BRONISLAW KALSKI’s FAMILY ROOTS FROM POLAND TO AMERICA – THE FAMILY STORY AND THE VIRTUAL TOUR WITH FAMILY CHURCHES

Let’s begin our journey with the name Kalski . In the Polish etymological books, the Kalski family name story begins at least in the 14th century (1300-1399). If with the family name is Kalski (noted in old Poland from the year 1393) then all descendants with the name Kalski are derived from the family birthplace named ” Kał”, which no longer exist but was located in the central part of Poland in the Radom district.

Part of the genealogy research revealed some of the Kalski descendants spelled their name sKalski . If with the family name is Skalski (noted in old Poland from the year 1372), their name was derived from the family birthplace named ” Skała “.

With access to the current genealogical records available on line we know that the family name was Kalski and at times sKalski . No one is quite certain why the name interchange but most likely due to transcribing.

Let’s begin with what I believe is my oldest Polish Ancestors; Maciej and Katarzyna sKalski . They may have been married and living in Leoncin, Mazowieckie in 1780 where their son Thadeus was born. This is the reference on  Geneteka  under Mazowieckie which is referenced as follows:

“Year 1780 born Tadeusz Skalski father Maciej Skalski `Katarzyna Skalska parish/church Leoncin place Rybitwa”

Here is the picture of the family church at this Leoncin:

Church of St. Margaret of the Virgin and Martyr in Leoncin

In 1784 Katarzyna Kalska was born to Maciej Kalski and Katarzyna Kalska in the parish/church Kampinos located in Zamość, in 1786 Barbara Kalska was born to Maciej Kalski and Katarzyna Kalska in the parish/church Kampinos located in Zamość and in the year 1792, Jan Kalski , was born to Maciej Kalski Katarzyna Kalska in the parish/church Kampinos located in Zamość.

With this information, we can be determined that the family lived in the central part of Poland, in the place named Zamość, within the Kampinos church and parish. This is heart of the Puszcza Kampinowska (Kampinowska Deep Forest), located just on the northern border of the capital of Poland Warsaw, here the picture of the family church:

The parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kampinos

From Kampinos, I believed most of the family moved and settled in Krzewo, Podlaskie, Poland. On 30 October 1811, Thadeus sKalski, oldest son of Maciej Kalski and Katarzyna Kalska married Jozefata (Józefa) Kąkolewska in the parish/church of Puchały, Poland. It was here that they had eight children. Their eldest son, Jan Franciszek sKalski was born in 1813.

Jan Franciszek sKalski was a peasant who worked the land and in 1831 in the village of Krzewo, Podlaskie, Poland he married Helena Golebiewski (Gołębiewska) , an 18 year old from Piątnica, Murawy, Podlaskie, Poland. They had eleven children.

In 1833, in the village of Krzewo, Podlaskie, Poland,   Franciszek Kalski was born to Jan Franciszek sKalski and Helena Golebiewski (Gołębiewska) . Franciszek was born and raised in this locality and during his upbringing he learned to be an organist and work with the Roman Catholic Church. How he learned the skill and trade remains a mystery.

It is this generation that moved to live and work in the following places:

This Pniewo parish was Puchaly, the church is the new one, here is the old cemetery chapel at the Pniewo:

Puchały (Podlaskie Voivodeship)

In the 19th century family were living in the following places:

WIZNA – the picture from the year 1870:

Church of St. John the Baptist in Wizna

And now:

Church of St. John the Baptist in Wizna

BURZYN – some pictures from the Burzyn and area from our Angels view:

gallery

In 1854, Franciszek Kalski married Justyna Jozwik (Jóźwik) and they had 8 children. Justyna Jozwik (Jóźwik) Kalska died on 15 March 1870 in Burzyn, Podlaskie, Poland. Shortly after her death, in 1870, Franciszek Kalski married Franciszka Brak (Brack) , an Innkeeper and Cooper’s daughter from Burzyn.  Franciszek and Franciszka Kalski had 10 children, the oldest was Bronislaw Kalski.

Franciszek Brak (Brack) Kalska was she a Lutheran and was likely born in Pisz Poland – Interesting fact about Johannisburg, Ostpreussen before 1852. Her date of birth can’t be determined . At the time of her marriage or shortly thereafter, she became a Roman Catholic.

Here is the picture of the old Lutheran church in Pisz Poland:

Former Lutheran Church in Pisz

Bronislaw Kalski was raised in the Burzyn and Wizna area of ​​Podlaskie and was trained as an organist and teacher. In the year 1897, the young Bronislaw Kalski , who was an organist at the RC Church in Burzyn, and the local school teacher, decided to go 3,000 miles over the unknown ocean, and started his new live in America. He arrived and settled in Baltimore Maryland, where he brought from Poland (under Tzar of Russia at that time) his mother Franciszka, and some of his sisters and brothers to Baltimore.

In Baltimore, Bronislaw Kalski joined the Polish National Catholic Church and worked and taught in their school; however after his marriage to Franciszek Jankowski , from Baltimore, Maryland, he rejoined the Roman Catholic Church and traveled to Ohio where he worked and taught. He and his family eventually settled in Cohoes, New York along the Mohawk River.

Here is the picture of the American family church Polish National Church in Baltimore in the times after his immigration:

Polish National Church in Baltimore

After marrying, Bronislaw Kalski and Frances Jankowska began their family with the birth of their son Carol Bronislaw Kalski and their daughter Harriet Ceclia Kalska . They had three other sons, Anthony, Stanley, and Valentine Kalski .

On March 15, 1918, Franciska Jankowska died of a sudden heart attack leaving the 17 year old Carol Bronislaw Kalski devastated. After convincing his father to sign him into the United States Navy, Carol Bronislaw Kalski served in the WWI submarine service.

After a short time in the military, Carol Bronislaw Kalski changed his name to Charles Bernard Kasby . When asked why, he said to sound more American and to experience less discrimination.

Bronislaw Kalski married his second wife Anastasia Szeredynska, and together they had three sons, Theodore, Henry and Edward. Edward was a recognized baseball player and scout for the minor baseball leagues in New York State.

Charles Bernard Kasby moved to Rome, Oneida County, New York where he worked in the mills that made Rome, New York their home. It was there that he met Evelyn Schebel, his friend’s girlfriend who would eventually become his wife. Together they had four children; Frances Evelyn who married William C. Henderson, who were my parents; Harriet, Janet, and Charles Bernard, Jr.

The family story is still going on.

My deepest appreciation and praises to Tadeusz Wysocki for his invaluable help and guidance with his PTG Polish Genealogical Society forum with “kat_pas” – Katarzyna Pasik and other helpers – here is the weblink: https://genealodzy.pl/forum-genealogiczne -viewtopic-p-669987.phtml

Charles Henderson

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