This week we take a look at the lineage of the Goretski and Gorski surnames as they pertain to my family’s history.

Earliest Known Ancestor

I have seen this surname spelled as variants of Goretski and Gorski throughout my research.  It is not clear to me what it originated as in Poland.  It seems some of the family still carries the name Goretski while other branches, such as with my great-grandmother Helen Frances Gorski, changed the name sometime in the early 1900’s.

My 2nd great grandfather, Adam Goretski, was born in Prussia, Poland.  His birth year is unclear and it may have been as early as 1828 or as late as 1837, depending on the source.  It seems that he may have immigrated to America in June 1866, according to a Petition for Naturalization dated January 4, 1874 that might be his.  It is indexed as Adam Goritzki, and I will order a copy to see if it matches his family details.

According to other researchers, Adam Goretski died on March 1, 1893 in the Town of Sharon, Portage County, Wisconsin.  I have no proof of his death date or his burial, and I could not find an obituary in Portage County to support this date.

Along with his wife Mary Yach/Jach, we believe Adam had ten children: Martha, Joseph, Rozalje, John, Agatha, Antonia, August, Toefil (aka Charles), Alexander, and my great-grandmother Helena Frances Goretski.  Adam died at age 56 when his youngest daughter was less than 2 years old.  He is buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Polonia.

Lineage of the Goretski Family

Lineage

Jessica Marie Cole > Diane Marie Dreffs > Mary Rose Stroik (1910 – 1994) > Helena Frances Goretski (1891 – 1982) > Adam Goretski (1837 – 1893)

Items of Interest

• Adam Goretzki is listed as a defendant in a criminal court case brought against him by the State of Wisconsin.  You can see the case entry published in the Stevens Point Daily Journal on February 20, 1886 on Page 7.  I was not able to find any further details about the case in the newspapers, so I need to contact the courts in Wisconsin to see if there is additional information available.
• Adam and Mary Goretzki are listed in the 1880 US Census in Sharon, Portage, Wisconsin (ED143, Sheet 27, Line 28).
• Adam Gorecki is listed in a store ledger as a customer in Stevens Point.  The well-known article documents a list of residents of the town in the 1880’s and 1890’s.

Family Notes

• I do not have any of the immigration details for Adam Goretski.  There is a Soundex Index card for Adam Goritzki who came to the USA in June 1866 via the port of Baltimore and filed a Petition for Naturalization in Stevens Point, Wisconsin on January 4, 1874.  I will request a copy to see if it might be him.
• I do not have any details on the marriage of Adam and Mary.
• Much of the information I have came from interviews my DaD did with Helen Stroik in the early 1980’s before she died.  The rest of it came from contact with two Goretski researchers, Mary Stutzman and Amy Goretski, in 2002.

Additional Information

Check out my Ancestry Family Tree for Adam Goretski.

See the Find A Grave memorial for Adam Goretski.