Early Sychowski Families in Chicago

This post is an introduction to the Sychowski families who came to Chicago in the late 19th century.

Daughters of Frank and Anna (Pionke)
Sychowski, c. 1905 Chicago

Let me begin by saying that I am not a Sychowski descendant. However, my family tree connects to Sychowski families at least four different times—beginning with Albertina Stefanowska (sister of my 3rd-great-grandmother Josephine Pionke), who married Franz v. Sychowski in 1840.

As I began to add these Sychowski branches to my tree, I found many other Sychowskis in Chicago records. For example, there were four different Joseph Sychowskis born between 1854 and 1857 living in Chicago. There were three Johns and three Augusts in this age range. Which were related to me? How were they related to each other?

Eventually I discovered that there were five different Sychowski family groups who migrated from West Prussia to Chicago. Three of these families are closely related to each other. There is every chance that they are all related to one another but there are too many missing records to establish that as fact. Perhaps their male descendants will be able to prove it with yDNA testing.

Noble roots

Many people researching their family trees hope to find royal or noble ancestors. Well, if you descend from one of these Sychowski families, congratulations! You had noble ancestors. All of these families are called "v. Sychowski" (von Sychowski) in early records which, in that context, indicates a noble family. In many cases, the priest also wrote some form of "nobilis" in the record to indicate the family's status.

However, only one Sychowski kept the "von" in his name upon arriving in Chicago—and even he only used it sporadically. The surname von Sychowski only appears in an early city directory and on August's headstone at St. Joseph Cemetery.

August and Mathilda (Drogosch) von Sychowski
headstone, St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery

The five Sychowski family groups in Chicago are outlined below.

This map shows the parishes Luzino, Rozłazino, Góra, Strzepcz, and Kielno where the Chicago Sychowski families lived before emigrating.