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The Search for Roman Witek's SZTORC Family in the United States

My initial focus was to find records in the microfilmed Polish Church registers for these SZTORC siblings in order to have a frame of reference. I first looked for the baptism/birth records for Józef and his siblings in the records of the Łęki church. Roman knew that his grandfather's birthdate was 18 Nov 1890, and I was able to find a record on that date for Josephus SZTORC. Following are the children born to Paulus and Agnes STANIEC SZTORC. (The records for Łęki Parish are in Latin, for the most part. All given names are in the Latin form.)

Birth record of Franciscus SZTORC:
Birth/baptism, LDS microfilm 1898739, item 1, page 139, #40
1885 July, born 2, baptized 5, house 285
Franciscus, Catholic, son, legitimate
Father: Paulus Sztorc, son of Thomas and Marianna nee Madej
Mother: Agnes, daughter of Laurentius Staniec and Marianna nee Zima
Godparents: Valentinus Boro, Rosalia Staniec

Birth record of Anna SZTORC:
Birth/baptism, LDS microfilm 1898739, item 1, page 158, #8
1888 February, born 8, baptized 19, house 285
Anna, Catholic, daughter, legitimate
Father: Paulus Sztorc, son of Thomas, hortulanus, and Marianna nee Madej
Mother: Agnes, daughter of Franciscus Slawinski (sic) and Marianna nee Zima
Godparents: Joannes Walkowza, Anna Podraza

Birth record of Josephus (Jozef) SZTORC:
Birth/Baptism record, LDS microfilm 1898739, item 1, page 181, #61
1890 November, born 18, baptized 19, house 285
Josephus, Catholic, son, legitimate
Father: Paulus Sztorc, hortulanus, son of Thomas and Eva nee Madej
Mother: Agnes, daughter of Laurentius Staniac and Marianna nee Zima
Godparents: Bartholomeus Pyrchla, Carolina Koziol
(Obstetrix: Anna Galus)

Birth record of Jan (John) SZTORC:
Birth/Baptism record, LDS microfilm 1898739, item 1, page 206, #33
1893 June, born 8, baptized 10, house 285
Johanna, Catholic, son, legitimate
Father: Paulus Sztorc, hortulanus, son of Thomas and Heva nee Madej
Mother: Agnes, daughter of Laurentius Staniac and Marianna nee Zima
Godparents: Thomas Storc, Catharina Medryga (best guess on this last name)
(Obstetrix: Catharina Galus)

Birth record of Stanislaus SZTORC:
Birth/Baptism record, LDS microfilm 1898739, item 2, page 1, #39
1896 July, born 18, baptized 19, house 285; died 30 (month 4 or 9) 1898 (date of death noted on baptism record)
Stanislaus, Catholic, son, legitimate
Father: Paulus Sztorc, son of Michaelis and Magdalina born of Thomas and Heva nee Madej
Mother: Agnes, daughter of Laurentius Staniac and Marianna nee Zima
Godparents: Josephus Sztorc, Anna Bernas

I did not find a birth/baptism record for a Stephania SZTORC.

I checked the 1930 United States Census, and I found the following entries for the state of Illinois, Cook county, city of Chicago:

1930 U.S. Federal Census, Illinois, Cook County, Chicago (Districts 1001-1250), District 1119
921 Newton Street
Dwelling 205, family 485
Frank STORC was listed as head of household, age 44 (born circa 1886), he was age 24 when he first married, born in Poland, immigrated in 1909, first papers were filed. Enumerated with Frank were his wife Anna, and five children: Sophie, Joseph, Mary, Stefia and Edward. Anna was age 45 (born circa 1885), she was 25 years old when first married, born in Poland, immigrated in 1907. Daughter Sophie was age 17 (1913); son Joseph was 15 (1915); daughter Mary was 13 (1917); daughter Stefia was 10 (1920); and son Edward was age 6 (1924); all were born in Illinois.

