Obit: Frankovich, Slia - Mrs. George (1877 - 1911)

Contact: Stan

Surnames: Betts, Frankowick, Franckowiak, Franckiewicz

----Source: THORP COURIER (Thorp, Clark County, Wis.) 21 Dec 1911

Frankowick, Mrs. George (20 Sep 1877 - 16 Dec 1911)

Mrs. George Frankowick, residing in the east part of the town of Reseburg, Clark County, Wis., died on Saturday last, aged 34 years. She leaves a husband and six small children. The funeral took place at St. Hedwig's Church.

*Silia Frankowick is buried in the Sylvan Cemetery, Reseburg Twp., Clark Co., Wisconsin.

(Information provided by Diane Pilakowski-Betts)

After reading the obit, I discovered my great grandaunt, Mary Robaszkiewicz Franckowiak, and her husband, Jacob, moved with two of their children to Clark County, WI from Valley County, Nebraska -- probably in 1893. Mary Ann and Jacob Franckowiak were Polish immigrants from the Prussian partition of Poland. Their marriage record appears on the Poznan Marriage project as follows:
Catholic parish Grodziszczko
entry 8 / 1864
Marianna Robaszkiewicz (20 years old)
Jacobus Frąckowiak (24 years old

Additional researched revealed Marianna's parents were Stanislaus Robaszkiewicz born in Mystki, Poland and Constantia Galczynska born in Targowa Gorka, Poland.
Marianna and Jacob Franckowiak's four children were born in Poland, and they immigrated to America with them in 1884, homesteading at first in Valley County, NE. A severe drought between 1893 and 1895 caused many farmers to move to other states. That is why the Franckowiaks decided to move to Reseburg, WI. However, their son, Stephen Jacob Franckowiak, chose to remain in Nebraska with his family. Nine-year-old, Laurentius Franckowiak died in Valley County, NE in 1887. Stephen died in Loup City, Nebraska in 1932. The two daughters were married in Clark County as follows: Rozalia Franckowiak married Stanley Gruzdis on May 26, 1895 in Thorp, WI; Michaline Franckowiak married Jacob Gruzdis, Stanley's brother, on Sept. 8, 1896 in Withee, Clark, Wisconsin.

Marianna (Robaszkiewicz) Franckowiak died between 1910 and 1920, probably in Wisconsin.
Source notes follow: "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPVW-CBX : accessed 30 December 2015), Jacob Franckoviak, age 68, born in Germany, living in Reseburg, Clark, Wisconsin, United States with his wife, Mary, age 65, also born in Germany, having immigrated to U.S. in 1884; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 37, sheet 5A, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,375,717.

“United States Census, 1920” database with images, FamilySearch(https://famiysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDFJ-6KS : accessed 30 December 2015), indicates Jacob Franckowyak, age 80 and widowed, lived in the household of Lotonie (should read Antoni) Cickowski, with Jacob's daughter, Melina (should read Michalina) Cickowski, in Central, Sebastian, Arkansas, United States; citing sheet 1B, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,820,081.

I haven't been able to locate the grave of Marianna (Robaszkiewicz) Franckowiak. I looked at one roster for the cemetery at St. Hedwig's in Reseburg, WI and she isn't listed there. Is there another cemetery nearby where she May have been buried? I would appreciate any suggestion you might have about where to look for Marianna's grave.

If you need more information about the Franckowiak family, please contact me. I have a number of documents that pertain to them, and I would be happy to share them with you.

Sincerely,
Diane Pilakowski-Betts

(Additional Information provided by Diane Pilakowski-Betts)

I will add the death record about Slia Frankovich to my notes, too.
You May also be interested to know about the marriage records listed below. Keep in mind, Iwno, Poland is a short distance away from Grodziszczko -- where Jacob Franckowiak married Marianna Robaszkiewicz, and it is also where Jacob Franckowiak served as a witness at the wedding of my great grandparents, Anton Pilakowski and Francesca Pilakowski. That makes me think Jacob Franckowiak was the brother of Martin Franckowiak, who is listed in those marriage records. Perhaps Martin Franckowiak also immigrated to America, eventually settling in Reseburg, Wisconsin. Of course, the only way to verfiy or discredit my hunch is to examine a couple of LDS Church films with birth records for the years when Jacob Franckowiak and Martin Franckowiak were born, and to find other documents that support my hypothesis. I plan on looking for more evidence about them in the near future.
 

