Antoni Sadowski

Background

Anthony Sadowski was born in about 1669 in Poland. His father was Marcin Sadowski, who was a chamberlain at the Polish king"s castle in Gostyń, and, as a deputy of the Polish Sejm, an inspector of the king"s land holdings in Ukraine.

Education

Though it is not known which schools Anthony attended in his youth, he did receive a classical education.

Career

He hailed from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski near the town of Kielce. He managed to escape captivity, and made his way to Scotland, England, and, subsequently, America, reaching New York in 1704. In America

They would have six children.

Sadowski moved his family from New Jersey to Pennsylvania in 1712, to a 400-acre (16 km2) property along the Schuylkill River.

Sadowski worked to establish friendly relations with the Native Americans in the area, learning the Delaware and Iroquois languages and serving as an interpreter. As a trader, Sadowski traveled as far as Logstown (near modern Ambridge, Pennsylvania).

With two other Indian traders, he established a trading post at present-day Kittanning, Pennsylvania in June 1729. He became a citizen of Pennsylvania in 1735.

Death and legacy

His grave marker bears the following inscription:

However, French maps as early as 1718 identified Sandusky Bay as Lac Sandouské.

Sadowski was a great-great-great-great-great-grandfather of President Gerald Ford.

Achievements

• Two of their grandsons through son Andrew, James and Jacob Sadowski, became famous Kentucky pioneers. He, along with George Boone—father of the famous frontiersman Daniel Boone—was a founder of Amity Township in Berkshire County in 1719. Whether or not he opened an Indian trading post on the shores of Lake Erie and gave his name to Sandusky, Ohio, here lies the greatest Polish frontiersman of colonial times, an organizer of Amity Township in 1719, and founder of the Sandusky family in America.