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Ute
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Joined: 13 Dec 2009
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 7:36 am Post subject: Re: where did relatives live

James wrote:

Sorry all of you Chicago fans, but I must bring you back to the east coast for my family Surprised

In February,1909 , my great grandmother , Julia Cybulska, came to Ellis island with my grandfather, Franciszek age 4, and his older brother Antoni, age 6, and met her husband, Antoni, (who had been in the USA since 1905,) and was living at 29 North Oxford st., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Antoni (sr.) was working as a Wagon washer for a bakery.
This area of Brooklyn was called " Fort Greene ", and had a very large Polish population at the time.
North Oxford dead ended at Flushing Ave. to its north, and was not very far from the Brooklyn Bridge, and the U.S.Navy Yard.
If anyone has any information on this area, I would very much enjoy reading it.
James

James,
Thank you for telling us about your ancestors! The goal of our discussion is to learn more about our ancestors and what their life was like after their arrival in the 'new world' -- independent from where they lived -- so your message is just as welcome! My Polish ancestors all settled in Chicago except for my grandfather's sister who moved on to Pennsylvania. I hope one of our members has done research in Brooklyn or has information on this area for you.
Ute

Ute
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Posted: Tue May 08, 2012 12:49 am Post subject: The Great Depression

I was just rereading some notes that were sent to me some years back that I would like to share to help understand our ancestors’ life and that of their children during the Great Depression. In the 1930, my grandfather’s roofing business was on the verge of bankruptcy, because the company had no orders. With the help of his children who tried to find work, my grandmother taking in mending and wash, and that of a relief program that helped decrease unemployment during the Great Depression, my grandfather was able to at least keep his truck and to do some minor roofing repair jobs. In addition to that, he and his sons were federally employed to move people who had been evicted from their homes into a new environment. This weekend job was not enjoyable, because sometimes they had to move their neighbors into other areas of the city. During the week my grandfather was sent to land development areas where they were cutting down trees. He stayed in the camp during the week and only returned home on the weekends. As time passed, the financial situation improved. The family no longer had to rely on the relief program for their income, the roofing business was on demand again, and the family finally recovered financially.

Has anyone else heard of this relief program during the Great Depression?

cath
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 8:19 am Post subject:

Our Polish ancestors settled in Mount Pleasant, PA. I suspect they are related to the folks in Chicago as they share surnames and hail from the same Polish villages. Someday we will know Smile

Ute
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 10:25 am Post subject:

cath wrote:

Our Polish ancestors settled in Mount Pleasant, PA. I suspect they are related to the folks in Chicago as they share surnames and hail from the same Polish villages. Someday we will know Smile

Hello cath,

Thanks for your message. I see that you are researching the names Idzik, Samiczak, Szaflarska, Tuzow, and Gubala. I checked the Chicago Tribune Historical Archive, and there are no obituaries for Samiczak and Tuzow, but some for Idzik, Szaflarski, and Gubala. If you find a connection between your PA ancestors and Chicago, I'll be happy to check the Historical Archive again for the respective obituaries and the Chicago parish records that are available online for you.

My grandfather's sister Karolina who grew up in Dlugopole, emigrated to the US in 1912, settled in Chicago, married Jan Czajka from Ochotnica in 1914 in Chicago, left Chicago abt. 1921 with her second husband, Jakub Chrobak from Czarny Dunajec, lived in West Virginia until abt. 1924, and from abt. 1925 on in East Millsboro, Luzerne Township, Fayette, PA, where they had a farm. They "Americanized" their last name Chrobak to Roebuck.

Jakub Chrobak/Roebuck worked in Maxwell, Fayette, PA for the H.C. Frick Coal and Coke Company, La Belle, PA. The family raised 9 or 10 children, one of which was the once popular baseball player Edward J. "Ed" Roebuck, who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (1955-1957), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1958-1963), the Washington Senators (1963-1964), and the Philadelphia Phillies (1964-1966).

I've seen some family photos and they looked like they were happy with their life.

Last edited by Ute on Wed May 09, 2012 12:05 pm; edited 1 time in total

justvicki

Joined: 22 Apr 2012
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 10:56 am Post subject:

Ute,

Where in WV did your grandfather's sister, Karolina, live?

Ute
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 12:30 pm Post subject:

justvicki wrote:

Ute, Where in WV did your grandfather's sister, Karolina, live?

Vicki,
I don't know. According to the 1930 Census, their sons Joseph and John Roebuck were born in West Virginia abt. 1922 and 1923. When the 1930 Census was taken on April 5, 1930, the family lived in East Millsboro, Luzerne Township, Fayette, PA:
- Roebuck, Jacob, head, 38 ys old, age at first marriage 25 ys, born in Poland, parents born in Poland, he speaks Polish and works as a coal miner;
- Roebuck, Caroline, wife, 35 ys old, age at first marriage 22 ys (Note: This refers to her age at marriage to Jakub Chrobak/Roebuck, her age at first marriage was 18 ys), born in Czechoslovakia, parents born in Czechoslovakia, she speaks Polish (Note: She was born in Budapest, not in Slovakia. Her parents, Rozalia Bryjak from Dlugopole and Jakub Rol from Banska in the district of Nowy Targ, were Polish);
- Roebuck, Steve, 15 ys old, born in Illinois;
- Roebuck, Walter, 12 ys old, born 1918 in Chicago, 1148 W Erie St.; he died 1958 in Pennsylvania;
- Roebuck, Nellie, 10 ys old, born in Illinois (she was born 1919 in Chicago and died 2003 in Monterey, TN);
- Roebuck, Joseph, 8 ys old, born abt. 1922 in West Virginia;
- Roebuck, John, 7 ys old, born abt. 1923 in West Virginia, he died before 2003;
- Roebuck, Helen (misspelled Nellie), 5 ys old, born abt. 1925 in Pennsylvania; she died bef. 2003;
- Roebuck, Geneva, 2 ys old, born abt. 1928 in Pennsylvania;
- Roebuck, Fred, 0 ys old, born abt. 1929 in Pennsylvania; he died bef. 2003.
Their son Edward was not on the 1930 Census, as he was born after 1930.

Last edited by Ute on Thu May 10, 2012 8:49 am; edited 2 times in total

justvicki

Joined: 22 Apr 2012
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 2:38 pm Post subject:

Ute,

I live in WV now (its home) after retiring and moving back from CA last year. My grandparents immigrated to Buffalo, NY from Ludzmierz, then to Old Forge, PA and then to Gary, WV to work in the coal mines. I have a funny feeling our relatives may have passed each other on the road somewhere, either here in the states, or in the old county. Laughing

violin75

Joined: 02 Feb 2010
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 3:00 pm Post subject:

When my ggrandfather , Joseph A. Piotrowski moved from Poland to America he lived in Utica, Oneida County, New York. Then after my ggrandmother died in 1950 he found himself in Chicago as well. He lived at 8438 South Damen Ave, Chicago, IL. I cant find it on Google Maps so I assume it has been torn down. He also lived on Hyslop Street in Chicago. Im not sure if this was a heavily Polish populated area or not? Rest of the family stayed in New York!

Ute
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 3:01 pm Post subject:

justvicki wrote:

Me too, Vicki! My Dlugopole ancestors all attended the church in Ludzmierz, I bet they passed each other .... at least in the old country ... Smile

Ute
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 8:31 pm Post subject:

violin75 wrote:

Hello violin75,
I found 8438 South Damen Ave (see attached map), but I couldn't find a Hyslop Street in Chicago. I checked the Chicago Tribune Historical Archive and found an article on a fire that destroyed the Harrish grade school in 1950, entitled "Two teachers get heroism award in school fire". It says "Miss Broadhurst, a Hammond teacher for 20 years, lives at 5945 Hyslop Ave, Hammond". A 1953 article also mentioned a Eugene Powlas of 4955 Hyslop av., Hammond.

Update: I deleted the map I had found, because vicki posted a better one plus more info for us!

Last edited by Ute on Wed May 09, 2012 10:21 pm; edited 5 times in total

klizzy

Joined: 06 Mar 2011
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 9:01 pm Post subject:

My grandfather lived in Salem, MA after arriving in the states. He lived there for the rest of his life. Me married my grandmother in Salem, MA and opened a grocery store there as well. Most of his children lived there or in neighboring towns as well as many of his grandchildren. It's a good area of the country to live in.

Ute
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 9:50 pm Post subject:

klizzy wrote:

Thank you, klizzy. It's so great to learn about the different places where our ancestors settled in the U.S. I understand that they tended to live near one another once in the United States. I just noticed a website focusing on Polish-Americans in Salem, MA that looks interesting. I'll make sure I read it later.
http://www.nps.gov/sama/historyculture/upload/SAMA-rpt-small.pdf

Last edited by Ute on Thu May 10, 2012 8:55 am; edited 1 time in total

justvicki

Joined: 22 Apr 2012
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 9:54 pm Post subject:

Ute wrote:

justvicki wrote:

Me too, Vicki! My Dlugopole ancestors all attended the church in Ludzmierz, I bet they passed each other .... at least in the old country ... Smile

They may have even gone to mass together. It truly is a small world!

Cyrwus

Joined: 14 Feb 2012
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Location: Brookfield, IL
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 9:55 pm Post subject:

Ute,

Bill and I were talking the other day about a book that he got about the Back of the Yards neighborhood, I remember about a book buy the same series (Images of America) about Polish Downtown in Chicago. This book might help you in understanding why you family settled in this area of Chicago.

Mark

justvicki

Joined: 22 Apr 2012
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Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 10:00 pm Post subject:

Ute wrote:

violin75 wrote:

Hyslop Avenue is in Hammond, Indiana. Hammond lies right next to the southern most Chicago suburbs of Markham, South Holland and Calumet City.

This is a Google Map link I found for 8438 South Damen Avenue in Chicago.

http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&q=8438+South+Damen+Ave+Chicago&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x880e2f897d5ef2a7:0xa4f8a395ba9cc7a0,8438+S+Damen+Ave,+Chicago,+IL+60620&gl=us&ei=ji6rT9m_FaO16gHGgMGpAQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CB4Q8gEwAA

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