Tag: Firmenich

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: April 12 – 18

Posted on 12 April 2009by Brian Zalewski

Sorry, I haven’t been posting recently. I had other things going on and I was also not doing much research. But, I will get back on the horse today. Happy Easter.

April 12

1923 – Married – Maurice CORRIGAN and Agnes BRAATZ. My great-grandparents were married in Iron Mountain, Dickinson Co., Michigan. Maurice and Agnes grew up somewhat near each other in Ashland, Wisconsin which is where they probably met.

April 14

1856 – Died – Jacobus Franciscus KREBBEKX. Jacobus is my 4th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born 1 Mar 1818 in Hoofdplaat, Zeeland, Netherlands. He married Maria Sophia SCHALLOIR in 1819.

April 15

1895 – Born – Frances Dorothy ZALEWSKI. Frances is my great-great-aunt on my father’s side. She was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She married Edwin G CYBELA in about 1916. She passed away on 18 Jul 1965 in Milwaukee.

April 17

1867 – Born – Frank F BRAATZ. Frank is my great-great-grandfather on my father’s side. He was born in Germany to Wilhelm & Marie BRAATZ. He married Margaret K STEARNS in 1891. He passed away on 10 Jul 1948 in Ashland, Ashland Co. Wisconsin and is buried there at Mt. Hope Cemetery.

April 18

1870 – Married – Peter MUHM and Ida SCHAVANDIE. Peter & Ida are my 3rd-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. They were married in Germantown, Washington Co., Wisconsin. Their third child is my great-great-grandmother, Minnie M MUHM.

1892 – Married – Thomas J CORRIGAN and Emma Jane FIRMENICH. Thomas & Emma are my great-great-grandparents on my father’s side. They were married in Sanborn, Ashland Co., Wisconsin. This was Thomas’ second marriage and Emma’s first. Their first child, Maurice CORRIGAN, is my great-grandfather.

1999 – Died – Richard Joseph ZALEWSKI. Richard is my grandfather. He was born 9 Dec 1921 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and married my grandmother, Mary Jane CORRIGAN, on 11 Oct 1947. He lived part of his life in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and then settled down in Cedarburg, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin for the remainder of his life. His death was one of the reasons I got into genealogy and one of the reasons I wish I would’ve got into it sooner.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History – March 22 – 28

Posted on 22 March 2009by Brian Zalewski

The dates and anniversaries in my family tree for this week.

March 22

1732 – Died – Marie Anna GUEDON – Marie is my 9th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side.  She was born in 1641 in Bourg de Magny, Normandie, France and married Gabriel BENOIT in 1665. She passed away in Yamachiche, St. Maurice, Quebec, Canada.

1891 – Born – Marianna ZALEWSKI – Better known as Mary, I’m not exactly sure where she was born. I have found entries for Poland, Baltimore, Ohio and Wisconsin. Mary is my great-great-aunt. She married Frank GIERSZEWSKI and lived out her life in Milwaukee, passing away on 27 Feb 1945.

March 23

1729 – Died – Catherine GENÉVOIS – Catherine is my 8th-great-grandmother on my father’s side. She was born about 1689 in Polaincourt(?), Haute-Saône, France. She married Georges QUINET in 1711.

March 25

1736 – Born – Nicholas Joseph ST. LOUIS – Nicholas is my 6th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. He married Charlotte LEMAITRE-AUGER and passed away in 1814 in Quebec.

1990 – Died – Maurice Earl CORRIGAN – Maurice is my great-grandfather. I had the pleasure of knowing him until I was about 10-years-old. I don’t remember him too much, since I was so young. He was born 28 Dec 1898 in Sanborn, Ashland Co., Wisconsin to Thomas CORRIGAN and Emma Jane FIRMENICH. Since his father died so early on, he was given the job of taking care of the family, including 9 children, when he was only 17. On 12 Apr 1923, he married my great-grandmother, Agnes Catherine BRAATZ.

