Ancestry Chapter 11
1890 - Second Birth to Michael and Helena Norek
Cecelia Norek born 1890, Dirschau, West Prussia
Cecelia Norek is born on November 11, 1890. She is the second child, and second daughter, born to Helena Tybus and Michael Norek
Christening records for 1890 and some subsequent years are not listed in the LDS microfilm holdings. If the records were in the German archives when the Mormons did their extensive microfilming, they would not have been overlooked. Presumably the missing records did not survive the World Wars
Cecelia later said at times that she was born in the U.S., not in Europe. Her birth in West Prussia, however, is unquestionably established by the family's immigration records, corroborated by the 1990 U.S. Census.
Cecelia's metamorphosis into a native-born U.S. citizen occurred between the ages 10 and 20. Between the 1900 and 1910 census, Cecelia switches from "born in Germany" to "born in Illinois". Hats off to Cecilia -- she defined herself. Hats off to her Dad also -- he had to fudge his immigration date on the census records to match the fable.
Or was the accommodation the other way around? Did Grandpa Norek want to claim a 1990 immigration date on the census record, and so Cecelia had to back up that story by saying she was born in the U.S., or born on the boat coming over?
Family legend - There was a legend that Cecelia, or someone, was born on the boat coming over. Since I have located records for all the first-batch Norek babies, this legend is not true.
_____ Tibus born and died 1890, Dirschau, West Prussia (possibly)
This is a guess, that Augusta and Michael Tibus had a child in 1890 that did not survive. Again, there are no christening records for the Dirschau Catholic church for this year. Antonia was born in 1888, and a child every two years is the norm, although a shorter period is typical if a child is lost in early and nursing therefore stops prematurely.
There is another possibility. Alfons later spoke of a step-mother. We know from the christening records that Antonia, Alfons and the first-born twins were all children of Augusta Tybus. We do not know when she died, or even whether the younger children, namely Anna and the younger brother, were her children or the children of the step-mother.
So
the 1890 baby slot might have been left open for this family due to Augusta's
death.
Selections by year -
