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Family Histories:

GRAHL (GROELER) &
JURKEWICZ Family Histories

August 2009
GRAHL Surname

Generally speaking, the surname "GRAHL" is derived from the town of Graal in Mecklenburg, on the Baltic coast of northern Germany, which then lie along the northern German Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin's border with Prussia's West Pomerania. The area came under the rule of Prussia's King Wilhelm I and Otto VON BISMARCH during the Danish and Austrian wars (1865-1866) and incorporated into the unified German Empire in 1871. Over two-thirds of all the GRAHL families that immigrated to America departed from ports in Bremen and Hamburg, Germany. German immigration throughout the mid-1800's comprised at least a quarter of all immigrants to the United States. As Germany became industrialized, lopsidedness in urban development was unable to sustain the in-flow of rural labor so nearly 5 million Germans immigrated to America between 1820 and 1900.

That said, new information suggests that the GRAHLs may have shortened their surname from "GROELER" and originated in Schokken, Posen, Prussia (now known as Skoki, Wielkopolskie, Poland).

By 1880, most GRAHL families that immigrated to America settled in the mid-west from Missouri to the Great Lakes, in New York, and in North Carolina and Tennessee. Following is the story of one of those families that resettled in Michigan.

Johann GROELER, believed to be the son of Martin and Rosina (ASCHBRENNER) GROELER, appears to have changed his name to "John GRAHL" after he immigrated. Details are still emerging.

Contents
GRAHL: JURKEWICZ:

Early GRAHL (GROELER) Family

A preliminary look at transcriptions of Johann GROELER's christening information reveals that Martin GROELER1 married Anna Rosina ASCHENBRENNER and started a family in Schokken, Posen, Prussia (now Skoki, Wielkopolskie, Poland).

John GRAHL2 and three other GRAHLs are the first GRAHLs to appear in Wayne County, Michigan. John's mother, Rosa was born about 1808[Cen 1880]. Here they are presented notionally as if they were all brothers:

A. "Krist." GROHOL (1823-1824)
1. John GRAHL1 Nov 1832 (1900s) (<78)
X. Christian F. GRAHL (1835)    
Y. August GRAHL Sep 1847    

John GRAHL2 (1832-1908)

11. John GRAHL ("Johann GROELER")2 was born in Prussia and christened as "Evangelisch" (Lutheran) on November 18, 1832 in Schokken, Posen, Prussia (now Skoki, Wielkopolskie, Poland). He married Julia (WOLSKE/FULSKA/TAESKA) about 1859 and started a family in Prussia. They migrated to America in 1865, as the American Civil War wound down to conclusion and Prussia and the German Confederation lie in political turmoil. They settled in Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan, south of Detroit, and had as many as nine children, six of whom survived through at least 1900.

111. Gustave A. GRAHL 14 Aug 1860 8 Jun 1942 (81)
112. William F(rederick) GRAHL 19 Mar 1864 23 Aug 1926 (62)
113. Charles GRAHL 24 Jul 1867 11 Feb 1909 (41)
(114.) (Edward GRAHL) (1872)    
115. Hulda "Goldie" A(lbertine) GRAHL 3 Apr 1876 8 Feb 1948 (71)
116. Henry Amiel GRAHL3 14 May 1878 1924 (46)
WOLSKE
New information from Sally (WOLSKE) JORDAN is shedding light on the GRAHL(GROELER)-WOLSKE roots. More to follow!

John's mother, Rosa, immigrated at some point and lived with the GRAHL family in 1880. She was 72 years old at the time.

John GRAHL died on July 7, 1908 at the age of 75. He was buried on July 9 at West Mound Cemetery in Taylor, Wayne County, Michigan.

Obituary
"John GRAHL, a long time resident on the Eureka road farm died Tuesday age 75. Leaves a wife and six children, August, Charles, William, Henry and Goldie and Mrs Henry R. SMITH. The services were held yesterday and the remains interred at West Mound Cemetery."

After John's death, Julia moved in with daughter Hulda on Eureka Road in Ecorse, where she was enumerated with them in the 1910 census.[Cen 1910] She likely died in the 1910s in her late 70s or early 80s.

