08.31.06
Posted in Daily Journal, Poland at 10:25 pm by Administrator
Back in May, I wrote that I found three passenger manifests that might include the name of my Great Aunt Mary (Dańko) Goliński:
Marianna Dańko, age 25, from Nienadowa, Austria
Marya Dańko, age 27, from Nienadowa, Austria
Marya Dańko, age 22, from Wesoła, Austria
The 27 year old is my grandmother, Marya (Dziurzyńska) Dańko. The 25 year old is from the right village, but according to my cousins, her age did not match Mary (Dańko) Goliński’s birthdate. The 22 year old was the correct age, but from the wrong village.
Based on a thorough analysis of all the information I was able to obtain about Mary (Dańko) Goliński, I concluded that my Great Aunt Mary was the 25 year old from Nienadowa.
Recently, Lidia left a comment that sheds some light on the Marya Danko from Wesoła:
Hallo, My name is Lidia, I’m 29 years old. I don’t speak English very well so first forgive me my mistakes.
If I could make your search easier, I must say that is really low probability that Marya Dańko from Wesoła could be your Great Aunt Mary.
My mother’s family lives in Wesoła near Dynów. Maybe both families (from Wesoła and from Nienadowa) are connected but this connection might have very long history. I suppose that we must separate them and continue searching on right direction. Marya could be my mother’s Great Aunt. My mother’s Great Father’s name was Wawrzyniec Dańko. He married Katarzyna Wielgus (?) and they had seven children: Maria (was born about 1914), Ignacy, Tomasz, Józef, Magdalena, Wiktoria (my Great Mother, born in 1919) and Salomea (she’s the only one who lives now). My family lives in Wesoła, Barycz and Ryta Górka. They are family connected with such families like: Majda, Sowa, Kustra.
This helps to clear things up a bit. Apparently, there was one Dańko family in Nienadowa, and another in Wesoła. I am related to the Dańkos of Nienadowa and Lidia is related to the Dańkos of Wesoła. Based on the information Lidia and I have on our respective ancestors, there is no evidence for a direct connection between the two families, although both Dańko families are related to people with the surname Sowa.
The villages of Nienadowa and Wesoła are, nevertheless, not far from each other. The Wesoła parish belongs to the deaconate of Dynów, and the village of Nienadowa belongs to the deaconate of Dubiecko. The two deaconates are adjacent to each other.
Lidia’s message helps to clear up some questions about my Great Aunt Mary, but leads to the question of whether the two Dańko families are related to each other. With additional research on the two families, perhaps a connection could be found. Given that the parish records in Poland generally don’t extend back farther in time than the late 18th century, any connection between the two families must have occurred within the last 200 years for parish records to provide an answer to this question.
Yet, it’s still exciting to think that Lidia may be a distant cousin. Unfortunately, the Family History Library has not yet microfilmed the records from either Dubiecko (where the records for Nienadowa were maintained) or Wesoła and any research on these church records must be conducted at the parishes themselves.
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08.30.06
Posted in Daily Journal, Census Records at 11:52 pm by Administrator
After learning about Great Aunt Stephania’s legal name change in 1944 from Stefania Chmielewska to Stephania Meleski, I made another attempt to find her in the census. I found one entry for a Stefania Chmielewska living in Pennsylvania. When Stefania immigrated in 1901, she traveled to Worcester, Massachusetts to stay with her brother. When she filed her Petition for Naturalization in 1943, she stated that she had lived in Massachusetts continuously since February 1933, so she very well could have been living in Pennsylvania in 1910.
1910 U.S. Census Record for Stefania Chmielewska
Click on the link for a PDF copy of the 1910 U.S. Census Record for Stefania Chmielewska. The census shows that:
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Stefania was a border in a rented building at 818 East Race Street, Shamokin Borough, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania
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She was a single, white female, age 23
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She and her parents were born in Russia (Poland) and spoke Polish
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She immigrated in 1902, but there was no indication of whether she was naturalized
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She could speak English, and could read and write
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She was a sister in a convent
This information actually agrees with some family stories I had heard. I had been told that my great aunt was a nun, but all the information I could find stated that she worked in a rooming house in Worcester, Massachusetts. This census record seems to be evidence that she was a nun for a period of time. This could open up a whole line of research into religious records.
The data in this record agrees well with the other information I have about Stefania. Her legal name at the time was Stefania Chmielewska, she was born January 7, 1886 (making her 24 in 1910) in the Russian Partition of Poland, she could speak Polish, and she immigrated in 1901. She was also very religious. While not all the information matches the data in the 1910 census exactly, everything is close enough to convince me that this is probably my Great Aunt Stephania Meleski.
Unfortunately, I still can’t find her in the 1920 and 1930 census indexes.
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08.29.06
Posted in Daily Journal, Emigration at 10:57 pm by Administrator
Doug Bowerman left a comment on the August 27 post Stefania Chmielewska Arrives at Ellis Island, where I mentioned that my Great Aunt Stefania had sailed on the SS Barbarossa from Bremen to New York. Doug had read that the records for Bremen had been destroyed in a fire during World War II bombings and asked if there is any way to access the records that survived this catastrophe.
The short answer to this question is that, yes, some emigration records from Bremen did survive and one may be able to obtain those records.
To begin, Bremen was once a major port for emigration from Europe, processing over seven million emigrants over the past two centuries. Bremen is located on the Weser River and served as a major port of departure until silt in the river began to restrict access to Bremen’s docks. In 1825, the mayor and senate of Bremen purchased land for a new port at the mouth of the river and, in 1830, the port of Bremerhaven opened and served as the actual place of embarkation for those emigrating through Bremen.
Beginning in 1832, all companies transporting emigrants from Bremen were required to file lists of emigrants with Bremen’s emigration department. Between 1875 and 1908, these passenger lists were purposely destroyed for lack of space, and only the most recent three years of passenger lists were maintained. Thus, all Bremen Passenger Emigration Records prior to 1905 were destroyed, but the records from 1905-May 1914 were preserved. Unfortunately, even these records were destroyed during an Allied bombing raid on Bremen on October 6, 1944.
However, Bremen Emigrant Passenger Lists for the years 1920-1923 and 1925-1939 still exist. The surviving passenger lists are maintained at the Handelskammer Archiv in Bremen, and, although these lists are not indexed, the archives personnel will search these lists on request. The lists have also been transcribed and are searchable online at Die Maus.
Some other lists, indexes, and historical materials for earlier years also exist. Some ships that departed from Bremen provided copies of the emigration lists to officials at the ports of arrival. The information on these lists is summarized in Lists of Passengers Bound from Bremen to New York. The reference works Germans to America and Migration from the Russian Empire also include information on emigrants who passed through Bremen. These works are available through the Genealogical Publishing Company and many public and private libraries.
In addition, some information may be obtained directly from Germany. The City Archives of Bremerhaven holds some records on emigrants, the Bremen State Archives holds copies of passenger lists for ships involved in court cases, and the Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum holds plans, photographs, and logs of emigrant ships.
Finally, the Family History Library holds a few microfilms of indexes to the Bremen Emigration Lists under the title Namenskartei aus den “Bremen Schiffslisten” 1904-1914. These indexes were prepared in 1941 and contain mainly information on emigrants from Germany, but not on the 80% of emigrants who were Slavs, Jews, and Hungarians.
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08.28.06
Posted in Daily Journal, Immigration at 9:55 pm by Administrator
When Stefania Chmielewska arrived in New York, she was detained, rather than immediately admitted to the United States. Various notations, such as an “X”, “D”, or “held” between columns 1 and 2, or in the name column on the passenger manifest, indicate that a passenger was detained. The manifest may also include other notations to indicate that a passenger was held for a Board of Special Inquiry, that a Certificate of Arrival was issued, that a Warrant of Arrest was issued, or a number of other events occurred. See the post on A New Look at Immigrant Passenger Manifests for more details.
In Stefania’s case, the actual manifest page shows that quite a few other passengers on the Barbarossa were detained as well, and many of these passengers had something in common - they were unaccompanied minors.
Frederick Barbarossa
Record of Detained Alien Passengers for Stefania Chmielewska
Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Record of Detained Alien Passengers for Stefania Chmielewska. This records show that:
- Stefania Chmielewska was detained passenger number 175, listed on the manifest in Group A, Number 9
- Stefania was traveling alone and the Cause of Detention was “to be tagged”
- Stefania’s disposition was “to R.R. jrny to” [to railroad journey to] her brother Joseph, 18 Lafayette St., Worcester, Mass.
- She was discharged by inspector [Lr.] at 15:30 [3:30 PM] on May 22
- She was not detained long enough to receive any meals at Ellis Island
The meaning of “to be tagged” is not explained, but I assume it meant that the officials at Ellis Island tagged her so that she would reach her brother’s house safely. I assume that Stefania could not speak English, and probably traveled alone on the railroad to Worcester. All in all, the voyage from Lithuania to Bremen, from Bremen to New York, and then New York to Worcester must have been quite an exciting and frightening adventure for a 14 year old girl traveling alone, and was probably the first time in her life she had ever traveled any significant distance from home.
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08.27.06
Posted in Daily Journal, Immigration, Immigrant Ships at 10:13 pm by Administrator
In her Naturalization Papers, Great Aunt Stephania couldn’t remember the ship on which she emigrated to the United States, although she stated that she arrived at New York from Bremen on September 16, 1901. Two ships did arrive at New York from Bremen on September 16, 1901: the SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and the SS Friedrich der Grosse. Stefania wasn’t aboard either of these ships.
The SS Barbarossa
Today, I received a message from Drew Smith (one of the Genealogy Guys) who told me that he found Stefania’s Passenger Manifest on the Ellis Island site, and indeed he had! Stefania arrived on the SS Barbarossa on May 22, 1901 (a few months earlier than she reported in her naturalization papers)!
Passenger Manifest for Stefania Chmielewska
Click on the link for a PDF copy of Stefania’s Passenger Manifest. The manifest shows that:
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Stefania Chmielewska traveled on the S.S. Barbarossa, leaving Bremen on May 11, 1901 and arriving at New York
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Although this page does not state the date of her arrival, other pages in the manifest show that the ship arrived in New York on May 22, 1901
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Stefania is listed on page 255, line 9 of the manifest
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She was a 14 year old single female with no occupation who could read and write
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Her nationality was Russian, her last residence was Likiszki, and she would be landing at New York
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Her final destination was Worcester, Mass., she had a ticket to her final destination, and her passage was paid by her brother
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She had $7 with her, she had never been in the United States before, and she was planning to join her brother, Josef
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She had never been in prison, almshouse, or supported by charity
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She was not a polygamist and she was not under contract to work in the United States
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Her mental and physical health were good, and she was not disabled or cripple
The Ellis Island indexes have Stefania listed as follows:
- First Name: Stefnie [the manifest actually says Stefania]
- Last Name: Chmielewska
- Ethnicity: Russia
- Last Place of Residence: Likiizki [the manifest actually says Likiszki]
- Date of Arrival: May 11, 1901 [the actual date of arrival, as indicated on another page of the manifest, was May 22, 1901]
- Age at Arrival: 14y
- Gender: F
- Marital Status: S
- Ship of Travel: Barbarossa
- Port of Departure: Bremen
- Manifest Line Number: 0009
The Ellis Island index contains three transcription errors. I’ll write to them and ask them to correct these errors. The folks at Ellis Island are happy to correct transcription errors, but they won’t change misspellings or errors in the manifests, themselves.
But, notice the checkmark in the first column of the manifest, in front of Stefania’s name. This doesn’t look good for Stefania, because this check mark means that Stefania was detained at Ellis Island.
Tomorrow: What happened to Stefania when she was detained
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08.26.06
Posted in Daily Journal, Naturalization at 10:56 pm by Administrator
Great Aunt Stephania became of citizen of the United States on March 2, 1944. By law, she had to complete the naturalization process between two and seven years after filing her Declaration of Intention. She had filed her Declaration on November 25, 1940, so she was well within the required window of time.
Stephania Meleski’s Petition for Naturalization - Front
Stephania Meleski’s Petition for Naturalization - Back
Click on the link for a PDF copy of the document. The Petition shows that:
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Stefania Chmielewska changed her name to Stephania Meleski as part of the naturalization process on Petition for Naturalization No. 39405
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Stephania filed her Petition at the Superior Court of Massachusetts at Worcester
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Stephania still lived at 15 Charlton St. Worcester, Mass and worked in a rooming house
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She was 57 years old, and was born on Jan. 7, 1886 in Likiszki, Vilna, Poland
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She was female, white, of medium complexion, with hazel eyes, brown hair, 5 feet 2 inches tall, 125 pounds, and had a mole on her chin
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She was of the white race, of Polish nationality, was not married, and had no children
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Her last place of foreign residence was Likiszki, Vilna, Poland
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She emigrated from Bremen, Germany and entered New York, N.Y. under the name Stefania Chmielewska on Sept. 16, 1901 on an unknown ship
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Since entering the United States, she had not been absent for a period of 6 months or longer
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She declared her intention to become a citizen of the United States on November 25, 1940 in the Superior Court of Massachusetts at Worcester, Mass.
