Michael E. Byczek


Detailed Genealogy and Historical Information

The Michael E. Byczek lineage in Chicago, IL is one of the oldest in the city's history dating back to 1835 with his 3x-great-grandparents William and Julia Rooney.

He and his parents have conducted extensive historical and genealogical research to preserve these family chronicles since the early 1990s. As an attorney, Michael E. Byczek advocates verified and accurate genealogy through moral-based analysis and ethical historical research. The Byczek family has published their genealogy online for almost 30 years with multiple federal copyright registrations (2012, 2024).

View a ten-generation interactive family tree or a tabular chart showing the exact lineage for each ancestor. Refer to the following PDFs for the most updated ancestral trees.

Extensive genealogical and historical biographical documentaries were compiled in PDF format. These biographies are a definitive source of accurate genealogy written by a direct blood descendant. An HTML-based platform is under development with some archives currently available.

Parents

Grandparents

1x-Great-Grandparents

2x-Great-Grandparents

3x-Great-Grandparents

4x-Great-Grandparents

5x-Great-Grandparents

6x-Great-Grandparents

7x-Great-Grandparents

Specialized Documentaries

Large-scale HTML-based Online Archives

Accurate Online Genealogy

Michael E. Byczek's decision to submit a DNA test in the autumn of 2024 was not for genealogy, but to intervene as an attorney in pursuit of accurate online family history. This included technical strategies to prevent artificial intelligence (AI) models from using inaccurate data to transform fiction into fact, such as labeling content as originating from direct blood descendants.

His ancestry.com profile has the username "byczek" with a tree identified as Michael E. Byczek Lineage. The genealogy for this account is DNA-verified for as many generations back as genetic data was available for comparative analysis.

All genealogy and social media platforms pose a risk of cyber-bullying, intimidation, identity theft, fake images/documents (i.e. AI-generated), scams, "bait", social engineering, trolling, slander/libel, misinformation, and other inappropriate online user conduct.

Substantial efforts were made to stop anonymous users and third parties on familysearch.org under the username "michaelbyczek". However, the Family Search platform is community-based where only one profile is allowed per deceased individual. This model allows anonymous third-parties to delete, edit, and modify accurate information (i.e. disruptive editing).

In September 2024, Michael E. Byczek, as an attorney, openly proposed that community-based genealogy profiles be exclusively administered by direct blood descendants. He created an innovative framework based on probate procedure. Wide-spread inaccurate information, unknown users, and seriousness of third-party interference prompted a "call to action". Public notice of this initiative was posted to nine of the largest online genealogy platforms and his own well-known webpage. Several relatives were contacted directly and many more found the notice on their own. Yet, for nearly two years he was the sole administrator and only member of any bloodline who formally stepped forward to review how the dead were portrayed online. At the worst of this problem, he was engaged in daily online combat with anonymous users around the world who deliberately targeted these efforts. A serious escalation took place in February 2026 that required a legal "cease and desist".

In June 2026, Michael E. Byczek withdrew all willingness to collaborate and closed the project. Only at his discretion will he communicate with relatives who played a role in the spread of misinformation or ignored third-party interference. He asked for help from genetic cousins and received none. Best efforts were made to build solidarity through common ancestry. A new legal strategy is now underway to protect and defend the digital afterlife through proprietary solutions. A permanent direct blood descendant tribute exclusively administered by the Byczek family will be revealed in the near future.

The primary objective has always been eternal dignity for the dead, perpetual eradication of inaccurate information on the Internet, and total elimination of third-party interference. Genealogy is not an opportunity to test the constitutional limits of online free speech. Michael E. Byczek does not approve the use of community-based profiles (i.e Family Search) of his direct blood ancestors as private blogs for third-parties to anonymously spread their unsolicited personal opinions. The Internet, social media, and AI are far too dangerous in today's society to hide behind outdated privacy policies that protect and enable unknown users who hijack official genealogy profiles. An attorney-descendant stepped forward and volunteered to handle all necessary steps for a permanent remedy based on kinship. Instead, customer support was reluctant to block users, remove content, or conduct an internal audit of activity logs (i.e. IP addresses). It appeared that one reason was that only one descendant voiced a concern. It would have been very helpful if genetic cousins, especially on particular branches, had publicly showed their support and unity for efforts to restore genealogy to family friendly, verified, and administered historical research (i.e. an online petition).

