Mros·

1 ADAM¹ MROS (born WŁADYSŁAW MRÓZ) b. prob. Ciężkowice, Galicia, Austria ca. 1863–1865; s. of KAZIMIERZ MRÓZ and FRANCISZKA KOSTECKA; d. 15 March 1937, Peterson Memorial Hospital, Brockton, Plymouth Co., Mass.; bur. 18 March 1937, Calvary Cemetery, Brockton; m. 20 May 1888, ae. 23, Twierdza, Frysztak, JOZEFA (JOSEPHINE) WÓJTOWICZ, b. 18 March 1871, ae. 17, dau. MARCIN WÓJTOWICZ and MARIANNA MAJOWSKA.

Adam Mros (known in Poland as Władysław Mróz‡¹) emigrated from Galicia, Austrian Empire (now Poland), to the United States ca. 1893–1894‡², settling in Brockton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, where he worked in the shoe manufacturing trade as a laster. The earliest confirmed documentary presence of Adam in America is the 1898 Brockton City Directory where he was listed as "Mross Adam, laster, h. 12 Intervale."◊¹

Adam and Josephine had four children. Their eldest, ZYGMUNT KAROL (SIDNEY), was born 26 March 1889 in Twierdza before the family emigrated; he remained in Poland and did not follow until ca. 1902–1903, arriving at approximately age fourteen. The three younger children were all born in Brockton: EDWARD JAMES (12 April 1898), KAMELA (Camilla, 27 March 1903), and HELEN J. (8 April 1905).

Adam spent ca. 1898–1922 working in Brockton as a shoemaker.‡³ His known addresses in Brockton were: 12 Intervale St. (1898–1899 directories); 715 N. Montello St. (1901–1905 directories); 126 Intervale St. (1910 Census); 24 Banks St. (1912 directory); 35 Dyer St. (1915-1916 directories); 36 Dyer St. owned with mortgage and where wife Josephine died in 1921 (1920 Census, 1918–1922 directories). By 1930, Adam (ae. c. 65) was a lodger at the Union Rescue Mission of 9 Dover Street (now East Berkeley St.), Boston South End◊², with predominantly older single immigrant men.‡⁴ He had reported in the 1930 Census a declaration of intent for naturalization but never completed the process.

Adam died at Peterson Memorial Hospital on March 15, 1937◊³, having been admitted three days prior; his residence was the Brockton City Infirmary. Cause of death was coronary sclerosis; cerebral hemorrhage dated June 1934 was recorded as a contributory cause. The death informant was his daughter Mrs. Camille (Mros) Chaplain of 24 Fletcher Ave., Avon; his parents' names were recorded on his death certificate as "cannot be learned."

Notes

‡1 Adam's Polish given name was Władysław. He appears to have adopted Adam in America. This is confirmed by the 1889 Frysztak parish birth record for his son Zygmunt, indexed in Geneteka, which records Zygmunt's father's name as Władysław Mróz. It is further corroborated by a 1904 New York immigration detention record, in which "Władysław Mroz, 715 Montello, Brockton" is named as the responsible contact for a detained passenger.◊^3a ◊^3b

‡2The 1910 Federal Census◊⁴ lists Adam's immigration year as 1894 and the 1920 Census as 1893; a one-year discrepancy is typical of self-reported census data. The 1930 Census gives an outlying year of 1903, which is inconsistent with his appearance in Brockton directories from 1898 onward and is considered an error. For research, use an arrival range of c. 1893–1895.

‡3 Adam is consistently listed as a laster/shoeworker in the Brockton City Directories from 1898-1922 and his addresses listed in the directories place him within the working-class neighborhood surrounding the W.L. Douglas Shoe Company complex located at 173 Spark St. His addresses of 12 Intervale, 715 N. Montello, 126 Intervale, 24 Banks St. and 35 & 36 Dyer St. all lie within short walking distance of the W.L. Douglas shoe factory. No record directly links Adam to the Douglas complex; however, his son Edward (ae. 20) is recorded on his 1918 WWI draft card◊⁴ as a shoeworker at W.L. Douglas of 173 Spark St. and residing at 36 Dyers St with Adam. Adam had mortgaged 36 Dyer St. abutting the eastern edge of the W.L. Douglas. complex.

‡4 Lodgers at 9 Dover St., 1930 Census: Mros, Adam, 65, widowed, Poland, shoemaker; Ozosky, Bernard, 52, Poland, laborer-bowling; Monigan, Henry, 41, Mass., waiter; McKenna, Patrick F., 69, N. Ireland, baker; Dearborn, Edward, 28, Maine, woodworker; Eskevich, Joseph, 42, Russia, laborer; Boust, Martin, 42, Poland, laborer; Korolemikz, John, 43, Russia, shoemaker; Murdoch, John R., 75, Nova Scotia, janitor. Enumerator Patrick J. Kennedy, April 5, 1930.