1930 U.S. Federal Census, Illinois, Cook County, Chicago (Districts 2627-2876), District 2759
5237 New Port Avenue
John STORC was listed as head of household, age 37 (born circa 1893), age 23 when he first married, born in Poland, he immigrated in 1913 and was naturalized. Enumerated with John were his wife Katherine and two children: Teddy and Bernice. Katherine was 35 years old (born circa 1895), she was 21 when she first married, born in Poland, immigrated in 1911. Son Teddy was age 12 (1918), daughter Bernice was age 10 (1920) -- both were born in Illinois.

The calculated birth years of Frank and John in the 1930 census are consistent with the birth records found in the Polish microfilms. At this point I am speculating that the two men in the 1930 census are Jozef's brothers, who immigrated to the United States. Further information needs to be found to confirm my speculation. See the Updates below. Confirmation has been found. (January 2005)

Since Frank immigrated in 1909 and John in 1913, I should be able to find both Frank and John in the 1920 census. I ordered the Illinois 1920 Soundex microfilms. I did not find any entries that came close to matching Frank or his family members. Following is an entry for a John STORC family:

1920 Illinois Soundex
Vol 60, ED 897, sheet 2, line 17
STORC, John, white, age 46, born Poland, First Papers submitted
Cook County, Chicago, Wood (street) 821 (address)
Others:
STORC, Katherine, wife, age 25, born Poland, alien
STORC, Theodore, son, age 2 5/12, born Illinois

While the age for John does not compute (he was 37 in the 1930 census, so he should be about 27 in 1920), the information given for John's wife and son, match with what was given in the 1930 census. The actual census shows that John immigrated in 1913, which does match the 1930 census.

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Updates

I had searched the Ellis Island records a while ago, but did not find anyone who seemed to fit Frank or John SZTORC. I tried again. From the webpage http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/eidb/ellisshort.html, Searching the Ellis Island Database in One Step (Short Form), I used the following search criteria: First Name, starts with "f"; Last Name, sounds like "Storc"; Year of arrival is between 1905 and 1910. This brings up 331 entries. Browsing through the entries, I saw a Storz, Franciszek, whose residence was Lekigorne, Galicia, in 1909, age 23. Information from the ship manifest is as follows: Ship S. S. Kaiser Wilhelm II, sailing from Bremen, October 12 1909, arriving at the Port of New York, October 20, 1909 Line 23, Storz, Franciszek, age 23, Occupation farm laborer, Can read and write, Subject of Austria, Nationality Polish, Last permanent residence, Galicia, Leki Gorne. Franciszek's nearest relative in Poland was his Mother Agnieszka Storc in Leki Gorne; his final destination was Chicago, Illinois. He paid for his own passage. He was going to be with his sister Anna Sztorc at 1220 Frey (Fry) street in Chicago, Illinois. He was 5 feet 4 inches tall, had fair complexion, fair hair and blue eyes. His place of birth was Leki Gorne, Galicia.

Following are fragments of the ship manifest listing Franciszek STORZ (see line 23):

LIST OR MANIFEST OF ALIEN PASSENGERS FOR THE UNITED
STATES IMMIGRATION OFFICER AT PORT OF ARRIVAL

S.S. Kaiser Wilhelm II sailing from Bremen [Germany], October 12, 1909
Arriving at Port of New York, October 20, 1909 1:20 a.m.

From the birth/baptism records for Łęki Górne we know that Frank/Franciszek's mother's name was Agnieszka and that he had a sister named Anna. Obviously Frank's sister Anna immigrated to the United States sometime before 1909. He gave her address as 1220 Frey street in Chicago, which I believe should be Fry street. I used this address information to find the enumeration district for the 1910 census, but I did not find Anna or Frank enumerated at this address or within the enumeration district. They may have moved to another address after Frank immigrated.

I later found Anna on a ship manifest for the SS Pennsylvania, which sailed from Hamburg, Germany, on 30 March 1906, and arrived at the Port of New York on 13 April 1906. Anna was going to Chicago, Illinois, to be with her step-brother, Jan STAWARZ. This posed another mystery: Who was Jan STAWARZ?