Sources
  • Cen 1870: 5 Jul 1870 Census, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1880: 23 Jun 1880 Census, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1900: 12 Jun 1900 Census, Ecorse Township, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1910: 6 May 1910 Census, Eureka Road, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan

(William/Krist.) GRAHL (~1824-)

A. William H. GRAHL (or) "Krist." GROHAL is variously recorded as the father of a family, noted with the spelling "GROHAL" in the 1880 census of Taylor, Wayne County, Michigan. He was born about 1823 or 1824 in Prussia and may have been a relative of the Martin GRAHL family. He was married to a "Rosa." A comparison of the 1880 census record and an obituary of likely son William H. GRAHL reveals the following, unconfirmed family:

A1. William H. GROHAL/GRAHL 1850 1930 (80)
A2. Michael GROHAL/Mitchell GRAHL (1857-1858)    
A3. Augusta/Gusta GROHAL (1862-1863)    
A4. Tena GROHAL (1868-1869)    
A5. Marlah GROHAL (1870-1871)    
Ax. Millie GRAHL      

William H. GRAHL

"...also one brother, Mitchell GRAHL of Dollar Bay, Mich. and four sisters, Mrs. Augusta THOMS, Mrs. Fred JOSEPH and Mrs. Millie KINZEL of Detroit, and Mrs. Frank SCHULTZ of Midland, Mich."

Sources
  • Cen 1880: 1 Jun 1880 Census, Taylor, Wayne County, Michigan

Christian F. GRAHL (~1835-)

X. Christian F. GRAHL was born in Prussia about 1835. He immigrated to America, probably in the mid-1860s, and settled in Sumpter, Wayne County, Michigan. He married a woman from New York who appears to have died by 1880. They had at least four children:

X1. Fredrick W. GRAHL (1868)    
X2. Benjamin F. GRAHL (1870)    
X3. Emma C. GRAHL (1875)    
X4. William GRAHL (1876)    
Sources
  • Cen 1880: 14 Jun 1880 Census, Sumpter, Wayne County, Michigan

August GRAHL (1847-)

Y. August GRAHL was born in September 1847 in Germany. He married Johanna, migrated to America in 1881, and settled in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. They had one daughter:

Y1. Martha GRAHL Mar 1891    
Sources
  • Cen 1900: 6 Jun 1910 Census, 578 Dubois Street, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1910: 27 Apr 1910 Census, 578 Dubois Street, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan

William H. GRAHL (1850-1930)

A1. William H. GRAHL, a likely younger brother or nephew of John GRAHL's, was born in Germany in 1850. He married Otilla "Tillie" and immigrated in 1873. Tillie followed seven years later in 1880. They had as many as ten children, nine of whom survived through 1910, and eight who survived through Tillie's and William's deaths in 1928 and 1930:

A11. Emma GRAHL Jun 1879    
A12. Magdalena GRAHL (1884)    
A13. Edward GRAHL 22 Sep 1887 4 Apr 1947 (59)
A14. Edith GRAHL (1890)    
A15. Henry GRAHL, Sr. 8 Jan 1891 1947 (56)
A16. Minnie GRAHL Nov 1892    
A17. Clara GRAHL Jan 1895    
A18. Arthur GRAHL 3 Apr 1897 1926 (29)
A19. Oscar Ernest GRAHL 5 Jul 1900 2 Nov 1967 (67)
Children
William and Tillie's obituaries name eight children: sons Edward, Henry, and Oscar, daughters Mrs. Louis BRENT, Mrs. William [Magdalena] ALBRIGHT, Mrs. Harvey [Edith] BARRETT, Mrs. William [Minnie?] MEYERS, and Mrs. Alfred [Clara?] SCHULTZ.

The GRAHLs lived at 323 Elm Street in Wyandotte, Wayne County, Michigan through the 1900s and 1910s[Cen 1900,1910], and by 1920 moved two blocks east to 96 Oak Street.[Cen 1920]

Otilla "Tillie" GRAHL died in 1928 at about the age of 70 years. She is buried at West Mound Cemetery in Taylor, Wayne County, Michigan.

After Tillie's death, William moved in with daughter Edith BARRETT's family at 118 Emmons Boulevard in Wyandotte, Wayne County, Michigan.[Cen 1930]

William GRAHL died in 1930 at about the age of 80 years. He is also buried at West Mound Cemetery.

Wyandotte Herald, November 21, 1930
"Old Resident Passes at 80"

"William H. GRAHL, old and respected resident of Wyandotte, died at the Wyandotte General hospital on November 12, following an operation, at the ripe old age of 80 years.

"Deceased came here from Germany when he was 18 years old, when Wyandotte was practically a wilderness and has resided here ever since, living at the corner of Elm and Eleventh streets for 37 years, and then at 238 Oak street, up to two years ago, when his wife passed away, and he has since been living with his daughter, Mrs. Harvey BARRETT at 603 Emmons boulevard. Mr. GRAHL was an old rolling mill man. he had been a member of Trinity Lutheran church for 62 years."

"He is survived by three sons, Edward, Henry, and Oscar GRAHL; five daughters, Mrs. William ALBRIGHT, Mrs. Havey BARRETT and Mrs. Willam MEYERS of this city; Mrs. Louis BRENDT of Grosse Point, and Mrs. Alfred SCHULTZ of Detroit; twenty grandchildren and one-great grandchild; also one brother, Mitchell GRAHL of Dollar Bay, Mich. and four sisters, Mrs. Augusta THOMS, Mrs. Fred JOSEPH and Mrs. Millie KINZEL of Detroit, and Mrs. Frank SCHULTZ of Midland, Mich."

"The funeral took place from the home the daughter, Mrs. ALBRIGHT, 3342 Van Alstyne boulevard at 1:30 and from Trinity Lutheran church at 2 o'clock Saturday afternoon. Rev. C. J. KRAHNKE officiating. Interment was in West Mound cemetery."

Sources
  • Cen 1900: 6 Jun 1900 Census, Elm (Street), Wyandotte, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1910: 22 Apr 1910 Census, 323 Elm Street, Wyandotte, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1920: 7 Jan 1920 Census, 96 Oak Street, Wyandotte, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1930: 30 Apr 1930 Census, 118 Emmons Boulevard, Wyandotte, Wayne County, Michigan

Gustave A. GRAHL (1860-1942)

111. Gustave A. GRAHL was christened (as "Julius Gustav GROELER") on August 14, 1860 in Popowo, Schokken, Posen, Prussia (now Skoki, Wielkopolskie, Poland). He immigrated to America with his family as a child in 1865. Around 1889, he married Augusta Minnie HINZMAN, a German who immigrated about 1881. They had a total of seven children, one of whom died prior to the 1900 census:

1111. Henry G. GRAHL 20 Apr 1889 Apr 1965 (76)
1112. Edward William GRAHL 17 May 1891 Mar 1966 (74)
1113. Emil O. GRAHL 6 Sep 1892 Apr 1973 (80)
1114. Frederick W. GRAHL 26 Jan 1894 13 Jan 1976 (81)
1115. John August GRAHL 21 Sep 1897 May 1969 (71)
1116. Frank William GRAHL (1903)    

In the 1900 census, the GRAHL family is enumerated adjacent to his parents, John and Julie GRAHL, in Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan. By the 1910 census, they relocated to nearby Taylor where they lived on Eureka Road. They remained there through the 1920 and 1930 censuses where they were enumerated near their son Emil's family.

Gustave GRAHL died on June 8, 1942 in Taylor Township at the age of 74 years old. He is buried at the Michigan Memorial Cemetery in Flat Rock, Wayne County, Michigan.

Augusta Minnie (HINZMAN) GRAHL died five years later in Taylor Township on December 8, 1947. She was 81 years old. She is also buried at Michigan Memorial Cemetery.

Sources
  • Cen 1870: 5 Jul 1870 Census, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1880: 23 Jun 1880 Census, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1900: 12 Jun 1900 Census, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1910: 5 May 1910 Census, Eureka Road, Taylor, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1920: 19 Jan 1920 Census, Eureka Road, Taylor, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1930: 23 Apr 1930 Census, Eureka Road, Taylor, Wayne County, Michigan

William F. GRAHL (1864-1926)

112. Friedrich Wilhelm GROELER ("William Frederick GRAHL") was born in Prussia, on March 19, 1864, and christened as "Evangelisch" (Lutheran) on March 28 in Schokken, Posen, Prussia (now Skoki, Wielkopolskie, Poland). He immigrated with his family in 1865 as a toddler. From the 1900 census on it appears that William did not marry. In the 1900 census he resided with his parents, John and Julie GRAHL, in Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan; in the 1910 census he is noted again in Ecorse but residing with the Herman SHOEMAKER family as a servant; and finally, in 1920 he is listed with the his younger brother Henry GRAHL and family.

