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| Helene Kunkel née Klawikowska c. 1910 |
Helene Klawikowska was my great-great-grandmother. She had three husbands and eleven children. Her granddaughter Helen Pionke was my grandmother (see pedigree).
Helene Josephine Klawikowska was the youngest of eight children born to farm laborer Jacob Klawikowski and his wife Marianna Hebel. She was born on 8 May 1842 in Borek Szopy, a small settlement oustide the village Borek (Waldeck). At one week of age, Helene was baptized at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Strzepcz.
Helene's father died when she was nine years old; her mother died when she was sixteen. Helene remained in Borek Szopy, presumably residing with an older sibling, until she was married three years later.
Helene Klawikowska and first husband Julius Nagel
Helene Klawikowska married Julius Wilhelm Nagel in Strzepcz on 4 November 1861. She was 19 and he was 28. Julius Nagel, son of Johann Nagel and Anna Sarnowska, was a shoemaker living in Kętrzyno, a village in Rozłazino parish. I am very curious about how they met. Perhaps Julius was acquainted with one of Helene's older siblings who had moved from Borek Szopy to nearby villages within Rozłazino parish.
This map shows the location of Borek (Waldeck), a village which no longer exists. In 1869, the village population was only 88. Now, there is some sort of military installation at this location. Kętrzyno lies a little to the west of Borek. Some of Helene's siblings lived in Osiek, Nawcz, and Łówcz.
It is interesting to note that Julius Nagel's father Johann was Lutheran and his mother Anna was Catholic. Although Julius was baptized in the Bukowina (Buckowin) Evangelical parish, all records show that he was Catholic like his mother.
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| Leo Nagel c. 1925 |
Children of Julius Nagel and Helene Klawikowska:
- Leon Franz Nagel was born on 7 November 1862.
- Pauline Cecilia Nagel was born on 10 January 1865.
- Martha Johanna Nagel was born on 6 May 1867 and died on 20 January 1868.
- August Franz Nagel was born on 29 October 1868 and died on 7 January 1869.
Less than eight years after their wedding, Helene's husband Julius Nagel died of consumption on 8 April 1869 at age 36. Helene, who was only 26, was left a widow with two children.
Helene Klawikowska and second husband Johann v. Paschke
Ten months after her husband Julius Nagel's death, Helene (Klawikowska) Nagel married second husband Johann v. Paschke (Paszk, Paszki). Johann and Helene were married on 10 February 1870 in Rozłazino. Like Helene, Johann lived in Kętrzyno. He was 31 years old and this was his first marriage.
The v. Paszk family belonged to the szlachta, a Polish noble class. You can see the v. Paszk coats of arms on Polish Wikipedia here and here. Although this marriage was a step up in social class for Helene, don't imagine that she became rich overnight! Johann was not the owner of the village nor a large manor. Rather, he was a simple workman. Contrary to what we may have thought, this was not uncommon. In fact, the Kętrzyno entry in the Słownik Geograficzny (a Polish gazetteer compiled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries) says this:
Mieszkańcy po większej części uboga szlachta zaściankowa.
In English: Residents [of Kętrzyno] for the most part [are] poor parochial nobility.
A quick look through Rozłazino parish books confirms this. Living in Kętrzyno, a village with around 250-300 residents, were noble families v. Dombrowski, v. Studzinski, v. Dzinzelski, v. Pobłocki, v. Sychowski, v. Tuchlinski, v. Bichowski, v. Zelewski, v. Mach, v. Tempski, and more.
Shockingly, Johann v. Paschke died only two and a half months after his wedding. He died of heart fever on 26 April 1870 in Kętrzyno. And so Helene once again became a widow with two children under age 10.
Helene Klawikowska and third husband August Kunkel
About a half year after the death of her husband Johann v. Paschke, Helene became pregnant with her fifth child. Johann Joseph was born in Kętrzyno on 22 June 1871 and died only six days later. The baby's surname was recorded as Paschk in the Rozłazino parish baptism and death records. However, there is an annotation in his baptism record — August Kunkel's name was added to the field for father's name. The timing of events is odd: August and Helene married one month after this baby's death.
Helene (Klawikowska) Paschke married August Adam Kunkel, a tailor, on 30 July 1871 in Rozłazino parish. It was August's first marriage. Bride and groom were both 29 years old and residents of Kętrzyno.
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| August Kąkol - Helena Paszk 1871 marriage record, Rozłazino parish |
