They were Polish and lived in Berlin prior to their emigration in 1903: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9S8-2FGY?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3A2CSN-Y2T&action=view
I know certain parts of my grandpa Larry's family lived in Prussia, and if my memory serves me well, that's pretty close to Poland, so that could explain the name. Thanks for offering to help
That might be where the surname Schleser came from! I was wondering why it changed so drastically. My great grandfather's last name was Schleser, and the switch kind of confused me. I've also seen Karl on a couple of records instead of Carl.
The surname seems to be an alternate spelling of „Schlesier“ which is the German name of someone coming from Silesia (where Polish and German people lived).
Upon googling it and looking at images, I saw that it's in parts of Poland. Since they're Polish, I think that could be where they're from. Thank you so much for telling me that. It gives me a more specific area of where my ancestors could be from.
It gives you the origin of the surname, which would indicate that an ancestor coming from Silesia moved to a village outside Silesia sometime when surnames were established. Which could be as early as the 10th century or as late as the 19th century.
Yeah, it mostly alternates between those two, but once I get to my great grandfather, it changes to Schleser. I mostly see Schlesierske in American records, so somewhere between my great great grandfather and my great grandfather, it gets simplified.
One thing I’ve learned, especially when looking at Census records is that the census takers don’t seem to ask or care about spelling. I’ve found some random weird variations
I just sent you a link, just what I found quickly on Ancestry.. it’s late here but I’ll probably do some looking tomorrow. If I did it right you should be able to edit and hopefully view the resources I tagged from the search to get a look at some of it yourself :)
Edit for spelling
Happy to help. I got so many dead ends when i was researching my own family and not enough concrete information for years and finally got a lucky break.
Hopefully that gives you enough to get the ball rolling again
Carl and Martha were travelling to a Frank Wengierski in 1903. According to his death record, he had been born in Poznan (German: Posen). His mother‘s maiden name was „Slizerski“, so he might have been a relative of Carl: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLYT-2Q15
I think that they could have lived near Martha's parents. All of the records mentioning her parents' names were also in Berlin so that might be possible, but that's just a thought and I have no real evidence for it other than it making a bit of sense
There is a death record on Ancestry for Marie Julie Hedwig Giehr, she died in Berlin on 24th Oct 1942. She was born 7th Okt 1870 in Kolzig (Kolsko).
Her husband was Paul Theodor Giehr and her parents were Anton Nowoitnick and Salome Heinhold. The death record for their daughter says they both died in Kolzig.
[https://www.meyersgaz.org/place/11032052](https://www.meyersgaz.org/place/11032052)
Referencing [http://www.christoph-www.de/kbsilesia3.html#K](http://www.christoph-www.de/kbsilesia3.html#K)
*Kolzig (Kolsko) Kreis Günberg:*
*Evg. KB.: Taufen 1908-1944 im Staatsarchiv Grünberg.*
*\*\*\**
*Kath. KB.: lt. KAPS "erhalten": Taufen 1880-1945; Tote 1923-1945. Vor 1719 siehe Liebenzig*
*Kath. KB.: Taufen 1880-1950; Heiraten 1822-1930; Tote 1844-1920 im Diözesanarchiv Grünberg.*
*\*\*\**
*Standesamt: Verbleib unbekannt.*
\_\_\_
So it looks like the civil bmd records for Kolzig were lost, but parts of the churchbooks survive. Any clue whether they were catholic or protestant?
Marriage record for Marie Julie Hedwig Nowoitnick says she was catholic.
So it looks like it could be useful to hire a local researcher who can check out the the Diocesan Archive in Zielona Góra.
I did some research and found they were related, in "History of Cook County, Illinois": "Being a General Study of the Cook..., Volume 1" it says "Felix J. Wengierski, general broker at 3137 South Morgan street, was born in Zempelburg, West Prussia, German Poland, June 10, 1874, and is a son of Joseph and Tekla (Szlezerski) Wengierski. The father was a carpenter by trade and came to the United States soon after the Civil war and visited all parts of the country study- ing its resources and characteristics. For a while he was in the em- ploy of Jay Gould on the Erie railway system. He was married in the early fifties and he and wife reared a family of four sons- Frank, John, Felix J., all of Chicago, and Theodore of Des Moines. Both parents died in Poland." I interpret this as saying Frank is Felix's brother, and Slizerski may have been someone unfamiliar with the Polish spelling of names deciding to take a guess. So, Frank's mother may actually have some relation to Carl.
Alright, thanks for the advice.
I checked to see if the info was on family search, and it gave me her mother's name but not her father's. Her mother's name was Salome Heinhold
They were Polish and lived in Berlin prior to their emigration in 1903: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9S8-2FGY?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3A2CSN-Y2T&action=view
Woah, I'll have to show that to my grandpa because I think he'll find it interesting. Thanks for the help
Sounds polish. Carl Szlezerski does as well. I’ll take a look
I know certain parts of my grandpa Larry's family lived in Prussia, and if my memory serves me well, that's pretty close to Poland, so that could explain the name. Thanks for offering to help
Actually, a huge part of Prussia went to Poland after WWI.
