Category: Galicia

Wedding Wednesday: Joseph Bodziony and Sophia Golonka

6/3/2014

During my recent trip to the Family History Library, I was able to find some family records for part of the Polish side of my family. The image below shows a marriage record for Joseph Bodziony and Sophia Golonka, who were my great-grandfather Michael's parents. They were married 22 Sep 1863 in the village of Brzezna, which was also Sophia's place of birth. (Click for larger image.)

Marriage Record of Joseph Bodziony and Sophia Golonka, parents of Michael Bodziony

The record lists the name of the bride and groom, as well as the names of their parents, including their mothers' maiden names. (Can't ask for much more as a genealogist!) The groom, Joseph Bodziony, age 31, was the son of Vincent Bodziony and Marianna Janor. The bride, Sophia Golonka, age 18, was the daughter of Joseph Golonka and Anna Bawotek. In the last column, the record states that the male witnesses were Joannes (Jan in Polish or John in English) Mordarski and Mattheus (Matthew) Iwanski.

As you can see, there is Polish writing underneath the names. Notes like these were not present in every marriage record on the microfilm, so I naturally wondered what it meant. I posted the image in the 'Polish Genealogy' group on Facebook, and asked if anyone could help me read and translate it. A very kind member did so, and I learned that the statement is basically the father of the bride, Joseph Golonka, consenting to the marriage. I also learned from one of the translators that the age of consent in Galicia in the 1860s was 21 years, so Sophia was too young to formally consent on her own.

Below is a map showing the location of Brzezna, in what is now southern Poland. After their wedding, Joseph and Sophia went to live in the nearby town of Swiniarsko, which is where all of their children, including my great-grandfather, Michael, were born.

As a quick but related aside, when I first started researching this line of my family a few years ago, the only thing I knew about my great-grandfather was his name, Michael Bodziony. Through naturalization papers and his immigration ship manifest, I was able to trace his birth back to Swiniarsko. Thanks to these highly informative baptism records listing both parents AND grandparents, I've been able to trace this line back a couple more generations. I am VERY thankful for the Family History Library's microfilmed records, and even MORE grateful for some of the indexing they have done on these records. If not for the indexing, I would have had to look through records for all the little towns and villages around Swiniarsko one-by-one; BUT, because they were indexed, I was able to find Joseph Bodziony and Sophia Golonka right away in Brzezna. Thank you, indexers!

©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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From Galicia to Gravenstein to Hamburg to Cleveland

1/17/2014

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Have you ever found an ancestor in an unexpected location and wondered what the heck he/she was doing there? The other day, I was reviewing two December 1910 passenger ship lists on which my great-grandmother, Sophie Krupa, is listed - a German departure passenger list from Hamburg and a New York arrival list. On both forms, her last place of residence is listed as 'Gravenstein, Germany.' Sophie was born in Skrudzina, a small village in ethnically Polish Galicia, that was, at the time of her birth in 1888, part of Austria-Hungary. So, obviously, I was wondering what she was doing in northern Germany before she sailed for America.

Gravenstein today is no longer in Germany, and, in fact, it is no longer known by that name. The town that used to be called Gravenstein is currently in southern Denmark, and is now known as Gråsten. As you can see on the map below, Gråsten is quite a journey away from Sophie's hometown, so I started searching for why she may have lived there, at least temporarily.

Journey from Skrudzina, Poland to Gråsten, Denmark

As I wrote about in this post, Sophie was an illegitimate child born into one of the poorest regions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. I do not know anything specific about her early life, but I think it is safe to say that it must have been a hard one. On the U.S. 1940 Census, she (Sophie Bodziony) lists her highest level of education as only 2nd grade. As soon as she was old enough, she likely went to work.

While scouring the Internet, I came upon this website from the Danish Immigration Museum. The page gives a nice, concise history of Polish immigrants in Denmark during the late 19th and early 20th century - right at the same time Sophie was there. The one paragraph on this webpage that *really* caught my attention was this one:

"The Poles were recruited by organized German-speaking agents - the so-called “Aufsehere”, who usually travelled around Galicia in the winter and signed contracts with young workers. Some were also sent to Denmark through the so-called import associations that supplied workers to Danish and German employers."

