PolishOrigins(TM) Forum

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Trish — Sun Jun 28, 2026 1:06 pm

Author: Trish

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2026 1:06 pm

Sam wrote:

Sophia and Trish,

Marya's father on her death certificate is named Stanley (Stanisław, Stan-Jan?), and the mother Agnieszka. My great-aunt Blanche gave the information; she died in 2011, and I never had the pleasure of knowing her personally, although I imagine she knew her mother about as well as anyone.

Three of Andrzej's adult children lived in Union City, N.J., in 1940. The address on the Alien Registration belongs to my great-aunt Charlotte (Mrs. Joseph Sammataro). What frustrates me is that I cannot find them on the 1940 census. But Andrzej is back in Pa. by 1942 according to WWII draft registration and would remain a Bentleyville resident for the rest of his life.

The manifest is indeed interesting. I believe I saw it some time ago while researching on Ancestry. Of course the village Lubasz meant nothing to me then, although DNA evidence does point in its direction.

I find the dates interesting too. For birth we have 10 September on the baptismal record and 8 September on the American records. For immigration we have a 1 August date on the alien registration and a 2 August for the 1907 manifest. On the 1920 census Marya gives 1908 as her arrival year.

Hi Sam and Sophia,

Sam, it sounds like you do not have a subscription to ancestry.com. I do so I'm posting the manifest that I found for Marya. It's a two page manifest. Marya is on line #9. If I'm not mistaken there are two other people coming from Lubasz also traveling with Marya. I need Sophia's eyes to verify this information.

Regards,
Trish

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Sam — Sun Jun 28, 2026 11:58 am

Author: Sam

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2026 11:58 am

Sophia and Trish,

Marya's father on her death certificate is named Stanley (Stanisław, Stan-Jan?), and the mother Agnieszka. My great-aunt Blanche gave the information; she died in 2011, and I never had the pleasure of knowing her personally, although I imagine she knew her mother about as well as anyone.

Three of Andrzej's adult children lived in Union City, N.J., in 1940. The address on the Alien Registration belongs to my great-aunt Charlotte (Mrs. Joseph Sammataro). What frustrates me is that I cannot find them on the 1940 census. But Andrzej is back in Pa. by 1942 according to WWII draft registration and would remain a Bentleyville resident for the rest of his life.

The manifest is indeed interesting. I believe I saw it some time ago while researching on Ancestry. Of course the village Lubasz meant nothing to me then, although DNA evidence does point in its direction.

I find the dates interesting too. For birth we have 10 September on the baptismal record and 8 September on the American records. For immigration we have a 1 August date on the alien registration and a 2 August for the 1907 manifest. On the 1920 census Marya gives 1908 as her arrival year.

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Sophia — Sun Jun 28, 2026 11:14 am

Author: Sophia

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2026 11:14 am

Trish wrote:

Hi Sam and Sophia,

This is the information about the manifest I saw for Marya Piatkowska coming from Lubasz. Her father is Jan. She is going to Utica, New York.

I am not posting the image for I do not know if this the Marya that married Andrzej.

Regards,
Trish

Name Marya Piatkowska [Marya Piatkowski]
Gender Female
Ethnicity/ Nationality Polish
Marital Status Single
Age 18
Birth Date abt 1889
Birth Place Galicia
Other Birth Place Lubacz
Last Known Residence Lubasz, Galicy
Departure Port Bremen
Arrival Date 2 Aug 1907
Arrival Port New York, New York, USA
Residence Place Galicia
Final Destination Utica, New York
Height 5 Feet
Hair Color Blonde
Eye Color Gray
Complexion Fair
Money in Possession $12
Person in Old Country Jan Piatkowski
Person in Old Country Relationship Father
Person in Old Country Residence Lubasz Szczncin Galicy
Person in US Florence Piatk
Person in US Relationship Cousin
Father Jan Piatkowski
Ship Name Bremen

Hi Trish and Sam,

Trish, in my opinion this manifest showing a Marya Piatkowska born in 1889 in Lubasz is most definitely the same as the Marya Piatkowska whose birth/baptism record I found, also from Lubasz, in 1889. Lubasz was such a small place.

Sophia

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Trish — Sun Jun 28, 2026 10:29 am

Author: Trish

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2026 10:29 am

Hi Sam and Sophia,

This is the information about the manifest I saw for Marya Piatkowska coming from Lubasz. Her father is Jan. She is going to Utica, New York.

I am not posting the image for I do not know if this the Marya that married Andrzej.

Regards,
Trish

Name Marya Piatkowska [Marya Piatkowski]
Gender Female
Ethnicity/ Nationality Polish
Marital Status Single
Age 18
Birth Date abt 1889
Birth Place Galicia
Other Birth Place Lubacz
Last Known Residence Lubasz, Galicy
Departure Port Bremen
Arrival Date 2 Aug 1907
Arrival Port New York, New York, USA
Residence Place Galicia
Final Destination Utica, New York
Height 5 Feet
Hair Color Blonde
Eye Color Gray
Complexion Fair
Money in Possession $12
Person in Old Country Jan Piatkowski
Person in Old Country Relationship Father
Person in Old Country Residence Lubasz Szczncin Galicy
Person in US Florence Piatk
Person in US Relationship Cousin
Father Jan Piatkowski
Ship Name Bremen

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Trish — Sun Jun 28, 2026 9:27 am

Author: Trish

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2026 9:27 am

Sam wrote:

Dear Trish and Sophia,

I did consider contacting St. Bartholomew's over in Crabtree, Pa., to see if they have anything relevant.

I do believe my great-grandmother is older than most records show after she remarried. The 1913 marriage record and 1920 census suggests she was born in 1891. Her mother's name being Agnieszka sounds right.

Many thanks for your continued interest and help,
Sam

Hi Sophhia and Sam,

Sophia, thank you for the information about the town and possible records for it.

The birth record is interesting! I would keep the record and put it in the "possibility" folder. Sam, do you know the informant that gave the information for Marya Piatkowski when she died? Was this informant accurate with the information?

Sam, I do have more questions for you. Who did Andrzej know in North Bergen, New Jersey when he filled out his Alien Registration form? Did he have family there? It's interesting for then Andrzej goes back to Pennsylvania where he later dies. (Tidbit: My Broda family went to Trenton, New Jersey to visit someone in 1900. Had my Great-Aunt while they were there. Then the family returned back to Swedesboro, Pennsylvania where they lived before and after the Trenton, NJ trip. I still cannot figure out who they went to go visit.)

Regards,
Trish

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Sam — Sat Jun 27, 2026 8:35 pm

Author: Sam

Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2026 8:35 pm

Dear Trish and Sophia,

I did consider contacting St. Bartholomew's over in Crabtree, Pa., to see if they have anything relevant.

I do believe my great-grandmother is older than most records show after she remarried. The 1913 marriage record and 1920 census suggests she was born in 1891. Her mother's name being Agnieszka sounds right.

Many thanks for your continued interest and help,
Sam

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Sophia — Sat Jun 27, 2026 12:07 pm

Author: Sophia

Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2026 12:07 pm

Hi Sam and Trish,

There are minimal available records online for Lubasz, Szczucin. You can see that Skanoteka has them here, but only for the years 1880-1889:
https://skanoteka.genealodzy.pl/id3649-sy3505

I went through them anyway, just to see if the Piatkowski family shows up. Interestingly, there is one baptism for a Piatkowski child. It happens to be in September, and it happens to be a Maria, but it is 1889 and we were expecting her to be born in 1895. Sam, is there any chance that your great-grandmother was a bit older than her U.S. records show?

https://skanoteka.genealodzy.pl/index.php?op=pg&id=3649&se=&sy=3505&kt=1&plik=015.jpg&zoom=6.41 look on the left page at baptism #20. Her father is Jan and her mother is Agnieszka. Trish, would this fit with the manifest you found?