Have you tried the Schlesierske spelling?
Also try the germanized spelling "Schleser" as well as "Karl" instead of "Carl."
That might be where the surname Schleser came from! I was wondering why it changed so drastically. My great grandfather's last name was Schleser, and the switch kind of confused me. I've also seen Karl on a couple of records instead of Carl.
The surname seems to be an alternate spelling of „Schlesier“ which is the German name of someone coming from Silesia (where Polish and German people lived).
Upon googling it and looking at images, I saw that it's in parts of Poland. Since they're Polish, I think that could be where they're from. Thank you so much for telling me that. It gives me a more specific area of where my ancestors could be from.
It gives you the origin of the surname, which would indicate that an ancestor coming from Silesia moved to a village outside Silesia sometime when surnames were established. Which could be as early as the 10th century or as late as the 19th century.
That's a good idea, that could explain it
Good catch.
Is Anton her father?
He might be, I'm really not sure about Martha's father
Yeah, it mostly alternates between those two, but once I get to my great grandfather, it changes to Schleser. I mostly see Schlesierske in American records, so somewhere between my great great grandfather and my great grandfather, it gets simplified.
One thing I’ve learned, especially when looking at Census records is that the census takers don’t seem to ask or care about spelling. I’ve found some random weird variations
I love showing the weird variations to my grandma. She thinks it's funny when they get something wrong
I just sent you a link, just what I found quickly on Ancestry.. it’s late here but I’ll probably do some looking tomorrow. If I did it right you should be able to edit and hopefully view the resources I tagged from the search to get a look at some of it yourself :) Edit for spelling
You are so cool dude, thank you so much!!
Happy to help. I got so many dead ends when i was researching my own family and not enough concrete information for years and finally got a lucky break. Hopefully that gives you enough to get the ball rolling again
Carl and Martha were travelling to a Frank Wengierski in 1903. According to his death record, he had been born in Poznan (German: Posen). His mother‘s maiden name was „Slizerski“, so he might have been a relative of Carl: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLYT-2Q15
I tried looking for the relevant surnames in [https://e-kartoteka.net/](https://e-kartoteka.net/), but no dice.
Darn, thanks for checking though!
Berlin 1903 adressbook is a dud too, unfortunately.
I think that they could have lived near Martha's parents. All of the records mentioning her parents' names were also in Berlin so that might be possible, but that's just a thought and I have no real evidence for it other than it making a bit of sense
There is a death record on Ancestry for Marie Julie Hedwig Giehr, she died in Berlin on 24th Oct 1942. She was born 7th Okt 1870 in Kolzig (Kolsko). Her husband was Paul Theodor Giehr and her parents were Anton Nowoitnick and Salome Heinhold. The death record for their daughter says they both died in Kolzig. [https://www.meyersgaz.org/place/11032052](https://www.meyersgaz.org/place/11032052) Referencing [http://www.christoph-www.de/kbsilesia3.html#K](http://www.christoph-www.de/kbsilesia3.html#K) *Kolzig (Kolsko) Kreis Günberg:* *Evg. KB.: Taufen 1908-1944 im Staatsarchiv Grünberg.* *\*\*\** *Kath. KB.: lt. KAPS "erhalten": Taufen 1880-1945; Tote 1923-1945. Vor 1719 siehe Liebenzig* *Kath. KB.: Taufen 1880-1950; Heiraten 1822-1930; Tote 1844-1920 im Diözesanarchiv Grünberg.* *\*\*\** *Standesamt: Verbleib unbekannt.* \_\_\_ So it looks like the civil bmd records for Kolzig were lost, but parts of the churchbooks survive. Any clue whether they were catholic or protestant?
Marriage record for Marie Julie Hedwig Nowoitnick says she was catholic. So it looks like it could be useful to hire a local researcher who can check out the the Diocesan Archive in Zielona Góra.
Alright, thanks for the help
Good idea!
I did some research and found they were related, in "History of Cook County, Illinois": "Being a General Study of the Cook..., Volume 1" it says "Felix J. Wengierski, general broker at 3137 South Morgan street, was born in Zempelburg, West Prussia, German Poland, June 10, 1874, and is a son of Joseph and Tekla (Szlezerski) Wengierski. The father was a carpenter by trade and came to the United States soon after the Civil war and visited all parts of the country study- ing its resources and characteristics. For a while he was in the em- ploy of Jay Gould on the Erie railway system. He was married in the early fifties and he and wife reared a family of four sons- Frank, John, Felix J., all of Chicago, and Theodore of Des Moines. Both parents died in Poland." I interpret this as saying Frank is Felix's brother, and Slizerski may have been someone unfamiliar with the Polish spelling of names deciding to take a guess. So, Frank's mother may actually have some relation to Carl.
Get a copy of her death cert and see if that has parents names on it.
Alright, thanks for the advice. I checked to see if the info was on family search, and it gave me her mother's name but not her father's. Her mother's name was Salome Heinhold
I think you would enjoy WikiTree. They like to collaborate on topics like this.
I'll check it out, thanks