My Family History Research

One of my early Ancestry.com DNA matches was intriguing because his family tree included Mszano in Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland. Mszano is near the origin places of my paternal grandfather’s family, so it was unsurprising that some of our shared matches were descendants of my Maciejewski/ Lewandowski ancestors. According to Ancestry, LK and I shared 38 centiMorgans across 3 DNA segments. LK was in his 90s, and his daughter-in-law was researching his family history. While LK was born and raised in Chicago, his mother Helena Anna Krause had been born in Szczuka, Prussia (Germany Poland) in 1902. Helena‘s naturalization index record said she had arrived in America with her parents in 1903. Other American records showed her parents were Jan Krause and Anna Lotarska.

LK and I shared DNA with a young woman MK whose grandfather was Earle Krause. Earle was born in Chicago in 1917 to Leon Krause and Minnie Piper. Leon was the son of Józef Krause and Marianna Wieczorek.

Because our DNA information had been uploaded to GEDmatch, we were able to learn that LK, MK, and I share a >20 centiMorgan segment on Chromosome 1. We are all related!

GEDmatch showed that LK and MK also shared segments on Chromosomes 2 and 7. Here is the GEDmatch comparison between LK and MK, which correlates with Ancestry’s estimate of 63 cM shared across 4 segments:

• Largest segment = 21.5 cM
• Total Half-Match segments (HIR) = 67.7 cM (1.889 Pct)
• Estimated number of generations to MRCA = 3.9
• 4 shared segments found for this comparison.
• 399017 SNPs used for this comparison.
• 52.863 Pct SNPs are full identical

While we do not yet know how LK and MK are related to me, we have learned one way they are related to each other. Research showed that both Józef and Jan Krause were sons of Michał and Franciszka Krause.

MK is the granddaughter of Earle Krause, so she and LK are second cousins two generations removed (2C2R).

Old Country

Michał Krause and Franciszka Nalikowska were married 31 Jan 1858 at Kościół św. Bartłomieja Apostoła, the Church of St. Bartholomew, Apostle, in Mszanno, Strasburg, West Prussia. In Polish, it is Mszano, Brodnica. Today Mszano is a small village in Brodnica County in Kujawsko-Pomorskie, the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship of north central Poland.

Franciszka was a widow, her previous husband had been named Nalikowski. Her birth name was Drozdowska.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Michał and Franciszka Krause immigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, about 1888, where several grandchildren–Franciszek, Stefan, Jan, and Leon–were born, children of their sons Jan and Józef.

Jan Krause and Anna Lotarska

Jan Krause and Anna Lotarska were married 30 Oct 1886 in Mszanno, Strasburg, Westpreußen, Preußen. Because this area of what is now Poland was under German occupation, the civil record was recorded in Niewierz in German.

In Philadelphia, Jan Krause and Anna Lotarska were the parents of

• Franciszek KRAUSE, born 10 Sep 1888.
• Stefan KRAUSE, born 26 Dec 1893.

John and Anna Krause and their sons Frank and Stephen returned to Prussia. They traveled on the ship Indiana from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Liverpool, Lancashire, England, arriving 25 Oct 1896.

Jan and Anna Krause had three more children in Prussia:

• Jan Leo KRAUSE was born 8 Feb 1897 and baptized in Mszanno, Strasburg, Westpreußen, Preußen. He died in May 1976 at the age of 79 in Illinois, United States.
• Władysław KRAUSE was born 22 Jun 1900 and baptized in Mszanno, Strasburg, Westpreußen, Preußen. He was a Roman Catholic Priest in Indiana, United States. He died on 20 May 1967 at the age of 66 at Porter Memorial Hospital in Valparaiso, Porter, Indiana, United States.
• Helena Anna KRAUSE, was born 1902, and baptized in Kościół Rzymskokatolicki pw. Św. Bartłomieja Apostoła, Strasburg, Westpreußen, Preußen. She married Władysław Kosacz.

Jan and Anna Krause, their five children, and Anna‘s parents Józef and Józefina Lotarski arrived in New York on 7 May 1903 on the ship Konigin Luise from Bremen, with a final destination of Chicago, Illinois.

Anna‘s parents Józef Lotarski and Józefina Wysocka had been married on 3 Jan 1860 in Mszano, Poland.

I found several children for Józef and Józefina Lotarski:

• Anna LOTARSKA, born 20 Jan 1861 in Mszano.
• Julian LOTARSKI, born 8 Oct 1863 in Mszano.
• Józef LOTARSKI, born 12 Sep 1866 in Mszano.
• Władysław LOTARSKI, born 1872 in Mszano.

In the ship manifest, Józef and Józefina Lotarski were joining their son Władysław Lotarski in Chicago. Jan and Anna Krause and their children were going to Jan‘s father Michael Krause in Chicago.

Józef Krause and Marianna Wieczorek

In 1895, Józef Krause and Marianna Wieczorek were married in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her name was listed as Mary Ann Verchowak in the index. One of the couple had previously had a child Józef. American records show he was born in Prussia in Feb 1886. While in Philadelphia, Józef and Marianna Krause became the parents of two sons:

• Jan KRAUSE born 21 Apr 1896.
• Leon KRAUSE, born 28 Mar 1898. He married Minnie Piper.

Józef and Marianna Krause and their children moved to Chicago, along with Józef‘s parents Michał and Franciszka Krause.

Krause Families in Chicago

In 1900, Joseph and Mari Kraus lived at 910 West 19th Street in Chicago, Cook, Illinois with their children Joseph, John, Leo, and Helena. Joseph had been born in Prussia, John and Leo were born in Pennsylvania, and Helena was born in Illinois. Joseph‘s parents, Mike and Frances Kraus, lived with the family.

In 1910, Joseph and Marie Kraus lived at West 20th Street in Chicago, Cook, Illinois with their children John, Leon, Helen, Bronisława, and Johanna.

In 1910, John and Anna Krause lived at 19th Street in Chicago, Cook, Illinois with their children Frank, Stepan, John, Władisław, and Helen. Anna‘s brother Władisław Lotarski and his family and Anna and Władisław‘s parents Joseph and Josephina lived there as well.

Another Generation

Leon Krause, son of Józef Krause and Marianna Wieczorek, married Minnie Piper in Chicago on 24 Mar 1917. Their son Earle Krause was born later that year. In 1930, Leo, Minnie, and Earle Krause lived at 2135 West Cullerton Street in Chicago with Minnie‘s widowed mother Minnie Piper.

On 31 Aug 1921, Helena Krause, daughter of Jan Krause and Anna Lotarska, married Władysław Kosacz, a tailor who had immigrated to the United States in 1914. Their son Leonard Kosacz was born in 1923. In 1940, Helen‘s mother Anna Krause was living with Walter, Helen, and Leonard F. Kosacz at 2058 West Cullerton Avenue in Chicago.

Helena‘s cousin, also named Helena Krause, the daughter of Józef Krause and Marianna Wieczorek, had married Stanisław Gutowski in Chicago on 23 Jun 1920.

Places in the Old Country

Many of the Krause family were born in Drużyny (Druszin in German), between Bobrowo (Bobrau in German) and Mszano (Mszanno in German), and their children were baptized in churches in both locations.

My great-grandparents, Jan Maciejewski and Weronika Lewandowska, also came from this area. Jan and Weronika were married in 1869 in Nieżywięć (Niezywiens in German). My grandfather, Antoni Maciejewski, was born in Zgniłobłoty (Königsmoor in German) in 1883. He was baptized in Bobrowo (Bobrau in German), at Kościół pw. św. Jakuba, the Parish Church of Saint James the Apostle.

Since my original DNA discovery, other Krause descendants–AK and CM–have matched us with DNA on Ancestry and MyHeritage. Perhaps LK, MK, AK, and CM‘s ancestors Michał Krause and Franciszka Drozdowska also share some of the ancestors of Jan Maciejewski or Weronika Lewandowska.

Update May 2022: Corrected Franciszka Drozdowska‘s previous husband’s name to Nalikowski.

Wincenty Nalikowski and Franciszka Drozdowska were married in Rogowo, Rypin, Płock, Congress Poland, Russia in 1853. In 1856, their son Józef was born in Anielewo, Strasburg, Westpreußen, Preußen. His baptism record in Bobrau indicated that his father Wincenty Nalikowski was deceased.

