Charles Wessolowsky

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"Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV22-PY4D : 15 June 2020), Charles Wessolowsky, 1904; Burial, , ; citing record ID , Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

was state senator was "Grand High Priest of the state of Georgia" in the Masons Reflections of southern Jewry: the letters of Charles Wessolowsky, 1878-1879 by Charles Wessolowsky, Edward B. M. Browne he was associate editor of The Jewish South, the first English-Jewish journal published in the Southern States "One of these founders was Charles Wessolowsky, who came to Albany from Savannah with his wife Johanna and their three children in 1869 and opened a grocery store. The Prussian-born Wesselowsky was a very gregarious and popular fellow and soon won election to the town’s board of alderman in 1870. In 1875, he was elected to the first of three terms in the state legislature. Wessolowsky also became a leader of the local Jewish community. He convinced other local Jews to form a Hebrew Benevolent Society to help those in need and founded the congregation’s religious school with his wife Johanna. Wessolowsky was active in both the Masons and the B’nai B’rith, which had been established in Albany in 1873.

Wessolowsky was more successful in politics than in business, and thus happily left the retail trade behind when he agreed to become the associate editor of the Jewish South newspaper in 1877. The paper had been founded by Rabbi E.B.M. Browne of Atlanta. Wessolowsky spent four years with the newspaper and often traveled across the South selling subscriptions to the Jewish South and organizing local chapters of B’nai B’rith. His letters to Rabbi Browne about the communities he visited have been recently published in the book Reflections of Southern Jewry." http://isjl.org/history/archive/ga/albany.html

Name: Charles Wesolosky Residence: Albany city (north part), Dougherty, Georgia Birth date: Sep 1835 Birthplace: Prussia Relationship to head-of-household: Self Spouse's name: Piza Wesolosky Spouse birthplace: Prussia Father's name: Father's birthplace: Prussia Mother's name: Mother's birthplace: Prussia Race or color (expanded): White Head-of-household name: Gender: Male Marital status: Married Years married: 42 Estimated marriage year: 1858 Mother how many children: Number living children: Immigration year: Enumeration district: 0044 Sheet number and letter: 4A Household id: 81 Reference number: 14 GSU film number: 1240193 Image number: 00487 Collection: United States Census, 1900

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-3169

Ashkenazic families settled in Albany in 1846, ten years after its founding. During the next three decades additional Jews leaving Europe joined them, forming in 1854 the United Hebrew Society of Albany. No synagogue was built until 1882, however, when Temple B'nai Israel was erected. Albany was the home of one of the most colorful figures in Georgia's Jewish history. Charles Wessolowsky, a Prussian immigrant and Confederate veteran who settled in the town, served the religious and moral needs of the area's Jews for twenty-three years. An outspoken proponent of religious toleration and widely known to be well educated, he was respected by Albany residents of all religions. Wessolowsky was also prominent as associate editor of the Jewish South, the first Jewish newspaper in the South; as a public lecturer; and in various elective offices.

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, September 20, 1862, p. 2, c. 2

Meeting in the 32d Regiment.

At a meeting of the German Jews of the 32d Regiment Georgia Volunteers, held at Battery Harrison, Sept. 16th, 1862,

Lieut. Morris Dawson was called to the Chair and M. D. Gortatowsky requested to act as Secretary.

The Chair then called upon Mr. C. Wessolowsky to explain the object of the meeting, who on rising, returned thanks for the honor, and proceeded as follows:

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen:--I indeed regret very much that the cause of our meeting to-day is based on matters which never should have occurred in such an enlightened century, and in such critical and troublesome times; but gentlemen, no doubt all of you have read the article in the Daily News of Friday last, headed "unlocated traders," in which you find a meeting held in Thomasville, wherein we as German Jews, have been calumniated and persecuted by them to such an extent as to prohibit our settling in their village, and that those residing there should leave after ten days notice, and after that period, to be forcibly driven from their homes. How you must have felt at hearing of the existence of such an unjust act at this age I can judge for myself. As a people, willing as we were, and are, to struggle for our adopted country, to sacrifice all that is dear to us, to abandon our second home, and leave our wives and children to the care of strangers not belonging to our society, or fraternity, we, our armor buckled, enduring all toils and hardships of a camp life, ready to shed our blood for the defence of our country, now to be denounced, slandered, and accused of unfidelity, and disloyalty to our country and government. I would refer the gentlemen of Thomasville, to the multitude of companies now in camps, that are filled with none but German Jews and foreigners, and ask them to cast a view upon the 70 Regiments of our noble State, and see how many Jews and foreigners, more or less, are in each; ask them to peruse the lists of donations, and see how liberal and free-hearted the German Jews and foreigners are in behalf of aiding their adopted country.

We are accused of speculating upon the necessities and wants of a people in the gloomy hour of its nation's trial. But, gentlemen, admitting that there are a few who practice extravagance, and are guilty of the charges preferred by the gentlemen of Thomasville against us; yet, as a people, we can flatter ourself to be as honest and true as any; and why should they condemn the whole mass for a few individuals?

Let us look at the gentlemen from Thomasville who claim nativity to Thomas county, and are entitled to citizenship of their village, and see if they themselves don't partake of this extortion. Behold them coming to market, the one with fowls and the other with eggs; ask their price, and "two dollars for a pair of chickens and seventy cents for a dozen eggs," will be the reply. Now, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, what is the cause of those high prices? Is it the scarcity of the articles, originated by our blockaded ports? Does it take more labor, expense, and time now to raise those articles than usual? or is it their zeal and patriotism towards their country in elevating the suffering of the sick and dying soldiers in hospitals? I, for myself, Mr. Chairman, can answer that it is neither, and only the love for money, and the knowledge that necessity compels us to buy the same, is the sole cause of this extortion! The German Jews pictured in that resolution as itinerant traders and merchants, can obtain their goods only through immense troubles and hardships and enormous prices�must they not sell them with more percentage than usual, and especially when they have to pay those outrageous prices for provisions? Surely they must. Now, Mr. Chairman, if you ask the gentlemen of Thomasville who are the extortioners, they will push the whole of the crime upon the German Jews and clear their own skirts by asserting their nativity,

We therefore, gentlemen, have met to-day to appeal jointly, as soldiers, to an enlightened public, in the name of our brethren and kinsmen who are far off in the midst of dangers and perils of the battle field, enduring the toils and hardships of camp life, and who have not the opportunity of asking justification from the public; and I hope you will take the proper and necessary steps to provide for the same.

On motion of Mr. P. Morris, a committee of five were appointed to draft suitable resolutions for the consideration of this meeting. The committee consisted of Messrs. A. H. Wopolowsky, Chas. Angel, H. Baer, H. Hopp, and Ph. Singer. The committee retired, and returning reported the following preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:

Whereas, We have read with astonishment and surprise the proceedings off a meeting held at Thomasville by its citizens, on the 30th ult., wherein German Jews and foreigners were denounced in unmeasurable terms�the former accused of all faults and vices of human society, and the latter even held as unfit for train hands, &c., &c.: Be it therefore

Resolved, That we esteem the members of the meeting held on that day at Thomasville with contempt, and deem the motive of the same based only upon selfishness and envy.

Resolved, That we advise all German Jews and foreigners henceforth to cut off all communication and friendly ties between them, and be separated for the future, as we deem them unworthy of the same.

Resolved, That we regard the resolutions adopted at that meeting in Thomasville as unbecoming and unworthy of gentlemen.

And be it further resolved, That the Savannah Republican, and all other papers in our State which are opposed to such foul slander, be requested to publish the above.

On motion the meeting adjourned.

M. Dawson, Chairman.

M. D. Gortatowsky, Sec'y.

The following information on the Origin of the Wesolowski name is from "My Irish and Polish Genealogy Page" located at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jkmacmul/namemeanings-coat...

'The Shield is: Gules, a hamade argent, of the ends couped obliquely towards the base. And: Azure, a horseshoe inverted argent between two cross bottony or top and bottom. The Crest is: On a crowned helmet, and issuing from a bowl or, a demi hound proper. And: Five ostrich feathers. Origin: Poland

Wesolowski was the surname borne by two noble Polish families who were septs of the great clans Korczak and Ogonczyk. The Wesolowski family of the clan Korczak had its ancestral seat located in Lithuania, where its existence was documented in 1546. In 1544 this family resided in Ruthenia, and in 1697 in Sandomierz. Later, a branch of this house moved to Prussia.

