Research Log
Our research into the LOCKE family began by accumulating word of mouth family information. My husband’s sister prepared a chart with the names of everyone their mother could remember. This chart has no dates and is primarily the names by which the people were known. Additionally, the children were not arranged in order of birth. Basically, the information is as follows:
In a nutshell, that’s the information we had to begin with on all 4 of my husband’s grandparents.
Thus far, we have no further information about this family. They were originally from Sicily or Italy and settled in New York City. I have not tried to find them in New York records yet. We have Anna Colino Veiga’s death certificate and found her listed in the Social Security Death Index. I don’t know the source of the name "Gaetanna" – both of the above list her name as Anna. I have not verified any information about her siblings.
All of the information we have about this family comes from a copy of Albert Veiga’s Portuguese birth certificate in our possession. Additionally, we have his naturalization application, visa, and death certificate. I have not verified any information about his siblings.
We have done more research on this family. My husband wrote to the Town of Adams, Massachusetts Department of Public Works and found Peter and Tekla’s death dates and that they were buried at St. Stanislaus Cemetery in Adams.
Our next step was to check census records and we found them in the 1920 Census for Berkshire County, Massachusetts (ED 4, Sheet 8, Page B, dwelling number 126, family visit number 146). The children were listed as follows: John (age 14), Sophie (12), Veronica (11), Walter (9), Steven (4 2/12), and Helen (2 2/12).
In the 1910 Census for Berkshire County, Massachusetts, they were found in ED 24, Sheet 22, lines 11-15. Children were listed as: John (5), Sophie (2), and Veronica (1 1/12). Peter and Tekla had been married 7 years and Tekla was the mother of 5 children, 3 of whom were still living.
The Family History Library in Salt Lake City has the Marriage Register, 1901-1905 on microfilm (number 2057587). Volume 536 page 37 of the register lists the marriage record of Peter and Tekla. This is the source of their parents names.
The Births Register, 1901-1905 (microfilm number 2057438) lists John Czarnetski (with the "t") as being born 4 Feb 1905 in Adams, Massachusetts to Peter and Tekla both from Austria.
Lastly, we have a copy of Sophie [Czarnecki] Locke’s burial permit. Additionally, she is listed in the Bellevue and Maple Street Cemetery Index (microfilm 1955616), as is her husband Stanley Joseph Locke, Sr.
This line has proven challenging. At first, we only had Stanley Joseph Locke, Sr.’s birth and death certificates.
My husband wrote to the Town of Adams, Massachusetts Department of Public Works and received the following letter:
"They [Anton and Anastasia Locke] lived on 17 Winter Street, Adams, for a number of years. They disappear off of our records in 1909. During this time they had 3 children which died at birth. They are listed as follows:
"Joseph Lock – date of death Nov 8, 1903 Buried at Maple St. – stillborn
"parents are listed as: Anton Lock
Annie Stawaska
"Peter Lock
Paul Lock – twins date of death 1902 Buried at Maple St. – Premature
Parents are listed as: Anton Lock
Anastazia Stawska
"Found death records of another male born to same parents:
"Casimer Loszynski – no birth information – Date of Death 1963 at 75 yrs of age. Parents are listed as: Antoni Loszynski
Anastazia Stawicki
"Casimer’s wife was Anna Malek Loszynski – Date of Death July 18, 1973 at 84 years of age. Her parents are listed as: Joseph Malek; mother cannot be learned.
"She is listed as being buried in St. Stanislaus Cemetery. I found no information as to where he is buried, but it is more than likely he must be buried in St. Stanislaus Cemetery also. I should have had a burial permit as part of our permanent records, but I cannot find it. I also found no record of the 3 children as being buried in Maple St. However that long ago people did not keep the records as well as they do today. I checked in the single graves and found no information there either. I also gave the information to the City Clerk in North Adams, thinking that they may have moved to that city when they left here in 1909. They have no record of them there.
"The name change you spoke of comes into play as Loszynski. It makes it very difficult when there are name changes such as these in the family line."
My husband then wrote to the St. Stanislaus Kostka Church (25 Hoosac Street, Adams, Massachusetts 01220 and received the following letter:
"Our records begin with 1902 & we have no notation of a Locke family.
"I have found the wedding certificate of Loszynski and Malek. Here it is:
"Casimer Loszynski contracted marriage with Anna Malek on Febr 1, 1909 in this parish.
"Casimer Loszynski was from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, son of Antony and Anaztazia Stowsky baptized Jan 18, 1888 – married Anna Malek from Gliwski-Borowa parish Poland – daughter of Joseph & Marianne Mazur, baptized December 19, 1987 [should be 1887???]. Witnesses to the marriage were Anthony Rukowski & Joanna Pawlikowski.