Sophia

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Trish — Sat Jun 27, 2026 8:46 am

Author: Trish

Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2026 8:46 am

Sam wrote:

The following image is gleaned from my great-grandfather's 1918 draft card, and may be the only lead I readily possess regarding an exact place in Austrian Galicia (DNA appears to suggest modern-day Lesser Poland in particular) he may have resided/been born in before emigrating. The registrant (a Mr. Ryan) seems to have wrote village/town names on my ancestor's card and others he recorded on the foreign citizenship line, even though such a thing was not explicitly called-for, so it may be a stroke of fortune for me, considering my ancestor never filed for naturalization nor am I certain of any immigration/manifest record.

Hi Sam and Sophia,

Sam, don't you just love pictures? They bring the person to life. I think the pictures are so interesting. Thank you for sharing them with us.

I'm still having trouble finding the manifests for your ancestors. I did find a Marya Piatkowska coming into the USA from Lubasz, but her father was Jan.

By any chance did you try to obtain the church marriage record for Andrzej and Marya? It might have some clues on the record. I would ask the church for the record with any notations on it like place of origin and parents' name. The church record could list the witnesses' names which also might be helpful. You can also try to get the baptismal records of the children. Their could be clues on those records also.

Name Andrej Szewczyk
Gender Male
Marriage Date 22 Oct 1913
Marriage Place Greensberg, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, USA
Spouse Mary Anna Piotkonoska
Film Number 001316396

I am not familiar with the towns mentioned on the Alien Registration. Maybe someone on the forum would know if there is any microfilm online for these towns. Also, maybe you can write to the town and ask for the birth records for Andrzej and Marya.

Regards,
Trish

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Sophia — Wed Jun 24, 2026 7:26 am

Author: Sophia

Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2026 7:26 am

Hi Sam,

Thanks for uploading the portraits! These colorized photos were so popular in the 1910s and 1920s. I had a chance to see a set which had been removed from their frames. It was rather interesting. They are actual black-and-white photos onto which color had been added. On the back of each picture were some notes from the photographer to the color artist, telling them for example what color eyes the person had, what color the necktie should be, etc.

Thanks again,
Sophia

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Sam — Sat Jun 20, 2026 6:44 pm

Author: Sam

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2026 6:44 pm

Sophia,

My mistake! But Trish's manifest makes me wish the AR-2 asked if the registrant had any living siblings in the U.S.

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Sophia — Sat Jun 20, 2026 7:56 am

Author: Sophia

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2026 7:56 am

Hi Sam,

Actually it was Trish who pointed out the difference between birthplace and residence on the manifest. Just giving credit where credit is due!

I'd be interested to see the crayon portraits!

Sophia

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Sam — Fri Jun 19, 2026 9:54 pm

Author: Sam

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2026 9:54 pm

Sophia and Trish,

I have been looking through FamilySearch manifests. Unfortunately I have seen nothing really substantial, although one can't shake the feeling they might've missed something, although the 13 July date seems specific now that a ship name has been revealed. I did investigate the Kaiser Wilhelm II's manifest, as it was at New York in July as well.

Trish, you are right about birthplace vs. residence.

And I did find two "crayon portraits" alongside a note identifying them as Andrzej and his wife, Marianna. If there is interest in seeing them I'd post them. I do wonder if the original photos the crayon enlargements are based on are still out there somewhere.

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Trish — Fri Jun 19, 2026 12:50 pm

Author: Trish

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2026 12:50 pm

Sophia wrote:

Sam wrote:

Sophia,

I did consider the 18 May manifest the most sensible possibility for Andrzej (of those I could readily find) if a 1904 arrival was indeed correct. Sadly I failed to pursue the lead of a brother while my paid membership on Ancestry was active.

What put me off somewhat was the apparent age of the individual (eighteen), which seems rather low, considering Andrzej only ever gave his birth years as between 1880-1882. The residence place, (also featuring a castle and lake à la Dobczyce), also seemed too far south to me, although I did see Slovak results in some of my DNA matches.

Hi Sam,

Thanks for that. It's hard to retain details like this when I am looking at so many requests from so many people.

I am providing here a link to the first page of the manifest for the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse's arrival at Ellis Island on July 13, 1904:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-816Y-94M4?view=index&cc=1368704&lang=en&groupId=M9P8-Z2W

You will notice that the first pages are for passengers who embarked in Cherbourg. You have to continue paging through the images until you reach those who sailed from Bremen.

I know it will be tedious because this ship begins on image 176 and ends on image 258, but I say you should go for it!

Good luck,
Sophia

Hi Sophia and Sam,

I still trying to see if I can find any other manifest for Andrzej. However, I do want to bring to your attention one detail about the 1904 manitest I had posted. The town listed is the "last known residence" not the "town of birth". I'm trying to keep an open mind here. However, I'll keep searching.

I did find a few people named Jozef Szewczyk in Pennsylvania. There were many. Their years of birth ranged between 1870-1890. None of them listed a father as Jakub or no father was listed at all.

Regards,
Trish

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Sophia — Fri Jun 19, 2026 10:44 am

Author: Sophia

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2026 10:44 am

Sam wrote:

Sophia,

I did consider the 18 May manifest the most sensible possibility for Andrzej (of those I could readily find) if a 1904 arrival was indeed correct. Sadly I failed to pursue the lead of a brother while my paid membership on Ancestry was active.

What put me off somewhat was the apparent age of the individual (eighteen), which seems rather low, considering Andrzej only ever gave his birth years as between 1880-1882. The residence place, Czorsztyn (also featuring a castle and lake à la Dobczyce), also seemed too far south to me, although I did see Slovak results in some of my DNA matches.

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Sam — Fri Jun 19, 2026 8:33 am

Author: Sam

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2026 8:33 am

Sophia,

I did consider the 18 May manifest the most sensible possibility for Andrzej (of those I could readily find) if a 1904 arrival was indeed correct. Sadly I failed to pursue the lead of a brother while my paid membership on Ancestry was active.

What put me off somewhat was the apparent age of the individual (eighteen), which seems rather low, considering Andrzej only ever gave his birth years as between 1880-1882. The residence place, Czorsztyn (also featuring a castle and lake à la Dobczyce), also seemed too far south to me, although I did see Slovak results in some of my DNA matches.

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Sophia — Fri Jun 19, 2026 4:37 am

Author: Sophia

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2026 4:37 am

Sam wrote:

The form states that Andrzej emigrated (during a period when Dobczyce was beset with troubles) in July 1904 as a passenger on the S.S. Kaiser Wilhelm (der Grosse), departing Bremen July 5 and arriving at N.Y. July 13.

Hi Sam,

Back on Apr 22, 2025 Trish posted a manifest for Andrzej arriving May 18th, 1904 on the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse. Can you remind me why you don't think that is him?

Sophia

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Sam — Thu Jun 18, 2026 9:36 pm

Author: Sam

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2026 9:36 pm

I take back what I said. The 17 August 1909 manifest for the Kaiser Wilhelm is available.

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Trish — Thu Jun 18, 2026 9:19 am

Author: Trish

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2026 9:19 am

Sam wrote:

Dear Trish and Sophia,

I finally went ahead and ordered the AR-2 forms, which, after more than a year of wrangling with the question of just where in Galicia my great-grandparents came from, I can say was worth it.

For my g-grandfather Andrew, he names "Dobcszese," Austria, as his place of birth, but no particular province, but I feel confident enough to say that such a place is in fact the town of Dobczyce, formerly part of Bezirk Wieliczka, Austria.

I was even more surprised to learn from a Histmag article by Catherine Dominik that when Andrzej was born in the 1880s, Dobczyce's revitalization as a settlement "was fueled, among other things, by the shoemaking craft, which by the end of the 19th century numbered approximately 170 workshops..."

