First, we have a young Teofil circa May 1914, as a new law-school graduate.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Aneta and Zenon Grabowscy.
Here is the announcement of his class commencement from the Indianapolis Star of May 24, 1914:
The "Indiana Law School" was, I believe, the Indianapolis College of Law, founded in 1898 and operating out of the Indiana Pythian Building in downtown Indianapolis — a predecessor of today's Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, according to Wikipedia.
From the 1920 Census we learn that Teofil came to this country from Poland in 1905 and was naturalized in 1911, but I can find no other information about him before 1914. After his graduation from law school in May 1914, he starts showing up in newspapers. In June 1914, he began practicing law in South Bend, Indiana.[1] So this photo, which (according to my source) shows Teofil in his law office in 1914, was probably taken in South Bend.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Image courtesy of Aneta and Zenon Grabowscy.
I find a couple of mentions of him in a column called "News of Interest to Polish Citizens" that ran in South Bend News-Times: in the October 19, 1914, issue, he is making a presentation at a meeting of the Zygmunt Balicki Falcons Society (South Bend chapter); and in the October 21, 1914, issue, there is a reference to "Atty. Theophil Grabowski, 1044 W. Division st."
By April 1916 he had moved to East Chicago,[2] and was involved in local politics.[3] He remained there through the First World War (WWI Draft Cards).
In March 1919, I find him described as "Atty. T. [H]. Grabowski of Gary."[4]
The first reference I can find to his being president of the American State Bank in Gary shows up in an Indianapolis newspaper in September 1920.[5] I would have expected to find more news about that; but then again, I am working with on-line newspapers only since access to the microfilm at the library is still restricted (and my job is still taking up a lot of my time).
In the midst of all this professional and political activity, a momentous event in Teofil's personal life happened in July 1919, when he married Wanda Cieszynska in New Haven, Connecticut.[6] I wish I knew the story behind the romance of a Midwestern man and a New-England woman. Perhaps Teofil spent some time in New England between 1905 and 1914?
From what I've learned of him so far, Teofil seems a remarkable man: intelligent, ambitious, energetic, and active in supporting the interests of the Polish-American community. If his life hadn't been cut short by a tragic accident in 1930, who knows how far he might have gone?
There are more images to come in this collection.
Unfortunately for the local historian working on-line, around the time that Teofil Grabowski established his country home north of Ainsworth, a professional baseball player named Johnny Grabowski was rising to national status in sports news. The baseball-playing Grabowski became a major-league player when he joined the Chicago White Sox in 1924. From that point on, I have had to wade through an awful lot of baseball news to find anything about our Grabowski.
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[1] "Teofil Grabowski was admitted to the St. Joseph county bar Friday morning, having made application several days ago and passed the examination. Grabowski came to South Bend from Indianapolis where he attended law school." "About Town," South Bend News-Times, June 28, 1914 (accessed at newspaperarchive.com).
[2] "News of Interest to Polish Citizens," South Bend News-Times, Apr. 17, 1916 (accessed at newspaperarchive.com).
[3] He was treasurer of the Young Men's Republic Club in that city ("Young Republicans at East Chicago," Lake County Times (Hammond, Ind.), Sept. 22, 1916 (accessed at newspaperarchive.com)). He was also chairman of the Citizens' League of East Chicago ("E. Chicago League at Meeting," Lake County Times (Hammond, Ind.), Jan. 24, 1917 (accessed at newspaperarchive.com)).
[4] "Crown Point News," Lake County Times (Hammond, Ind.), Mar. 27, 1919 (accessed at newspaperarchive.com))
[5] "Bank Teller and Cash Missing from Gary," Indiana Daily Times (Indianapolis), Sept. 11, 1920 (accessed at newspaperarchive.com).
[6] Ancestry.com. WEB: Connecticut Marriage Records, 1897-1968 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2019. Original data: Connecticut Vital Records — Index of Marriages, 1897-1968. Connecticut State Library. https://www.ctatatelibrarydata.org/marriage-records/: accessed 8 May 2019. I hope I have found the correct record, since the bride's first name is not given.
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