. Their ethnicity was Polish, but their nationality was listed as Russian. They left behind Julianna‘s brother and the children’s uncle Antoni Jankiewicz in Golub, Germany.

On the following page, it says they are going to their husband and father Aleksander Faltynowski in Jersey City, New Jersey. Their place of birth was listed as Pluskowęsy, which was Pluskowenz in German.

The younger daughter was ill and was treated in the Immigrant Hospital at Ellis Island, but the family was admitted to the United States when she recovered.

Their last place of residence, Golub, was only about 10 miles from Nieżywięć, where my great-grandparents Jan Maciejewski and Weronika Lewandowska were married in 1869.

Golub was located north of the Drwęca River, while Dobrzyń was the town on the left bank of the Drwęca River. It is now Golub-Dobrzyń in Poland. The Polish people who lived in or near Golub or Dobrzyń would variously list their nationality, residence, or place of birth as either German, Polish, or Russian. As Wikipedia explains:

• Golub: In the First Partition of Poland in 1772, Golub was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. From 1807-15 it belonged to the Duchy of Warsaw. It was assigned to the Duchy of Poznan in 1815, and in 1817 it was included in West Prussia. In 1871 it was included in Imperial Germany and was subject to Germanisation.
• Dobrzyń: In 1793 after the Second Partition of Poland, Dobrzyń was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. From 1807-15 it belonged to the Duchy of Warsaw. In 1815 it was included in the Kingdom of Poland in personal union with the Russian Empire. In the second half of the 19th century the Kingdom of Poland was annexed by Russia.

In 1918, when he registered for the World War I draft, Alexander Faltynowski said he was born in Russian Poland and was living at 29 Hudson Street in Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey.

Aleksander and Julianna‘s oldest daughter was Bronisława. Bronisława is a Polish name, and there is no English equivalent. In America, Bronisława adopted the names Alice and Blanche.

In 1917, Bronisława‘s future husband, Thomas P. Moore, registered for the World War I draft living at 33 Hudson Street in Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey. According to the New York City indexed records, on 25 Mar 1919 Thomas Moore married “Alice B Fultonoskie” in Manhattan, New York.

In 1920, Alexander and Julia Faltynowski and the rest of their family lived at 29 Hudson Street in Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey.

They most likely would have attended Our Lady of Częstochowa Church in the Paulus Hook neighborhood and their American born children would probably have been baptized there.

Wacław used the name John and the surname Fulton in America. In 1930, John and Anna Fulton lived at 161 Van Vorst Street in Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey. In 1940, John and Anna Faltynowski lived at 248 York Street in Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey, with their sons John and Bernard.

When John Fulton registered for the World War II draft in 1942, his birthplace was listed as Posnan, Poland.

I am not sure when Julianna Faltynowski died, or what happened to Wanda, Alexander, and Jennie, but some of the family moved to Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia.

In 1930, Thomas and Annice Moore lived on Sewells Point Road in Norfolk with their two children, Helen and George, and Thomas‘ father Joseph Moore. This census said Annice was born in Germany and spoke German. Perhaps she gave her name as Alice, and the census taker wrote Annice instead.

After the birth of their son Patrick in 1934, Blanche A. F. Moore divorced Thomas Patrick Moore in Virginia in 1939. In 1940, Blanch Moore and the children George, Ellen, and Patrick were living with her father Alexander Fulton at 331 Glenroie Avenue, Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia.

Blanche Moore married James Marvin Finney in Norfolk, Virginia 24 Dec 1940, and they divorced 27 Jan 1942. She then married Frank Calo 11 Nov 1942.

Mrs. Frank Calo was the informant when Alexander Fulton, AKA Alexander Faltynowski died 12 Jul 1946 in Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia.

FindAGrave listed an obituary from the Virginian Pilot on 13 July 1946.

