1917: Kasper Zesut in the 1917 CT Military Census.

I was able to get to the Connecticut State Library for a few hours this weekend and was fortunate to locate Kasper Zesut’s questionnaire for the 1917 Connecticut Military Census.

“In February 1917 the Connecticut General Assembly directed Governor Marcus H. Holcomb “to procure certain information relative to the resources of the State,” especially about “men and materials available for use in the event of war.” Known as the Military Census, the most significant part was a manpower census of all male inhabitants over the age of sixteen taken in 1917-1918. However, additional surveys included such things as farms, crops, livestock, automobiles, doctors, nurses, and factories.”

Source: Unknown Author. (2/2002). CT State Library. In Research Guide To The Connecticut Military Census Of 1917. Retrieved 1/3/2008, from http://www.cslib.org/milcens.htm.

The library now has a microfilm reader that will digitally scan the grayscale film image directly to a file which produces a higher quality image than printing from the machine which can only output black & white.

Following is a scan of Kasper’s 1917 CT State Military Census Questionnaire.

 

SOURCE: Kasper Zesut 1917 CT State Military Census Questionnaire. CT Military Census 1917, Record Group 29, LDS# 1535728, Reel 40, Individual Sheets 62350-63799, Frame 2575.

 

The info populated on the document is:

State Of Connecticut

Military Census – Form No. 1 #63698A

RECD Feb 22, 1917

• Town Or City: Glastonbury
• Date: 2/17/17
• Full Name:Kasper Jessuit
• Post Office Address: Glastonbury
• 1. What is your present Trade, Occupation or Profession? Polisher
• 2. Have you any experience in any other Trade, Occupation or Profession? No
• 3. What is your age? 46 Height? 5′11″ Weight? 160
• 4. Are you married? Single? Widowed? Married
• 5. How many persons are dependent on you for support? 8
• 6. Are you a citizen of the United States? No
• 7. If not a citizen of the United States have you taken out your first papers? No
• 8. If not a citizen of the United States what is your nationality? Austria
• 9. Have you ever done any Military or Naval service in this or any other country?Yes Where? Austria HowLong? Two What Branch? Infantry Rank? Private
• 10. Have you any serious physical disability? No
• 11. Can you do any of the following: Ride a horse? Yes Handle a team? Yes Drive an automobile? No Ride a motorcycle? No Understand telegraphy? No Operate a wireless? No Any experience with a steam engine? No Any experience with electrical machinery? No Handle a boat, power or sail? No Any experience in simple coastwise navigation? No Any experience with High Speed Marine Gasoline Engines? No Are you a good swimmer? No

The form is signed by Herbert T. Calash – Military Census Agent

Clearly the Zesut Height Gene eluded me.

I was surprised and happy to find this as the information on it is painting a better picture of Kasper for me. We know his height and weight now and what’s especially interesting is that he spent two years in the Austrian Army. During Kasper’s time young men were conscripted into the army for a minimum of two years. There’s a possibility his military record exists in Poland so I’ll have to put that on my list of things to search for.

Comparing this to his son Anthony’s questionnaire points out that Kasper knew how to ride a horse whereas Anthony didn’t. It also indicates he couldn’t operate a car or motorcycle while Anthony could.

Zesut is misspelled….as usual. Kind of funny that even after Americanizing the name down from Rzeszut to Zesut people were still interpreting his name based on the phonetic pronunciation!

Kasper would die unexpectedly of pneumonia just two months later. I posted an article about his death here.

Zesuts in the 1920 U.S. Federal Census

In the decade since the Zesuts appeared in the 1910 United States Federal Census a number of family altering events occurred that are reflected on the 1920 Census. Julia Zesut has married John Pendrok and had two children. Anthony Zesut has married Victoria Puscizna and also had two children. Family patriarch Kasper Rzeszut passed away unexpectedly in 1917 and it appears some familiar names have rejoined the family in Glastonbury.

Fortunately, Anthony and his family lived next door to his mother and siblings in 1920 and both families appear on the same page of the census. The surname is misspelled “Zessert” and they appear on the census in dwelling numbers 236 and 237.

Click below image to view enlarged scan of the census.