Wesoloski is a variant form of Wesol~owski (notice the second -w- drops out right before the -ski). This is not uncommon in Poland, we see many names that do this, e. g., Dombroski/Dombrowski, Janoski/Janowski, etc. In that position the w (normally pronounced like our v) softens to the sound of an f, and in some dialects it is pronounced so lightly as to be inaudible. Spelling tends to follow pronunciation, and that's how many Polish names dropped that w, from -owski to -oski. But in discussing the origin of the names we need to restore it, because the forms with the W are usually much more common. So what does Wesol~owski mean? It comes from a root wesol~y that means "merry, cheerful"; the same root appears in many other Slavic languages (but by English phonetics would be spelled "vesol-"). So it's entirely possible this surname could have started out meaning nothing more than "kin of the cheerful one.

But it's also true that most -owski names began as references to a connection between a person or family and a place with a similar name, e. g., Wesol~ów, Wesol~ówka, Wesol~owo are all names that could easily generate the surname Wesolowski, meaning basically "one from Wesol~ów (-ówka/-owo)." Those place names, in turn, got their names because of some link with "merry, cheerful"; perhaps they originally meant"the cheerful place," or "the place of the cheerful one," something like that. There are quite a few villages in Poland with names that qualify, so unfortunately the surname doesn't provide any clues that allow us to point to any one of them and say "Ah, that's where your family came from." Without specific data on the family that pinpoints the exact region they came from, we have no way of knowing which Wesol~ów or Wesol~owo or Wesol~ówka a given family was connected with.

Wesol~owski is a very common surname in Poland, as of 1990 there were 23,653 Polish citizens by that name, living all over the country. There were, in contrast, only 7 who spelled their name Wesol~oski, so if that spelling actually persists in your family's name all the way back to Poland and your relatives still spell it that way -- well, some of those 7 might be relatives. Unfortunately I don't have access to details such as first names and addresses, but I can tell you those 7 lived in the provinces of Bydgoszcz (1), Gdansk (1), Lublin (1), Tarnow (2), Walbrzych (1), Wroclaw (1).

I don't want to throw you off the track here -- it is not at all certain those Wesol~oski's would be related to you. The spelling of names is variable in the records, and the same name sometimes shows up as -owski and sometimes as -oski without it really meaning much. With a name as common as Wesol~owski, it's pretty likely quite a few of them pronounced it Wesoloski, and thus sometimes had it spelled that way; then it might have been "corrected" to the standard form later. So it's hard to say under which spelling your relatives would show up in modern records. The very first record of the family name Wesolowski was found in Wadwicz and Lacki , which is located in Germany and Poland. The Wesolowski family traces their ancestral roots back to Prussian origin before the year 1100.

Sources: Family Heritage Shop; Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings William F. "Fred" Hoffman '

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Name: Page 1

Birth: ABT 1835 in Koscierzyna, Wirsitz, Poland

Immigration: JUN 1880

Death: 7 DEC 1894 in Maple Grove, Shawano Co., WI

Note:

Jan Wesolowski and family probably came from the Kaszubian area of Poland (around Koscierzyna). This area was part of Prussia at that time. A naturalization record that I have for son Anton Wesolowski indicates that he arrived in New York in June 1880. Anton would have been seven years old at the time. I have searched through passenger list records for all ships arriving in New York during that month, but I have been unable to find the Wesolowski family in those records. The date provided on the naturalization record may be off by about a year or so.

Son John Wesolowski's Declaration of Intent for Naturalization shows his birth date as November 2, 1880. It also shows that he immigrated to the U.S. around February 15th, 1881. So perhaps Franciska stayed behind in Europe for several months with some of the children (and John on the way), after Anton and his father had already come to the U.S.

The family first settled in Winona, Minnesota before moving to Pulaski, Wisconsin around 1889-1890. Winona was a popular destination for Poles from Kaszubia at that time. Anton, Peter, Stephan & John Wesolowski were all born in Prussia/Poland. Whether the next child, Anna, born about October 24, 1882, was born in Wisconsin or Minnesota is unclear. Anna's death certificate indicates that she was born in Minnesota. However, her marriage record says that she was born in what appears to be "Normark, Wis." or "Norwark, Wis." However, I could not find a town by either of these names in Wisconsin. This may be Norwalk, Monroe County, Wisconsin, a small town about 65 miles SE of Winona, Minnesota. I assume that Anna supplied this information herself when she married, and that she knew something about where she was born. Could it be that Anna was born in Norwalk, WI while the family was en route to Winona? This seems plausible, but is only speculation.

