The Random Movements of my Tobiasz Ancestors during the 1800’s
Some of the most difficult and time consuming research that I had undertaken for my ancestry has been my Tobiasz family. Tracing my great-grandfather Jan Tobiasz back to his ancestral village had been relatively easy. But finding the true origin or ancestral home of my Tobiasz family has been elusive to say the least.
My great-grandfather Jan Tobiasz, was born in the village of Straszewo, on July 1, 1889 (Baptism of Jan Tobiasz 1889). From this record and his marriage to his wife Antonina Murach (Wedding Wednesday – Marriage of Jan Tobiasz and Antonina Murach), I was able to identify his parents as Michał Tobiasz and Rozalia Nowak. With this information, I was able to find BMD records for his siblings and parents within the Straszewo Parish films.
The marriage record for my great-great grandparents, Michał Tobiasz and Rozalia Nowak (Marriage of Michał Tobiasz and Rozalia Nowak 1885), had also shed a light on the parents of Michał. The names of my 3x great-grandparents were Ignacy Tobiasz and Zofia Karpik. Previously, I had posted many articles detailing the information that I acquired to further expand my Tobiasz research efforts. Here are a few of these article posts:
- Koneck Parish Films – Getting Closer To Solving My Tobiasz Mystery
- Madness Monday: I Thought I had Spotted Ignacy Tobjasz Hiding in the Koneck Parish
- The Super Stealth of Ignacy Tobiasz
- Madness Monday: Catch Us If You Can – The Continuing Adventure of Ignacy Tobiasz and Family
- Moving Along Voivodeship Road 252
As you can tell from reading any of the articles above or any of my Tobiasz ancestor BMD record translations, there was not one locality or parish that the family called their ancestral home. From the 1860’s to the early 1900’s, the roots of my Tobiasz ancestors stretched throughout lower Kujawy. My Tobiasz ancestors can be found in the following parishes: Straszewo, Koneck, Łowiczek, and Siniarzewo. The earliest records that I was lucky enough to have found were from the Góra Parish, which is southeast of Inowrocław. The Góra Parish has Tobiasz BMD records as far back as the 1790’s and stretch until the 1830’s. There were also a couple records that pointed to the Pieranie Parish, but only one marriage record that was found. The next timeframe that my Tobiasz ancestors appeared would be in the 1850’s in the Siniarzewo Parish.
Where were they between the 1830’s and 1850’s? Where was my 3x great-grandfather Ignacy? Where did he and his wife marry and have children? Where did his parents die? So many questions and no answers.
During my research, I had many theories and ideas as to where I would find my Tobiasz ancestors. At first, my research concentrated north of the Straszewo, Koneck, and Łowiczek Parishes. I’ve searched the following parishes with no avail: Aleksandrów-Kujawski, Służewo, Zbrachlin, and Ostrowąs. Then my search took me west toward the Góra Parish. I had search the following parishes without any luck: Dąbrowa Biskupia, Chlewiska, Bąkowo, and Pieranie.
At this point, I thought that I would try another avenue. After hearing excellent referrals, I turned to the PGSA’s own “Correspondent in Poland”, Iwona Dakiniewicz.
More to come….
