Many records have been searched trying to determine where in Germany the Pajewski and Gainowski families were from but so far there are only four records that reveal origin information within Germany.

One of these was Fred Pajewski's 1924 Death Record. On this record, Fred's father John Pajewski stated that both he and his wife Anna Gainowski were born in Danzig, Germany.

A second record providing location information was John Pajewski's 1926 Name Change Petition. On this petition, John stated that he and his wife Anna were both born in West Prussia. Danzig was a city within West Prussia so these two records are consistent.

A third record is John and Anna Pajewski's 1920 Census entry that indicates that they and their parents were all born in West Prussia.

A fourth record is John and Anna Pajewski's 1930 Census record. This record actually states the town where they were born.

For John, his town of birth is stated to be Melencz, Germany. And for Anna, her town of birth is stated to be Muntou, Germany.

In addition, the IGI indicates that Joseph Gainowski and Rosa Wogervodka wer e married 7 February 1847 in Gnojau, West Prussia.

All three of these locations, Melencz, Muntou, and Gnojua are very small towns and within a few miles of each other and slightly to the west of Marienburg, now Malbork, in northern Poland, but then in West Prussia. Marienburg (Malbork) is about 30 southeast of Danzig (Gdnask). Most likely they stated in this country they were from Danzig because it was recognizable; the same way we say we are from Chicago, even though we might live in the suburbs.

Other location information about the origins of our families are:

1. a g-granddaughter of the Soenke family indicated that the Soenkes were from Marienburg.
2. a g-grandson of Martin and Veronica Nicolai indicated that Martin and Veronica were married in Dortmund. Dortmund is about 30 miles south of present day Munster, Germany. Dortmund is in the western part of Germany and quite far from the area around former Danzig in West Prussia. However, Veronica was likely born in the same area as the other Pajewski's, thought to be around Marienburg.

The Gainowski, Nicolai, Pajewski, Soenke, Abend, and Pastwa families lived very near each other in Chicago at the turn of the 19th century. There were many marriages and sponsorship at each other's baptisms and weddings. Thus, it is possible that they all came from the same general area in Germany and either knew each other there or became friends here when they realized they were from the same area. That area appears to be the environs of Marianburg, West Prussia.


Initial Web Publication Date: 05/29/03
Intermediate Additions: 10/21/05
Last Web Upload: 10/21/05

Above is an excerpt from the 1930 Census for the Place of Birth for John and Anna Page (Pajewski) and two of their sons, George and William. It is quite unusual to show an actual town name in the census as only the country was required. I like to think that they were providing a hint to future generations of where they were from.

The second column is the place of birth of the individual, the third column is the place of birth of that person's father, and the fourth column in the place of birth of that person's mother. Thus there are three chances to read John's place of birth and three for Anna.

These locations are probably near the places of birth for Michael and Fred Pajewski and possibly their sister Veronica.