POLAND (Germany?) Birth of Adam Grzybowski about 1806. Possible death in US.

[Erato]

Just on the off chance that Adam died in Perry County, Missouri, it might be worth contacting the local historical society to see if they have any records of it.

https://perrycountyhistoricalsociety.com/index/archives-2/

[GeoffTurner]

Can't hurt. I'll fire off an email to them. He may even have been working there as a locum or something.

[davecapps]

just in case you donīt have this Info.

He was a member of the Polish National Lodge in London, Kensington
Initiated in 1847, Grzybowski, Adam, aged 37, St Thomas`s Hospital, Surgeon

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/60620/images/43970_ugl%5Eln%5Eb%5E1837-00273?pId=1581339

Regards
Dave

[GeoffTurner]

On that basis his birth year would be about 1810. I'm told (although I haven't been able to check) that the 1841 Scotland Census says he was born in Poland about 1806. The 1850 US Census (which we have) says he was born in Poland about 1812. Since his second wife was born in 1827, he would have had every incentive to be passing himself off as a younger man, I guess. But we may never find an official birth/baptism record, as Poland was partitioned several times in the period 1805-1815, with maps redrawn each time, so records might be scarce. His Scottish marriage was in Dec 1834. If he was born 1812, he would have had to get his medical degree in Berlin, move to Edinburgh and find a wife by the age of 22, which seems unlikely.

I'm hoping that the Perry County people might be able to tell us more about his death, which is also open-ended at this stage.

Geoff

[Erato]

I cannot find this family on any passenger list but the record keeping was pretty haphazard in that time period.  One possibility is that he entered the United States from Canada.  I have two ancestral families who entered from Canada in 1849 but there is no record of their arrival.  People just showed up at the border and came on in.

Since his daughter was born in France shortly before they emigrated, I'm guessing that they sailed from there or from some other continental port.  Do French shipping lists exist?

[GeoffTurner]

This does not look promising: "During the 1800s most French and south German emigrants left through the port of Le Havre. The only lists available for Le Havre are lists of crews and passengers on some commercial cargo vessels. They are very incomplete. Very few passengers sailed on cargo ships. Passenger vessels are not included. These lists are not indexed."

I liked the France-New Orleans-up the Mississippi theory better. Canada seems to add an unnecessary degree of complexity. Perry County is a fair way upriver but still a long way from Canada. I don't know what French passenger record-keeping was like in 1850 but I think the facts on the US Census identify him as Polish-born, his wife as English-born and his daughter as French-born, which tells the story without us having to join the dots. 

[Erato]

I don't have access to this:

https://www.findmypast.com/articles/world-records/full-list-of-united-states-records/immigration-and-travel/new-orleans-passenger-lists-1846-1851

[GeoffTurner]

You can search for free but have to pay to join up to see the documents. It has his London marriage etc (which you can see for a fee) but nothing that we don't already have. Nothing in the New Orleans arrivals for any of them, no matter how many wildcards I use. But nothing for them arriving anywhere else, for that matter.

[GeoffTurner]

When his sons married in 1861 and 1864, they both described their father as a lieutenant in the Polish Army (deceased). But that could be just because he had disappeared from the first family's lives, I guess.