So, there were recruiters around Galicia? Interesting. Sophie's occupation on the Hamburg list is shown as 'Dienstmädchen,' which translates quite literally to 'servant girl.' Was Sophie intending to stay and work in Gravenstein permanently, or was she just saving up money for the trip across the ocean? Was she there in Gravenstein by herself, or did she have close friends or extended family there also? Always left with more questions than answers after these investigations, but I wouldn't have it any other way! :-)

©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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Sophia Krupa's Birth and Baptism Record

8/28/2013

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My great-grandmother, Sophia Krupa, immigrated to America in 1910 and married my great-grandfather, Michael Bodziony in November 1911. According to her naturalization papers, she was born in Skrudzina, Poland, a small town that was, at the time of her birth (1888), part of Austria-Hungary. When I first learned of her birthplace a couple of years ago, I went to FamilySearch.org to see if they had a microfilm that covered this geographic area and time frame. I saw that they DID have microfilmed records for Skrudzina, but I did not order the film at the time because I had no time to go to my Family History Center and look through the reel. So instead, I ordered a copy of Sophia's application for a Social Security number. Since this form was filled out directly by Sophia herself, it's first hand knowledge of her birth date and parents' names. On it, she lists her birth date as 30 Mar 1888, which is exactly the same birth date as what is listed on her naturalization documents. Her parents are listed as Joseph Krupa and Katherine Mourdas.

Fast forward to about six weeks ago. Some of the birth records on the Skrudzina microfilm have been indexed and are now searchable on FamilySearch. I find two Krupa families in Skrudzina that are having children around the time Sophia is born:

1.) Joseph Krupa and Catharina Czyrpak, House #16: Children born 1883, 1884, 1885 (none named Sophia)

2.) Paul Krupa and Sophia Hejmej, House #51: Children born 1886, 1890, 1892 (all boys)

So, there IS a Joseph and a Catharine there; Catharine's maiden name is different than what I was looking for, but no baby in 1888. Apart from these families, there is one more 'Krupa' birth record from Skrudzina that I find in the index:

Indexed Baptism Record for Sophia Krupa, FamilySearch

The child's first name and birth date match exactly from what I have found in other sources. Her mother's first name matches the Social Security application and her last name matches my great-grandmother's. But no father listed. I requested a copy of the record through FamilySearch's photoduplication service. Here it is, record #4:

She was illegitimate and no father is listed. Her mother was Catharina, daughter of Jacob Krupa and Mariae Kotodziej. Also, Catharina lived in House #51, which is where Paul Krupa and Sophia Hejmej also lived at the time. Paul and Sophia Krupa were likely related, but how? And were there any other Krupas living in Skrudzina (other than those of child-bearing age)? I need to order the microfilm and look through the whole thing carefully.

I did a quick search of Jacob Krupa and Mariae Kotodziej, and found six indexed baptism records for their children, ranging from 1843 to 1865. However, none indicated the name of Catharina or Paul. The family lived in Obidza, Poland, which today is just a 20 minute drive from Skrudzina. These records are on a different microfilm, so I have a feeling I'll be ordering that one, too.

Did Sophia live her life believing that her parents' true names were those she listed on the Social Security application? Perhaps she was raised by the Joseph and Catharine Krupa in House #16 and she genuinely thought that they were her biological parents. Or maybe she knew the complete truth. That's probably something I'll never find out, but hopefully ordering these microfilms will help me learn more about her mother and the other families in Skrudzina and Obidza.

©2013, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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Genealogy Withdrawal and What It Led To...

4/8/2013

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I haven't posted anything on my blog in well over a week because my husband and I took the kids down to the Mississippi Gulf Coast for a Spring Break vacation. It was great; warm weather, excellent creole and seafood, and the kids did better than expected with all of the driving. The only rough part of the week for me was NO GENEALOGY RESEARCH(!) We did visit a couple cemeteries on the trip, but only to look at the neat vaults and above-ground graves that we are not used to seeing up north.

When we weren't exploring the area, I spent some time on my iPad browsing through Etsy and Ebay, looking through old photographs, postcards, and other random ephemera. I came upon some old maps, which isn't unusual, but a light bulb when off and I started getting this vision in my head of something I wanted to create in my house. Since we moved into this house last year, I've been trying to think of a way to create some sort of 'genealogy wall.' I had originally wanted to create a traditional 'family tree,' mixing old family photos with newer ones of my family. However, I don't have an equal amount of photos from each branch of our family, and I could just never picture how I wanted it to look.

Back to this 'vision.' I want to use maps to depict our family's journey. This idea seems natural to me; I've always loved looking at maps, I was a geography minor in college, and I used to make a living in a profession dependent on maps. I'm now currently in the process of buying older maps of the places where my and my husband's ancestors lived, worked, and traveled through. At first, I thought it would be neat if I could get a map that itself was contemporary with WHEN our ancestors were living in a particular place. This works with our more recent ancestors, but, of course, it can get very pricey when you are looking for an 18th century map of northwestern France. So, I decided to look for maps that were a little bit older, affordable, and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. (I told my husband this is coming out of our decorating budget :-) I'm searching for maps of all scales: nations, regions, counties, even individual cities that I know our ancestors had connections with. I'm going to write (or stencil) on the wall: Our Family's Journey. I've located and contacted a framing store in town that knows how to properly preserve and frame archival prints. Instead of nailing the framed maps to the wall, I'm going to use floating shelves, so that I can rearrange the display easily and even add to it without having the hassle of making more screw and nail holes.