"Casimer & Anna were members of this parish in 1958. After that, we have no notation.
"Sorry, that’s all we have."
At this point, we discounted the connect between Casimer and Stanley for several reasons: (1) Casimer wasn’t a child listed in the oral family history. (2) There were 19 years between Stanley and Casimer.
When we moved to Utah, we decided to try again with this line. We first looked through the index of the Marriage Registers from 1901-1905 and 1878-1900 under the "L" and "S" but found nothing. We then started in the indexes for the Birth Register 1901-1905 and found the following:
Lock, male born in 1903
Lock, Louisa born in 1905
Lock, Peter (twin) born in 1902
Lock, Paul (twin) born in 1902
Lock, Rosa born in 1901
There were no Lock children born in Adams from 1886-1900.
We then went to the Birth Register itself and found the following:
Microfilm 2057438: Lock, Louisa born 28 Jan 1905 in Adams to Thomas Lock and Anastasia Stefska. I discounted this one.
Microfilm 2057387: Lock, Peter and Paul born 21 July 1902 in Adams to Antoni Lock and Anastazia Stawska. This coincided with the letter from the Department of Public Works.
Microfilm 2057389: Lock, male born 8 Nov 1903 to Anton Lock and Annie Stawska. Again, this coincided with the letter.
Microfilm 2057297: Lock, Rosa born 15 June 1901 in Adams to Thomas and Nastasia. I discounted this one.
In the Deaths Register 1901-1905, I found the following:
Microfilm 2057765: Joseph Lock died 8 Nov 1903, stillborn, father Anton Lock, mother, Annie Stawaska. This coincided with the letter.
Microfilm 2057736: Peter and Paul Lock died 21 July 1902 at age 1 day from premature birth; parents Anton Lock and Anastasia Stawska.
At this point, I turned to census records. The 1900 Soundex for Berkshire county listed an Anthony Lock (ED 23, sheet 18, line 47) but when I turned to the record, I found he was boarder and single. However, in the next house, I found 3 children listed as boarders: James, Tofel, and Joseph. James was born in Wisconsin in Jan 1888 (coinciding with Casimer) and Tofel was born in Feb 1892 in Wisconsin. Joseph was born in New Hampshire in Jan 1900. I wondered three things: (1) Were these boys connected to the Anthony next door? (2) Where was their mother? (3) Did this Joseph died young (since Anton and Anastasia had a Joseph in 1903)?
In the 1910 census, Anthony and "Stachia" Locke was found in ED 1952, Sheet 19, Lines 38-43. The children were listed as Teofile, Rose, Leona, and Stanley. Anthony and Stachia had been married for 24 years and Stachia was the mother of 11 children, 5 of whom were still living. The age of Teofile coincide with the Tofel in the 1900 census, although this listed his birthplace as Massachusetts. Additionally, the age of Stanley coincided with the birth certificate in our possession. The ages of Rose and Leona coincide with the ages of the Rosa and Louisa born to Thomas Lock. I wondered if Anton’s middle name was Thomas.
Since Anton and Anastasia had been married 24 years, I decided to pursue the Wisconsin connection. I checked the Index to Births 1852-1907 for Wisconsin (fiche 6331476) and found a Kazimierz Loch born on 18 Jan 1888 (which coincides with both the letter from St. Stanislaus Church and with the entry for James Lock in the 1900 census). There was no James Loch, Lock, or Locke born in Wisconsin in Jan 1888. Additionally, Theophil Loch was listed as being born on 29 Feb 1892 (again coinciding with the 1900 census).
I then went to the Registration of Births 1852-1907 for Milwaukee, Wisconsin (microfilm 1305108) and found the birth record (certificate 124) of Kazimierz Loch. His parents were Anton Loch and Anastacia Stawska. Then microfilm 1305113 had the birth record (certificate 1496) for Theophil Loch. It listed his parents as Anton Loch and Anastasia Stawska. Additionally, it listed the other siblings as Kazimierz, Wladislaw, and Franciszek. This gave me a total of 11 children, coinciding with the 1910 census.
I then searched for the death record of the Joseph Lock born in Jan 1900 and listed in the 1900 census. The Deaths Register 1901 vol 516 for Berkshire county lists Joseph Lock born in Exetor, New Hampshire to Thomas and Astacia Stafeka died Mar 27, 1901 at age 1 year 3 months of capillary bronchitis. His residence was 15 Winter St. and he was buried at Maple St.
Conclusions and Future Research
I cannot, as of yet, definitively connect Casimer Loszynski to Stanley Joseph Locke, Sr. Evidence is mounting for all of the following children to be of one family:
Kazimierz, Wladislaw, Franciszek, Theophil, Joseph, Rose, Peter, Paul, Joseph, Leona, and Stanley
I need to try to: