Maciej (Mathis) KARP
1869 - 1942 (72 years)-
Name Maciej (Mathis) KARP Born 8 Dec 1869 Poland 
Gender Male Reference Number 11295 _UID 07F5A7CE71E14C40B6AAD1C48962D22B2CBB Died 29 Jul 1942 Chicago, Ill Buried Saint Adalbert Cemetery Nile IL Person ID I11295 My Genealogy Last Modified 17 May 2014
Family 1 Weronika WOJAKIEWICZ, b. Abt 1871, Gornica, Poland , d. 2 Feb 1927, Chicago, Ill (Age ~ 56 years) Married 6 Nov 1895 St. John Cantius Church--Chicago, Ill Children 1. Stanley KARP, b. 8 Apr 1905, Chicago, Ill , d. 28 Jan 1988, Covington, Indiana (Age 82 years)2. Agnes (Agatha) KARP, b. 1899, Chicago, Ill , d. Chicago, Ill 3. Bertha KARP, b. 16 Jan 1900, Chicago, Ill , d. Chicago, Ill 4. Mary KARP, b. 1896, Chicago, Ill , d. Chicago, Ill 5. Henry KARP, b. 18 Jan 1898, Chicago, Ill , d. Chicago, Ill 6. Walter KARP, b. 1903, Chicago, Ill , d. Chicago, Ill 7. Edward KARP, b. 17 Feb 1907, Chicago, Ill , d. Chicago, Ill 8. Andrew KARP, b. Dec 1897, Chicago, Ill , d. After 1900 census, Chicago, Ill Last Modified 17 May 2014 Family ID F2869 Group Sheet
Family 2 Mary KARP, b. 1873, Poland , d. Yes, date unknown Married Between 1927 and 1930 Chicago, Ill Last Modified 17 May 2014 Family ID F3031 Group Sheet
-
Notes - (Maciej=Polish for Mathias or Matthew)
occupation: farmer and laborer working at a Chicago brickyard
education: He could read and write and learned English living in Chicago, Illinois.
Maciej married Veronica (Brunisova or Risha)also an emmegrant from Poland, at St.Cantius RC Church Chicago, in 1895.
Karp, Maciej married Bojakowicz, Veronica--11-6-1895-St. John Cantius Church--chicago, illAccording to the 1910 Chicago census, Mathias is 40 years old and married fifteen years, he was born in Austria Poland around 1870, and came to United States in (1886 or 1890s)(1892; according to the 1900 Chicago census) (1889; according to the 1910 Chicago census)(1886; according to the 1920 Chicago census)(1886; according to the 1930 Chicago census and first married at age 21)and later became a U.S. citizen.
He learned English and rented a house according to the 1910 Chicago census.
According to family legend, Mathias was the son of a Polish Baron. He fled Poland in order not to be inducted into the Polish army, taking with him family valuables for a new life in the United States. He migrated to the USA in 1886 or 1891, which means he would have been about 16-19 years old. He purchased tracts of land in the Chicago area. Later in life he became an alcoholic, selling off all of his land holdings even trying to sell his wife for money to purchase alcohol.
According to one story relayed by Mathias' son, Stanley Karp, Stanley and his young wife Catherine {Mares) and their young baby came to visit Sophie at her home which according to family folk lore was a farm in Chicago. They were sitting at the kitchen table visiting, when Mathias came in through the front door, falling down drunk. Sophie , Stanley and Catherine saw him and decided to sneak out the back door and hide on top of a haystack in the backyard. They knew that Mathias was in a bad temper and prone to violence. Mathias however, saw a the group hiding on the haystack and proceeded to set the haystack on fire! Fortunately, the group slid down the backside of the haystack and ran for safety.
This is the kind of man that Mathias had become, a raging abusive MANIC-DEPRESSIVE alcholic. Alcoholism and being an abusive MANIC-DEPRESSIVE alcoholic have plagued the Karp family ever since.
Mathias may have married a second wife, Mary, after the death of his first wife, Sophie-Veronica-Risha, on 2/2/1927.
Stanely was one of eight children born to the couple, seven serviving. They were Mary-1896, Andrew-1897(may have been killed by Maciej- a coriner's inquest was conducted by the Cook County Corinor in 1901- Stanley Karp would often call out the name: "Bn-Andrew"--perhapes a childhood memory of his murdered baby brother Andrew), then came Henry-1898, Agnes-1899, Bertha-1900, Walter-1903, Stanley George-1905 and Edward-1906.
Cook County death records:
Two entries similar names and ages;
KARP MATHIAS M/W Y-68 0000353 1941-10-29 ROCK ISLAND ROCK ISLAND - -
KARP MATTHEW M/W Y-72 0021465 1942-07-29 COOK CHICAGO - -
- (Maciej=Polish for Mathias or Matthew)