The Ryckowski Line

General History

     When I first delved into genealogy, I knew very little about the Ryckowski line.  My eldest and only living relative, an uncle, did not even know his grandparents' names.  Apparently, this is not uncommon.  I remember when I was young asking my father who my grandmother was on the Ryckowski side of the family.  This would be his own mother.  My father just told me "She died a long time ago".  Nothing more was said, and I never asked again.  Since that time through research I have come a long way.  The biography of my great grandfather, Stephan Ryckowski, is on this website in the History section.  I have a good pictorial history of the Ryckowski line in the Photo section of this website.  At present I do not have enough background information to do justice and write a proper biography about my grandfather, John Ryckowski.  My main concentration has been tracing the family line further back.

Future Research Projects

      Currently, my Ryckowski/Rydzkowski research appears to have come to a satisfying conclusion.  The genealogical trail has been traced back to Cekcyn, Poland and the building of several generations of Rydzkowski and related surnames.  I have taken this family back as far as LDS church parish records go to the year 1802.  See my Polish Roots section for some detailed insights about this family line.  Sometime in the future, I may use these surnames to see if my great grand father, Stephan Rydzkowski, was not the only one of this line to immigrate to the US and Chicago.  Perhaps there are related cousin lines before or following his immigration in March of 1880. (UPDATED 02/03/2008)