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Felix J. Cizewski
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Felix
December 13, 1888 to June 30, 1965
1912 wedding photo

Felix J. Cizewski was born December 13, 1888 probably near the town of Zalesie in the voivodeship (province) of Plock (Płockie) in the Polish province of the Tsarist Russian empire.

Felix's parents were Józef Czyżewski and Elżbieta Budzi. They were married in December, 1879 in Krasne. Krasne was probably in what was then the voivodeship (province) of Plock (Płockie) in Tsarist
Russian province of Poland. Today it is in the Mazowieckie voivodeship.

Refugee from Tsarist Russia

According to our family's oral history in 1907 when Felix was about 19 years old he was about to be drafted in the Tsarist Russian army.

At that time men were drafted at age 20 for six years of active duty followed by nine years of reserve duty. Men of draft age were not allowed to emigrate.

Someone who not liable for the draft gave Felix an exit visa. The identify of that person is lost to history.

The most like person is Felix's older brother Walter who arrived in the U.S. several years earlier.

Some histories report that relatives who had successfully left Europe sent their documents back to relatives who were having difficulty leaving.

Then that relative assumed the relative's identity to leave.

That meant Felix illegally left Tsarist Russia and became a refugee.

When Felix arrived in the U.S.he was admitted because in 1907 the U.S. had open borders to Europeans in good health, who were not political extremists. That he left Tsarist Russia illegally to evade the Tsarist Russian draft was not an issue for the U.S., so Felix did not need to apply for asylum or request to be admitted as a refugee.

If Felix used another identify to leave Tsarist Russia and enter the U.S., he immediately resumed using his own identity in the U.S.


Oral history sources: Felix's brother-in-law Vincent Sprawka( husband Franciz Mroz, sister of Felix's wife Mary Mroz) and Felix's son (my father Felix) agree with that story.

Source for conscription in Tsarist Russia of province of Poland: "Conscription in the Russian Empire: Russian Empire and earlier times".
"In more brutal conscript societies like imperial Russia, soldiering was an extension of servitude; the delivery of the unfree into a sacrificial bondage of unlimited term"

Simon Schama, The American future: a history, p. 30.

Draft
April 27, 1942: Felix's WWII draft registration card.
Ration Coupon
May 4, 1942: Felix's World War II ration book.

Felix worked at as car man at the the Western Avenue Coach Milwaukee Road Western Avenue Coach Yard
Switcher
Felix operated a switcher to move cars in the Western Avenue Yard. I do not know if this 1950s photo of a switcher is the type he operated.

1936 Aerial View
1938 Aerial View Western Avenue Coach Milwaukee Road Western Avenue Coach Yard
!956 Arial View
1956 Aerial View

Brakes Instructions
From Felix's Brake Testing Manual

25 Year PIn
Twenty five years of employment, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad
Veteran Employees Association
National Association of Retired and Veteran Railway Employees, Inc.

Pension Approval Document
Approval of Pension document

Retirement Certificate
Retirement Certificate

Collection of Milwaukee Road Western Avenue Coach Yard Photos





Felix J. Cizewski died on June 30, 1965

Husband of Mary (Mroz) Cizewski
Father of Felix A. Cizewski

Sources: Date of arrival in the U.S. from 1930 census.

Possible origins of the Cizewski name:

"Czyzewski comes ultimately from the root czyz, "green finch, siskin," but more directly from a place name such as Czyzewo, Czyzew, etc. -- and there are a lot of those. As of 1990 there were 10,543 Poles named Czyzewski, living all over the country. So I'm afraid it's one of those names that's too common to help much. It can help in one way, however: if you do good research and pin down the part of Poland the family came from, and you notice there's a place called Czyzew or Czyzewo nearby, chances are good that's the particular village the name derived from in your case."

Source:

Polish Roots: Polish Genealogy Reference/Surname Discussions:

Scroll down to: Ciżewski - Czyżewski - Pionek



Acknowledgement: Marshall Begel assisted in the editing and proofreading of this page
INDEX Cizewski, Lovetere, Musbach, & Robinson Family History

© 2007 - 2021 Leonard H. Cizewski

Last Major Revision: January 19, 2021
Last Minor Revision: November 21, 2020
Last Reviewed:
Posted: On or before 2007


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