52 Ancestors Week 8 - Heirloom - From Medals to Science, Oh My!

Civilian medals earned by my grandfather Tadeusz Skalski and grand uncle Stanisław Skalski in Poland from the 1920s-1960s
From L-R: Złoty Krzyż Zasługi (Gold Cross of Merit) to Tadeusz Skalski for his work as a Teacher of Chemistry, 1936;  Srebrny Krzyż Zasługi (Silver Cross of Merit) to Stanisław Skalski for his work as a Theater Actor and Director, 1929. And Złoty Krzyż Zasługi (Gold Cross of Merit) to Stanisław Skalski for his work as a Theater Actor and Director, ca. early to mid 1960s.

I though this week's topic would be an easy one at first, but the more I pondered on what to highlight, the longer the list became.  And with this the shocking realization that with both my moms being recent immigrants, this list could easily have held zero items!  I was flooded with immense gratitude especially to my second mom Helena Skalska-Potaczek, for possessing the sagacity to pack and bring these items with her in 1973, where it was likely she had to choose between these treasures and sundry necessary goods for every day existence.  

Knowing myself and that I may take a year to cover all I want to, which includes paintings, china, Christmas ornaments, and jewelry, just to name a few, I have decided to limit myself to two categories of items for this post: medals and scientific equipment...

Medals

Złoty Krzyż Zasługi (Gold Cross of Merit) to Tadeusz Skalski for his work as a Teacher of Chemistry, 1938

Above we have the medal as well as the certificate for the Złoty Krzyż Zasługi (Gold Cross of Merit) given to my maternal grandfather, Tadeusz Skalski.  It says the following:  The Republic of Poland, The Prime Minister states that the President of the Republic by ordinance on the 15 November 1938, issues Tadeusz Skalski, Professor Emeritus of Gimnazjum in Kraków, the Gold Cross of Merit, for the first time, for his merits in the field of his Profession. Signed by Prime Minister Sławoj Składkowski.  Below is an actual picture of the decree (with his name highlighted) which can be accessed here on the Polish Government website!  Here it further informs us that he is included with a number of professors from the public Gimnazjum, named after Bartłomiej Nowodworski, in Kraków who were chosen for this distinction.  I never knew this stuff was online until today! 

Monitor Polski. 1938 nr 275 poz. 649

Next we have the Srebrny Krzyż Zasługi (Silver Cross of Merit) issued to his brother Stanisław Skalski.  The Certificate says the following:  To Mr. Stanisław Skalski actor and director at the Polish Theater in Katowice.  On the basis of article 5 of the law from 23 June 1923 (Dz. U. R. P. Nr. 62, poz 458) is given for the first time the Silver Cross of Merit for his merits in the field of promoting art in the Eastern Borderlands of the Commonwealth.  Warsaw, 4 May 1929, signed by the Prime Minister (Kamimierz Świtalski.)  According to wikipedia, only 150,000 Crosses of Merit were awarded between 1923 and 1945, two thirds of those having been awarded in the two years immediately prior to the outbreak of World War II.

Srebrny Krzyż Zasługi (Silver Cross of Merit) to Stanisław Skalski for his work as a Theater Actor and Director, 1929.

Scientific Equipment

Tadeusz Skalski in his lab, oil on canvas, painted by my mother Zofia Skalska, Kraków, 1951.

So I mentioned above, my grandfather Tadeusz Skalski was a Chemistry teacher for many years, but that is not all that he did.  He was also an inventor and a doctor and was determined to discover an agent to ease the suffering of many after both his daughters suffered from scarlet fever in the late 1920s.  The result was a medicine he invented and later manufactured called "Skalneon" and it was a a medicine based on chemical reactions in the body, meant to strengthen the immune system.  It was also an anti-bacterial agent...this in the days before anitbiotics as we know them.  Somehow, in the chaos of moving to a new continent, Helena managed to make sure she brought an array of his items from his lab...I am amazed!

An assortment of early 20th century scientific equipment used by Tadeusz Skalski in his lab in Kraków, Poland.

Included are an original glass beaker with etchings made by hand, a scale and set of weights for weighing chemicals, a metal mortar and pestle, a Berndorf Rein Nickel spoon, and bottles with original labels for his "Lekarstwo."  I also have numerous original unused labels for all the different types of medicine he made...

And even a company envelope!

Original company envelope for the Skalneon line of medicines.