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She had been in the United States for at least five years, that is to say, since Sept. 16, 1901 and continuously in the state of Massachusetts for at least six months, that is, since Feb. 1933
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Stephania’s Petition was witnessed by Harriett Bell Thurston, a housewife, and Harry C. Thurston, retired, both residing at 56 Elm St. Worcester, Mass.
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The Petition was subscribed and sworn at Worcester, Massachusetts on December 13, 1941 before Carl L. [Greenslil?], Deputy Clerk for William C. Bowen, Clerk
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Stephania’s Certificate of Arrival was No. 1X 81667
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Stephania made her Oath of Allegiance on March 2, 1944 and was granted Certificate No. 6119990 by Carl L. [Greenslil?], Deputy Clerk for William C. Bowen, Clerk
In the three years since filing her Declaration of Intention, Great Aunt Stephania has changed her name, gained five pounds, developed a mole on her chin, changed her race from Polish to white, specified that Likiszki, Poland was Likiszki, Vilna, Poland, and still can’t remember the ship on which she immigrated.
But, most interesting of all is her statement that she had been in Massachusetts since February of 1933. Since she immigrated in 1901, where did she spend the first 32 years of her life in America?
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08.25.06
Posted in Daily Journal, Naturalization at 10:16 pm by Administrator
After finding the Original Copy of Great Aunt Stephania’s Declaration of Intention, I moved from the microfilms labeled Naturalization - Declaration of Intention to the films labeled Naturalization - Petition and Record Book. This set of films included the Triplicate copy of Stefania’s Declaration of Intention.
Triplicate Declaration of Intention for Stefania Chmielewska - Front
Triplicate Declaration of Intention for Stefania Chmielewska - Back
Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Triplicate Copy of the Declaration of Intention.
The films labeled Naturalization - Declaration of Intention included the Original Copy of the Declaration of Intention - the copy that remained with the Clerk of the Court. This new set of records included the triplicate copy - the copy that was given to the declarant. The Duplicate Copy was sent to the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization.
The Triplicate Copy appears to be identical to the original with a few exceptions. In fact, the Triplicate appears to be a carbon copy of the original, since the two documents contains the same typographical eccentricities. Note, for example, the extra space between the “e” and “r” in “County of Worcester” near the top left, the way that the final “i” in “Chmielewski” is typed over with an “a”, and the way that Stefania’s first name about halfway down the page appears to have a “t” squeezed in between the “S” and “e” after the name was typed in.
Differences include the presence of Stefania’s photo and signature on the Triplicate Copy, and the fact that the Triplicate Copy includes instructions to the declarant on the reverse. In addition, the Triplicate includes a stamp on the back:
RECEIVED
FEB 1 - 1943
U. S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
[74] Tremont Street
Boston, Mass.
Normally, a copy of the Original Document would be considered a Derivative Source. In this case, since all three copies were prepared simultaneously by carbon copy and each is clearly marked Original, Duplicate, or Triplicate, I consider each of these an Original Source (an Original Source of the Original, an Original Source of the Duplicate, and an Original Source of the Triplicate). The copies I have are Exact Images of Original Sources.
These documents include Primary Information about the place and date Stefania made her Declaration, her address, her occupation, and her physical characteristics. The documents include Secondary Information about Stefania’s race, nationality, birthplace, last foreign residence, and immigration information.
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08.24.06
Posted in Daily Journal, Naturalization at 11:03 pm by Administrator
After I found the Naturalization Index Card for my Great Aunt Stephania, I looked up her Declaration of Intention on a microfilm that contained images of the Original of the three copies of the Declaration that were prepared. The Original was retained by the clerk, the Duplicate was forwarded to the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, and the Triplicate was provided to the applicant.
Original Declaration of Intention for Stefania Chmielewska
Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Original Declaration. According to the definitions of Original Source and Derivative Source, this document is an Exact Image of an Original Source.
The Declaration states that:
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Stefania Chmielewska made her Declaration of Intention No. 52410 to become a citizen of the United States in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, County of Worcester, in the Superior Court of Massachusetts of Worcester
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She resided at 15 Charlton St., Worcester, Worcester, Mass.
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Her occupation was a rooming house keeper
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She was 54 years old, female, white, medium complexion, hazel eyes, brown hair, 5 feet 2 inches tall, 120 pounds, with no distinctive marks
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She was of Polish race and of Polish nationality
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She was born in Likiszki, Poland on Jan. 7, 1886
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She was not married, had no children, and had not previously made a Declaration of Intention
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Her last foreign residence was Likiszki, Poland
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She emigrated from Bremen, German and entered the United States at New York, N.Y. under the name of Stefania Chmielewska on Sept. 16, 1901, but did not know the name of the ship on which she had traveled
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She submitted her Declaration at Worcester, Mass. on November 25, 1940
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Her Certificate of Arrival was No. 1x 81667
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The Declaration was signed by William C. Bowen, Clerk of the Superior Court
The Declaration shows that Stefania’s surname was corrected from Chmielewski to Chmielewska. The Certificate of Arrival number was also corrected: the space for the number shows xxxxxx and the actual number is typed to the left of the clerk’s name.
As fate would have it, not only did Stefania forget the name of the ship on which she sailed, but she reported the wrong date of arrival.
I’m not sure where Stefania’s birthplace of Likiszki is, but two choices are likely: the village Likishki Vel’ke [Likiškiai], Alytaus, Lithuania and the village of Lilishki [Liuliškiai], Vilniaus, Lithuania.
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08.23.06
Posted in Daily Journal, Naturalization at 10:17 pm by Administrator
While looking for the Naturalization Index Card for my great aunt Stephania Meleski, I happened to look at the very next card after the Naturalization Index Card and found the following card:
Change of Name for Stefania Chmielewski
Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Change of Name card. I had always thought that my great aunt’s name was Stephanie Meleski. Her Naturalization Index Card showed that her name was Stephania Meleski. Now, this card shows that she changed her name from Stefania Chmielewska as part of the naturalization process.
In the past, I had not been able to find Stephania in the census records. Now that I have some alternate names, perhaps I’ll have better luck!
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08.22.06
Posted in Daily Journal, Naturalization at 10:25 pm by Administrator
While looking for my grandmother, Helen Niedzialkowski, in the Naturalization Index, I thought I’d also look for her sister, Stephanie Meleski. I found the record on the same roll of microfilm as the record for Helen.
Index Card for the Naturalization of Stephania Meleski
Click on the link for a PDF copy of the Index Card for Stephania. The card states that she was granted Certificate of Naturalization No. 6119990, that her name was Stephania Meleski, that she lived at 15 Charlton St. Worcester, Mass., that she was 58 years old at the date of admission (meaning that she was born in about 1885-1886), and that she became a citizen on Mar. 2, 1944 (her Certificate of Naturalization was dated the same day) at the Superior Court at Worcester, Mass. She had filed Petition of Naturalization No. 39405.
The information on this card provided enough information to look for Stephania’s Naturalization Papers, since the records for 1944 have been microfilmed. Stephania’s Certificate of Naturalization was No. 6119990 and her Petition for Naturalization was No. 39405.
In addition to the information on how to find Stephania’s Naturalization Papers, the Index Card provides several useful pieces of information. Stephania was living at 15 Charlton St. in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1944. This is useful information since I haven’t been able to find Stephania in the Census Records. The second useful piece of information is that she spelled her name Stephania Meleski, not Stephanie Meleski as I previously thought.
Although the Index Card does not provide a space for an Alien Registration Number, Stephania would have been required to register as an alien in response to the Alien Registration Act of 1940. All aliens over the age of 14 were required to fill out a two page form (the AR-2, including a perforated section, the AR-3)) at their local post office. After the form was processed, the AR-3 (the Alien Registration Card) was torn from the AR-2 and mailed to the applicant. Aliens were required to carry this card with them.
Most aliens registered between July and December 1940. Registrations completed between July 1940 and April 1944 have been microfilmed and were placed in the custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. These records are searchable by name, date of birth, and place of birth, and copies of these records may be obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
Further information on the Alien Registration Act is available at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website. Requests for the alien registration documents may be made on a Form G-639, Freedom of Information/Privacy Act Request. No fees are required until you are notified by the USCIS. The first 100 pages of reproduction and two hours of search time are provided without charge unless the requester is a commercial organization. Be prepared for a long wait (more than six months) before receiving the papers. I’m sending in the forms for my ancestors this week.
The last piece of information I obtained from the Naturalization Index was a complete surprise for me, and it appeared on the very next image after Stephania’s Index Card.
Tomorrow: The Surprise!
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