Analytical Notes

[ADAM'S BIRTH] Adam was born in Galicia, Austria, prob. Ciężkowice likely in the early-to-mid 1860s. The Calvary Cemetery gravestone gives b. 1865, consistent with the 1930 Census (ae. 65). The 1910 and 1920 Censuses suggest c. 1866 and 1867. His death certificate records 73 years 8 months 16 days at death, calculating back to c. June 29, 1862. For research, use a birth range of c. 1862–1867. The 1888 Frysztak marriage record for Władysław Kazimierz Mróz and Józefa Wójtowicz gives his birthplace as Ciężkowice and his age as 23, placing his birth c. 1864–1865 and in agreement with the Calvary Cemetery gravestone. No birth record for Władysław Mróz has been found.

[Frank Mroz] The Brockton City Directories of 1898 and 1899 record a Frank Mros residing at the same address as Adam, noted as a boarder: "Mross Frank, shoemaker, b. 12 Intervale."◊³ The nature of Frank's relationship to Adam has not been established. Neither individual appears in the 1900 Brockton City Directory or the 1900 Federal Census of Brockton. Adam resurfaces in the 1901 Brockton City Directory, now residing at 715 N. Montello St., with no further mention of Frank at that address or in subsequent Brockton City Directories. A Frank Mroz, married 9 Oct. 1898, is documented as a shoemaker in the 1900 Federal Census of Fall River. A 1903 newspaper account published in The Fall River Daily Herald references a burglary at Frank's Fall River shoe shop. By [year], Fall River city directories record Frank in the textile industry.

[THE W.L. DOUGLAS SHOE FACTORY] Adam's home at 36 Dyer St. may appear in photographs of the W.L. Douglas Shoe Factory taken from the eastern side of the complex. The company, founded 1876 by William Lewis Douglas (later Mayor of Brockton and 42nd Governor of Massachusetts), grew into the largest shoe manufactory in the world. The factory appears in a Library of Congress photograph◊⁵ (Jack Delano, ca. 1940) on Spark Street, within short walking distance of Adam's homes.

Research Status

High Find a birth record of Władysław Mróz: In progress

Medium Determine Adam/Frank relationship: In progress

Medium Locate Władysława Mróz: Władysława Mróz was the detained passenger in the 1904 New York immigration record that listed Władysław Mróz as her stateside contact and uncle.

Low Locate photographs of 36 Dyer St. Given the home's proximity to the W.L. Douglas Spark St. factory, it is likely to appear in photos of the factory where the south-eastern corner of the complex is in view.

References: Adam Mros death cert., Plymouth Co. Reg. No. 250, cert. 13 May 2026; Josephine Mros death cert., Plymouth Co., Brockton Reg. No. 612, cert. 13 May 2026; Gravestone, Calvary Cemetery, Brockton, Section 60; 1910 US Census, Brockton Ward 6; 1920 US Census, 36 Dyer St.; 1930 US Census, Boston Ward 3, 9 Dover St.; Brockton City Directories 1898–1939; Sidney Mros WWI & WWII draft cards; Edward Mros WWI draft card, 1918; Library of Congress photograph, Douglas Shoe Factory, Spark St., ca. 1940 (Jack Delano, FSA/OWI); Geneteka birth index, Frysztak parish, record no. 6, 1889 (Zygmunt Mróz, father Władysław, mother Józefa Wójtowicz, place Twierdza), accessed May 2026; Geneteka marriage index, Frysztak parish, record no. 1, 1888 (Władysław Kazimierz Mróz and Józefa Wójtowicz, place Twierdza), accessed May 2026; Geneteka birth index, Frysztak parish, record no. 1, 1871 (Józefa Wójtowicz, father Marcin, mother Marianna Majowska, place Twierdza), accessed May 2026; Geneteka marriage index, Frysztak parish, 1862 (Marcin Wójtowicz and Marianna Majowska), accessed May 2026; Hamburger Passagierlisten, Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Vol. 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 158, p. 1562 (Władysława Mroz, August 1904); SS Deutschland manifest and Record of Detained Alien Passengers, New York 25 August 1904, line 29, NARA RG 85, Microfilm T715.

3 JÓZEFA¹ (JOSEPHINE) WÓJTOWICZ (later MROS) b. 18 March 1871, Twierdza, Frysztak parish, Galicia, Austria; dau. of MARCIN WÓJTOWICZ and MARIANNA MAJOWSKA; d. 27 Sept. 1921, 10:30 p.m., 36 Dyer St., Brockton, Plymouth Co., Mass.; cause: Purpura Hemorrhagica (6 days duration); bur. 29 Sept. 1921, Calvary Cemetery, Brockton; m. 20 May 1888, ae. 17, Twierdza, Frysztak, ADAM MROS (born WŁADYSŁAW MRÓZ), b. prob. Ciężkowice, Galicia, Austria ca. 1863–1865, ae. 23, s. of KAZIMIERZ MRÓZ and FRANCISZKA KOSTECKA.

Józefa Wójtowicz was born in Twierdza in 1871‡¹, a hamlet approximately 1.5 km south of Frysztak town, within the parish of Frysztak, Galicia, Austrian Empire (now Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Poland). Her maternal grandparents were SYZMON and KATARZYNA GODEK. Her father Marcin died in Twierdza 3 Sept. 1881 ae. 49, when she was about nine, leaving her mother Marianna to raise the family. Her Mother lived on in Twierdza until her own death 18 Dec. 1907 ae. 79.

Josephine had two brothers: KAROL b. 28 Oct. 1863, Frysztak, d. 27 Dec. 1949 ae. 86, Chicopee, Mass.; JÓZEF b. 6 Feb. 1866, Frysztak, d. 15 June 1871, Twierdza, ae. 5.

Josephine bore four children, the eldest in Poland. ZYGMUNT KAROL (SIDNEY) was born 26 March 1889 in Twierdza; he remained behind when Josephine emigrated ca. 1891 and did not follow until ca. 1902–1903, at approximately age fourteen. The three younger children were born in Brockton: EDWARD JAMES (12 April 1898), KAMELA (Camilla, 27 March 1903), and HELEN J. (8 April 1905).

Josephine emigrated to the United States ca. 1891‡². She is found at 126 Intervale St., Brockton (1910 Census) and at 36 Dyer St., Brockton, where the family resided from c. 1918 until at least her death in 1921‡³. She died at 36 Dyer St., 27 Sept. 1921, of Purpura Hemorrhagica, attended by Alphonse F. Budreski, M.D., 25 Ames St., Brockton. Her death certificate was completed by her son Edward Mros (ae. 23), who listed her father as "Martin Woztourcz, Austria" but recorded her mother as "Unknown."◊¹

Notes

‡1 Birth date. Josephine's death certificate states a birth of 27 March 1872, and her gravestone gives 1872. The Geneteka index for Frysztak lists one Józefa Wójtowicz born 18 March 1871 in Twierdza, father Marcin and mother Marianna Majowska, the only match of that parentage in all of Podkarpackie and certainly the same person. The one-year discrepancy between the Polish register (1871) and American records (1872) is common; the Polish register year is treated as primary.

‡2 The 1910 Census gives Josephine's arrival as 1891; the 1920 Census gives 1887. The 1891 date is considered more reliable. She married Władysław (Adam) Mróz in Twierdza on 20 May 1888, and their son Sidney was born there on 26 March 1889. An 1887 arrival would place her in America before both events, contradicting the Polish parish records. The 1891 date, after the marriage and Sidney's birth, is consistent with all known facts.

‡3 Josephine is recorded at 126 Intervale St. in the 1910 Census. By 1918 the family had moved to 36 Dyer St.; the 1919 Brockton directory lists "Adam Mros (Josephine), shoeworker, h 36 Dyer," the parenthetical confirming her residence. The 1922 directory, the first issued after her death, adds "Josephine Mrs died Sept 27 1921" an independent corroboration of the death date. The address is further confirmed by Edward Mros's 1918 WWI draft card and by her 1921 death certificate.

Analytical Notes

[HOUSE NO. 29, TWIERDZA] The Wójtowicz family appears at two addresses across the Frysztak parish records. The earlier records place them at house no. 101, Frysztak: the births of Karol (1863) and Józef (1866). By 1871 the family had relocated to house no. 29, Twierdza, which remained their address through Marianna's death in 1907. Records at that address include the birth of Józefa (Birth Rec. No. 1, 1871), the death of Józef ae. 5 (Death Rec. No. 4, 1871), the death of Marcin (Death Rec. No. 6, 1881), the marriage of Józefa to Władysław Mróz (Marriage Rec. No. 1, 1888), the birth of Zygmunt (Birth Rec. No. 6, 1889), and the death of Marianna (Death Rec. No. 6, 1907).

[GIVEN NAME] Józefa was born 18 March 1871 while her brother Józef (b. 6 Feb. 1866) was still living; he died three months later, 15 June 1871. The near-identical names suggest anticipatory memorial naming. No godparent names are recorded in the Geneteka index entry to suggest an alternative explanation.