But surely one of the most precious items I have, must be the booklet he wrote describing his search for and discovery of the medicine.  He was an outstanding humanitarian, who never wanted to profit by his discovery, and in this book, he published for all the world to know, the process by which to make it.  He only wanted to ease the suffering of mankind.  Then WWII came, and screwed everything up... 

Tadeusz Skalski's book regarding his discovery.  It reads as follows:
 Atomic and Molecular Treatment: Healing in concert with chemical reactions
conducted in the body, or Cure Through Chemical Energy.  Kraków, 1928.

I'll leave you with a picture of two of his original calling cards...

and some more examples of original medicine labels.

Next week's topic is Where There's a Will...

52 Ancestors Week 7 - Valentine - Walenty Paprocki

This week's theme Valentine immediately made me want to explore my very little known maternal great-great-grandfather...

Walenty Paprocki

Emilia Paprocka Baptismal Certificate, 1899, shows her father as Marcellus (Marceli) Paprocki, Steward, son of Valentini

When I say little known, I really mean it!  All I know about Walenty (the Polish equivalent of Valentine) is basically his name.  He appeared on my "Original Source Document" that I discussed in week one, and is recorded in my grandmother Emilia Paprocka's Baptismal document, as seen above.  Also corroborated by her younger brother's Baptismal certificate as seen below.

Franciszek Paprocki Baptismal certificate, 1908, shows his father as Marcellus (Marceli) Paprocki son of Valentini

Since Marceli was born around 1864, I can assume that Walenty was born some time before 1844.  Where, is any one's guess and where he lived or what he did is a complete mystery...so far.  However, when I first introduced my "Original Source Document" I alluded to the fact that there is a "Count" in the family tree, and this is the guy that it was attached to.  Family lore, as told to me by my second mom, Helena Skalska-Potaczek, claims that the Paprockis were of the minor gentry or szlachta with landholdings spanning from the area called Podolia (which is now in the Ukraine) to the foot of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (home of Bartek a 1,000 year+ oak tree) which is near Kielce in Poland.

The area in which the landholdings are rumored to have existed, as seen on a 1799 map

These landholdings are rumored to have included a string of numerous manor houses or dwór, which are basically what we call country estates today.  Generally built from the late 1500s to the early 1800s, these properties contained houses built mainly of wood, ranging in size from from a modest 2-4 rooms to full fledged mansions. They also included a complex of other outbuildings, stables and gardens.  In their heyday there existed some 12,000 of these holdings, while today there are less than 3,000, and of those a great number lie in ruins.  If you are interested to learn more and see how they looked, check out this nifty website here!

Showing the area on a contemporary map in order to appreciate the size of it!  It compares to the length of the Czech Republic or even Slovakia!

The story goes that one of my great grandfathers, perhaps even Walenty himself, was quite a high roller with the cards, and essentially gambled away the entire family fortune!  This covers an area about 350 miles long, giving me quite a needle in the proverbial haystack to find any of these estates, even if there were many of them.  Anyone knowing of how to start this search...please contact me!!

One interesting side note, though.  As I was searching for the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, I stumbled across a village by the name of Paprocice, deriving from the word paproć, which means fern, and from which the surname Paprocki derives.  Could this mean some connection?  Another path to research, I guess!

Next week's topic is Heirloom...

52 Ancestors Week 6 - Favorite Name - It's All About Wisdom!

This week's post is a fun one!  My all-time favorite girl's name is Sophie, which I guess is why I named my daughter that!  Though I officially named her with the Polish version, Zofia, to honor my beloved birth mother.  

Zofia Skalska age 15, August 1941, Kraków,

But when I think about it, I prefer the ring of Sophie...said the way the French do (soh-FEE), with the accent on the second syllable.  It has a sound to my ear that is so soothing and full of love...I can't quite fully explain it.  Of course, I also like the sound of Zofia (when it is said correctly as 2 syllables and with a short o they way Poles say it, ZO-fya) and it evokes in me a sense of strength and independence which I think is apt in both cases.  But I absolutely abhor the name Sophia said the way Americans say it, with 3 syllables and the accent on the middle syllable (soh-FEE-ah).  I can't explain exactly why, but it just sounds very guttural and course to my ear!