While looking through the microfilms of the Łęki Church Records, I serendipitously came across a baptism record for a Joannes STAWARZ, son of Antonius STAWARZ and Anna nee KOZIOŁ, born 13 Oct 1884. There was a small notation on the record stating that Joannes had married in S. Joannes Cantius Church in Chicago, on 10 Nov 1909. On another occasion I was paging through the Łęki marriages and found a record for Antonius STAWARZ (widower of Anna KOZIOŁ) and Agnes nee STANIEC (widow of Paulus SZTORC) married on 7 May 1903. This explains the step-brother relationship between Anna SZTORC and Jan STAWARZ.

I am still looking for Jan \ John SZTORC on a ship manifest.

I searched for additional Cook county, Illinois, resources, and I found several helpful links from The Newberry Libary webpage http://www.newberry.org/genealogy/L3gabout.html. One link took me to the Polish Genealogical Society of America (PGSA) website. There is a death index for obituaries published in the Polish newspaper Dziennik Chicagoski. I searched this index using the surname "STORC", and I found entries for a Franciszek and a Joanna, wife of Franciszek, STORC. I ordered copies of these obituaries. The information contained in them confirms that this is the Frank SZTORC for whom we have been searching.

Obituaries for Franciszek and Joanna STORC Dziennik Chicagoski (Polish Chicago Newspaper)
Franciszek STORC died 22 April 1950. He was a member of the Name of Jesus Society (Holy Name Society) and the Klub Łęczanie (Klubu Łęczan), a group of people who were from Łęki. His address was 921 N. Honore street. Burial was on 24 April 1950 from Holy Innocents church to St. Adalbert cemetery. He was survived by his wife Joanna; children, Zofia, Józef, Marianna, Stefania and Edward; sons-in-law, Józef Zmuda, Franciszek Filipowski and Edwin Gonsowski; daughter-in-law, Stanisława; brothers and sister-in-law, Jan and Katarzyna, (Józef, in Poland). Joanna STORC, wife of the deceased Franciszek STORC, died 28 January 1963. She was a member of the Women's Rosary Society and the Klub Łęczanie (Klubu Łęczan). Burial was on 31 January 1963 from Holy Innocents church to St. Adalbert cemetery. She was survived by children, Zofia, Józef, Marianna, Stefania and Edward; sons-in-law, Józef Zmuda, Franciszek Filipowski and Edwin Gonsowski; daughter-in-law, Stanisława; sister and brother-in-law, Maria and Franciszek Skóra. Both Franciszek and Joanna were buried from the R. F. Malec Funeral Home. I found reference to Klub Leczan #1 on page http://www.ihrc.umn.edu/research/vitrage/all/po/ihrc2183.html (Immigration History Research Center). Klub Leczan was "a charitable organization, [that] was founded in Chicago in 1923; members were persons from Leki Gorne, Poland, who provided aid to those in the homeland."

These obituaries confirmed the names of Franciszek and Joanna's children and named their children's spouses. I found an online archive for the Chicago Tribune newspaper. I searched the archive for any articles about the people named in Franciszek and Joanna's obituaries. I was able to find an obituary for their daughter Stefania STORC GONSOWSKI.

Following is an extract of the information contained in Stephania's obituary:
Stephanie S. Gonsowski dated 3 Dec 2003
Stephanie S. GONSOWSKI, born STORC, husband is Edwin (still living in Nov 2003)
Children: Richard and Sally (wife of Duane Ratay)
Grandchildren: Mark, Brian, Laura, Steven, Kevin
Siblings: Mary (wife of Frank Filipowski); Sophie (deceased, wife of deceased Joseph Zmuda), Joseph (deceased - wife is Stella - still living in Nov 2003), Edward (deceased)
Funeral was from Baran Funeral Home to St. Ferdinand Church. Buried St. Adalbert Cemetery.

Another database on the Polish Genealogical Society of America (PGSA) website is a Marriage Index for Polish Parishes in Chicago through 1915. This is an index of several LDS (Mormon) microfilmed church marriage registers. I searched this database using the surname 'STORC' as my search criteria. One entry was that of Frank STORC and Joanna PLEBANEK, who were married 21 February 1911 at St. John Cantius Church in Chicago. I ordered the referenced microfilm #1704115, and subsequently I found the copy of Frank and Joanna's marriage record. Since I knew the approximate birth years of Frank and Joanna's children from the census records, I also ordered the microfilm #1704113 that contains the baptism records for St. John Cantius Church for the period 1909-1914.

Marriage Record for Franciszek STORC and Joanna PLEBANEK
STORC Franciszek and PLEBANEK Joanna 1911 21 February
Franciszek Storc of Łeki powiat Pilzno Galicia, son of Paweł and Agnieszka nee Staniec baptized at Łeki diocese of Tarnów on 15 August 1886* Joanna Plebanek of Adeso(?) Galicia, daughter of Jakob and Rozalie nee Czuba baptized at Szenwald diocese of Tarnów on 13 September 1885 Witnesses: Piotr Staniec and Michał Plebanek Source: LDS (Mormon) microfilm 1704115, Church records, Catholic Church, St. John Cantius, Chicago, Illinois Marriages 1909-1915, Items 1-4 *This date does not match the microfilmed birth/baptism records of the Łęki Górne parish which gives Franciszek's date of birth as 2 July 1885. Names of parents and place of birth do match.

The LDS microfilm #1704113 has the baptism records for St. John Cantius Church in Chicago for the years 1909-1914. Frank and Joanna's daughter, Sophie, was 17 years old at the time of the 1930 census, so her approximate year of birth was 1913. Each microfilmed book is indexed by the name of the child's father and I found Franciszek SZTORC listed in the index. Zofia SZTORC was born 6 July 1912, baptized 7 July 1912; the daughter of Franciszek SZTORC and Joanna PLEBANEK. Her Godparents were Rudolf MICEK and Maryanna PLEBANEK.

While going through the baptism index, I extracted all the entries for SZTORC and similar spellings. One of the listings was for a Jan STORC. It turns out that he was not the brother of Frank, however, browsing down the other baptism entries on that same page was an entry for an Edward Franciszek MICEK, son of Rudolf MICEK and Anna nee SZTORC, born 5 September 1912. Edward's Godparents were Franciszek SZTORC and Zofia MOZGOWIEC. Could it be that this Anna was the sister of the Frank and John STORC? I went back to the marriage microfilm, located the entry in the index for Rudolf MICEK, then looked up the actual marriage record. There she was, Anna SZTORC, daughter of Paweł SZTORC and Agnieszka STALEC, of Łęki powiat Pilzno Galicia. There is a little variation on the spelling of Agnieszka's last name, but I felt it was close enough, in context with the rest of the information.

Marriage Record for Rudolf MICEK and Anna SZTORC
MICEK Rudolf and SZTORC Anna 1911 19 September
Rudolf Micek of Szenwald Galicia, son of Stanisław and Kornelia nee Kusek Anna Sztorc of Łęki powiat Galicia, daughter of Paweł and Agnieszka Stalec Witnesses: Wojciech Gandek and Jan Sysło Source: LDS (Mormon) microfilm 1704115, Church records, Catholic Church, St. John Cantius, Chicago, Illinois Marriages 1909-1915, Items 1-4

1920 U.S. Census, Illinois, Cook County (Chicago), Chicago, ED# 952, Page 10B
1340 Holt Street, Dwelling 72, family 213
Micek, Rudolf, head, rents, male, white, age 39, married, immigrated 1909, alien, born Russian Poland, parents same, Shipping Clerk, Plumbers Supplies
Micek, Maria, wife, female, white, age 30(?), married, immigrated 1908, born Russian Poland, parents same
Micek, Wladyslaw, son, male, white, age 6, single, born Illinois
Micek, Stefania, daughter, female, white, age 4 2/12, single, born Illinois
Micek, Joseph, son, male, white, age 2, single, born Illinois