March 26

1721 – Died – Nicolaes van CRAYBECK – Nicolaes is my 9th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. He was born 22 May 1646 in St. Lambertus, Herck, Belgium. He married Helena WAGEMANS on 9 Aug 1671.

March 27

1892 – Died – Ephraim Gadiou dit ST. LOUIS – Ephraim is my 4th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born on 16 Jul 1810 in Yamachiche, St. Maurice, Quebec, Canada. He married Marie DesAnges MANSEAU on 4 Oct 1831. He moved his family to Phlox, Langlade Co., Wisconsin where he lived the rest of his life.

CategoriesFamily TreeGermanTell Me Thursday

Tell Me Thursday: Firmenich Family

Posted on 12 March 2009by Brian Zalewski
Click for larger image
Click for larger image

The only person I can correctly pick out of this image is my 3rd great-grandfather, Mathias Firmenich, in the back. I’m pretty sure the other two women are two of his daughters and the one on the left may possibly be my great-great-grandmother, Emma Jane Firmenich. I do like the caption, “lot of little people.” The photo was probably taken in the Sanborn or Ashland, Wisconsin area in Ashland Co. since Mathias lived there most of his later life.

CategoriesDutchFamily TreeGermanPolishThielkeZalewski

Names, Places & Most Wanted Faces

Posted on 3 March 2009by Brian Zalewski

Getting the idea from Julie at GenBlog, here is my list of most wanted names, places and faces.

NamesPlaces
ZalewskiMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Poznan, Poland
ThielkeOzaukee Co., Wisconsin
Württemberg/Mecklenburg, Germany
LastOzaukee Co., Wisconsin
Doeringshagen, Pommerania
FirmenichAshland Co., Wisconsin
Granville, Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin
Cologne, Germany
DeBrouxLanglade Co., Wisconsin
Brussels, Belgium
TrokaMilwaukee Co., Wisconsin
Poland

Most Wanted Faces

Been searching for almost ten years to find any relatives (parents/siblings) for Frank J ZALEWSKI, so that I can trace my line to other ZALEWSKI lines. Right now, it’s a little family island.

Peter THIELKE information back into Germany. THIELKE is a somewhat popular name there, so hoping to connect to other researchers.

Peter FIRMENICH family information. Records inidicate they lived in Granville, Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin, which is only a few miles from here. Wondering if some of them are buried close by or where they lived. Can’t find info in the early 1800s census.

CategoriesCorriganFamily TreeWeekly HistoryZalewski

Weekly History

Posted on 1 March 2009by Brian Zalewski

This week in my family tree history.

March 1

1653 – Died – Joanna (Pansars) CREIJBECK – Joanna was my 10th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born about 1610 and passed away in St. Lambertus, Herck, Belgium.

1818 – Born – Jacobus Franciscus KREBBEKX – Jacobus was my 4th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born in Hoofdplaat, Zeeland, Netherlands and married Maria Sophia SCHALLOIR.

1974 – Died – Helen A (Stroinski) ZALEWSKI – Helen was my great-great aunt on my father’s side. She was born 24 Sep 1897 and passed away in Milwaukee, Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin.

March 2

1826 – Died – Florentina Francisca (Knudde) CRAYBECK – Florentina was my 5th-great-grandmother of my mother’s side. She was the mother of Jacobus listed under March 1, which, as you can tell, shows all of the last name spellings I came across in the vital records. She was born about 1788 and passed away in Hoofdplaat, Zeeland, Netherlands.

March 3

1855 – Born – Thomas J CORRIGAN – Thomas was my great-great-grandfather on my father’s side. Thomas was born in Mara Township, Brechin, Ontario, Canada to William and Mary (MCCANN) CORRIGAN. His first wife was Ellen FERGUSON. When she passed away, he married my great-great-grandmother, Emma Jane FIRMENICH. Thomas’ first family was the subject of this week’s Wordless Wednesday.