[SURNAME] Józefa was rendered Josephine in all American records, a direct equivalent. Her maiden surname Wójtowicz means 'son/daughter of the wójt' (village headman). Variants in records include Wiftowicz (Sidney's 1912 Brockton marriage cert.), Wiztowicz (Woonsocket Marriage Register, p. 15, 1912), Woztowicz (Josephine's 1921 death cert., informant Edward Mros), Woztourcz (father's-name field, same cert.), Watts (Edward's 1921 marriage cert.), Louchutz (Helen's 1905 birth record), Woztozwosc (Sidney's 1951 death cert., informant unknown), and Wojtowicz (Helen's 1925 marriage cert., the clearest American rendering).

[Dr. Budreski] Dr. Alphonse F. Budreski, attending physician at Josephine's death (his signature was first misread "A.D. Bedrock"). Budreski graduated Tufts 1917, interned at St. Elizabeth's, Brighton, served as a first lieutenant in the Army Medical Corps in WWI, and opened his Brockton practice in 1919. His ties to St. Casimir's Polish Catholic Church suggest Polish heritage, likely explaining his attendance on a Polish immigrant household. He later served as city physician (1923–24) and medical examiner for the First Plymouth District (1933). He is buried at Calvary Cemetery — the same as Josephine.

[CAMILLE'S MARRIAGE, OCT. 1921] A Boston Globe dispatch of 11 Oct. 1921 reports that Camille D. Mros's wedding to John W. Chaplain was moved forward because Josephine had died "about two weeks ago" and urged the couple to marry immediately before her death. Counting back two weeks from the dateline of 10 October independently corroborates the death certificate date of 27 September 1921. Helen Mros, sister of bride, is identified as bridesmaid.◊²

Research Status

High Locate Josephine's emigration record, ca. 1891. To be investigated

Medium Confirm identity of Karol Wójtowicz (Josephine's brother) in Chicopee, Mass. and establish his relationship. In progress

Low Add references for remaining unsourced surname variants in [SURNAME] analytical note: Edward's 1921 marriage cert. (Watts) and Helen's 1905 birth record (Louchutz). In progress

References: Josephine Mros death cert., Plymouth Co., Brockton Reg. No. 612, cert. 13 May 2026; Gravestone, Calvary Cemetery, Brockton; 1910 US Census, Brockton Ward 6, 126 Intervale St.; 1920 US Census, 36 Dyer St.; Brockton City Directories 1898–1922; Edward Mros WWI draft card, 1918; Helen Mros 1925 marriage cert. (Ancestry); Sidney Mros death cert., Taunton Vol. 21, p. 8, No. 135, cert. 14 May 2026 (surname variant Woztozwosc); Woonsocket, R.I. Marriage Register, p. 15, 1912 (surname variant Wiztowicz); Brockton Marriage Register No. 698, 1912, p. 197 (surname variant Wiftowicz); Geneteka birth index, Frysztak parish, record no. 1, 1871 (Józefa Wójtowicz, father Marcin, mother Marianna Majowska, place Twierdza), accessed May 2026; Geneteka birth index, Frysztak parish, record no. 6, 1889 (Zygmunt, place Twierdza), accessed May 2026; Geneteka marriage index, Frysztak parish, record no. 1, 1888 (Władysław Kazimierz Mróz and Józefa Wójtowicz, place Twierdza), accessed May 2026; Geneteka marriage index, Frysztak parish, 1862 (Marcin Wójtowicz and Marianna Majowska), accessed May 2026; Geneteka death index, Frysztak parish, record no. 4, 1871 (Józef Wójtowicz, Twierdza), accessed May 2026; Geneteka death index, Frysztak parish, record no. 6, 1881 (Marcin Wójtowicz, Twierdza), accessed May 2026; Geneteka death index, Frysztak parish, record no. 6, 1907 (Marianna Majowska, Twierdza), accessed May 2026; "Wedding Fulfills Mother's Request," Boston Globe, 11 Oct. 1921, p. 6.

2 ZYGMUNT KAROL² (SIDNEY KAROL) MROS (ADAM¹) b. 26 March 1889, Twierdza, Frysztak parish, Galicia, Austria; d. 4 Feb. 1951, Rose Hawthorne Lathrop Home, Fall River, Bristol Co., Mass.; cause: Carcinoma of prostate, metastases to base of skull; bur. St. Joseph Cemetery, Taunton; m. 22 April 1912, Woonsocket, Providence Co., R.I., STANISŁAWA KORZENIOWSKA (SADIE), dau. of JÓZEF KORZENIOWSKI and WERONIKA CIEMPA.

Zygmunt Karol Mros (known in America as Sidney) was the eldest child of Adam and Josephine and the only child born in Poland. He was born at Twierdza, house no. 29, the Wójtowicz family home‡¹, and remained there with his maternal grandmother MARIANNA MAJOWSKA until emigrating to the United States (ae. c. 14) ca. 1902–1903, where his parents had already been established since c. 1898‡². By 1907 he was boarding at 59 School St., Chicopee, the home of his uncle KAROL WÓJTOWICZ◊¹, Josephine's brother, working first as a factory hand and then as a mechanic. By 1910 he was in Brockton, working in a shoe factory and living with his parents.◊² He listed Frysztak as his birthplace on his WWI◊³ and WWII◊⁴ draft registrations.

