Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 10:40 am
Post subject: Szczurek Family
I have found a lot of information about my family on Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org starting with their entry into the US but I would also like to find information on relatives who lived (and live) in Poland. I just don't know how to find that information. What I do know is as follows:
My Grandmother's maiden name was Bronislawa Szczurek. She was born near Kracow around 1900. She came to the US with a friend of the family Agata Dydula in 1908.
Bronislawa had 2 sisters Aniela and Ulkta (I knew her as Wiktoria). Both of them stayed in Poland although Wiktoria did come to the US and stayed for several years with my grandparents. She returned to Poland and died around 1975.
My grandmother's father's name was Stanislaw Szczurek and he was born around 1874.
Her mother's maiden name was Katarzyna Hujdus.
I believe that Katarzyna's parent's names were Geo Hudus and Mary Shukosky.
Katarzyna had at least 1 sister Wiktoria who married Josef Orkisz and then came to the US around 1900
Katarzyna had at least 1 brother Francizek Hujdus who also came to the US around 1900
Any help on finding more information about my family is greatly appreciated.
|
|
|
ShelliePO Top Contributor & Patron
Joined: 18 Feb 2009
Replies: 1000
Location: Atlanta, GABack to top |
Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 10:30 am
Post subject:
Hi Stan,
I tried to find her 1908 arrival.....is she the young girl named Bronislawa Dydula with Agata? If so, those numbers written after her name indicate that she applied for citizenship. Do you already have her naturalization papers?
I see that you mentioned Bronislawa was born near Krakow - do you know which village? Was she from the same village as Agata Dydula? If yes, the village name is difficult to read (I attached images below) but I we have some members here that are great at deciphering the writing on these manifests.
| Description: |
|
| Filesize: |
74.06 KB |
| Viewed: |
5130 Time(s) |
|
| Description: |
|
| Filesize: |
61.23 KB |
| Viewed: |
5130 Time(s) |
|
| Description: |
|
| Filesize: |
23.46 KB |
| Viewed: |
5130 Time(s) |
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 11:14 am
Post subject:
Hi Shellie,
Yes, I do think that the little girl is my grandmother. In my other post (where I asked about information on the Kieta family) I explained how I came to the conclusion that she is my grandmother. Now my grandmother would have actually been 8 years old and Agata was actually only 21 years old at that time. I suspect that Agata changed their ages and claimed that Bronoslawa was her daughter in order to avoid any immigration problems. One of my older aunts told me that there were restrictions about young children travelling with non-relatives. I don't know if that is true but it makes sense to me. It also wouldn't look right for a 21 year old to have an 8 year old daughter.
There is confusion about when my grandmother actually came here. Some of my aunts said that she came when she was 6 years old and other aunts say she came "about 1910". She was born in 1900. I don't know if my assumptions are correct about the little girl but it kind of works. I also know that she went to visit relatives in Connecticut before coming to PA as it says on the manifest.
I don't know the exact town that my grandmother came from but if you could help me to decifer the town, I'd appreciate the help.
One of my great aunts (Ulkta/Wiktoria) died without having any children. Her other sister Aniela had one daughter that I know of. My aunts used to write to Aniela's daughter but she stopped writing several years ago and we think that she may have passed. We lost touch with Gramma's family at that point. I'd like to know the town so I could try to locate relatives there.
Do you know how I can get copies of my grandmother's naturalization papers? I don't know how to interpret the numbers on the manifest. Also, I'm not sure if she actually received her naturalization papers at that time. I found her information in several census's and she is listed as Alien in at least some of them. My aunt said that she recalls that my grandmother had to travel to Harrisburg, PA in the 1950's or 1960's to either apply for naturalization or to get copies of those papers but they were lost in the 1977 Johnstown flood.
|
|
|
Elzbieta PorteneuvePO Top Contributor
Joined: 09 Nov 2012
Replies: 3098
Location: Paris, FranceBack to top |
Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 11:19 am
Post subject:
| Shellie wrote: | Hi Stan,
I tried to find her 1908 arrival.....is she the young girl named Bronislawa Dydula with Agata? If so, those numbers written after her name indicate that she applied for citizenship. Do you already have her naturalization papers?
I see that you mentioned Bronislawa was born near Krakow - do you know which village? Was she from the same village as Agata Dydula? If yes, the village name is difficult to read (I attached images below) but I we have some members here that are great at deciphering the writing on these manifests. |
Shellie, Stan,
The last scan is easy to read: it's Rzeszotary, few kilometers South of Krakow.
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rzeszotary_%28wojew%C3%B3dztwo_ma%C5%82opolskie%29
Incidentally googling Rzeszotary Dydula leads to Bremen passengers list, where Rzeszotary are listed for Agata and Bronislawa.
http://212.227.236.244/passagierlisten/listen.php?ArchivIdent=STAB_4,57/5-49_M&pass=Dydula&abreisehafen=Bremen&ankunftshafen=New%20York&ID=729199&lang=en
Please note the name Dydula is with diacritic Dyduła - when searching in Polish it makes a big difference.
I found Dyduła name (and Szczurek too) in Rzeszotary city fire department, since 1895:
http://www.strazak.com/index.php?m=jednostki&Jednostka=21
Distribution of Dyduła in today's Poland:
http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/dydu%25C5%2582a.html
Best,
Elzbieta
|
|
|
ShelliePO Top Contributor & Patron
Joined: 18 Feb 2009
Replies: 1000
Location: Atlanta, GABack to top |
Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 12:07 pm
Post subject:
Thank you so much Elzbieta!
Stan,
now I see where you described how you determined your grandmother's arrival. At your posting: http://forum.polishorigins.com/viewtopic.php?t=2274
you wrote: I also spent much time looking for the manifest for my grandmother. One of my aunts told me that she came here with an aunt named Mrs. Orkisz and another said she came with a Mrs. King. I knew my grandmother came through New York because she would tell a story about the entire ship cheering when they saw the Statue of Liberty. I managed to find the ship manifest for Mrs. Orkisz but there was no mention about a little girl.
One day I found an obituary for Mrs King. It said that before marrying Mr. King, she was married to an Orkisz. It also said that her maiden name was Dydula. I found the ship manifest for Miss Dydula and the next line on the manifest listed a Bronoslawa Dydula who was the right age and from the same town as my grandmother Bronoslawa Szczurek. They were even travelling to the correct town. I think that Miss Dydula used a fake surname for my grandmother in order to get her to the US more easily. It turned out that both of my aunts were correct. Gramma did come with Mrs Orkisz and with Mrs King.
Stan, it would be interesting to see if you do, indeed find Bronislawa's naturalization paperwork. If she is the little girl traveling as Bronislawa Dydula, I wonder how she explained her surname on her application.
I posted some info about obtaining citizenship paperwork here - be sure to read to the end because Cheri posted an alternative way to order records:
http://forum.polishorigins.com/viewtopic.php?t=657
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
Register