My darling Sophie, age 18, New York, 2018

From what I have read, Sophie is the French form of the Greek name Sophia, which derives from the the Greek word "sophos" meaning wisdom.  The owl, which is popularly considered a symbol of wisdom, thus is also associated with the name. In the last few years, I have had an obsession with owls and consider it to be my Spirit Animal Guide, which is thought to be able to guide us in navigating any darkness in our lives.  Living within the darkness, the owl is also correlated with the moon which, with its cycles of renewal, is a symbol of femininity and fertility.  Not surprisingly, in the last two years I have also become obsessed with learning more about the moon, and even dedicated 2017 as the "year of moon study," which I am still continuing!  Just writing all this out helps me to see all the connections in my life, that otherwise might have stayed undissected and not understood!  Amazing how the process of writing can do this...I highly recommend it!

Some of my favorite owl possessions, a silver painted glass candle holder and small figurines done by Breyer

Oddly enough, Sophie is now not as popular a name within France itself, but has a great following in Northern Ireland and Scotland where it has held the number one spot.  It is also the preferred version and is a top ten baby name in Ireland, England, Australia, and the Netherlands, whereas in the United States Sophia (and Sofia) still reign supreme.


Next Week's topic is Valentine...

52 Ancestors Week 5 - In the Census - Granny's Sister Stanislawa Paprocka Buszkiewicz

This week's topic "in the census" got me thinking about how I wish I could use a census to track my brick wall family members in Galicia/Poland.  What an amazing font of knowledge they can be.  But alas, I have no direct ancestors who show up in the available US Censuses, so I decided to trace one of my Granny's sisters.

Stanisława Paprocka Buszkiewicz (6 Feb 1890 - Apr 1977)

Stanisława Paprocka Buszkiewicz in 1947, New Jersey, USA

Born on 6 February 1890, Stanisława (Stasia) Paprocka was ten years older than my grandmother Emilia and fourteen years older than my second grandmother Maria, so they probably didn't know each other terribly well.  Especially since Stasia emigrated to the United States in 1910 when Emilia was 9 and Mania about 5 or 6.  From stories Helena told, I heard that before Stasia left for North America, she was the "Keeper of the Keys" for a manor house owned by the Serwatowski family, but in the passenger manifest she is listed as a maid servant. Apparently Stasia emigrated with a friend named Julia Weber, also 20 years old, and according to the ship manifest for the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse (line 23), they were headed to Passaic, NJ to stay with a cousin of Julia's.  They departed Bremen on 31 May 1910 and arrived June 8.

Stasia Paprocka line 23 (Ancestry.com, Passenger Lists 1820-1957, Year: 1910; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 1495; Line: 23; Page Number: 67)

Here you can see that Stasia's closest relative in Galicia is Marceli Paprocki, her father, who is listed as living in Lasny.  I have not been able to determine where exactly that place is just yet!  Neither of the girls had a ticket to reach their final destination at 119 Passaic Street in Passaic, NJ, but both had paid their own passage.  Julia had in her possession $26, while Stasia had $18.  Stasia is listed as having been born in Wiśniowczyk, Galicia, had blonde hair and grey eyes, and stood 5 feet 2 inches tall.

Stasia Paprocka line 23 (Ancestry.com, Passenger Lists 1820-1957, Year: 1910; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 1495; Line: 23; Page Number: 67)

After her arrival, the paper trail goes cold. She missed the 1910 census which occurred in April and even though she should be in the 1920 census, I have not yet been able to find her.  When she finally does reemerge in the 1930 Census, she is already married, goes by the name Stella and has a young daughter named Matilda...my mothers' first cousin.

Ancestry.com, United States Federal Census Year: 1930; Census Place: Garfield, Bergen, New Jersey; Roll: 1313; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 87; Image: 20.0; FHL microfilm: 2341048

She, Matilda aged 6, and her husband Martin Buszkiewicz, who emigrated to the US in 1912, lived at 106 Orchard Street, in Garfield, Bergen County, New Jersey.  They paid $18 rent a month and shared the house with another family, a widower Polish immigrant named Constantin Sayor and his three daughters Emily 10, Jeannette 6, and Florence 4. (Now I know that these were the husband and children of her sister Stefania who tragically died of an abortion gone wrong in 1928!)  That must have been nice for Matilda, an only child, to have such close playmates!  According to the census, Stasia and Martin were 38 and 37 years old respectivley and they were 25 and 24 when they were married.  So, according to the ages given (which are off since Stasia was born in 1890, so in 1930 she should have been 40 already) I can surmise that they were married sometime between 1914 and 1917, which makes me wonder why I can not find either of them in the 1920 Census!