Sidney married Stanisława (Sadie) Korzeniowska on 22 April 1912◊⁵; the ceremony took place in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and the marriage was also registered at Brockton. At the time of the marriage Sidney gave his address as Bellvue Avenue, Brockton, and his occupation as painter. By 1915 he and Sadie had settled in Taunton, moving several times in the first decade: from rear 33 Shores St.◊⁶ to 55 Park St.◊⁷, back to rear 33 Shores St.◊⁸, and then to 204 High St.◊⁹ before establishing the family permanently at 912 Bay St. by 1927◊¹⁰. It was there, on 5 January 1932, that the house was destroyed by fire from a defective chimney; Sidney, Sadie, and five-year-old Marion who were home at the time escaped, but the family was left homeless with neighbors taking in several of the children.‡³◊¹¹ The family rebuilt at 912 Bay St. Sidney worked as a painter for most of his adult life; in his final working years he held a position as a helper at the Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant. He died 4 February 1951◊¹² at the Rose Hawthorne Lathrop Home, Fall River, of carcinoma of the prostate, and was buried at St. Joseph Cemetery, Taunton.

Notes

‡1 Sidney's birth date is variously recorded. The Geneteka birth index for Frysztak gives 26 March 1889, Twierdza, and his 1912 Woonsocket marriage register independently records the same date. His WWI and WWII draft cards give 26 March 1888. His death certificate records an age of 60 years, 10 months, and 10 days at death on 4 February 1951, calculating back to approximately 25 March 1890. The Polish register and the marriage register agree on 1889; the Polish register year is treated as primary.

‡2 Sidney's father, Adam Mros, first appears in the Brockton city directory in 1898, at 12 Intervale St. By 1902–1903, when Sidney arrived, Adam had been settled in Brockton for roughly four to five years. Edward, Sidney's younger American-born brother, would have been about four years old at the time of Sidney's arrival.

‡3 The fire is reported in three papers dated 6 January 1932 (Taunton dateline Jan. 5). The Globe account is the fullest; the Post and Daily Record are brief dispatches. The three papers differ on the loss figure: the Globe and Post give $4,200 (partly insured); the Record gives $5,000. The Globe notes that one of the ten family members was not living at home, accounting for the "nine homeless" figure in the other papers. The Globe also records that Sidney had been out of employment for several months, consistent with conditions at the depth of the Depression, and that the family had no relatives in Taunton. The NOAA daily record for Taunton (station USC00198367) gives a low of 13°F and a high of 36°F on 5 January 1932, the coldest night of the winter to that point and of the entire 1931–32 season; no snow was on the ground.

Analytical Notes

[POLISH NAMES] Prior to a systematic search of the Taunton city directories, Sidney and Sadie were known only by those names, with no documentary evidence of their Polish given names. The early Taunton directories preserved their Polish names: the 1915 entry lists "Mroz Zygmund (Stanislawa), operative, house rear 33 Shores." The same address appears in subsequent years under the anglicized forms Sidney and Sadie, the consistent pairing of different name forms at the same address across multiple directory years confirming that Zygmunt and Sidney were the same man and Stanisława and Sadie the same woman.

[CHICOPEE, 1905–1908] Karol Wójtowicz, Sidney's maternal uncle, was a painter at 59 School St. two years before Sidney arrived. When Sidney appears at the same address in 1907 he is a factory hand; by 1908 a mechanic. He had become a painter by 1912, the occupation recorded on both marriage registers. Whether he learned the trade from his uncle cannot be confirmed, but Karol's prior presence as a painter at that address is consistent with it. The earliest record placing Sidney in Brockton is the 1910 census; no record places him there before the Chicopee years.

[OCCUPATION: MOLDER, 1918–1919] The Taunton directories of 1918 and 1919 list Sidney as a molder rather than a painter, the only interruption in a painter occupation documented from 1912 through at least 1941. The shift coincides with the wartime industrial labor market; molding work at metal foundries was in high demand during and immediately after the First World War. By 1921 he is again listed as a painter.

[GIVEN NAMES OF THE CHILDREN] Sidney's first child was named Edmund William (1912). His brother Edward, who was about four when Sidney arrived in America, may have been the model for Edmund. His second child, Josephine Veronika (1914), carries the name of Sidney's mother Josephine (Józefa) as well as those of Sadie's parents Józef and Weronika Korzeniowski.

