Pelczarski

Origin of the Pelczarski name?

Maybe over time we can discover more about how we are all related. It seems that the Pelczarski family has roots in what is now southeastern Poland, in an area that was known as Galicia or Galicja. During the partition of Poland, from 1795 to 1914, it was controlled by Austria. The largest cities in that part of Poland are Sanok, Krosno, and Rzeszow (pronounced "Zheshov") to the north.

My grandfather came from Długie, near Sanok, and my grandmother came from Zolynia, near Rzeszow and Łancut (pronounced "Wine suit").

In the Ellis Island website, almost all the Pelczarski's who immigrated to the U.S. came from Galicia. Some came from Długie, and many were from Korczyna. It seems likely that our common ancestors from that general area.

Swedish Link?

The following are quotes from correspondence between 1999 and 2006 with Edwin Pell II:

My father is Edwin Albert Pelczarski, born 1904 in Providence, Rhode Island. He shortened the name to Pell. We Pell, Pelchar, Pelczar, and Pelczarski Families are related to a Swedish military person Pelchar, who after the Swedish-Polish Wars, in the 1600's, married a Polish lady and stayed in Poland. The name was phonetized to Pelczar. His son or grandson, for service in the Polish Army, was given the name Pelczarski, by King of Poland.

The name was Pelchar, which was changed by some to Pelczar. You will find both names in the graveyard in Korczyna, Poland. One grandson, for distinguished service in the Polish Army was given the name Pelczarski, by The Kings of Poland. That name is also found in this graveyard.

My father's first cousin Stanley has done extensive research, been back and forth to Poland and is the person who gave me the story about The Swedish Officer marrying up into a Polish Family (my pride). The Pelczar that was given the name Pelczarski was given that name for distinguished service in The Polish Army. The -ski ending connotes aristocracy or the elite.

Walter Urbanek provided much of the research for a large branch of the family tree that extends back to Jan Pelczarski in the early 1700's. Walter's father is Stanley Urbanek, whose mother was Monika Pelczarska. Stanley Urbanek is the first cousin referred to in the last paragraph quoted above. In a letter from Stanley's son Walter, he writes "As for the Swedish soldier, I had never heard that story before." So we don't have any basis for authentication yet.

Interestingly, I received correspondence from another researcher, Elizabeth Berry, who found Pelczarski's in her family tree while researching her Kilar ancestors. She has a letter from 1943 from a parish priest near Sanok verifying that the Kilar surname in Poland also has Swedish origins, that they are "all descendents of a Swedish prisoner of war, who was brought to this area for settlement". In addition, Elizabeth sends a link she found about Polish author and Nobel prize winner (1924) Wladyslaw Reymont, who also traced his family roots to a Swedish soldier from the 17th century.

So while there is no direct basis yet that would confirm a Swedish origin of Pelczarski, at least there is evidence that this type of story had occurred in Poland.