Krogul Family in Massachusetts
I thought it interesting that Konstanty Winalski married Apolonia Łistewnik in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1925. Was there a connection between the Winialski family in Connecticut and people in the Worcester area? Yes, there was! Marianna Waleńska Winialska, mother of Konstanty Winalski, had an older half-brother, Jan Krogul, who immigrated to Dudley, Worcester, Massachusetts from Ruże. Their children were half-cousins. One of Jan Krogul‘s descendants tested DNA, and MK is a half-third cousin to Winalski descendants. I am fifth cousin to both Winalski and Krogul descendants. DNA and documentary evidence tell the tale.
It is always interesting to get new DNA matches and to try to determine how we may be related. In early 2021 I had a new Ancestry DNA match, MK, with whom I shared a 39 centiMorgan segment. He matched my fifth cousin on my paternal Maciejewski/Lewandowski side of the family–SW–with 135 cM across 8 segments. They were more closely related to each other than I was to them. I recognized the Krogul name from MK‘s tree because I had written about SW‘s ancestors.
- Winialski DNA Cousin from Connecticut
- Winialski Family in Ruże
- 1875 Marriage of Stanisław Winialski and Marianna Waleńska.
SW‘s great-great-grandmother, Marianna Balcerowicz, daughter of Antoni Balcerowicz and Salomea Lewandowska, married Jan Krogul on 24 Feb 1846 in Niezywienc, Strasburg, Westpreußen, Preußen. Jan Krogul died in Osieczek, Niezywienc, Strasburg, Westpreußen, Preußen, on 13 Aug 1853. Marianna then married Walenty Waleński in Niezywienc on 24 Oct 1853. Their daughter Marianna Waleńska married Stanislaw Winialski in 1875 and this family moved to Connecticut. Krogul is not a common name, so I thought it interesting to find the Krogul name in our family tree, most likely in a place where our common ancestors had lived.
Was this the same family?
Krogul Family in America
MK‘s grandfather Jan Krogul came to America with his mother Elżbieta Krogul. They arrived in New York 27 May 1897 on the ship Friedrich Der Grosse from Bremen and Southampton.
They joined their husband and father Jan Krogul in America. In 1900, John and Elizabeth and their son John Krogul lived in Dudley, Worcester, Massachusetts.
In 1920, John and Elizabeth Krogul lived at 12 West Street in Dudley, Worcester, Massachusetts. They were both 68 years old.
Krogul Children in Ruże
In 1900, Elizabeth said that she had given birth to six babies, but only one lived. This, sadly, helped me find the family in Ruże in the Polish genealogy indexing website Geneteka.
The birth records from 1882 were neither indexed nor available, and that is probably when Jan Krogul was born. The deaths of five sons of Jan Krogul and Elżbieta Lewandowska were indexed in Geneteka.
While Jan Krogul came to America with his mother, these five sons of Jan Krogul and Elżbieta Lewandowska were born and died in the old country.
- Franciszek (1873-1874)
- Ludwik (1874-1879)
- Władysław (1876-1877)
- Władysław (1879-1889)
- Stanisław (1886-1887)
Jan‘s sister Teresa Krogul had three sons with Franciszek Jankowski in Ruże.
- Stanisław (b. 1873)
- Antoni (1876-1910)
- Leon (b. 1879)
Jan Krogul’s Nephew Antoni Jankowski
Antoni Jankowski, born in Ruże in 1876, also moved to Massachusetts. In 1900, he lived with John and Elizabeth Krogul in Dudley, Worcester, Massachusetts. Anthony Jankowski died of exhaustion and cholera 25 August 1910 in Webster, Worcester, Massachusetts. Anthony‘s parents were Frank Jankowski and Terezyja Krogol, according to his Massachusetts death certificate. Frank is the English version of the Polish name Franciszek.
Marriage of Jan Krogul and Elżbieta Lewandowska in Ruże, Płock, Russia
Although John Krogul‘s WWII draft registration says he was born in Pockia. I think he may have meant Płock, pronounced “pwotsk” (listen). From 1866 to 1915 the village of Ruże was in Rypin Powiat, Płock Gubernia, Congress Kingdom of Poland, which was under Russian rule. Stephen Danko explains the boundary changes in his blog at “Administrative Structure of the Rypin Powiat.”
Jan Krogul and Elżbieta Lewandowska‘s 1872 marriage record in Ruże is in Russian in the Napoleonic format because the Russian empire that occupied this part of Poland required it.
Took place in the village Ruże on October 27th, 1872 at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. We announce that today, in the presence of witnesses Jan Wawrowski, 62 years old, and Tomasz Maternicki, 50 years old, both living in the village Ruże, a religious marriage union was concluded between Jan Krogul, bachelor, 20 years old, son of Jan, already deceased, and Marianna, nee Balcerowicz, married couple Krogul, born in the village Niedźwiedź of Kingdom of Prussia and living with mother in the village Obory <gmina Zbójno>, and Elzbieta Lewandowska, maiden, 20 years old, born in the town Kowalew of Kingdom of Prussia and living with parents in the village Ugoszcz <Gmina Brzuze, Rypin County>, daughter of Mateusz and Marianna nee Witkowska, married couple Lewandowski. This marriage was preceded by three marriage banns in the parish of Ruże church on September 29th and October 6th, 13th of the current year. The newlyweds stated that they did not conclude a prenuptial agreement. Permission for the wedding was given to the bride by her father and to the groom by his mother, who were present here, verbally. The religious wedding ceremony performed by priest Stanislaw Malkiewicz. This act was read aloud to the illiterate present and then signed only by Us.