Research Status

High Identify Karolina Mroz, who appears in the Taunton directories for 1918 (weaver, 21 Third av) and 1919 (spinner, 18 Meadow St.) and then disappears from the record. Her relationship to Sidney, if any, is unconfirmed; immigration, naturalization, and Galician church records should be checked. Consider opening a Research Associate file. To be investigated

Medium Locate the Taunton city directory for 1920, which would close the single gap in the address chronology between rear 33 Shores St. (1919) and 204 High St. (1921). To be investigated

Medium Fill gaps in Chicopee city directory coverage. Directories located: 1905, 1907, 1908. Need 1906 to confirm whether Sidney was at 59 School St. before 1907, and 1909 to confirm his departure. To be investigated

Medium Locate Brockton city directory entries for Sidney, ca. 1909–1914, to document the period between Chicopee and the move to Taunton. The 1910 census places him at 126 Intervale St. with his parents; a directory entry would confirm when he established his own household in Brockton and when the family left for Taunton. To be investigated

Low Confirm whether Taunton directories were published for 1929 and 1934. These years are absent from the current set; if the directories exist, they would fill the remaining gaps in the Bay St. chronology. To be investigated

References: Sidney Mros death cert., City of Taunton, Bristol Co., Vol. 21, p. 8, No. 135, cert. no. 135455, dated 12 March 1951, cert. 14 May 2026 (mother recorded as "Josephine Woztozwosc"); Sidney Mros WWI draft card, 5 June 1917, ser. no. 668; Sidney Mros WWII draft card, c. 1942, ser. no. U-1104; Brockton Marriage Register No. 698, 1912, p. 197; Woonsocket, R.I. Marriage Register, p. 15, 1912; "Taunton Family of 9 Left Homeless by $4200 Fire," Boston Globe, 6 Jan. 1932; "Nine Made Homeless," Boston Post, 6 Jan. 1932; "Fire Routs Family of 10," Boston Daily Record, 6 Jan. 1932; NOAA GHCN Station USC00198367 (Taunton, MA), daily summary 5 Jan. 1932; Geneteka birth index, Frysztak parish, record no. 6, 1889; 1910 US Census, Brockton Ward 6, 126 Intervale St.; 1930 US Census, Taunton, 912 Bay St.; Chicopee City Directory, 1905, p. 992; Chicopee City Directory, 1907, p. 1067; Chicopee City Directory, 1908, pp. 1163, 1205; Taunton City Directory, 1915, p. 291; 1917, p. 255; 1918, p. 254; 1919, p. 257; 1921, p. 245; 1922, p. 246; 1923, p. 234; 1924, p. 236; 1925, p. 238; 1926, p. 304; 1927, p. 257; 1928, p. 255; 1930, p. 256; 1931, p. 255; 1932, p. 203; 1933, p. 205; 1935, p. 208; 1936, p. 211; 1937, p. 213; 1938, p. 200; 1939, p. 134; 1940, p. 161; 1941, p. 204; 1944, p. 170; 1945, p. 176; 1949, p. 178; 1950, p. 179.

4 EDWARD JAMES² MROS (ADAM¹) b. 12 April 1898, Brockton, Plymouth Co., Mass.; d. 28 July 1967, Frisbie Memorial Hospital, Rochester, Strafford Co., N.H.; cause: Renal carcinoma with metastasis; bur. Pine Grove Cemetery, Farmington, N.H.; m. 23 Nov. 1921, rectory of St. Margaret's Church, Brockton, KATHARINE MABEL JORDAN, b. 24 Nov. 1896, Brockton, dau. of WILLIAM JORDAN and NELLIE BUTLER.

Edward James Mros was born 12 April 1898 at Brockton, Massachusetts, the second child of Adam Mros and Josephine Wójtowicz and the first born in America.‡¹ By 1918, at age twenty, he was working as a shoe worker at the W.L. Douglas factory, 173 Spark Street, Brockton, residing at 36 Dyer Street with his parents.◊¹ He served in the United States Army during the First World War, attaining the rank of Sergeant of Infantry.‡²

Edward married Katharine Mabel Jordan on 23 November 1921 at the rectory of St. Margaret's Church, Brockton.◊² The couple honeymooned in Maine and settled at 1022 Warren Avenue, Brockton, the Jordan family home, where Katharine had been living and working as a liner in a shoe factory at the time of the 1920 Census. His mother Josephine had died two months prior, on 27 September 1921.

The 1930 Census records Edward as a shoe factory foreman at 147 Randolph Street, Brockton, renting from William McLaughlin at $10 per month.◊³ By ca. 1934 the family had relocated to 9 South Main Street, Farmington, Strafford County, New Hampshire,‡³ where he continued in the shoe trade as an edge trimmer, earning $1,800 for 51 weeks' work in 1939.◊⁴

Edward entered public life in Farmington, serving as Selectman by at least 1943 and as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives.‡⁴ By 1948, he and his son Edward Jr. co-owned Eddie's Variety Store on South Main Street, Farmington, for some twenty years before retiring ca. 1962.

