My Great-Grandmother and her Feminine Surname

When I was first starting my family tree research, I ran into a bit of a roadblock when searching for information related to one of my paternal great-grandmothers.  At first, all I knew was that she was a Polish immigrant who lived in Cleveland, and who died when my grandfather was a young child.  All my dad and his siblings knew about her was that she went by 'Lottie.'  I was able to piece together some clues through other family documents I found: I knew she had died by 1920 because my great-grandfather was listed as "widowed" in the 1920 census.  My great-uncle's obituary listed her name as "Lottie Gacka," so all right, I thought, now I have her maiden name.  I searched the engines on various genealogy sites for Lottie Kowalski (her married name) and Lottie Gacka, but I couldn't find any records that I could definitively link to my great-grandfather.   In fact, as I was scrolling through the many records returned by the search engines, I soon realized that 'Lottie' was a common nickname adopted by Polish immigrant women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

So, at this point, I feel like my only choice is to scroll through and check ALL of the records returned by the search engines, even those with names that would not initially seem to be a match, in the hopes of discovering some clue that would lead me in the right direction.  I was doing this on FamilySearch.org and came across a 1919 death record for a woman by the name of 'Władysława Kowalska.'  The record also listed her father as 'Stanisław Gacki.'  Hmmm, 'Kowalska' and 'Gacki' are close to 'Kowalski' and 'Gacka,' but, again, I had NO idea if this really was her first name, so I couldn't be sure it was her.  I printed it out, though, and hoped that it may be an important clue. 

Now, when I initially found this record, FamilySearch had not yet uploaded the actual image of the death certificate, so I couldn't learn anything else from it.  Fast forward 6-8 months.  I went back on FamilySearch to examine the record again and found that they HAD uploaded the actual death certificate:

"Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8L9-NC9 : accessed 04 Nov 2012), Wladyslarva Kowalska, 1919; citing reference fn 52304, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio.

And there he was at the bottom - Informant: Dominik Kowalski - my great-grandfather.  Now, I KNEW without a doubt that it was her.  And then I was a tad angry with myself for not realizing that Poles traditionally spell surnames differently depending on if you are a man or a woman.  I have read enough Dostoevsky and Tolstoy in my life to know that this is true in Russia, but I suppose I had never been exposed to it as part of Polish culture.  This explains the 'Kowalska' instead of 'Kowalski' and even the 'Gacka' instead of 'Gacki.'  Even though she had been in America six years, she maintained her female surname, even if she did adopt a more "American" first name.

And then of course AFTER I went through all of this with the death certificate, I found my great-grandfather's immigrant ship manifest on which he listed Władysława as "nearest relative in country from whence (he) came."  If only I had found THIS document first - then I wouldn't have had to go through the whole mystery with the death record and trying to figure out her real name.  Ah, but we all know that researching family history isn't always that simple.  :-)

Source Citation: Year: 1912; Arrival; Microfilm Serial: T715; Microfilm Roll: 1850; Line: 8; Page Number: 76. Source Information: Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Because she died quite young, these are the only two documents I have found that reference Władysława.  I am still on the hunt for her immigrant ship manifest; she came over about a year after my great-grandfather with her three sons ages four, two, and eight months. (I can't even imagine doing that on my own - she was obviously a very brave, a very strong woman.)  By the way, the name 'Władysława' is the female equivalent of Władysław, which comes from the Russian name of Vladislav.  It means "to rule with glory."

***STOP THE BLOG PRESSES!  UPDATE!***
Ok, so literally right after I typed that sentence above about being on the hunt for her immigrant ship manifest, I went to Ancestry.com.  Because I knew she was traveling with her sons, I tried searching for the manifest using the name 'Jan Kowalski,' who was her eldest son.  I had previously discovered his immigration application papers, so I knew the exact date they entered the country and the ship name.  I had to scroll through quite a few pages - 'Jan Kowalski' is literally the Polish equivalent of 'John Smith,' so there were a lot of records - but I found the manifest!  Here is Władysława with her three sons, Jan, Stanisław, and Josef, all listed with her surname of 'Kowalska.'  And her father, Stanisław Gacki, is listed as next of kin, so that matches the information on her death certificate. 

Source Citation: Year: 1913; Arrival; Microfilm Serial: T715; Microfilm Roll: 2194; Line: 25; Page Number: 43.
Source Information:  Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

©2012, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder