Hi, Elizabeth. I was very excited to see your message. The information sounded very familiar and so I checked with my aunt and my father's cousin, both of whom are older and know more about family details. I would like to share with you what my dad's cousin Bobby told me. While his story and yours don't match exactly, there are too many similarities for me to believe it is a coincidence! He wrote:
THAT MESSAGE FROM ELIZABETH HAS A LOT OF FAMILIAR INFO IN IT BUT I'M NOT SURE ALL
THE FACTS ARE CORRECT. THE STORY AS IT WAS TOLD TO ME BY MY GRANDMOTHER, YOUR
GREAT GRANDMOTHER ROSE/ROSIE/ROZALIA GIZINSKI. ROSE GIZINSKI WAS MARRIED TO
JOSEPH GIZINSKI WHO HAD SEVERAL SISTERS NOT SURE HOW MANY BUT 5 SOUNDS RIGHT.
GRANNY GIZINSKI HAD ONE SISTER NAMED MARGARET OR AUNT MAGGIE AS I CALLED HER.
THE NAME OF ROSE AND MAGGIE BEFORE MARRIAGE WAS KORONKOWSKI. THE STORY GOES
THAT JOSEPH CAME TO U.S. FROM POLAND(WHICH WAS UNDER RUSSIAN CONTROL) ABOUT
1905 TO 1915 OR SO AND THAT HIS SISTERS WERENT VERY NICE TO HIM. HE HAD TO
SLEEP IN A STABLE AND EVEN MAKE HIS OWN SOAP AND WASH HIS CLOTHES IN THE
DELAWARE RIVER. I THINK JOSEPH HAD A SISTER NAMED JADWIGA WHO HAD A DAUGHTER
NAMED GENEVIEVE(AUNT JENNY). JADWIGA AND JENNY DIDNT GET ALONG VERY WELL AND
JENNY LIVED WITH ROSE JOSEPH GIZINSKI FOR SOME TIME AROUND 1930'S UNTIL SHE
MARRIED A MAN NAMED CARROLL MENTZELL AND THEY MOVED TO NEW KENSINGTON, PA. JUST
OUTSIDE PITTSBURGH. WE VISITED THEM SEVERAL TIMES IN FACT I HAVE A SCAR ON MY
WRIST WHERE THERE DOG BIT ME WHEN I WAS 5 YRS OLD. JENNY ALSO HAD A BROTHER
NAMED LEON/SWOPE JASINSKI COUSIN TO MY DAD AND YOUR GRANDFATHER JERRY GIZINSKI.
BY THE WAY JASINSKI WAS JADWIGA'S MARRIED NAME AND ALSO JENNY LEON JASINSKI.
I THINK THEY ALSO HAD A BROTHER OR HE MAY HAVE BEEN A SON OF ONE OF JOSEPH
GIZINSKI'S OTHER SISTERS. HIS NAME WAS CHARLES. I ALSO REMEMBER GRANNY ROSE
GIZINSKI BEING A VERY STUBBORN PERSON(GUESS THAT'S WHERE I GET IT FROM) AND SHE
COULD HOLD A GRUDGE FOR A LIFETIME WHICH SHE DID IN THE CASE OF JOSEPH
GIZINSKI'S SISTERS. BY THE WAY, YES GRANNY ROSE GIZINSKI DID LIVE AT 807 S. 2ND
ST WHEN SHE PASSED AWAY. THE HOUSE WAS OWNED BY YOUR GRANDMOTHER GIZINSKI'S
FAMILY,
VITAS/SPIKE.
What do you think? We must be talking about the same people- especially since we both have the same address. Actually I think that he did have at least one fact wrong- My granny Rose's maiden (unmarried) name was actually Nowak (Novak), not Koronkowski; my aunt said she thinks that Koronkowski was actually the maiden name of Rose's mother.
As for other Gizinskis, There is one man, a journalist in Poznan, Poland with whom I have corresponded in the past. His family name is Gizinski but we have not been able to establish a relation between our families. If you are interested in contacting him then I could give you his email address. I also have a book which lists the mailing addresses of 115 Gizinski individuals in the US, Germany, Australia, Great Britain, and Austria. If you'd like to see it, send me your mailing address and I'll send you a photocopy of those pages. In the future you can email me directly at:
jarapearl@aol.com.
I look forward to hearing from you soon. Bye! Jara :-)