A few days ago, I showed the World War II Selective Service Registration Cards for Alexander and Paul Skowronski. Yesterday, I showed the Ellis Island Passenger Manifest for the same two brothers. Today, I have the World War I Selective Service Registration Cards for Alexander and Paul. Altogether, these documents provide most of the evidence I have for the ancestral village from whence they came.
The World War I Selective Service Draft Registration Card for Alexander Skowronski shows that as of June 5, 1917 Alexander was 30 years old and lived at 16 Dorchester Street, Worcester, Mass. He was born February 2, 1886 in Grondy, Lomza, Russia-Poland, was a citizen of Russia, and had declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States. He worked as a Moulder at the Whitcomb Foundry in Worcester, Mass., was caucasian, married, and supported a wife and four children. He did not claim any prior military service. He was tall, of medium build, with gray eyes, and had dark hair (not bald). He did not suffer the loss of an arm, leg, hand, foot, both eyes, or any other disability.
The World War I Selective Service Draft Registration Card for Paul Skowronski shows that as of June 5, 1917 Paul was 26 years old and lived at 16 Dorchester Street, Worcester, Mass. He was born October 28, 1890 in Poland-Russian, was a citizen of Russia, and had declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States. He worked as a molder at the Standard Foundry on Lamartine St., was caucasian, married, and supported a wife and four children. He did not claim any prior military service. He was of medium height, of medium build, with blue eyes, and had light hair (not bald). He did not suffer the loss of an arm, leg, hand, foot, both eyes, or any other disability.
Based on all the information so far, I have the following information on the name of the ancestral village for the Skowronskis:
- Passenger Manifest: Grondi, Russia
- World War I Draft – Alexander: Grondy, Lomza, Russia-Poland
- World War I Draft – Paul: Poland-Russia
- World War II Draft – Alexander: Groad, Poland
- World War II Draft – Paul: Grondy, Poland
- Verbal information from family: Grondy, Poland
The most informative piece of information came from Alexander’s World War I Draft Registration Card which stated that the place of origin was Grondy, Lomza, Russia-Poland. Łomża was a Russian Gubernia within the Polish territory up until the end of World War I and the end of the Partitions of Poland. This indication of the Gubernia greatly helps to narrow down the possibilities for the location of the village. A search for Grondi resulted in no matches; a search for Grondy resulted in one match, but not in the former Łomża Gubernia; a search for Grądy resulted in dozens of matches (including many that could have been in the former Łomża Gubernia) on mapa.szukacz.pl, and over 29 matches in the Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego (The Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland). Since the Polish name Grądy sounds like the English Grondy or Grondi, it seems likely that the Skowronskis were from the village of Grądy – but which one?
I have attached a transcription and translation of the Słownik Geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego entry for Grądy. At the time the Słownik Geograficzny was published, the Łomża Gubernia included the powiats (counties) of Szczuczyn, Kolno, Łomża, Ostrołęka, Pułtusk, Maków, Mazowieck, and Ostrów (although the Pułtusk powiat was moved to the Warszawa Gubernia in 1894). From the information in the Słownik Geograficzny, it is apparent that 15 of these villages named Grądy were in the Łomża Gubernia:
- 2) Grądy, village, Błonie powiat
- 4) Grądy, village, Wieluń powiat
- 13) Grądy, Łomża powiat
- 14) Grądy, village and grange, Łomża powiat
- 15) Grądy-Woniecko, village and grange, Łomża powiat
- 16) Grądy, Pułtusk powiat
- 17) Grądy-polewne, Pułtusk powiat
- 18) Grądy, Ostrołęka powiat
- 19) Grądy, Maków powiat
- 20) Grądy, Maków powiat
- 21) Grądy, Ostrów powiat
- 22) Grądy, Ostrów powiat
- 23) Grądy-Zalewne, village, Ostrów powiat
- 25) Grądy-Michały, village of noblemen and manor, Szczuczyn powiat
- 26) Grądy-łamane, village, Szczuczyn powiat
Even if I leave out the five Grądys with a compound name, that still leaves ten villages named Grądy in the Łomża Gubernia. Which of these is the correct village will require a search of the church records in each parish until the records for the Skowronskis are found. Since the records were kept in the parishes, not the individual villages, I’ll need to search records in the following parishes:
- Długosiodło
- Jelonki (Wąsewo?)
- Kasnosielc
- Lubiel
- Rajgród
- Rzekuń
- Nowa wieś
- Nowogród
- Wąsosz
- Wiskitki
- Wizna
- Wyszków
Wow! Looks like I have my work cut out for me!
Tomorrow: The Records of Detained Alien Passengers, The Records of Aliens Held for Special Inquiry, and Records of other stops between Hamburg and New York.
Update 04 October 2020: With the arrival of new resources comes new information. Using Geneteka, my cousin was able to find that the village of Grądy in which the Skowronskis lived was part of the parish of Nowogród. Furthermore, some of the records for the family are now available online at Szukaj w Archiwach (but not at FamilySearch or other online repositories).
Copyright © 2006-2020 by Stephen J. Danko
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I am a grandson of Paul Skowronski,he was born in Grondy, state of Lonza Poland Russia on Oct.28 1890. He lived at 16 dorchester st. Worcester,Ma. He came to the states from Hamburg, Germany, Arrived on or about march 28 1903 in New York. He served in the national guard from 1/18/24 to 6/17/27, honorable discharged. His certificate of naturalization dated 4/21/44,certificate #6121485, petition #40444.
All this data is from my grandfathers own records,if you need anything else that I might have just ask, thanks