Edward died of renal carcinoma with metastasis at Frisbie Memorial Hospital, Rochester, on 28 July 1967, aged 69, having been admitted three days prior.◊⁶ His attending physician, Robert E. Lord, M.D., of Farmington, had cared for him since 1949, per the death certificate. A Requiem Mass was celebrated at St. Peter's Church, Farmington, on 31 July at 10 a.m. Burial was at Pine Grove Cemetery, Farmington, where Katharine was later interred beside him following her death on 9 August 1970.

Notes

‡1 Birth record. The Brockton City birth register for 1898 records a male child born 12 April 1898, entry no. 269, to "Stadislow Morose" and "Josy Sitovich," garbled transcriptions of Władysław Mróz (Adam) and Józefa Wójtowicz (Josephine). The child's name is recorded as "Morose." The Ancestry index transcribed the entry under that surname, which explains why the record is not found under Mros or Mroz.◊⁷ The date, parentage, and birthplace are consistent with all subsequent records for Edward. The 1910 Census lists him as "Edmund," age 12; no other record uses this form.

‡2 Military service. The Boston Globe of 24 November 1921, reporting Edward's wedding, identifies the groom as "a sergeant of infantry during the World War." His WWI draft registration of 12 September 1918 (Serial No. 2894, Local Board Division 2, Brockton) records him as a shoe worker at W.L. Douglas, age 20, residing at 36 Dyer Street, with his mother Josephine listed as nearest relative. No service record has been located to confirm unit or theater. His WWII draft card (14 February 1942, Local Board No. 17, Farmington) notes no disqualifying condition; he was 43 at registration and was not called up. The registrar noted a tattoo on his right forearm.

‡3 Removal to New Hampshire. The Farmington News obituary for Edward's daughter Shirley (10 September 1943) states she "spent the first six years of her life" in Brockton and "for the past nine years" had lived in Farmington, placing the family's removal to N.H. ca. 1934. The 1940 Census independently confirms Farmington as Edward's residence since at least 1935.

‡4 Edward served as a Farmington Selectman by at least 1943, when his daughter Shirley's obituary identified him by that title. He ran for the New Hampshire State Senate in 1950, winning the Republican nomination for District 20 without opposition but losing the general election to the incumbent Democrat Thomas C. Burbank of Rochester by 5,800 votes to 4,285. He returned to the ballot two years later and won a seat in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, serving the 1953 session and winning re-election in November 1954 on a ticket with Eugene F. Nute. The result was close enough that Democrat Ernest E. Lefavour petitioned for a recount; it was held on 22 November 1954 and left Edward's margin at 21 votes. His obituary in the Farmington News remembered him simply as "a former selectman and member of the Legislature."

Analytical Notes

[SHIRLEY] Shirley Mros, born 25 December 1927 in Brockton, died in Farmington at the age of fifteen years and eight months. Her death certificate, signed by J.L. McLaughlin, M.D., records the immediate cause as congenital heart disease, due to mental deficiency and Mongolism (the period terminology for Down syndrome), each noted as of fifteen years' duration. Her obituary in the Farmington News of 10 September 1943 gives the date as September 1 — the death certificate records 2 September at 2:30 a.m., the discrepancy likely reflecting the hour. Services were held at the family home, Rev. Fr. Francis T. Hogan officiating. The informant on the death certificate was her sister Mary J. Mros. Shirley is not named among the survivors in either Edward's or Katharine's obituaries, having predeceased both parents by more than two decades.

[KATHARINE'S FAMILY] Katharine Mabel Jordan was born in Brockton 24 November 1896, baptized 9 December 1896 at a Brockton Catholic church, the daughter of William Jordan and Nellie Butler. Katharine was of Irish descent on both sides, her mother Nellie having been born in Ireland and her father William the son of two Irish-born parents. William was a shoe worker in Brockton, recorded variously as laster (1900, 1920 Censuses) and tanner (1910 Census). The 1900 Census places the family at 384 Montello Street, Brockton; by 1920 they were at Warren Avenue, the same address the newlyweds took up after the November 1921 wedding. Katharine's siblings, as established from the census records and her obituary, were Alice (b. ca. 1895), Joseph (b. ca. 1899), Josephine (b. ca. 1900), Mary (b. ca. 1902), William (b. ca. 1904), Emily (b. ca. 1909), and Ralph (b. ca. 1914). Josephine is not named among the survivors in Katharine's 1970 obituary and may have predeceased her. Katharine was a communicant of St. Peter's Church, Farmington, and is buried with Edward in the family lot at Pine Grove Cemetery.

