Much of Maria’s life remains a mystery.
You’d think such a unique surname would help in my search, but I’ve always gotten the the same results: Nothing. Nada. Zip.
Then today with my swanky new subscription to Newspapers.com, I did a global search for that German? Russian? Polish? surname.
Imagine my surprise when I actually got some hits!
The first thing I saw was this legal notice:
Bukmakowski 1912 07-15 Decatur Herald pg 7
I was so shocked to find an article containing Maria’s surname that at first I thought the Bukmakowskis were contesting Meyer Heilbrun’s will!
Closer inspection revealed Meyer’s estate was suing the “above named defendants”, presumably for defaulting on a mortgage.
Could the parties in the suit have lived near one another? I located Meyer in the 1900 census; he was a 63-year-old widowed clothier who appeared on image 27 of 48. But alas, no Bukmakowskis were listed on that image or any other of the 48 pages. Hmm.
What about the others named in the suit? Like F. H. Julius and Maria Krouse for example.
A marriage announcement for Mary and Julius appeared on page 8 of the Decatur [Illinois] Herald page 8, July 7, 1905:
Bukmakowski 1905 07-07 Decatur Herald pg 8
Ah ha, so Maria was a Bukmakowski! Not my 2nd great-grandmother, but with that surname, she has to be related, right?
Apparently this Marie had planned to marry once before:
Bukmakowski 1904 11-24 Decatur Herald pg 1
But didn’t:
Bukmakowski 1904 12-01 Mattoon Commercial pg 6
Wait a minute – did that “Weddings Today” article say Mrs. Marie Bukmakowski?
Could August have been Maria’s first husband?
Bukmakowski 1904 01-05 Decatur Herald pg 10
And Harold her adopted son?
1901 05-09 Decatur Herald pg 6
I stumbled upon this blog post during my search for Harold. Like Sean, I had also found references to [in my case Albert] Bukmakowski being shorted to Buckman:
Bukmakowski 1903 01-18 Decatur Herald
And remember how Maria Bukmakowski was appointed administratrix of her husband August’s estate? The article below does much to tie Albert, August and the names Bukman and Bukmakowski together:
Bukmakowski 1903 11-28 The Daily Review pg 5
The articles shown here provided some wonderful clues about the Bukmakowskis, but they left me with more questions than answers.
Number one of my top 10 questions; how are these Bukmakowskis related to “my” Bukmakowskis?
I guess that’ll be research for another day!
where2look4ancestors 
Fascinating stuff!!! Wow, so interesting and with twists and turns.
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Thanks Luanne, it’s been such fun researching this line!
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I love newspaper research. It adds so much more to the names and dates we get from vital records. Good luck finding the connection!
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Gosh it sure does! I spent hours reading articles – everything from being a musician to being a juror for a murder trial! Thanks for the good luck wish; I’ll need it!
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