POLAND (Germany?) Birth of Adam Grzybowski about 1806. Possible death in US.

[GeoffTurner]

Hi all,
My cousin is trying to get more information on her ancestor Adam Tomasz Alexander Xavery Grzybowski, who emigrated from the Continent to Scotland and married Maria White Irving Bremner (1808-1877) in Edinburgh on 24 Dec 1834. The 1841 Scottish Census indicates he was born about 1806 in Poland, which may have been part of Prussia at that stage. It appears Adam and Maria had three children -- Uladislaus Adam Grzybowski Bremner (1835–1897), George Grzybowski Bremner (1842–1924), and Harriet Mary Bremner (1844–1882), with the children all taking their mother's surname. We have not been able to find Adam's death. When Maria died in 1877 at Leith she is described as "widow of Adam Grzybowski, surgeon". But the 1851 Census does not have Adam living with Maria and the children, and there is a suggestion he may have gone to the US. As always, any help greatly appreciated. I am in Australia and don't have access to Polish or US information.
Geoff Turner

[GeoffTurner]

There is a marriage in East London in 1848 between Adam Grzybowski and Harriet Sarah Chance. It's possible he ran off and married again bigamously, which is why he is not with his wife and children in the 1951 Census. An earlier reply to a question about Harriet Chance says they had a child in France in 1849, were in the US (Missouri) for the 1850 census, and had another child in the US in 1852 (poss New York). Then Harriet and the children were back in London later in 1852 where the second child was baptised and Harriet was calling herself a widow. If that is the same Adam, he seems to have died in the US in 1851-52. But the surname Grzybowski is apparently not uncommon. Geoff

[Erato]

Here's that 1850 census record:

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01qd6/

[GeoffTurner]

Well that confirms it was a Polish physician who married Harriet Sarah Chance, so I think we now know Adam was a bigamist, leaving his first wife and three kids in Scotland while he explored the world -- marrying in London, having a daughter in France, then heading to the US. All we need now is his death in the US in 1851-52 and the birth of the second child, probably early in 1852.

Thanks for all your help. My cousin has been trying to solve this problem for some time, bit she didn't know about the friendly service and great skills of the Rootschat community!!!

Geoff   

[Erato]

I wonder what the heck he was doing in rural Perry County, Missouri?  Maybe he entered the US at New Orleans and was working his way up the Mississippi.  I haven't found him on a passenger list, though.

[GeoffTurner]

He must have had itchy feet. Born in Poland 1806-1812, depending which Census you believe, married in Edinburgh in 1834, fathered three Scottish children 1835-1844, married bigamously in London 1848, child born in France in 1849, on that US Census in 1850. The other researcher thought the other child might have been born in New York early in 1852 and baptised in London late in 1852, by which time Dr Adam was dead. I wonder if he worked himself into the ground -- or if his Scottish wife's family caught up with him!!
Geoff

[Erato]

"by which time Dr Adam was dead"

Either that or he dumped his second wife, assumed a new name and headed for the gold fields or something.  I haven't found his death or the birth of the second child.

[GeoffTurner]

I guess I was just going by the comment on an earlier post that his second wife was described as a widow when she baptised the second child in London. That poster thought the child might have been born in New York, so it sounds as though she didn't find the US birth either.

Geoff

[Erato]

This is a lengthy article on Polish Masons in Britain and their activities as political/artistic/academic emigrés.  I did not read it carefully; just skimmed it.  To read the whole thing, you have to register with JSTOR [it's free].  Adam Grzybowski is mentioned on pages 21, 24 and 37; I am guessing that he is your man.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25776901?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents