Michał Dańko, son of Jakub Dańko (1843-1899) and Agnieszka Sowa (1855-1896), was born in house number 196 in Nienadowa on 22 September 1877 with the assistance of midwife Agnieszka Pilch. He was baptized the next day in the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Dubiecko by the Reverend Karakulski. His godparents were the farmer Andrzej Giergont and Marianna, widow of Kazimierz Fudali.
Michał was the eldest of six children of Jakub Dańko and Agnieszka Sowa. His siblings were Wojciech (1882-1882), Marianna (1884-1975), Katarzyna (1887-?), Marcin (1890-?) and Julianna (1896-1897). On 24 July 1896, when Michał was 17 years old, his mother died from inflammation of the lungs and, on 03 September 1896, Michał’s father married Zofia Głowacz (1870-?). Michał’s half-brother, Piotr (1898-1993), was born less than two years later.
On 14 August 1898, Michał married Marianna Dziurzyńska who had grown up in Śliwnica, a village bordering Nienadowa. Michał and Marianna had two children while they both lived in Nienadowa: Zofia (1901-1977) and Karol (about 1902-about 1909). A third child, Jan (1905-1962) was born a few months after Michał left for the United States.
On 25 February 1905, when he was 27 years old, Michał boarded the S.S Zealand in Antwerp, Belgium and sailed to New York. The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in steerage (the least expensive accommodations aboard the ship) took ten days. Michał arrived at Ellis Island on 07 March 1905 and, when he arrived in New York, Michał stayed at 35 First Avenue in New York City with Isaac and Ester Flichtenfeld, a Jewish couple from Galicia who operated an umbrella factory. Michał’s wife and children remained behind in Niendadowa and did not emigrate to the United States until 1909.
While Michał was in the United States, his son Karol died. Family lore relates that Marianna left the house, charging Zofia with the care of her brother Karol. Zofia and Karol quarreled. Karol ran out of the house in cold and miserable weather and died as a result of the episode.
On 24 May 1909, Michał’s wife Marianna and two remaining children, Zofia and Jan, arrived at Ellis Island aboard the S.S. Vaderland and were reunited with Michael (as he now spelled his name) in Worcester, Massachusetts. Initially, the family lived at 9 Redding Court, a house located between the Worcester Rural Cemetery and the railroad tracks, a neighborhood, populated largely by immigrants from several different countries. Michał and Marianna eventually had eight more children, seven of whom survived to adulthood: Stanislawa/Statia (1910-1979), Bronislawa (1912-1913), Michael (1913-1981), Bronislawa/Bertha (1915-1978), Mary (1917-1986), Joseph (1919-1991), Helen (1921-2010), and Francis (1924-2012).
On 26 Jun 1909, Michael’s sister Marianna arrived in the United States with Marcin Wajda, a family friend from Nienadowa. Both joined Michał and his family at 9 Redding Court.
By 1910, Michael was living at 3 Moran Court, a house he shared with seven boarders, all Polish immigrants: Thomas Tituła, Joseph Czajkowski, Dymitro (Savor ?), John Undziakiewicz, John Tworzydło, Martin Zaleski, and Martin Wajda. Michal and the other men in the household worked at the Northworks Plant of the American Steel and Wire Company on Grove Street, a short walk from Moran Court. Working in a wire mill was ideally suitable for immigrants because the jobs required no formal training and only a basic ability to speak English.
From 1909-1910, Michael and his family lived at 9 Redding Court and, in about 1911, they moved to 3 Moran Court, just a block away from their previous residence.
On 22 May 1913, Jan Dziurzyński (Michael’s brother-in-law) and Paweł Goliński (a family friend) arrived in the United States and stayed with Michael’s family. In 1915, Pawel Goliński married Michael’s sister Marianna.
By 1915, Michael and his family returned to live at 9 Redding Court and Michael was working as a laborer at 80 Webster Street in Worcester. By 1918, Michael and his family had moved to 19 Prescott Place, next door to his sister and brother-in-law, Marianna and Paweł Goliński.
US Census Records show that Michael filed his declaration of intention to become a citizen in 1918, although there is no evidence he ever became a US citizen.
By 1940, Michael and his family had moved to 15 Henchman Street, a triple-decker just on the other side of the railroad tracks from their previous residences. Several of Michael’s children had left the nest, but his children Michael, Mary, Joseph, Helen, and Francis we still living with their parents.
At the time Michael registered for the World War II “Old Man’s Draft” on 26 April 1942, he was described as a white man, 64 years old, 5 feet-8 inches tall, approximately 140 pounds in weight, with blue eyes, brown hair, light complexion, and wearing glasses.
By 1952, Michael’s wife Marianna and his children Sophie, John, Statia, Helen, and Francis had moved to Albany, New York. His other children, Bertha, Mary, Joseph, and Michael were all married and living with their spouses elsewhere in Worcester. Michael moved to a rooming house at 47 Main Street in Worcester where he died of arteriosclerotic heart disease. He was found dead on 02 January 1953.