The oldest ancestors previously known on the Bukowski side of the family were Vincinety Frank Bukowski and his wife Franciska Kwiatkowski. The couple arrived at Ellis Island May 1, 1895 with three small children - Teo Fila, Catherine and William. The family had sailed from Antwerp, Belgium on the Noorland.
The family was very quiet about their past - leaving few clues to where they came from or who their ancestors were. All that was known is that the family resided on the Prussian or German side of the Polish partition. A definitive city of where the family was living is currently not known.
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| Franciska Kwiatkowski & Vincinety Frank Bukowski |
Over the last year
Ancestry.com has been working to index and scan copies of the
Pennsylvania Death Certificates. Included in the release of information were the death certificates for Vincinety Frank Bukowski and Franciska Kwiatkowski. Vincinety's recorded "unknown" for the name of his father and "unknown" for the name of his mother.
The death certificate of Franciska Kwiatkowski did reveal clues to the next generation. The names of Franciska's parents are recorded. It is plausible that her husband, Vincinety Bukowski, completed the main sections of the death certificate - recording his wife's parents names in Polish. Note the use of the
ł with a stroke.
These sections are printed in capital letters with black ink.
The couple's daughter Helen Tillie Bukowski, married to Anthony Harry Murosky, Jr. was the informant who signed the death certificate. Helen recorded section 14 and likely 16 as her writing is cursive with blue ink. Helen's handwriting does not match the block script which recorded the names of her grandparents.
Finding the names of Franciska's parents is a major discovery. This is the first definitive link to the next generation of grandparents previously unknown in Europe. The names and locations, if provided by Vincinety Bukowski, would have been likely to have been first hand knowledge. He very likely would have known the names of Franciska's parents - by knowing them personally or from Franciska herself.
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| Death Certificate for Franciska Kwiatkowski |
To learn how to translate the Polish names I did some searching and located the website
PolishOrigins.com. This website has a very helpful forum section with folks that can assist with Polish translations.
Elzbieta Porteneuve at the forum graciously assisted me. She translated the names and provided the following helpful information:
2. FULL NAME: Frances Bukowski
5a. If married, widowed, or divorced HUSBAND or WIFE of: Vincent Bukowski
// Her husband's Polish given name was Wincenty. Wincenty Bukowski//
9. BIRTHPLACE: POLAND
10. NAME-of-FATHER: Ignatz Kwiatkowski
// Her father's Polish given name was Ignacy. Ignacy Kwiatkowski
// Her name at birth was Franciszka Kwiatkowska//
11. BIRTHPLACE-of-FATHER: POLAND
12. MAIDEN NAME-of-MOTHER: Juliana Kłosuwna
// Her mother’s maiden name was: Julianna Kłos
//
//The Polish suffix -ówna (same spelling as -uwna) is used to indicate “daughter of”, daughter of Kłos//
13. BIRTHPLACE-of-MOTHER: POLAND
To understand the family connections the descendant chart below shows the relationship between myself, my paternal grandfather Arthur Murosky to our grandparents Ignacy Kwiatkowski & Julianna Kłos. Ignacy Kwiatkowski & Julianna Kłos would be my 3rd great grandparents and great-grandparents of my grandfather.
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| Ignacy Kwiatkowski & Julianna Kłos |
Ignacy Kwiatkowski & Julianna Kłos have over 230 known descendants. These are all the descendants of Vincinety Frank Bukowski and Franciska Kwiatkowski. Ignacy is the second Kwiatkowski ancestor to be discovered. Julianna is the first Kłos ancestor to be discovered. Hopefully in time more can be learned about these previously unknown grandparents.
The death certificate provided some other details including the Polish translation for both Vincent as
Wincenty. This aligns with the Polish spelling "Wincenty" that can be found on Vincent's
tombstone.
The Polish translation of Franciska Kwiatkowski is Franciszka Kwiatkowska.
The death certificate also indicates that Franciska was ill from April 10, 1936 until her death July 30, 1936 with chronic nephritis with edema. This likely indicates Franciska was suffering from a type of
kidney disease.
The photo of Vincinety Frank Bukowski and Franciska Kwiatkowski is from the Helen Tillie Bukowski Collection. Photographer Unknown. Editing and digital restoration by Michelle M. Murosky.
Ignacy Kwiatkowski & Julianna Kłos are my 3rd great-grandparents. Their daughter Franciska Kwiatkowski is my 2nd great grandmother. Franciska is the mother of my great-grandmother Helen Tillie Bukowski. Helen's son Arthur Murosky is my paternal grandfather.
References:
- Ellis Island Records, Bukowski, Vincent Manifest: First Name: Vincenty Last Name: Bukowski Ethnicity: Germany Last Place of Residence: Date of Arrival: May 01, 1895 Age at Arrival: 33y Gender: M Marital Status: Ship of Travel: Noordland Port
- Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1963 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Record for Frances Bukowski.
- PolishOrigins Forum
- Find A Grave. Memorial Number: 99322509 Record for Wincenty (Vincent) Bukowski