Sources

• Mszano Church, Przemysław Jahr / Wikimedia Commons – Praca własna, Domena publiczna, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3962151
• “Pennsylvania, Philadelphia City Births, 1860-1906,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBYB-3PF : 9 March 2018), Mary Krauzo in entry for Leao Krauzo, 28 Mar 1898; citing Birth, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, City of Philadelphia, Department of Records, Pennsylvania.
• LDS Family History Library, “Mszano (Brodnica),” database, Kościół rzymsko-katolicki. Parafja, Family Search (familysearch.com: accessed 20 March 2020), https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSZ1-FNMT?i=88&cat=374832; citing Poland, Mikrofilm aufgenommen von Manuskripten in Berlin-Dahlem und Stadtarchiv Augsburg.
• LDS Family History Library, “Bobrowo (Brodnica),” database, Kościół rzymsko-katolicki. Parafja, Family Search (familysearch.com: accessed 5 May 2019), Johann Krause; citing Germany, Preußen, Westpreußen, Bobrau – Church records.
• “Ancestry Passenger Lists,” database, Ancestry (ancestry.com: accessed 24 August 2020), Johann Krause; citing Passenger Lists.
• “Archiwum Państwowe w Toruniu,” database, Genealogia w Archiwach (www.genealogiawarchiwach.pl: accessed 17 April 2019), Johann Krause, Anna Lotarska marriage; citing Urząd Stanu Cywilnego.
• 1910 Federal Census, Illinois, population schedule, Chicago Ward 11, Cook, Illinois, enumeration district (ED) 0563, Page: 8B, John Krause; digital images, various (online : accessed 3 January 2021); Thirteenth Census of the United States.
• 1920 Federal Census, Illinois, population schedule, Chicago Ward 11, Cook (Chicago), Illinois, John Krause; digital images, HeritageQuest (heritagequestonline.com : accessed 17 June 2018).
• 1940 Federal Census, Illinois, population schedule, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, Walter Kosacz; digital images, HeritageQuest (heritagequestonline.com : accessed 17 June 2018).
• United States, Selective Service System, “United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” database, National Archives and Records Administration (online : accessed 13 August 2019), Frank Krause.
• Illinois, State Deaths and Stillbirths, Frank Krause, 19 March 1934;Division of Vital Records, Springfield, Illinois.
• Social Security Administration, “U.S. Social Security Death Index,” database, Social Security Applications and Claims (online : accessed 19 March 2018), Stephen Krause, 333038560.
• Pennsylvania Marriage, County courthouses, , (: accessed 3 January 2021), Joseph Kraus, Mary Ann Verchowak.
• 1910 Federal Census, Illinois, population schedule, Chicago Ward 12, Cook, Illinois, ED 0584, Page: 6B, , Jos Kraus.
• Mrs Helen Anna Kosacz, , Illinois; 1907-1966; National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D. C.
• Illinois Marriage Records, (: accessed 3 January 2021), Walter Kosacz, Helen Krause.
• 1930 Federal Census, Illinois, population schedule, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA, Walter Kosacz; digital images, various (online : accessed 17 June 2018); Fifteenth Census of the United States.
• Illinois State Deaths and Stillbirths, Leo Krause.
• Illinois Marriage Records, (: accessed 24 March 1917), Leo Kraus, Minnie Piper.
• 1930 Federal Census, Illinois, population schedule, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA, ED 0802, Page: 25B, , Earle Krause.
• Helen Gutowski, Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois, 8 January 1963, Page 30.
• Archdiocese of Chicago, “Catholic Cemeteries,” database,  (https://www.catholiccemeterieschicago.org/ : accessed 5 July 2020), Helen Gutowski.
• Illinois, Marriage Records, Helen Krause, Stanley Gutowski.
• Chicago Tribune, 22 April 1962.
• Illinois State Deaths and Stillbirths, Entry Number: 608733, Earle E Krause.
• Chicago Tribune, 6 April 1976.
• Chicago Tribune, 19 March 1973.
• “Polskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne,” database, Polish Genealogical Society, Geneteka (geneteka.genealodzy.pl: accessed 16 May 2022), 1853 22 Wincenty Nalikowski Franciszka Drozdowska Rogowo (pow.rypiński); citing church records or Urząd Stanu Cywilnego (Civil Registry Office).
• “Polskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne,” database, Polish Genealogical Society, Geneteka (geneteka.genealodzy.pl: accessed 16 May 2022), 1856 38 Józef Nalikowski Wincenty Franciszka Drozdowska Bobrowo Anielewo; citing church records or Urząd Stanu Cywilnego (Civil Registry Office).
• LDS Family History Library, “Bobrowo (Brodnica),” database, Kościół rzymsko-katolicki. Parafja, Family Search (familysearch.com: accessed 16 May 2022), 1856 38 Józef Nalikowski Wincenty Franciszka Drozdowska Bobrowo Anielewo; citing Germany, Preußen, Westpreußen, Bobrau – Church records.