Monday, December 3, 2007

The other Baranowski family (Atwood)




There was another Baranowski family who came to settle in the Calumet area during the late 1800s. It is not known whether or not there was a family connection, although their names often appear in each other's records. For example, Stephan and Apolonia were listed as sponsors on the christening records of two different children of this family. There also seems to be a strong physical resemblance between Stephan Baranowski (pictured left) and John Baranowski ( right).

John Baranowski
John Baranowski was born 25 March1853. He arrived in the US aboard the ALLEMANNIA on 29 April 1880, then moved first to Ohio.

While in Strongsville, he met and married Magdalena Gluba born 25 April 1865 in Poland (possibly near Gejew [Kajew?]), a daughter of Andrew Gluba and Balbina (nee' Witek). who had arrived in New York from Poland on 19 March 1880 aboard the AMERICA. They first lived in Stongsville, and then Berea, Ohio for a while. The children born there were: Amy [b: 24 March1883]; Frank Henry [b: 16 May 1884]; John Baranowski [b: November 1885].

They left for Upper Michigan sometime before 1891. The children born in Calumet were: Joseph Andrew [b: 08 March 1891]; Helen [b: 25 March 1893]; Vincent [b: 31 March 1895]; Victor [b: 04 November 1896]; Andrew Henry [b: 08 October 1898]; Theresa Ann [b: 02 October 1899]; Anton [b: 17 March 1900].

The family moved to the Chicago area in the early 1900s.

John worked for a time for the same C&H Mining Co. in Calumet as did Stephan. On his employee record, John listed his two brothers-in-law (brothers of Magdalena), and a brother, Andrew. If the information we have is for the right Andrew, he may have been born near Bydgoszcz [Ger. Bromberg] in February, 1852, according to a birth record filed by a grandson.

John died in Whiting, Indiana on 24 November 1924.

Magdalena married again six years later on 12 January 1930. His name was Constanty Jachimczyk. He died in 1939. Magdalena died on 4 November 1954 in Chicago.

Andrew Baranowski

It appears Andrew travelled back and forth to Poland several times before he brought over family. In fact, a family member stated that he may have been doing so for upwards of a dozen years before he finally remained here.

He married Josepha Draczkowski, a daughter of Thomas Draczkowski in Poland. They left from Grodek, Poldolsk, Ukraine. Their oldest son, Henryk was born in 1881 in Przemysl, Grudek, Poland. Another son, Albin, was also born in Poland.

In 1902, Andrew and his family lived in Clark Co., Wisconsin. Around 1908, they moved to Ontario, Canada. While in Canada, the family included at least two more sons, Ceasar and Stanley, and two daughters, one of whom was Marianne.

Henryk married Marie Klesinski, who may have been born in 1888 in Naklo, Galicia, Poland, which was in the same area of Poznan as Bydgoszcz. Their first son, Wladyslaw, was born in Illinois. Their younger children, Lillian, Rose, and Hadwin, were born in Ontario.

Sometime after 1913, Andrew moved with his family to northeast Wisconsin, possibly Chelsea Co. Ceasar and Stanley remained in Ontario with their wives and children. In the town to which they moved, a tornado destroyed the church. Andrew did the new brickwork. He must've been handy for in one census, he is listed as a carpenter. Around that time, Marianne married and a few years later moved to Detroit. Marianne's descendants eventually moved south to Georgia, Texas, and Kansas.

Andrew and Mary, and their son Henryk with his family returned to Ontario sometime in the early 1920s.

Andrew's son Albin was an artist. In Chicago he married a woman named July (Julie?). They had an art studio in Detroit and then in Florida. Family tradition says that he was involved in the artwork of the US quarter, first released in the 1930s. He was also involved with the restoration of the President's portrait in the rotunda of the US Capitol Building in Washington.

Henry was a property owner. He would by property, fix it up and rent it out. He also owned a dairy farm in Wisconsin, and a premium fruit farm in Michigan City, Indiana. At the time of his death, he owned property in four states, including what was left to him by Albin in Florida.
Wladyslaw flew with the Polish group of the RAF druing WWII, but he had to sign up in Canada. Upon his return from the war, he started an airport outside of Detroit, called Wings of Detroit. However, he developed a brain tumor and died shortly afterwards.

It is not known whether or not this Andrew was related to Stephan, but the family story that he went back and forth to Poland before he brought his family over, and the 'Canadian' angle seems to match up with a tradition held as true in Stephan's family of a certain member doing the same thing.