Family of Jacob Pionke and Franciska Leik

This post is the third in a series examining the nine early Pionke, Pionk, Pionek, and Piontke family groups in Chicago, Wisconsin, and South Dakota. Today's topic is the family of Jacob Pionke and Franciska Leik. Jacob was the brother of my 3rd-great-grandfather, Valentin Pionke.

Jacob Pionk or Pionke was the youngest child of Paul Pionk and Anna Bazowa. He was born on 2 August 1830 in the small village Zęblewo and was baptized in Strzepcz Catholic parish (St. Mary Magdalene). This region is now in north central Poland, but at that time it was part of West Prussia.

Franciska Leik was the eldest daughter of Franz Leik and Franciska Samp. She was born in Dąbrowka on 4 August 1825 and was baptized in Luzino Catholic parish (St. Lawrence).

Jacob Pionke married Franciska Leik on 20 November 1853 in Strzepcz. The groom was a resident of Mały Donimierz; the bride resided in Smażyno. Their first child was born in Mały Donimierz.

Children of Jacob Pionke and Franciska Leik

Jacob was a laborer, and his work — or perhaps a search for work — must have taken him and his wife to various villages in the area. They had eight children in 15 years, born in seven different villages. Their children were baptized in Strzepcz and Kielno (St. Wojciech) Catholic parishes.

This map shows the villages where the children were born (Mały Donimierz, Pobłocie, Łebno, Załączne, Donimierz, Szemud, and Szemudzka Huta) and also the locations of the parishes Strzepcz and Kielno. Załączne is not on the map; it was a small settlement southeast of Szemud.





Of Jacob and Franciska's eight children, two died as babies. The other six all lived to adulthood and eventually emigrated.

• Josephine (Sophie) was born on 8 Sep 1854 in Mały Donimierz and baptized in Kielno.
• Albrecht or Wojciech (Albert) was born on 24 April 1856 in Pobłocie and baptized in Strzepcz.
• Valentin (Valentine Pionek) was born on 18 January 1858 in Pobłocie and baptized in Strzepcz.
• Anna was born on 22 May 1860 in Łebno and baptized in Strzepcz.
• Joseph was born on 16 March 1863 in Załączne and baptized in Kielno.
• Rosalia was born on 2 June 1865 in Donimierz and baptized in Kielno. She died on 1 April 1866 in Szemud.
• Marianna was born on 16 January 1868 in Szemudzka Huta and baptized in Kielno. She died on 19 December 1868 in Szemud.
• Franz (Frank) was born on 10 November 1869 in Szemud and baptized in Kielno.

Jacob Pionke died on 14 August 1869 in Szemud, before his youngest son was born. I do not think his widow Franciska remarried — certainly she had not remarried by 1876 when her name appears as a witness to her son Valentine's marriage. I have not yet found Franciska's death record.

Jacob and Franciska's eldest two sons both married in Poland, in Strzepcz Catholic parish. Valentine Pionke (later Pionek) married the widow Augustina Palluch (née Hennig) in 1876. Their first two children were born in Łebno. Albert Pionke married Anna Burchacz in 1879 and their eldest daughter was also born in Łebno.

Emigration and life in the new world

Valentine and Albert were the first of Jacob Pionke's children to emigrate. Based on their naturalization records and voter registration in Chicago, they left between 1876 and 1878. If this is correct, they must have returned home a few years later because both their names appear in the Smażyno civil records: Albert was married there in 1879; Valentine reported the birth of his son there in 1880.

Valentine and Albert's wives and children came to the U.S. next. Augustina (Hennig) Pionke and three children arrived in 1881. The following year, Albert Pionke (presumably on his second trip to the U.S.) came back with his wife Anna (Burchacz) and their daughter.

I have not found any record of Joseph Pionke's immigration. But in 1883, his siblings Josephine, Anna, and Frank arrived in the U.S. with an Anna Pionke, age 56. The identity of this Anna Pionke is puzzle which I shall address in a later post.

Excerpt - Baltimore passenger lists. Ship: Ohio; Arrival: 20 Oct 1883.
Pionke family traveling with Burchacz family.

Like my Pionke ancestors, these six Pionke siblings all settled in Lake View (now on Chicago's north side, see map). St. Josaphat Church was founded in that neighborhood in 1884, giving the large number of Kashubians in the area their own parish. Before that, the Pionkes belonged to Chicago's first Polish parish (St. Stanislaus Kostka), where the family's first two American-born children were baptized.

In 1885, both Josephine and her brother Joseph got married at St. Josaphat's. Josephine Pionke, who went by the name Sophie, married Carl Briske (Bruske). Joseph Pionke married Anna Białas.

The year 1886 saw two more family weddings at St. Josaphat's. Anna Pionke married Joseph Burchacz, brother of Albert's wife Anna. Albert Pionke (whose first wife had died in late 1885) married second wife Francisca Renachowska. Youngest brother Frank Pionke married Francisca Labuda at St. Josaphat's in 1890.

In 1890 or 1891, Valentine Pionke moved to Portage County, Wisconsin, where there was a growing Polish-American community. After the move, the family began to use the surname Pionek instead of Pionke. The Pionek/Pionke family belonged to St. Casimir parish in the Town of Hull. The rest of Valentine's siblings remained in Chicago, in or near the St. Josaphat parish.

Jacob Pionke and Franciska Leik had a total of eight children, 32 grandchildren, and 69 great-grandchildren. Future posts will cover the lives of their children in greater detail.

Pionke Friday: We will post more about the Pionkes next Friday. This is the third post in a series about the Pionke, Pionk, and Pionek families here in the U.S. and back in the home country.

Related posts:

• Family of Paul Pionk and Anna Bazowa
• Family of Valentin Pionke and Josephine Stefanowska
• Early Pionke and Pionek Families in Chicago and Wisconsin
• More Early Pionke and Related Families in Chicago, Wisconsin, and Michigan
• Będargowo - Part I: A different story of Adam and Eve
• Będargowo - Part II: What the Prussians tell us
• On the trails of our ancestors
• Pionke — The mystery of a name

© TreeQuest: An Unexpected Journey 2016.

Reference:

• Family History Library Film #162398. Katholische Kirche Strepsch (Kr. Neustadt).
• Family History Library Film #529814. Kościół rzymsko-katolicki. Parafja Kielno (Wejherowo).
• Family History Library Film #850293, Item 3. Katholische Kirche Strepsch (Kr. Neustadt).
• Family History Library Film #529815. Kościół rzymsko-katolicki. Parafja Kielno (Wejherowo).
• FamilySearch.com: Illinois, Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925 [must login to view images]
• GenBaza.com: AP Gdansk, Urzedy Stanu Ciwilnego, Smażyno. 2088/8 [marriages 1876], 2088/10 [births 1877], 2088/17 [marriages 1879], 2088/19 [births 1880]. [account and login required]
• Ancestry.com. Baltimore, Passenger Lists, 1820-1964 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. [Ancestry subscription required]

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