There are many around the world who share the Szczepaniak surname. Some have changed their names over time as did some of my ancestors to Stepaniak. By 1870 in Michigan alone there are three Walenty (Valentine) Szczepaniak’s.

The goal of this project is to connect the different Szczepaniak lines.

Here are the three families we know of to date:

1. My 2nd Great-Grandfather,Walenty Szczepaniak (later Americanized to William Valentine Stepaniak) and his siblings were orphaned.  They, along with cousins came to the United States from Poznan (German occupied Poland) and settled up and down the east coast, with some of them settling in Michigan (Detroit area) and some in the upper part of Michigan.  They started arriving in 1868. Walenty married Victoria Slatowski and had 16 children. So far we know that he had 2 sisters and 1 brother.

The eldest was Marcella Szczepaniak who married Michael Poprawski (later Americanized to Goodman); they had no children.

The other sister was Maryanna Szczepaniak who married first Mr. Steffin and had 1 son; married second Francis Kurzawa/Kuzava and had a son and daughter; married third Francis Michalak/Mahalak and had 5 sons.

The brother was Thomas Szczepaniak and he married Maryanna Malecki and had 8 children. They first resided in Michigan, but later moved to Little Rock, Arkansas. He later married Eva Andrejas and had 3 children.