Stencel History
The Stencel surname is believed to be derived from a given name, Stansell or a variant of Stanisław. It is not a particularly rare name for this reason. In some records even in the late 1800s, the name has been found spelled Stancel. To complicate matters, the family came from a German occupied region of Poland so a Germanized spelling, Stenzel, is also seen. All variations are pronounced in much the same way. Those not familiar with the name might even be inclined to transcribe the name Stengel, where the descender of a script ‘z’ causes it to be mistaken for a ‘g’. This error is found in the 1880 US Census index. Even though there were several Stencel families in the same region of Poland, documentation does not exist to connect them.
The earliest record for a related Stencel is for the birth of Joseph Stencel, the son of Franciszek and Marianna (nee Bednarski) Stencel in the parish of Mąkowarsko near Bydgoszcz in Poland on 1 January 1817. [Bednarski is derived from Bednarz, a cooper (barrel maker). In one record, the Germanized Betkierowicz was used.] It is not clear where the family was before that as no earlier citations in Mąkowarsko records were found.
Joseph Stencel married Elzbieta Kędzierski on 19 January 1842 in Mąkowarsko. They had 6 children of whom 4 survived into adulthood. From Chicago church death records it is known that Joseph (died 27 April 1888) and Elizabeth (died 9 December 1892) were in Chicago. The exact date of their arrival in the United States has not yet been found. They likely came to the US with their son, Peter, whose arrival record has not been found.
Their oldest son, Michael Stencel and his wife Pauline (nee Mulsoff) immigrated to the US in May 1872, a few months after the Great Chicago Fire of October 1871. They set sail with their first two children from the port of Bremen in Germany aboard the Bark Louis. [A bark is a type of sail ship– it did not have a steam engine like later vessels.] Michael and Pauline had been married 24 November 1867 in the parish church of Mąkowarsko. Michael was naturalized as a US citizen on 21 October 1878.
The Mulsoff component of the family is even more complicated than the Stencel component. Legend has it that the Mulsoff family (and possibly even the Stencels) were originally German Catholic immigrants who settled in this region in the 13th century after it was depopulated due to war. The region south of Chojnice, Poland was called the Koschneiderei and consisted of several villages. The Mulsoff name has various spellings– Mulzoff, Mulzof, Musolf, Muzolf, and Mosolf, among others. Again, these variations have similar pronunciation. Over the centuries, the families fanned out over the region. People probably moved about to find work, and that was certainly true of Pauline’s family. It is believed that Pauline was born in Tuchola, Poland because her family spent some time there. Birth records for Tuchola during the 1840's have not been found, and records of nearby communities did not include Pauline's birth record.
Ignacy (Nick) Stencel was born in Chicago February 1884 to Michael and Pauline (nee Mulsoff) Stencel. The Stencel family ran a coal and lumber business in a lot next to their 1335 N. Milwaukee Avenue home. As a young man, Nick helped out in the business. Nick’s World War I draft registration form indicates that he was some kind of a foreman in the C&NW Rail yards working for the Pullman Company. Nick later worked for Hubbard Oven Company where his brother Edward also worked. Ray Czuchra, Nick’s son-in-law also worked there for a while. Ray went on to work for Fauld’s Oven Company, a competitor, after a labor dispute. When Nick’s boss at Hubbard found out, Nick was fired in retaliation.
Nick’s father, Michael, died of tuberculosis. Nick too was afflicted with tuberculosis and spent time in the Chicago Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium. It is interesting to note that Lorraine (Nick's daughter) and Leonard Galinski lived in a rehabbed apartment in a building that was part of the sanitarium, now called North Park Village. Nick died of complications from a stroke.
Mary (nee Kolaski) Stencel was very prolific as a crocheter. She always seemed to have a crochet hook in hand at home. Many of her table cloths, runners and doilies still exist if only in more fragile condition. Dolores Lakoma recalls that Mary used to run Bunco (a dice game) parties in the attic of her home. Prizes to the winners were in the form of a piece of her crocheted handiwork. The parties had to end before Nick got home from work.
Extended Stencel Family
Ignatius’s father, Michael, married Pauline Mulsoff in Mąkowarsko while Michael’s brother Peter married Pauline’s niece in the US.
Nick's sister, Frances, married Albert Frank Singer 12 November 1895 in Chicago. Albert was a salesman who once ran for an aldermanic seat in Chicago's City Council. He didn't win. The family moved to Minnesota and lived there for a few years. They ultimately ended up living in California. There was some family friction and Albert was told not to come back. On 1 July 1939, he entered the family's residence and shot his wife and his son, Harry, to death. He also wounded another son. Albert was convicted of the murders and spent the rest of his days in San Quentin Prison. He died 22 November 1955.
Nick's brother, Peter, married Josephine Boczek in St. Joseph, Michigan on 17 September 1894. Peter had been born in Dziedno, the parish of Mąkowarsko. Josephine's father was also from Mąkowarsko. Interestingly, I found a grave stone in the Mąkowarsko parish cemetery for a Marianna Stencel whose maiden name was also Boczek. I have not been able to connect her to other known relatives. As for Josephine (nee Boczek) Stencel, her family is now known as the Bodjack family. Peter owned a farm in Stevensville, Michigan (not far from St. Joseph) and grew tomatoes that he sold to the Campbell's Soup Company.