William F. GRAHL died on August 23, 1926 at the age of 62. He is buried at the West Mound Cemetery in Taylor, Wayne County, Michigan.

Sources
  • Cen 1870: 5 Jul 1870 Census, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1880: 23 Jun 1880 Census, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1900: 12 Jun 1900 Census, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1910: 21 Apr 1910 Census, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1920: 4 Feb 1920 Census, 349 Eleventh Street/Eureka Avenue, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan

Charles GRAHL (1867-1909)

113. Charles "Carl" (Rudolph) GRAHL was born July 24, 1867 in Michigan. He married Inez Elizabeth GUDITH on May 12, 1892 in Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan. Their service was presided over by Ari E. WOODRUFF, Justice of the Peace. Charles was 23 years old and Inez 16 years old. They had one son:

1131. Harry C. GRAHL 1905 1967  

Charles GRAHL died on February 11, 1909 from an infection caused by a bad tooth. He was only 41 years old.

Inez remarried about 1919 to George F. KNILL, an Englishman who immigrated in 1919. They lived at 274 Grand River Avenue in Detroit.[Cen 1920]

Inez (GUDITH GRAHL) KNILL died on December 15, 1968 in Michigan. She had been living in Lincoln Park, Wayne County, Michigan at the time.

Sources
  • Cen 1870: 5 Jul 1870 Census, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1880: 23 Jun 1880 Census, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1920: 7 Jan 1920 Census, 274 Grand River Avenue, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1930: 3 Apr 1930 Census, 2118 Butternut Street, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan

Hulda "Goldie" A. (GRAHL) MARHEINE (1876-1948)

115. Hulda "Goldie" A(lbertine) GRAHL was christened on April 3, 1876 in Michigan, likely in Ecorse, Wayne County. She married William John MARHEINE on August 10, 1899 in Essex, Ontario County, Canada. They had one son:

1151. Earl MARHEINE 14 Nov 1903 Jan 1974 (70)

Following Hulda's father's death in the 1900s, her mother moved in with the MARHEINE family through the 1910 census.[Cen 1xxx] By the 1930 census, nephews Fred and John GRAHL, and their families, moved adjacent to the MARHEINE family.[Cen 1930]

Hulda A. (GRAHL) MARHEINE died on February 8, 1948 at the age of 71 years. She is buried at the West Mound Cemetery in Taylor, Wayne County, Michigan.

William John MARHEINE died 10 years later in 1958 at the age of 85 or 86. He is buried at the West Mound Cemetery.

Sources
  • Cen 1880: 23 Jun 1880 Census, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1910: 6 May 1910 Census, Eureka Road, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1920: 24 Jan 1920 Census, Ecorse Township, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1930: 20 May 1930 Census, Eureka Road, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan

Henry Amiel GRAHL3 (1878-1924)

116. Henry Amiel GRAHL3 was born and christened (as "Emil Heinrich GROELER") on May 14, 1878Draft in Wayne County, Michigan to German immigrant parents. He married Martha SCHULTZ, who immigrated from Germany in 1907[Cen 1910]. They had at least five children:

1161. Arthur William GRAHL3 18 Sep 1910 Oct 1977 (67)
1162. Benjamin F. GRAHL 11 Oct 1912 8 Mar 1995 (82)
1163. Charles E. GRAHL 8 May 1914 12 Dec 1989 (75)
1164. John GRAHL 3 Aug 1915 7 Sep 1916 (13 mos.)
1165. Otto R. GRAHL (24) Oct 1916 19 May 1989 (72)
1166. Sophie GRAHL (1920)    
Detroit Addresses

The addresses 235 Rowena Street, as noted in the 1910 census, and 53 Hinkle Street, noted on death record of son John in 1916, appear to have fallen victim to the Chrylser Freeway (I-75).

235 Rowena Street was enumerated between the 600 blocks of Brady Street and St. Antoine Street, which could place Rowena under the interchange of the Edsel Ford Freeway (I-94) and Chrysler Freeway.

Hastings Street ends at the interchange as well and may been closer down toward the Detroit River river front.