Catholic parish Iwno
entry 6 / 1842

Martinus Frąckowiak (25 years old)
Lucia Księżniak (34 years old, widow)

Catholic parish Iwno
entry 5 / 1851
Martinus Frąckowiak (35 years old)
Victoria Zbierska (30 years old)

Catholic parish Iwno
entry 4 / 1857
Martinus Frąnckowiak (38 years old, widower)
Margaretha Hyzy (36 years old, widow)

I'll close for now, but you will be receiving more information from me again in the near future. Thank you for answering my email and for sending the death record.

Sincerely, Diane Pilakowski-Betts

(Additional Information provided by Diane Pilakowski-Betts)

Our relative named Marianna Robaszkiewicz, who was probably born at Grodziszczko, Poland, had a cousin with the same name. Here is some information about the other Marianna Robaszkiewicz, and please note she also lived in Withee (Thorp), Wisconsin about the same time our Mary Ann Robaszkiewicz Franckowiak lived there.

Oblaczkowo, Poland, is the place Marianna (Robaszkiewicz) Rempa was born in 1858. The source for that information is: LDS Film # 2041397. Marianna (Robaszkiewicz) Rempa was a “cousin” of Mariann (Robaszkiewicz) Franckowiak. Oblaczkowo, Poland lies only about 19 miles to the southeast of Sanniki, where Jacob Franckowiak worked when he lived in Poland. However, after Jacob Franckowiak and Mariann (Robaszkiewicz) Franckowiak married, they May have lived two miles away from Sanniki at Iwno, Poland. The close proximity of all those towns to one another meant some of the different Robaszkiewicz lines could have maintained contact with one another in the old country.

Franciszek Rempa, age 25, married eighteen-year-old Mariann Robaszkiewicz, a daughter of Michael Robaszkiewicz and Antonia Kozielski on November 20, 1877 at Oblaczkowo, Poland. That marriage data came from: LDS Film # 2041398 at Wrezsnia, Poland. The newlyweds lived in Oblaczkowo and Babin, Poland, and they produced six children there named: Edward, Stanislaus (Stephen), Marianna, Wladyslaus, Victor, and Joseph. Two more children, Frances, and Antoni, were born later on in America. The 1900 U.S. Census for Withee, Clark County, Wisconsin, Ward X, Supervisor's District #8, Enumeration District #33, Sheet 9A, Lines 28 to 37, lists the entire family and their places of birth.

Evidently, Franciszek Rempa immigrated to the U.S. and lived in Chicago, Illinois for awhile before his wife and children joined him. That's because, on July 6, 1893, Marianna Rempa, age 32, and six of her children, ranging in age from 8 months to 10 years, boarded the SS Dresden at Bremen, Germany. They immigrated to America. Marianna Rempa's last residence was Babin, Poland, and her destination was Chicago, Illinois to visit her husband. Ellis Island records say the SS Dresden, a ship owned by Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen, Steamship Company, arrived in New York on July 19, 1893, and it later arrived at the Port of Baltimore on July 21, 1893. Source: Ancestry.com Port of Baltimore.

By 1900, Franciszek Rempa lived with his wife, Marianna (Robaszkiewicz) Rempa, and their 8 children in Withee, Clark County, Wisconsin. The source for that information is: The 1900 U.S. Census for Withee, Clark County, Wisconsin, Ward X, Supervisor's District #8, Enumeration District #33, Sheet 9A, Lines 28 to 37. Withee, Wisconsin was founded in 1880, and the nearby village of Thorp, Wisconsin began in 1882. A railway line came into Withee and extended to Sperling, Wisconsin where logging was done. In the 1880s, Polish and Lithuanian families began buying 40 acre parcels to farm near Withee and Thorp. Many of the farmers sold milk to a creamery that was built nearby. They constructed St. Hedwig's Catholic Church near the village of Thorp in 1891.

1910 Federal Census Wisconsin Iron Saxon ED 35

Matt Mailosha Male 22 1888 Austria Single White Head Austria Austria A 7
Winet Mailosha Male 29 1881 Austria Married White Brother Austria Austria A 7
Andry Mailosha Male 18 1892 Austria Single White Brother Austria Austria A 7
Blas Mailosha Male 26 1884 Austria Married White Brother Austria Austria A 7
Martin Frkovich Male 33 1877 Austria Married White Boarder Austria Austria A 7
George Mabayor Male 20 1890 Austria Single White Boarder Austria Austria A 7
Thomas Mabayor Male 23 1887 Austria Married White Boarder Austria Austria A 7
Matt Frkovich Male 47 1863 Austria Married White Boarder Austria Austria A 7
George Frkovich Male 34 1876 Austria Married White Boarder Austria Austria A 7
Albert Frkovich Male 30 1880 Austria Single White Boarder Austria Austria A 7