SOURCE: 1920 U.S. Census, Hartford County, Connecticut, population schedule, Glastonbury Township, enumeration district (ED) 43, dwelling 236 & 237, family 278 & 279, digital image, Heritagequest.com (http://www.heritagequest.com): accessed December 2007.

Information contained on the census is as follows:

Department Of Commerce – Bureau Of The Census

State Of CT, Hartford County, Glastonbury Township

Enumerated on January 14, 1920 by Frank H. Potter. Supervisor’s District 1. Enumeration District 43.

Sycamore St.

Dwelling # 236. 278th Family Visited.

Annie Zesut is head of household, owns the home and has a mortgage on it. She is 49 years old and is a widow. She immigrated in 1908 (incorrect – was 1909 per Ellis Island records) and is an alien having not become a naturalized citizen. No information about her education is present. Her place of birth is Galicia and her mother tongue is Polish and she is able to speak English. Her parents were both born in Galicia and both speak Polish. There is no information indicating an occupation.

Annie’s son Joseph is 19 and single. He is still an alien and can read and write. He has not attended school. His parents Kasper and Anna were both born in Galicia and Polish is their mother tongue. Joseph can speak English and works as a fireman for the railroad. Later documents I’ve found indicate he worked for the The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. A railroad fireman was the person who shoveled coal into the steam engine.

Annie’s son Michael is 18 and single. He is still an alien and can read and write. He has not attended school. His parents Kasper and Anna were both born in Galicia and Polish is their mother tongue. Michael can speak English and works as a laborer in what looks like “Woolen Mill”.

Annie’s son Frank is 12 years old. He is still an alien and can read and write. He attends school and is not in the workforce. His parents Kasper and Anna were both born in Galicia and Polish is their mother tongue.

Annie’s son William is 9 years old. He is a U.S. citizen having been born in CT and can read and write. He attends school. His parents Kasper and Anna were both born in Galicia and Polish is their mother tongue.

Annie’s daughter Mary (spelled Marie on the Census) is 6 years old. She is a U.S. citizen having been born in CT and can read and write. She attends school. Her parents Kasper and Anna were both born in Galicia and Polish is their mother tongue.

Interestingly there are two others living in the household.

John Zesut who is identified as Annie’s 47 year old brother in-law is living there. He immigrated to the US in 1913 and is an alien. He does not read or write but can speak English. His place of birth is Galicia and his mother tongue is Polish. His parents were born in Galicia and both speak Polish. He is employed as a laborer at a silver shop.

I have yet to find any other information regarding John or any other documents concerning him. For now I have to think he is Kasper’s brother and he has come to Glastonbury to help the family out after his brother died three years prior.

The other person living with the family is Thomas Kopec. Thomas first came to my attention on Kasper’s ship’s list from 1907. I’m guessing he, like John, came to help Anna after Kasper’s death.

Thomas Kopec is a 40 year old boarder. He came to this country in 1913 (???) and is an alien. He can read and write and speaks English. His place of birth is Galicia and his mother tongue is Polish. His parents were born in Galicia and both speak Polish. He works as a polisher in a silver shop.

My great grandparents Anthony and Victoria Zesut lived next door. Their family’s information appears as:

Anthony and Victoria are both 24 and are pending naturalization. They read and write and can speak English. Anthony immigrated to the U.S. in 1908 (wrong again) and Victoria came over in 1914. Both were born in Galicia and Polish is their mother tongue. Both of their parents were born in Galicia and speak Polish. Anthony is employed as a polisher in a Silver Shop. Per his WWI draft card from 1917 he was a silver polisher at Colt Firearms. I know he worked at Colt until he died so I assume “Silver Shop” referred to the department he worked at. This would further indicate that his uncles, John Zesut and Thomas Kopec, worked at Colt as well.

As of 1920 Anthony & Victoria have two children. Their first born daughter, my Grand Aunt Frederica whom my family had always known as Freda, is two and a half years old (b. July 27, 1917). Their second daughter Mary is one and a half (b. September 9, 1919).

Locating Kasper and Anna’s oldest daughter Julia Zesut Pendrok on the 1920 Census turned out to be more difficult than I had anticipated. The last name Pendrok turned up no hits on index searches so assuming Julia and her family had not left Glastonbury I went through the census page by page. Eventually I spotted their entry. Click the below image to view the enlarged census page for Julia Zesut Pendrok’s family.

