Apolonia Zlotorzynski Czajkowski Samotyha Sarosiek Jacob Filipow Poland

Apolonia Zlotorzynski Czajkowski

1871-1932

     The following biography is based upon numerous documents collected thru years of genealogical research.  This biography is written with notations to the specific documents on which the statement can be assumed as factual.  New documents may add to or alter this biography as known research is interpreted at this time.

                                   Age 18(1898)             Age 30(1910)            Age 57(1930)

     Apolonia Czajkowski was born Apolonia Zlotorzynski on February 5, 1871 in Filipow, Poland(16).  She was one of fourteen known children.  Seven of Apolonia's siblings died within three years of birth.   Three of Apolonia's siblings also immigrated to the US.  They were Joseph, Helen and Julia.  Three other siblings remained in Poland.  They were Teofil, Emilia, and Zygmunt.  She was the daughter of Jacob Zlotorzynski(born around 1832) and Isabella Lucyna Samotyka(born 1836)(16).

     Apolonia's line can be further traced back through Isabella Lucyna Samotyka,  Isabella's parents were Antoni Samotyka and Rozalia Sarosiek.  Rozalia Sarosiek's parents were Maciej Sarosiek and Rozalia Barszczewski.      

     In May of 1895, Apolonia boarded the SS Stuttgart at Bremen, Germany.  She had ticket #2822.  She also boarded with two pieces of baggage.  Apolonia arrived at Ellis Island on May 22, 1895.  Her final destination was Saginaw, Michigan to live with her brother, Joseph, and his family(2).  Joseph had immigrated twenty years earlier and had been living in Saginaw since 1884(6).

     Sometime between 1895 and 1898, Apolonia met Frank Czajkowski.  This could have been in Michigan or in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Also in 1895, Apolonia's sister, Helen, immigrated to the US to join her husband, Anton Sipowski, in Milwaukee.  Apolonia married Frank Czajkowski on June 27, 1898 at St. Casimir Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin(7).  Frank had with him two children from a previous marriage, Martha(1893) and August(1896).  In 1900 the Czajkowski family was living with and paying rent to Apolonia's sister's family, Sipowski, at 1207 Bremen in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Frank was employed and working as a laborer for a railroad(1).  Frank and Apolonia also had one daughter, Aemilia, born in April 1899(8).  A second daughter, Mary, was born in April 1901(9).  In November 1902, Apolonia and Frank had their first son, Casmir(10).

     It is believed that in the spring of 1906, the Czajkowski family moved to 388 Maiden Lane in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Frank Czajkowski was hoping to find employment(11).  Frank found employment at the N. R. Allen & Sons tannery in Kenosha.  Apolonia and Frank had their last daughter, Francis Josephine, born in April 1906(12).  Casmir, only five years old, died in December 1907(10).  Apolonia and Frank had their last son, Walter, in January 1908.

     In the spring of 1910, Frank Czajkowski mysteriously disappeared on his way to work at the tannery.  Oral family history tells that Apolonia sent her daughter, Mary, every day with a plate lunch for Frank at the tannery.  But one day, Frank was not there.  Frank was never seen again.  The last time Frank was seen was before work with a friend on Main Street.  Stories at that time were that Frank fell into or was pushed into the lye pits at the tannery, or that he ran off with another woman.

     After Frank's disappearance, life moved on.  Apolonia bought a house at 369 Lemon Street in Kenosha in 1911 and started mortgage payments, a plan which helped stabilize the family.  This property remained in the family name until 1944 according to the Registry of Deeds in Kenosha(13).  In 1926, Kenosha revamped its street numbering system, and the house took on its current address of 923 46th Street.  With the main source of income now literally disappeared, Apolonia was left with seven children to support.  Her first job was at Allen-A Hosiery on 60th Street in Kenosha (across from Cooper's).  Then she was a cook for a catering company(14).  Apolonia's children also went to work  and pooled their earnings into the family's funds.  Daughter Aemilia delayed becoming a nun until the next elder daughter, Mary, was old enough to start working to replace the lost family income(11).

     Apolonia was Roman Catholic and a member of St. Casimir Church, 1009 Washington Road.  She could not read or write, but spoke Russian, and later English(1)(15).  She never acquired US citizenship(15).  Apolonia lived at 923 46th Street until she died at home on November 30, 1932.  The cause of death was heart disease.  Apolonia was laid in wake at Piasecki Funeral Home and then later moved to the family home.  Services were held at the family home and at St. Casimir Church.  She was buried at St. Casimir's Cemetery in Kenosha.

Apolonia Czajkowski was my great-grandmother.

References used in the above biography are as follows:

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