Alexander Fulton, 69, died at the residence, 8448 Granby Street, yesterday afternoon at 6:38 o’clock following a heart attack. He is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Frank Calo, of Norfolk; a son, Stefan Fulton, in Poland; five grandchildren, John and Bernie Fulton, of Jersey City, N. J.; George J. and Patrick J. Moore and Mrs. Gilbert Stephenson, all of Norfolk. Mr Fulton was a native of Poland and had resided in Norfolk for the past 22 years. He was employed at the Norfolk Grain Elevator. The body will be taken from the Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home Monday morning to Holy Trinity Catholic Church for funeral service at 10 o’clock. Burial will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery.

Published in the Virginian Pilot 13 July 1946

Although the Faltynowski family records initially said they came from the Russian partition, evidence suggests that they actually came from Prussia, the German occupied part of Poland. Other related DNA matches also have ancestors who settled in Bayonne or Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey. These cities may have been destinations for related families. Research in the old country will show where the Fultonowski and Jankiewicz families were from.

Sources

• 1940 Federal Census, Virginia, population schedule, Norfolk, Norfolk City, Virginia, enumeration district (ED) 114-124, Page: 11A, Alexander Falton; digital images, National Archives and Records Administration (online : accessed 15 June 2020); Sixteenth Census of the United States.
• “Find a Grave,” database, Find a Grave (findagrave.com: accessed 2 February 2020), Alexander John Fulton; citing cemetery records.
• 1920 Federal Census, New Jersey, population schedule, Jersey City Ward 1, Hudson, New Jersey, enumeration district (ED) 109, Page: 15A, Alexandre Feltnofski; digital images,  (online : accessed 3 February 2020); Fourteenth Census of the United States.
• “Ancestry Passenger Lists,” database, Ancestry (ancestry.com: accessed 2 February 2020), Julianna Faltynowska; citing Passenger Lists.
• “FamilySearch Passenger Lists,” database, FamilySearch (FamilySearch.com: accessed 21 June 2020), Julianna Faltynowska; citing Passenger Lists.
• North Carolina, Death Records, , Blanche Alice Calo, 30 April 1994; database, North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics,  (ancestry.com : accessed 2 February 2020); Raleigh, North Carolina.
• Find a Grave, Blanche Alice Fulton Calo.
• New York, New York, Marriage: 25 Mar 1919, Thomas P Moore, Alice B Fultonoskie; Ancestry, ancestry.com.
• 1930 Federal Census, Virginia, population schedule, Norfolk, Norfolk (Independent City), Virginia, enumeration district (ED) 0101, Page: 1A, Annice B Moore; digital images, National Archives and Records Administration (online : accessed 20 June 2020); Fifteenth Census of the United States.
• Virginia Divorce Records, Ancestry, (ancestry.com : accessed 3 February 2020), Blanche A F Moore, Thomas Patrick Moore.
• Find a Grave, Thomas Patrick Moore.
• United States Dept. of Veteran Affairs, National Cemetery Administration, “Nationwide Gravesite Locator,” database, US Department of Veteran Affairs (http://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/ : accessed 18 July 2020), Thomas Patrick Moore.
• Virginia Marriage Records, Ancestry, (ancestry.com : accessed 3 February 2020), Blanche Alice Falton Moore, James Marvin Finney.
• Virginia Death Index, Ancestry, (ancestry.com : accessed 3 February 2020), Blanche Alice Moore Finney.
• Virginia, Ancestry, Blanche Alice Fulton Finney, Frank Calo.
• National Archives, “World War II Draft Registration Cards,” database, Ancestry.com (: accessed 21 April 2020), John Fulton; citing J. C., Hudson, New Jersey, USA.
• 1930 Federal Census, New Jersey, population schedule, Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey, USA, enumeration district (ED) 0010, Page: 2B, 35, John Fulton; digital images, various (online : accessed 21 April 2020); Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930.
• 1940 Federal Census, New Jersey, population schedule, Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey, enumeration district (ED) 24-63, Page: 4B, 84, John Fultonowski; digital images, National Archives and Records Administration (online : accessed 21 April 2020); Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940.
• “MyHeritage Family Trees,” database, MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com: accessed 21 June 2020), Marian Rybacki Web Site.