At least three more children were later born in Minnesota: Frank, Mary & Elizabeth. However, the 1885 census of Minnesota indicates that there may have been two other children, who probably died between 1885-1890. That census lists the following family living in Wilson Township, Winona County, MN:

John Wessolofsky 50

Frances 30

Anton 12

John 10

Steffan 9

Chas 8

Anna 6

Frank 4

Theo 2

This seems to be the right family, because the names and birth order match closely enough. However, the ages are off quite a bit, Peter is missing and Steffan and John are reversed in birth order. Chas and Theo are the additional two children who appear here, but nowhere else in family records. The only supporting evidence of these two is on the 1900 census, where Francisca is shown as the mother of a total of ten children, with only eight still alive.

Jan Wesolowski died December 7, 1894 in Wisconsin, and is buried in the Assumption BVM cemetery in Pulaski, Brown County, Wisconsin. His gravestone indicates that he was 57 years old at the time of his death. His wife, Franciszka (Studzinska), remarried to Rudolph Wroblewski about May 4, 1896. Rudolph was one of the first Polish settlers in the Pulaski area, arriving around 1884. He was also a widower with young children from his prior marriage. Family stories indicate that Rudolph did not treat his new wife and children very well.

Verna (Lewandowski) Koselke, granddaughter of Jan Wesolowski, told me the following story in May 2000:

Jan Wesolowski served in the Prussian Army and faced combat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1 (service in the Prussian military was mandatory for young men). While the Prussian Army won the war and most of the battles, his unit was completely overwhelmed by the French in one battle. As the French completed their victory, they killed any wounded Prussian soldiers on the battlefield that were not yet dead. To avoid being killed, Jan lay on the battlefield pretending to be dead. When the danger had passed, he had to make his way back home with little or no help. The story is that he survived in the woods for weeks (contracting asthma in the process) until he made it back home somehow. When he got home, he found that his wife and kids were dead (I think they had been killed). He remarried to Franciszka Studzinska, and moved his new family to the U.S.

The 1900 census shows eight of ten children living. Anton, a farmer, was the only one married. Peter, Stephan, John, Frank and Elizabeth were living with Anton, his wife Paula (Polly), and their children Leon, Stella and Harry in Maple Grove Township, Shawano County, Wisconsin. The men were listed as day laborers or farm laborers, while Elizabeth was attending school. Anna was listed living with Herman and Christina Muck as a servant. Mary, at school, was living with her mother, Franciszka; Stepfather, Rudolph Wroblewski; and Rudolph's children, Bronislaw, Rudolph, Andrew and Martha.

Burial: 1894

_SDATE: 1 JAN 1895 Pulaski, Brown Co., WI

Note: Assumption Cemetery

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   1 possible matches found on Ancestry.com	

Marriage 1 Franciszka Studzinska b: 7 SEP 1848 in Koscierzyna, Wirsitz, Poland

Married: ABT 1871 in Koscierzyna, Wirsitz, Poland

Children

Anton Wesolowski b: 11 NOV 1872 in Koscierzyna, Wirsitz, Poland

Peter Henry Wesolowski b: 12 SEP 1875 in Koscierzyna, Wirsitz, Poland
Stephen Wesolowski b: 3 AUG 1878 in Koscierzyna, Wirsitz, Poland
John Wesolowski b: 2 NOV 1880 in Poland
Anna Wesolowski b: ABT 24 OCT 1882 in Norwalk, Monroe Co., WI
Frank Wesolowski b: 14 OCT 1884 in Winona, Winona Co., MN
Mary Wesolowski b: 27 OCT 1886 in Winona, Winona Co., MN
Elizabeth Wesolowski b: 7 MAY 1888 in Winona, Winona Co., MN
Sources:

Abbrev: Pejza,

Note: 3266 Nutmeg St., San Diego, CA, USA, 92104, jpejza@ix.netcom.com, 619-282-2028 x 28, http://geocities.com/athens/1534/genealog.html

who was:

JULIUS M Wessalowsky(6/25/1866-1/16/1883)

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