106 Orchard Street, Garfield, NJ as it looked in 2012 courtesy of googlemaps

Martin worked as a finisher in a silk factory, and as of 1930, neither he nor Stasia had become naturalized citizens.  At that time, nearly half of the nation's silk was being produced in hundreds of mills lining the Passaic river.  A couple years ago I read a book called Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart which happens to be set in the same time and place!  I was excited to be able to get a feel for what life was like for Stasia and her sister Stefania Paprocka who joined her in 1913, and I wondered if perhaps they even followed the newspaper headlines about Constance Kopp, the protagonist of the detective series.  I encourage everyone who enjoys mysteries to check out this series here!

A view of the mills on the Passaic River

Sometime between 1930 and 1935 the family moved to 31 Bergen Street in Paterson, NJ placing them much closer to the silk mills, where Martin still worked as a finisher in a dye house.  They shared the house with a 71 year old widow named Marion Gannin and paid $16 monthly rent.  

31 Bergen Street, Paterson, NJ as it looked in 2014 courtesy of Googlemaps

Both listed as 49 years of age in the 1940 Census, Martin is stated as having had 7 years of schooling and first papers toward citizenship, while Stasia is said to have 5 years of schooling.  Martin had worked 26 weeks in the last year and had earned $520.  Makes one wonder why he only worked half the year...  Matilda is listed as being 15 years old and in her second year of high school.

Ancestry.com, United States Federal Census Year: 1940; Census Place: Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; Roll: T627_2429; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 26-4

In 1947, at the age of 57, Stasia sent the photo seen at the top of this page to her remaining family in Poland, whom she had tried to bolster by sending them parcels of much needed clothing.  Not forgetting her native tongue, she wrote this endearing message on the back. "As a remembrance I am sending a likeness of myself to my most dear family (signed) Stanisława age 57 year 1947"

This is the only photo that we have of her from her younger years.  Other than her sister Stefania, who settled close to her but died young in 1928, I don't think she saw any of her family again, except for her sister Maria, who at the age of 69 emigrated to the US in 1974.  Some 64 years passed before the two sisters were reunited.  How incredible that must have been!  I believe they saw each other a few times over the next few years, and even I got to meet her before she passed away in April 1977.

Sabina Potaczek's First Communion, May or June 1976, Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa, Doylestown, PA
L-R: Me in the Pink dress, Helena Skalska-Potaczek, Stanisława Buszkiewicz, Marian Potaczek, Sabina Potaczek, Dr. Tołscik and daughter, Józef Duda, and Maria Skalska

Stasia's daughter Matilda in time had 4 children of her own, Mark, Lori, Gail and Alan, most of whom eventually moved to Colorado.  My mom Helena and Matilda corresponded sporadically until her death in 2009.  It is my hope that I will be able to get in touch with either her children or grandchildren and reconnect with the only family that I know of, from my mother's side in the US!  Perhaps this post will help me find them!


April 2020 update! -- I did find Matilda's children through an Ancestry DNA test and my cousin Gail shared photos of Stella and Stefania that I had never seen before. And a year later, I finally found a grandchild of Stefania, Bill Wolf, when I contacted the funeral home that held Stefania's last daughter's funeral, Jenny Sayor. More posts I need to write!


Next week's topic is Favorite Name...

52 Ancestors Week 4 - Invite to Dinner - My Granny Maria Paprocka Skalska

Maria Paprocka Skalska (3 Aug 1904 - 19 Aug 1982)

Maria Paprocka Skalska, Kraków early 1950s

The highest praise that anyone in my family can get goes something like, "That's almost as good as Babcia's!"  Meaning, that whatever you cooked or baked is pretty darn good.  My Granny or Babcia, which is grandmother in Polish, was an amazing cook and baker who had a regular encyclopedia of culinary delights in her brain.  It was all there, hardly ever put down on paper, and it was a rare person who could duplicate a dish just the way she did.  Frustrating for the rest of us for sure, but imagine my delight when I found this gem among some papers.  A recipe for Placek Panieński, a delightful cake, spread with jam and then topped by meringue...one of my favorites (which now is a bummer since I found out I am allergic to egg whites!)