1872 marriage, Jan Krogul and Elżbieta Lewandowska, Ruże, Rypin, Płock
These are the ancestors of Jan Krogul.
- John Krogul who died in Dudley, Worcester, Massachusetts, on 5 Feb 1921 was born in 14 March 1852 in Niedźwiedź, West Prussia, son of Jan Krogul and Marianna Balcerowicz.
- Elizabeth Krogul who died in in Dudley, Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1923 was born Elżbieta Lewandowska about 1852 in Kowalew, Prussia, daughter of Mateusz Lewandowski and Marianna Witkowska.
Some of the information in American records may not match, because the informants may not have had all the correct information.
Marianna Balcerowicz Krogul Waleńska died 10 Apr 1895 in Obory, Rypin, Płock, Congress Poland, Russia.
Prussian Marriages and Births
Jan Krogul and Marianna Balcerowicz were married 24 Feb 1846 in Niezywienc, Strasburg, Westpreußen, Preußen.
Twin girls Katarzyna and Teresa were born and baptized 20 May 1847 in Niedźwiedź. Franciszek was born 1 November 1848 in Niedźwiedź. They were the children of Jan Krogul and Marianna Balcerowicz.
Twin boys Jan and Józef were born to Jan Krogul and Marianna Balcerowicz on 14 March and baptized on 16 March 1852 in Niedźwiedź. In German Jan was called Johann and the place was Bahrendorf, Briesen, Westpreußen, Preußen.
Marianna Balcerowicz, the daughter of Antoni Balcerowicz and Salomea Lewandowska, was born in Osieczek, Briesen, Marienwerder, Westpreußen, Preußen on 13 Jul 1824 and baptized 16 Jul 1824 in Niezywienc, Strasburg, Westpreußen, Preußen.
Places in the Old Country
These places that had been part of the Prussian and Russian Empires in the 1800s are now in Poland with their Polish names.
- Niezywienc, Strasburg, Westpreußen, Preußen is now Nieżywięć. Bobrowo, Brodnica, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland.
- Bahrendorf, Briesen, Westpreußen, Preußen is now Niedźwiedź, Dębowa Łąka, Wąbrzeźno, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland.
- Ruze, Rypin, Płock, Congress Kingdom of Poland, Russia is now Ruże, Zbójno, Golub-Dobrzyń, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland.
- Obory, Rypin, Płock, Congress Kingdom of Poland, Russia is now Obory, Zbójno, Golub-Dobrzyń, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland.
- Ugoszcz, Rypin, Płock, Congress Kingdom of Poland, Russia is now Ugoszcz, Brzuze, Rypin, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland.
Half Third Cousins
Jan Krogul and Marianna Waleńska Winialska had the same mother; their children were half first cousins. MK and SW‘s common great-great-grandmother was Marianna Balcerowicz Krogul Waleńska (1824-1895), making MK and SW half third cousins.
Full siblings, cousins, etc. share two ancestors, while half-siblings, half-cousins, etc. share one most recent common ancestor (MRCA).
Fifth Cousins
Marianna Balcerowicz Krogul Waleńska was my great-great-grandfather Józef Lewandowski‘s first cousin. Marianna and Józef‘s parents were the siblings Salomea Lewandowska Balcerowicz and Łukasz Lewandowski. Salomea and Łukasz were children of Andrzej Lewandowski and Marianna Majewska.
Because of these shared ancestors–our great-great-great-great-grandparents–I am a fifth cousin to both SW and MK, which is consistent with our shared DNA.
Sources
- Steven J. Danko, “Administrative Structure of the Rypin Powiat,” Steve’s Genealogy Blog, https://stephendanko.com/blog/21389 : accessed 20 March 2021.
- “Polskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne,” database, Polish Genealogical Society, Geneteka (geneteka.genealodzy.pl: accessed 2 May 2020), 1795 6 Antoni Balcerowicz Salomea Lewandowski Nieżywięć; citing church records or Urząd Stanu Cywilnego (Civil Registry Office).
- Geneteka, 1824 22 Marianna Balcerowicz Antoni Salomea Lewandowski Nieżywięć Osieczek.
- LDS Family History Library, “Niedźwiedź (Wąbrzeżno),” database, Kościół rzymsko-katolicki. Parafja, Family Search (familysearch.com: accessed 19 March 2021), Marianna Balcerowicz; citing Germany, Preußen, Westpreußen, Bahrendorf – Church records.
- Geneteka, 1895 23 Marianna Waleńska [Inne nazwiska: Bolcerowicz ] Antoni Salomea Lewandowska Ruże Obory.
- Geneteka, 1846 10 Jan Krogul Marianna Balcerowicz Nieżywięć.
- Geneteka, 1853 57 Joannes Krogul Nieżywięć Osieczek.
- Geneteka, 1853 10 Walenty Waleński Filip, Marianna Marianna Balcerowicz [Inne nazwiska: Krogul ] Nieżywięć.
My Family History Research 