The first record of Henry and Martha appears to be in the 1910 census of 235 Rowena Street in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, where a "Henry and Martha GRILL" are noted as newly weds of the previous year and not yet having any children. Henry worked as a brass maker at a brass factory.[Cen 1910]

By the 1920 census, the GRAHL family resided at 349 Eleventh Street in Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan, in the suburbs south of Detroit down along the Detroit River. Henry worked as a mechanic.

Come the 1930 census, Henry had already passed away and Martha and her five children moved further south along 11th Street to house 3326 in Wyandotte, Wayne County.


Arthur, Ben, Sophie, & Otto

Henry Amiel GRAHL died in 1924 at about the age of 46. He is buried at the West Mound Cemetery in Taylor, Wayne County, Michigan.

Sources
  • Draft: World War I Draft Records, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1910: 18 Apr 1910 Census, 235 Rowena Street, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan

Arthur William GRAHL4 (1910-1977)

Andrew GOSS 1161. Arthur William GRAHL4 was born on September 18, 1910 in Wyandotte, Wayne County, Michigan. On December 22, 1943, he married Catherine Eva JURKEWICZ, a native of New York who moved to Wayne County as a toddler. They had two children:

11611. Arthur William "Billy" GRAHL, Jr.      
11612. Ardith Kay GRAHL      

Arthur grew up in Wayne County, Michigan, south of Detroit. By the mid-1940's he moved to Pontiac, Oakland County, to the north of Detroit and started a family. He worked as a welder for 25 years at General Motors.

About the mid-1950's, the GRAHL family moved west to California and settled in Sonoma County, on the outskirts of Sebastopol.

Catherine Eve (JURKEWICZ) GRAHL died on June 2, 1974 in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California, at the age of 56 years. She was buried at Pleasant Hill Memorial Park in Sebastopol.

Arthur William GRAHL died three years later on October 18, 1977 in Sonoma County, at the age of 67 years. He is also buried at Pleasant Hill Memorial Park in Sebastopol.

Sources
  • Cen 1920: 4 Feb 1920 Census, 349 Eleventh Steet and Eureka Avenue, Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan
  • Cen 1930: 15 Apr 1930 Census, 2326 Eleventh Steet, Wyandotte, Wayne County, Michigan

JURKEWICZ Family History

August 2009

Alexander J. JURKEWICZ, Sr. (1888-1965)

1. Alexander J. JURKEWICZ, Sr. was born March 19, 1888 in Poland. He immigrated to America in either 1907 or 1910 and married Eva, also a Polish immigrant, who had immigrated about 1896. They started their family in New York with 5 daughters and then moved to Michigan where they had at least another 4 children, perhaps as many as a total of 13:

1A. Helen JURKEWICZ (1913)    
1B. Victoria JURKEWICZ 29 Jul 1914 Jan 1984 (69)
1C. Emily JURKEWICZ (1915)    
1D. Estella JURKEWICZ 21 Nov 1917 (4 Mar 1999) (81)
1E. Catherine Eva JURKEWICZ 21 Nov 1917 2 Jun 1974 (56)
1F. Alexander J. JURKEWICZ, Jr. 2 Jan 1923 18 May 2002 (78)
1G. John JURKEWICZ      
1H. Alice JURKEWICZ      
1I. Doris JURKEWICZ (1926)    
More Twins
Another set of twins is believed to have died young as well as another boy who died about the age of 11 or 12 from disease. Alex and Eva supposedly had a total of 13 children.

By the 1920 census, the JURKEWICZ family relocated to Ford Village in Ecorse, Wayne County, Michigan, just south of Detroit. Come the 1930 census, four more children joined the family which had relocated to nearby Wyandotte City on 7th Street. Alex was then working as an auto worker.

Alex J. JURWEWICZ died on July 25, 1965 in Sonoma County, California. He was 77 years old.

Catherine Eva (JURKEWICZ) GRAHL (1917-1974)

15. Catherine Eva JURKEWICZ was born in New York on November 21, 1917, along with her twin sister, Stella. Catherine moved to Wayne County, Michigan as a toddler, grew up there and married Arthur William GRAHL, Sr.. They had two children.

See Arthur William GRAHL, Sr.
for more on Catherine and Arthur

Catherine Eva (JURKEWICZ) GRAHL died on June 2, 1974 in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California, at the age of 56 years. She was buried at Pleasant Hill Memorial Park in Sebastopol.