So, it seems fitting that a man surnamed Szewczyk came from a town with a prominent Shoemakers' Guild and robust trade in footwear.

The form states that Andrzej emigrated (during a period when Dobczyce was beset with troubles) in July 1904 as a passenger on the S.S. Kaiser Wilhelm (der Grosse), departing Bremen July 5 and arriving at N.Y. July 13. Unfortunately I have not had much success with manifests as of yet. Unfortunately it seems Steve Morse's site has suffered from expired certification or whatnot.

For my g-grandmother, Andrew's wife, the form, which is a bit more confusing in terms of the exact accuracy of the information, states that she was born in the village of Lubasz near the town of Szczucin, which corroborates a relative's note that she was born on the Austro-Russian frontier.

It also states she emigrated as a passenger on the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse in August 1909, arriving probably on the 17th. Again, manifests seem hard to come by.

Many thanks for the advice and assistance thus far,

Sam

Hi Sam,
So happy to hear you got information from the Alien Registration records. Thank you for sharing it with the forum. Hopefully now we can try to find a manifest for Andrzej.

Have a great day!
Trish

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Sam — Wed Jun 17, 2026 11:29 pm

Author: Sam

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2026 11:29 pm

Dear Trish and Sophia,

I finally went ahead and ordered the AR-2 forms, which, after more than a year of wrangling with the question of just where in Galicia my great-grandparents came from, I can say was worth it.

For my g-grandfather Andrew, he names "Dobcszese," Austria, as his place of birth, but no particular province, but I feel confident enough to say that such a place is in fact the town of Dobczyce, formerly part of Bezirk Wieliczka, Austria.

I was even more surprised to learn from a Histmag article by Catherine Dominik that when Andrzej was born in the 1880s, Dobczyce's revitalization as a settlement "was fueled, among other things, by the shoemaking craft, which by the end of the 19th century numbered approximately 170 workshops..."

So, it seems fitting that a man surnamed Szewczyk came from a town with a prominent Shoemakers' Guild and robust trade in footwear.

The form states that Andrzej emigrated (during a period when Dobczyce was beset with troubles) in July 1904 as a passenger on the S.S. Kaiser Wilhelm (der Grosse), departing Bremen July 5 and arriving at N.Y. July 13. Unfortunately I have not had much success with manifests as of yet. Unfortunately it seems Steve Morse's site has suffered from expired certification or whatnot.

For my g-grandmother, Andrew's wife, the form, which is a bit more confusing in terms of the exact accuracy of the information, states that she was born in the village of Lubasz near the town of Szczucin, which corroborates a relative's note that she was born on the Austro-Russian frontier.

It also states she emigrated as a passenger on the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse in August 1909, arriving probably on the 17th. Again, manifests seem hard to come by.

Many thanks for the advice and assistance thus far,

Sam

Re: Could This Be a Village or Town (Popczyki, Galicia)?

Trish — Wed May 21, 2025 12:52 pm

Author: Trish

Posted: Wed May 21, 2025 12:52 pm

Sam wrote:

AncestryDNA updated their community or journey tab, adding new East Europe regions it seems. West Galicia is one of them. I was assigned the following:

Hi Sam,

I like the fact that ancestry.com is constantly updating their information as their technology gets better. Plus I know the more people that do their DNA, the more accurate the DNA results become.

I had to go check my own ancestry.com's DNA for latest update. My DNA actually showed this.
Specific places you’re connected to:
Wałcz | Drezdenko | Chodzież
Greater Poland & Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeships

I thought this was so interesting for my Pisarski family started out in Szamocin, Chodziez, Wielkopolskie. Several other ancestros are all from the Kujawsko-Pomorskie area. So it seems ancestry.com is starting to narrow down locations.

I hope the information you found with your DNA helps with your research.

Regards,
Trish