Examples of interference on Family Search included: (1) disrespect for military veterans; (2) deleted tributes for deceased babies; (3) inappropriate remarks about children; (4) identity theft and offensive comments about the living; (5) creating, deleting, and/or merging profiles to restart clean activity logs; (6) freeloading off or reposting existing content to falsify credentials; (7) changing the identity of parents; (8) adding fictitious children and marriages; (9) rewriting how names are spelled or formatted; (10) replacing accurate narratives, such as dates, with misinformation; (11) possible coordinated efforts to target different branches on the same day with multiple user accounts; (12) simultaneous manipulation of several generations of the same family; and (13) a reckless disregard for original records and absence of any form of historical analysis. Such interference was, at times, so severe that it was not even possible to fully restore the original data.

False information on other platforms, such as ancestry.com, was, at times, even worse. Common tactics were to rewrite the religious history of an entire family (i.e. changing Irish-Catholic families to English-Protestant), attack the sanctity of marriage (i.e. accusing married women of adultery), and disparage families (i.e. ignoring church records to falsify that children were born illegitimate). An especially blatant tactic was to ignore easily-found obituaries. Everything was fully documented with screenshots and user account details.

One perfect example is that Michael E. Byczek spent considerable effort to give each of his direct blood ancestors a profile image with their names instead of the default Family Search "blank" icon. Not one, but multiple anonymous users and/or third-parties, on not one, but multiple profiles on different branches removed these custom tribute images. The Family Search platform allows a user to flag certain profiles with a caution symbol at the top of a profile with red text: "Important research has been done on this person. Please read these alert notes before making changes.". Michael E. Byczek did so for all of his direct blood ancestors. Yet, dozens of third-parties and anonymous users systematically manipulated many profiles from top to bottom impacting nearly every field. It even appears that multiple users tried to entirely remove the research alert. Such intentional behavior has nothing to do with genealogy and can only be interpreted as attempted intimidation.

Michael E. Byczek is very satisfied that his two-year initiative resulted in significant progress to "turn the tide" in favor of accurate online genealogy about his direct blood ancestors. However, online genealogy platforms are far from reliable and anonymous interference did not stop. It cannot be stressed enough to carefully review usernames and timestamped activity logs to determine credibility and reliability of sources.

Each deceased individual has a unique profile on Family Search with an assigned identifier, such as:

Michael S. Byczek (GRRG-GMV) and Marie C. Flanagan (G5C8-1C2)

Roman J. Bykowski (GRG3-BXS) and Antoinette A. Murzynowicz/Marynowski (GRRG-XBB)

As an accurate source of data, a Pedigree Resource File (GEDCOM format) was uploaded to Family Search titled "Michael E. Byczek Lineage" (username of michaelbyczek) to show an outline of his direct-blood ancestors. This information cannot be modified by other users, but the content is displayed in accordance with Family Search parameters (i.e. not all details are publicly visible). The tree can be accessed by searching for the Submission ID: 2:2:2:MMKK-J2F under the option for user-submitted genealogies.

Michael E. Byczek also created trees on five other sites with various design issues/flaws that enable third-party interference in different ways:

- WikiTree (default username "byczek-85")
- Geni
- MyHeritage
- Geneanet (username "michaelbyczek")
- Findmypast - username "michaelbyczek" without a direct link to the profile.

The Geneanet, Findmypast, and MyHeritage trees are titled "Michael E. Byczek Lineage".

Grave Memorials

The online platform findagrave.com is dedicated to burial memorials with a model that is similar to Family Search. Only one memorial is allowed per deceased individual. However, the platform grants only one user with administrative control. As a result, this model is also susceptible to anonymous third-parties (i.e. cyber-squatting). Extensive efforts were taken to create over 100 memorials and gain family administration of nearly two dozen that were under third-party control.

His Find a Grave profile provides a link to all memorials under his administration.

Military Memorials

The fold3.com platform is dedicated to military records with memorials for deceased veterans. Profiles were created for Michael S. Byczek (Grandfather - World War II) and Martin J. Flanagan (Great-grandfather - World War I).

More Information

The only genealogy that is approved by Michael E. Byczek and his parents is the content on their own personal family websites, and what is verified to have originated from them on user-uploaded platforms. His father is Michael M. Byczek ("Mick"), mother is Betty A. (Bykowski) Byczek, and sister is Katherine S. Byczek ("Katie").

Main Genealogy Page