I knew Granny for an all too short six years, from the age of five to eleven, but in that short time, she left an everlasting impression upon me.  She is one of my "girl power" icons that I have looked up to all my life...the other two being my two moms.  

My "girl power" idols Zofia Skalska, Maria Skalska and Helena Skalska mid 1950s Poland

And it isn't that she did anything super feminist or anything.  It's actually the opposite.  She was the perfect homemaker, which today is an occupation so often derided and sneered at.  Yet in her quiet fulfillment of age-old duties prescribed to women, she exuded a power and strength that I only wish I could have.  I don't recall ever hearing her complain, and never knew her to be in bed sick.  In fact for the week or two that she was in bed before she passed away, I was sure it must be a joke and that she will soon be up and about again.  

Maria Skalska, Kraków1944

Maria Skalska, Kraków late 1940s

But back to her cooking.  During WWI, when she was about twelve years old, her parents died from consumption? or perhaps the flu? which caused the family, already in dire straits, to disintegrate as a unit.  The four younger children of the family were placed wherever a place could be found with priests and nuns.  Emilia, her older sister by 5 years, and Mania (a sort of nickname for Maria) were placed with some Daughters of Charity nuns (Zakonnice Szarytki) who were training young girls to be maidservants.  I assume, that is where she learned to cook, and she continued to do so for her family (she always lived with Emilia even after Emilia and Tadeusz were married) for the rest of her life.  She didn't much like to share her kitchen, but in Poland she did allow Zosia to learn from her, but not so much Helena...not until later after she joined Helena in the United States in 1974.  I regret that I did not have an interest in cooking and did not spend time with her when I could have, but you know kids...they have to play with their toys!

Maria Skalska, Kraków early 1950s

Only now do I realize that when she died, I was about the same age as she was when she had been orphaned, and yet I had never paused to think how much that must have affected her...until now.  I can not imagine the upheaval, pain, and fear that she must have endured.  Yet, as I knew her, one would have never known what she had gone through...orphaned, two world wars, and emigration to the US at the age of 70 to start anew!  She was so kind, loving, and grateful, I think is the word I seek.  Humble is another.

Maria Skalska, Kraków 1960s

Thoughts of her cooking evoke comfort and security, something which I now see she had very little of in her early life.  To this day, one of my most favorite meals is sznycel (something like an aussie rissole), mashed potatoes, and hot beets with sour cream.  The other meal which evokes sheer Granny coziness...especially on a cold day...one of her white buttered rolls with Polish ham and a cup of hot cocoa.  Doesn't get better than that!

On vacation at the Aurora Hotel in Asbury Park, NJ, summer 1976
Sabina Potaczek, Marian Potaczek, Renata Adamowicz, Maria Skalska

Granny would do a weekly bread baking for us, the recipe for her amazing brown bread always only in her head.  In fact, her bread became quite famous when, while we were living at Jasna Polana, the estate of Seward and Barbara Johnson (of Johnson & Johnson), Basia insisted on having a weekly baking for herself!  It's funny how at the time we never think to take a photo of an everyday item or occurrence, so I have no visual proof of the delectable nature of her bread, but I do have a photo of Mania with Basia Piasecka Johnson's mother!

Mrs. Piasecka and Maria Skalska, Princeton, NJ 1978

If I could have anyone over for a dinner party, I know that Granny would definitely be one of the people at the top of the list, with my two mom's being close seconds.  What I'd want to know most about are her early years, of which I know so little.  I can only remember snatches of stories that she used to tell about, like hiding under a bridge while Russian officers held a conversation above her, and trying to cross a river on horseback and realizing that the water was so high that the horse had to swim...but alas she did not know how to swim!  Or the mischievous girl who let the nun's pigs out for some reason...perhaps to get back at them for something? 

Maria Skalska, at Jasna Polana, Princeton, NJ 1978

Granny had spunk and courage, but most of all, for me, a young girl who had lost her own mother at the age of five and who subsequently was assimilated into a new nuclear family, she provided comfort and warmth and stability through the simple acts of cooking and keeping house.  Ever behind the scenes, Maria Paprocka Skalska was a weaver of the cloth of life in one of the most tangible ways possible...her legacy was that of the comforts of home and I think it would please her to know how much she defined that for me!  

Spunky Granny, playing cards with the guys (Kazimierz Potaczek on right) Princeton, NJ 1978

Next week's topic is "In the Census," where I will discuss one of Mania's sisters...