1930 United States Federal Census, Illinois, Cook County, Chicago District 1015, Page 16A
4312 Cortez Street, Dwelling 155, family 280
Micek, Rudolph, head, rents, male, white, age 47, married, age 20 when first married, born Poland, parents same, immigrated 1907, naturalized, laborer, laundry
Micek, Mary, wife, female, white, age 39, married, age 18, when first married, born Poland, parents same, immigrated 1906, naturalized
Micek, Walter, son, male, white, age 17, single, born Illinois, helper, Automatic Co.
Micek, Stefany, daughter, female, white, age 14, single, born Illinois
Micek, Joseph, son, male, white, age 12, single, born Illinois
Micek, Josephine, daughter, female, white, age 9, single, born Illinois
Micek, Chester, son, male, white, age 6, single, born Illinois

Of note is the fact that the name of the wife is given as Maria or Mary on these census records. In the following obituary for Rudolf MICEK, his wife is named as Marianna. Are Anna and Maria and Marianna the same person?

Obituary for Rudolf MICEK Dziennik Chicagoski (Polish Chicago Newspaper)

Rudolf MICEK died 5 July 1939. He was living at 2313 N. Monitor Avenue. Burial was on the 8 of July from St. Jacob Church to St. Adalbert cemetery in the family plot. He was survived by his wife Marianna, children, Władisław, Stefania, Józef, Józefina, i Czesław; son-in-law, Jan Sobota; brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Jan and Katarzyna Storc, Franciszek and Joanna Storc, Paweł, Stefania Pinkoś. One of the photographs sent to me from Poland by Roman Witek was of Stefania and Jan Sobota. Rudolf's obituary links Stefania as a daughter of Rudolf and Marianna STORC MICEK. One mystery solved....

I have found no other information about Anna or Marianna.
Since no further mention is found of Rudolf and Anna's first-born son Edward Franciszek MICEK, I believe he may have died in infancy.
Son Władysław \ Walter MICEK was born 2 Nov 1913 and baptized in St. John Cantius Church in Chicago. A notation on his baptism record showed he married Marie D. McDONALD on 3 October 1942 at St. Lucy's Church. The online Social Security Death Index (SSDI) shows his date of death as 01 Sep 1990.
Stephania MICEK was born 21 November 1915. She married Jan Sobota. The SSDI shows she died 23 Dec 1998. Stephania's husband John, died 26 May 1978. His obituary in the Chicago Tribune named one son, John M. as a survivor. John (the father) is buried at Maryhill Cemetery.
According to the 1930 census, Joseph MICEK was born about 1918. I have no further information about him.
Josephine MICEK was born about 1921, based on her age at the time of the 1930 census. I have no further information about her.
Chester was born about 1924, based on his age in the 1930 census. Chester married Helen SOBOTA. According to Joe Zmuda's Aunt Mary, Helen was a sister of Jan SOBOTA who married Stephania. I don't know anything more about them at this time.

Obituary for Jan STORC Dziennik Chicagoski (Polish Chicago Newspaper)

Jan STORC died 21 October 1954. He was living at 1056 N. Hermitage Avenue. Burial was on the 23 of October from Holy Innocents Church to St. Adalbert cemetery in the family plot. He was survived by his wife Katarzyna (nee Burdelik), children, Tadeusz, Bronisław and Loretta; sons-in-law, Jan Burdelik and Tadeusz Walczak; (Józef, brother in Poland); sister-in-law, Joanna Storc; grandson, Daniel and granddaughter Cynthia. The 1930 Illinois U.S. census lists Teddy, age 12, and Bernice, age 10, as the children of John and Katherine STORC. This obituary names Tadeusz, who would be Teddy. Next is Bronisław, which is a male given name. Last is Loretta. There are two sons-in-law named (Jan Burdelik and Tadeusz Walczak), but only one daughter. In March 2005 the family photograph of John and Katherine STORC was positively identified by a granddaughter of Frank and Joanna STORC. Jan Burdelik was the husband of Bernice STORC, probably Bronisława. Tadeusz Walczak is the husband of Loretta STORC.

Photographs from Joseph ZMUDA - Descendant of Frank STORC -- On Page 5

Created November 29, 2003 - Updated August 26, 2005
Graphics by Marge
From photo of Forget Me Not flowers from my Mom's garden