So far, I've purchased a map of northeastern France and one of an individual department where my husband's ancestors lived before coming to America. I also found a map from a late 1890s atlas depicting all the steamship line routes from Europe to the Americas. In my display, I think I also may include maps of the individual cities our ancestors embarked and disembarked from: Bremen, Naples, Antwerp, New York, New Orleans, and Baltimore. Of the maps I've purchased so far, this one is my favorite - it's an 1837 map of Galicia, where my Polish great-grandparents came from. I spent a little more money on this one, but I learned it's really hard to find a map of Galicia depicted by itself. (It's bigger than my scanner, so this is just a portion of it; and it looks a little distorted because it's in a plastic sleeve.)

Map of Galicia, 1837

But since I want my wall to tell a story, I've also been looking for prints, postcards, and other pieces of artwork or ephemera that helps to do so. I found some charming prints of a German village and farm, along with a market scene from Croatia. These scenes are ones that our ancestors probably encountered and experienced while living in the Old Country. And I'm not limiting myself to scenes from Europe; I've found a 100+ year old postcard of my husband's hometown church, and I have my eye on an early 20th century photograph of workers in a Cleveland steel mill.

German farm scene

German village

It may take a few months to accomplish, but I can't WAIT to see how this turns out. Sometimes a genealogy withdrawal is a good thing! :-)

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Wait. Great-Grandpa Was Born WHERE??

10/14/2012

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When you are studying your family's history, some of the most exciting documents you can come across in your research are immigration-related papers: Ship manifests and applications for citizenship. Not only do they tell you exactly where and when your ancestors entered the country, but they also contain important information about where your ancestor was from, which is absolutely vital if you want to start researching family lines in other countries.

I was excited when I found these sorts of documents belonging to my great-grandfather, Michael Bodziony. I had already known that he was ethnically Polish, obviously spoke Polish and settled in a very Polish community in Cleveland. However, nobody in the family knew where exactly he was from. I found his name on a 1910 ship manifest and looked across the sheet from his name to the three columns that read, "Nationality (country of which citizen or subject), Race of People, Country (of last residence.)" And in these columns is listed, "Austria, Polish, Austria." Ok, now I'm not an expert in 19th central European history, but I vaguely remember learning in history class about the extent and longevity of the Austrian Empire, so I am not surprised. I then was able to find Michael's citizenship papers. Here is his 1929 Declaration of Intention:

I also found a reference to Galicia as Michael and Sophie Bodziony's place of birth in the 1920 U.S. Census:

Source Citation: Year: 1920; Census Place: Cleveland Ward 14, Cuyahoga, Ohio; Roll: T625_1366; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 272; Image: 37. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

I do NOT remember learning anything about Galicia at any point in my schooling, so I was curious. Wikipedia to the rescue! The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was part of Austria-Hungary from 1772-1918, so my great-grandfather WAS technically born in Galicia, Austria and it WAS still part of Austria when he immigrated to America in 1910. (By the way, the name of his birthplace was spelled incorrectly - it should have read, 'Swiniarsko.') Here are Galicia's borders overlayed on a modern map of the region, and that red dot is the location of Michael's hometown. (Map from http://www.germangenealogist.com/2011/06/03/3331/)

Map from www.germangenealogist.com.

Now, by the time Michael took his Oath of Allegiance to the U.S. in 1933, the area in which his birthplace was located had become part of the sovereign nation known as 'The Republic of Poland', which you can see on this form:

I enjoyed solving this little mystery for myself, probably because it involved looking at maps, which I love to do. Trying to understand the history behind all these name and border changes was a little more difficult, but I would like to someday read a (good) history of Poland. And I intend to write more blog posts in the future about how historical events in Europe may have influenced my and my husband's ancestors to make the decision to immigrate to America.

©2012, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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Wedding Wednesday: Joseph Bodziony and Sophia Golonka

From Galicia to Gravenstein to Hamburg to Cleveland

Sophia Krupa's Birth and Baptism Record

Genealogy Withdrawal and What It Led To...

Wait. Great-Grandpa Was Born WHERE??

Emily Kowalski Schroeder

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