SOURCE: 1920 U.S. Census, Hartford County, Connecticut, population schedule, Glastonbury Township, enumeration district (ED) 43, dwelling 517, family 648, digital image, Heritagequest.com (http://www.heritagequest.com): accessed January 2008.

Information contained on the census is as follows:

Department Of Commerce – Bureau Of The Census

State Of CT, Hartford County, Glastonbury Township

Enumerated on January 30-31, 1920 by Frank H. Potter. Supervisor’s District 1. Enumeration District 43.

Parker Terrace.

Dwelling # 517. 648th Family Visited.

John Pendrok (surname misspelled Pindrak) is 27 years old, arrived in the United States in 1912 and is not a naturalized citizen. He was born in Poland and Polish is his mother tongue. Both of John’s parents were born in Poland. He reads and writes and can speak English and is employed as a silver polisher at a cutlery shop.

Julia Zesut Pendrok is John’s 22 year old wife who immigrated to the U.S. in 1909. She is an alien who can read and write and speaks English. She is not employed because….

Julia and John are the parents of two children. Daughter Jessie is nearly four and son Joseph is just seven months old. Jessie will one day marry Frank Bendzinski. I have not been able to find out if they had children of their own. Joseph will eventually marry Eleanor Larsen and have a son.

1917: Zesuts In The 1917 CT State Military Census

“In February 1917 the Connecticut General Assembly directed Governor Marcus H. Holcomb “to procure certain information relative to the resources of the State,” especially about “men and materials available for use in the event of war.” Known as the Military Census, the most significant part was a manpower census of all male inhabitants over the age of sixteen taken in 1917-1918. However, additional surveys included such things as farms, crops, livestock, automobiles, doctors, nurses, and factories.”

Source: Unknown Author. (2/2002). CT State Library. In Research Guide To The Connecticut Military Census Of 1917. Retrieved 1/3/2008, from http://www.cslib.org/milcens.htm.

Prior to researching the Rzeszuts I had no idea CT had conducted a census in 1917. Seeing as how my Great-Grandfather Anthony Zesut was 21 when the census occurred I was fairly certain I’d find him in there somewhere.

I went to the CT State Library in Hartford to check out their microfilms and hopefully find Anthony’s record.

In order to find the actual Census information you first have to find the person in the Census index. Then, using the questionnaire number on the index card, locate the document on a different reel of film.

I located Anthony’s index card on the microfilm and printed the image. I also found Joseph in the index and surprisingly Kasper was there as well. I had figured Kasper to be too old to participate. The index card reels were of very low quality and the photocopies of the image reflect that.

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see the index numbers are barely legible where they are visible at all.

My next step was to find the microfilm reel with the actual photos of the completed questionnaires. Unfortunately I was only able to find Anthony’s. Click the below image to view Anthony’s 1917 CT State Military Census Questionnaire.

 

 

The info populated on the document is:

• Town Or City: Glastonbury Conn
• Date: 2/19/17
• Full Name: Anthony Zesut
• Post Office Address: Concord St. Glastonbury
• 1. What is your present Trade, Occupation or Profession? Polisher
• 2. Have you any experience in any other Trade, Occupation or Profession? None
• 3. What is your age? 22 Height? 5’10” Weight? 150
• 4. Are you married? Single? Widowed? Married
• 5. How many persons are dependent on you for support? 1
• 6. Are you a citizen of the United States? No
• 7. If not a citizen of the United States have you taken out your first papers? No
• 8. If not a citizen of the United States what is your nationality? Austria
• 9. Have you ever done any Military or Naval service in this or any other country? No
• 10. Have you any serious physical disability? No
• 11. Can you do any of the following: Ride a horse? No Handle a team? Yes Drive an automobile? Yes Ride a motorcycle? Yes Understand telegraphy? No Operate a wireless? No Any experience with a steam engine? No Any experience with electrical machinery? No Handle a boat, power or sail? No Any experience in simple coastwise navigation? No Any experience with High Speed Marine Gasoline Engines? No Are you a good swimmer? No

One of the more interesting things on this is that Anthony had yet to become a U.S. Citizen and had not even filed his first papers yet (Declaration Of Intent). I did end up finding some Naturalization documents which indicate he did eventually become a legal citizen. Those will be covered in a future post.

