Forum | PolishOrigins :: View topic - I am looking for information on the village of Buroska

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DebDoyon

Joined: 07 Feb 2017
Replies: 2
Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 9:57 pm Post subject: I am looking for information on the village of Buroska

I am having a difficult time trying to research where my Grandmother came from. On one ship manifest from 1911 she traveled back to the USA and writes she came from Buroska. Does anyone know where that is? She also wrote she was Polish/Russian and her name was Leonora Borowski Iwaszczuk. Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated. Thank you

Sophia
PO Top Contributor

Joined: 05 Oct 2014
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Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 6:20 am Post subject:

Hi Deb,
I took a look at her manifest, thinking that maybe I could spot a clue. There is such a similarity between her maiden name and the name of this place that I thought perhaps it was an error on the part of the writer. The name Borowski, by the way, has the male ending "-ski". She would have used "Borowska." But the manifest is quite clear. Its only oddity is that her father's surname is given as Iwaszczuk, when you would expect it to be Borowski.
There is a gazetteer of old place names from eastern europe, and you can search for Buroska here and get several results:
http://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/LocTown.asp?town=&ctry=&stype=&units=&latd=&latm=&lond=&lonm=
You can click on the letter "G" in the "Map" column and it will take you to a google map showing the place.
Not sure how much help that is to you. Perhaps the one in current-day Belarus?
If you know of any siblings of hers who also emigrated, finding their manifests would be very helpful to you.
Best of luck in your search,
Sophia

mcdonald0517
PO Top Contributor & Patron

Joined: 27 May 2012
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 4:03 pm Post subject:

Hi Deb,

If I were you, I would try to find another document that lists her place of birth such as a civil marriage application, sacramental marriage records through Catholic Church if she was Catholic, or civil death certificate. From the looks of other trees on Ancestry she married twice, so you should be able to locate at least one application from the civil records office of the state and county she married in.

Also, I see several passenger lists for Leonora Borowska or Leonora Iwaszczuk , all of which are in line with her age give or take a year. Also, in your original post, you said “she traveled back to the US”. Was she here multiple times? If so, there are passenger lists for Leonora Borowska (single) in 1906, Leonora Borowska (single) in 1910, and Leonora Iwaszczuk (married) for 1911. Are all of them your grandmother traveling back and forth? If so, the 1910 manifest has her going to her brother, Jakob in the US and lists her birth place as Wilkomir (Ukmerge) in county Vilnius, Lithuania. But, then again, these could all be different people.

I think you may need to find another document with her birth place in order to confirm it. It is really easy for this kind of information to be written incorrectly as immigration agents processed large groups of people taking down information according to what they thought they heard the person say.

Wish I could be of more help.
Good luck,
Cynthia

DebDoyon

Joined: 07 Feb 2017
Replies: 2
Location: Connecticut
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Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 10:12 pm Post subject: Buroska, Borowski, Borowska

I have been trying to research my Grandmother and am flying blind. I have no paperwork on her and my mother is passed as well as her twin sister my aunt. My grandmother came to America as a young girl all by herself. She worked for a family in New York as house help. I believe she was born in 1893 in Poland/Russia. My sister recently found a ship manifest from 1911 when she sailed back to USA and that’s where we found out she was married to Tomasz Iwaszczuk. The story I have been able to find from my aunt before she died is that my grandmother, Mary Buzel, had changed her name. Her real name was Leonora Borowski and had been married to Iwaszczuk and had 2 children. They also had a border in their home, George Buzel. There was some kind of fire and one of the children perished. Iwaszczuk then took the son and ran away from Leonora. She was pregnant with twin girls at that time. Buzel felt so bad for her so he stayed and helped her raise the twins. It must of been at that time that she changed her name to Mary Buzel.
I am determined to find her true history. I thank all of you for your help in my search. There is another woman of the same name that came to America but married a man named Kark. They made a life in a different place. Thank you again!

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