Zawada Family History

A portrait of Victoria Zawada

Victoria Zawada

Victoria Szatkowski was born on September 14, 1879 in Radzewo, Bnin (Srem), Poznan, Poland. She was one of nine children born to Tomasz and Catherine Szatkowski.

In October, 1872, Tomasz Szatkowski left Hamburg on the ship "Holsatia" bound for New York. He traveled alone at the age of 32. It is not known if Tomasz had joined relatives already in the U.S. or if he was the first to come over, but he somehow found his way to Calumet, Michigan.

Tomasz had returned to Poland, and then left again, returning to New York on the ship "Lessing" on June 25, 1879. His purpose of travel was, "Staying in USA, but not a citizen of USA".

In 1880, Tomasz brought his wife Catherine and their family from Poland to the U.S., again on the ship "Lessing", but it appears he did not travel with them. Catherine came alone with 6 children in tow; all of them under age 13. They arrived on May 26, 1880, when Victoria was only 8 months old.

Five years later, Tomasz was hurt in a mining accident, and in 1888 he died of consumption (Tomasz is buried in the Calumet & Hecla cemetery in Laurium, Michigan, but the cemetery has suffered severe neglect and vandalization over the years, and the family can no longer find Tomasz's plot).

In 1888, Catherine was left a widow with nine children to look after, and it is likely that her 18-year-old son Franz was already working as the breadwinner for the family in his father's place.

Victoria herself was only nine years old when her father died.

Seven short years later, in 1895, at the age of 16, Victoria gave birth to her first child, Frank Anton. She had married Frank Zawada just ten months earlier, when she was still 15 years old and Frank was 22!

Victoria's older sister Apolonia had also married at the age of 17 and had her first child a month later! Her husband was Stephan Baranowski, and together they had a total of 14 kids.
This is important to note, because some of the family photos show Victoria's kid Joseph Zawada with his cousins, and they appear to be Baranowski cousins.
A third cousin by the name of Kathy Atwood is a Baranowski descendant, and she has graciously sent me some Baranowski photos which also contain some Szatkowski relatives. These photos can be found here.

Back
Next