This document is also the first indication we have that he and Victoria are living on Concord St. Concord St. is not far from Naubuc St. where the family had been living when the 1910 Federal Census was reported.

His occupation is listed as “Polisher”. Later documents show that he was employed in 1917 at the Colt Firearms factory in Hartford as a Polisher.

I plan on going back to the CT State Library in Hartford to further search for Kasper and Joseph’s questionnaire. I’ll also need to get the information needed to properly cite the film reels I used.

 

Rzeszuts In The 1910 U.S. Federal Census

Since 1790 the United States has conducted a federal census every ten years. A good amount of information can be gleaned from the censuses if you can find the family you’re looking for on them. Due to the spelling of their surname and what I imagine were their heavy Polish accents, the 1910 census was the most difficult Rzeszut U.S census to find. The people taking the censuses (called enumerators) were typically just average people earning a living. Often times they either didn’t speak the language of the household they were enumerating or were gathering information from well meaning friends and neighbors. These communication difficulties often led to extreme misspellings making searches by future generations somewhat difficult.

Anyway…I was able to find our ancestors in the 1920 and 1930 censuses (1940 won’t be released until 2012) but was unable to find them via a name based search of the 1910 one. I had just about given up finding it when I decided to flip through ALL the pages of the Glastonbury Township enumerations, fingers crossed, until I found them. Click the below images to view our Rzeszut family in the 1910 U.S. Federal Census.

Kasper, Anna, and Julia Rzeszut in the 1910 Census – Lines 98-100

Anthony, Joseph, Michael, and William in the 1910 Census – Lines 1-5

SOURCE: 1910 U.S. Census, Hartford County, Connecticut, population schedule, Glastonbury Township, enumeration district (ED) 151, dwelling 319, family 380, digital image, Heritagequest.com (http://www.heritagequest.com): accessed December 2007.

The census tells us the following.

• The census was taken by Louis H. Moseley on April 15, 1910.

• The Rzeszut family is living on Naubuc St. in The Glastonbury Township, in the County Of Hartford in the State Of Connecticut

• The Rzeszut family information begins on line 98 and ends on line 5 of the next page.
• They lived on Naubuc Avenue. No street number is given. The dwelling number is 319.
• They were the 380th family enumerated by this particular census taker.
• Kasper’s name is mispelled Cospa Zesott and he is a 38 year old white male who has been married for 16 years. His place of birth is Austria-Polish as were his parents. His immigration year is erroneously noted as 1908 (it was actually 1907) and he and his family are listed as being aliens as opposed to naturalized citizens. He is only able to speak Polish and is a laborer by trade who works at a paper mill. He can read and write. He didn’t miss a day of work in 1909. He rents the house he lives in.
• Annie is the 38 year old wife of Kasper and has been married to him for 16 years. She has had six children, all of them living. Her place of birth is Austria-Polish as were her parents. Her immigration year was 1909. No occupation is listed and the rest of her entries are blank.
• Julia is the 14 year old daughter of Kasper and Annie. Like her parents she is Austria-Polish. She only speaks Polish and is a laborer at a soap factory. She can read and write but has not attended school since Sept. 1909.
• Anthony is the 16 year old son of Kasper and Annie. Like his parents he is Austria-Polish. He only speaks Polish and is a laborer at a knitting mill. He knows how to read and write but has not attended school since Sept. 1909.
• Joseph is the 11 year old son of Kasper and Annie. Like his parents he is Austria-Polish. He only speaks Polish and does not work. He can read and write and has not attended school since Sept. 1909.
• Michael is the 9 year old son of Kasper and Annie. Like his parents he is Austria-Polish. He only speaks Polish and does not work. He can read and write and has attended school since Sept. 1909.
• Frank is the 2 year old son of Kasper and Annie. Like his parents he is Austria-Polish. Unfortunately, Frank does not yet have an occupation! No other info listed.
• William is the one-month-old son of Kasper and Annie. No other info listed.

Pretty interesting document when you think about it. The members of the household were working and only one of the school age kids was actually attending school. I’m curious as to where exactly Kasper, Anthony and Julia worked. I never knew CT had soap factories and paper mills! Some quick googling has produced a few ideas as to where they might have worked.