[OCCUPATION TRAJECTORY] Edward's occupational record across documents runs: shoe worker, W.L. Douglas, Brockton (1918 WWI draft card); shoe factory foreman, Brockton (1930 Census); edge trimmer, shoe factory, Farmington (1940 Census); employee of James Malley–George Dempsey, Dover (1942 WWII draft card); storekeeper, self-employed, variety store, South Main Street, Farmington (Edward Jr.'s 1948 draft card); co-owner, Eddie's Variety Store, Farmington, retiring ca. 1962 (obituary); Selectman (by 1943) and NH House member (1953, 1955 sessions). The step from foreman to edge trimmer between 1930 and 1940 likely reflects Depression-era displacement, as shoe manufacturing contracted sharply across southeastern New England in the 1930s.

[MARY IRENE AND ARTHUR SCOTT] Mary Irene Mros, Edward's daughter, married Arthur Granville Scott Jr. on 22 June 1946 at St. Peter's Church, Farmington, officiated by Rev. G. Rodolphe Drapeau. Arthur, born in Derry N.H., was a WWII Navy veteran who pursued a career in education as teacher, principal, and superintendent across New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and worked for fourteen years with the Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company, Columbus, Ohio. He died 29 December 1976 in Manchester, N.H., aged 54. Mary survived him by fifteen years, dying 15 February 1991; both are buried at Forest Hill Cemetery, East Derry. Their children were Arthur G. Scott III, Timothy J. Scott, Mrs. Sue Gorton, and Miss Katherine Scott.

Research Status

Medium Locate Katharine Jordan Mros death certificate (N.H., 1970): Obituary and FindAGrave provide vital dates; the death cert. would add cause of death and informant.

Medium Locate WWI service record for Edward James Mros, Sgt. of Infantry: The Boston Globe marriage notice confirms rank; no unit or theater established. NARA fire of 1973 destroyed many Army personnel records of this era.

Low Confirm 1952 NH House election for Edward J. Mros Sr.: Service in the 1953 session is established; the 1952 primary and general election documents have not been located.

Low Confirm Edward Jr.'s birth record, Brockton, ca. May 1924: DOB established from WWII draft card; birth register entry not yet located.

References: Edward J. Mros Sr. death cert., N.H. State File No. 67-4064, Clerk's No. 150, Rochester, 28 July 1967; Brockton City birth register, 1898, entry no. 269 (indexed as "Morose," 12 April 1898); 1910 US Census, Brockton Ward 6, 126 Intervale St.; 1918 WWI draft registration card, Edward James Mros, Serial No. 2894, Local Board Division 2, Brockton, 12 Sept. 1918; Boston Globe, 24 Nov. 1921, p. 30; Brockton Marriage Register No. [pending], 23 Nov. 1921; 1930 US Census, Brockton, ED 12-13, Sheet 14B, 147 Randolph St., enumerated 16 April 1930; 1940 US Census, Farmington, Strafford Co., N.H., Sheet 1A, 9 South Main St.; Edward James Mros Jr. Selective Service registration card, Local Board No. 9, Farmington, registered 2 Sept. 1948; Edward J. Mros Sr. WWII draft registration card, Local Board No. 17, Farmington, registered 14 Feb. 1942; Concord Monitor, 13 Sept. 1950, p. 12; Portsmouth Herald, 8 Nov. 1950, p. 14 (Burbank 5,800, Mros 4,285); Concord Monitor, 20 Sept. 1954, p. 6; Concord Daily Monitor and N.H. Patriot, 27 Oct. 1954; 19 Nov. 1954; Concord Monitor, 22 Nov. 1954, p. 6 (recount upheld, 21-vote margin); "Former Store Owner Dies," Farmington News, 3 Aug. 1967, p. 2; "In Memoriam: Shirley Mros," Farmington News, 10 Sept. 1943, p. 1; Shirley Mros death cert., N.H., Strafford Co., Farmington, Clerk's No. 240, 2 Sept. 1943 (J.L. McLaughlin, M.D.); N.H. Certificate of Intention of Marriage, Edward James Mros Jr. and Elizabeth Gertrude Currier, Reg. No. 57, Farmington, 3 Sept. 1949; N.H. Certificate of Intention of Marriage and Certificate of Marriage, Arthur Granville Scott Jr. and Mary Irene Mros, Farmington, Reg. No. 242, 22 June 1946; "Former Chester Principal Dies," Nashua Telegraph, 30 Dec. 1976, p. 2; Katherine M. Mros obituary, Farmington News [ca. Aug. 1970]; Brockton City birth register, 1896, entry no. 767 (Catherine M. Jordan, 24 Nov. 1896); Boston Archdiocese Roman Catholic Sacramental Records, baptism of Catherinam Mabel Jordan, 9 Dec. 1896, Brockton; FindAGrave memorials no. 277510745 (Katherine Mabel Jordan Mros) and no. 243806099 (Mary Irene Mros Scott).