Cziskes in Harrison Township

One item on my ever-growing to do list is to research the land records of Calumet County in Wisconsin for deeds related to the Ciskes (also written Cziske). The Plat Book of Manitowoc and Calumet Counties, Wisconsin, published in 1893, shows two Cziskes on pages 60 and 61.

Cziskes, Plat of Harrison Townships 19-20 North, Ranges 18-19 East, p. 60-61.

 Who are J. Cziske and Jos Cziske?

Jos is a common abbreviation for Joseph. I know of at least three Joseph Cziskes who were living in Harrison township in Calumet County during this period. The first is Joseph Cziske, born around 1839 in Prussia. One of his sons is also named Joseph Cziske, born around 1870. Both are enumerated in Harrison in the United States federal censuses and Wisconsin censuses from 1870 through 1910. The third possibility is Joseph Cziske, born about 1875. He was the son of Franz Cziske and Justina Malest, who immigrated to Wisconsin from Prussia in 1866, settling in Harrison township.

J. Cziske may be one of the Josephs or it may refer to John Ciske, who was born in Harrison in 1871, but who moved to Menasha in Winnebago County around 1890.

Like most genealogy questions, this requires more research.

Where Did I Find This Map?

I have worked on tracing my Ciske ancestors off and on for more than ten years. I would count at least eight of those years as a newbie, also called a "baby," genealogist. I happily spend hours online clicking, reading, downloading, and completely ignoring and not documenting where I found information.

In my files I have an image of a plat map showing portions of Mantiwoc and Calumet counties in Wisconsin. One of the plats is labeled "J. Cziske," so I am sure I saved it because it relates to my family. However, that is all I can recall. I know I saved in the morning on 10 November 2010, a Wednesday of all days, but where I found it, no clue.

Thankfully I found an alternative map for the same location and year which I can correctly document with a source citation.

My lesson learned is two-fold:

1. I will probably need to relocate the source for many of my early finds which I excitedly downloaded and neglected to document. 
2. Everything, regardless of how I obtained it, needs to be documented in some fashion so that I can properly source it later.