March 5

1754 – Born – Wilhelmus van CRAYBECK – Wilhelmus (who has an awesome name) is my 6th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born in Genk, Limburg, Belgium and married Anna Catherina CROX.

March 6

1707 – Married – My 8th-great-grandparents on my mother’s side, Petrus van CRAYBECK and Elisabeth BROUCKX were married in Genk, Limburg, Belgium.

March 7

1888 – Born – William H LAST – William was my great-great-uncle on my mother’s side. He was born in Grafton, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin.

CategoriesFamily TreePersonalZalewski

Dusty Old Letters

Posted on 6 February 2009by Brian Zalewski

When I bought my house in 2005, I ended up purchasing my grandparent’s house. My grandpa had passed away in 1999 and my grandma was moving into an assisted living apartment since she hurt herself in a little fall. I did get a very nice deal on the house. It’s perfect “starter” house, being the house that they bought new in 1955 and that my dad and his siblings grew up in.

When she moved, a bunch of boxes were left in the basement. Most of it was just things like blankets and pots and pans, things she doesn’t need right now. I found one box a few months back when I was taking inventory that I saw had funeral cards and old newspaper clippings in it. Today, I decided to just browse through them to see if there were any of my ancestors that I could use to squeeze out some more information.

I only found a few funeral cards on the top and they were probably of old friends, I assume, and not relatives. But, I did find a nice collection in the news clippings box. Most of the items were just random clippings of recent photos and articles from the newspapers. But, I did find a nice selection of old obituaries, though. A couple were straight from the newspapers and a few others were copies. The obituaries that I found were from Emma Jane (FIRMENICH) COOK (my gg-grandmother), George S COOK (Emma’s 3rd husband), Margaret (STEARNS) BRAATZ (my gg-grandmother), Frank F BRAATZ, Sr (her husband and my gg-grandfather), and Margaret (SCHUMACHER) STEARNS (her mother and my ggg-grandmother.) Most of the obituaries didn’t have any new info of note, but the big find was the last one. In my tree, all I had was “Margaret” listed and her death date. This obituary gave me her birth info and her surname, which is brand new to me. Plus, it listed all of her siblings and locations. I need to start looking for SCHUMACHER now, any tips?

Another treasure find in the box was some old letters written to my grandfather from his parents in 1941. It seems, from the address that he was in navy school in Pensacola, Florida. There are about 5-10 letters all written from March 31, 1941 to April 27, 1941. One weird note here is that my great-grandmother, his mother, Emily (TROKA) ZALEWSKI, passed away on May 1, 1941. In the later letters that I just quickly scanned through, there is no mention of being sick, etc. So, this points to her death being quite sudden as she was only 45 years old at the time. Maybe my grandfather saved these letters due to the fact that he was away in Florida when his mother died. There are no letters beyond the April 27th one. I am in the process of scanning them so I can read them and archive them. This is the only comunication from my great-grandmother that I’ve found. Then, I plan on taking this box over to my grandmother since I’m assuming she’ll want it.

CategoriesFamily TreeWay Back Wednesday

Sunday Photo: Mr. Firmenich

Posted on 25 March 2008by Brian Zalewski
Firmenich

This has always been one of my favorite photos that I scanned from my grandmother’s collection. This is Mathias Firmenich, my great-great-great grandfather on my father’s side. From what I gathered from research and from obituaries, Mathias was born in Cologne, Germany, February 11, 1840. He came to Milwaukee in May 1847 and settled with his parents on a farm located in the wilderness 25 miles from that city. (I have yet to find this information even though I’m still in this area.) He later moved north and married his wife, Pauline, in the Green Bay area. They then moved on to the Ashland, Wisconsin area where he lived the rest of his days, which was a long time since he died at 91.

I like the photo since it’s such a great head shot and I love his big beard. He just looks like he spent a lot of time working outside in the wilderness, which Ashland was and still is in a way. I wish I could have met him, though my grandma may have some small memories since she was 5 or 6 when he passed away.

See: Wisconsin Pioneer posting