Forum | PolishOrigins :: View topic - Searching for Gawlak ancestors

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Pfronten778

Joined: 10 Dec 2024
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Location: Washington D.C., USA
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Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2025 8:24 pm Post subject: Searching for Gawlak ancestors

Hello everyone,
After the recent success in finding a different line's town here, I would like to ask another favor of you guys. My grandma's family, the Gawlak's are from the Galicia area of Poland. Family legend has that they are from in or around Krakow. For relatives, I know he had a brother named Frank Gawlak who lived in Connecticut and a sister, Mary Pienta who stayed behind in Poland. They were Roman Catholics. My ancestor, Louis (formerly Ludwik) Gawlak moved to Lackawanna, NY, was born in 1895, and emigrated from Poland either 1907 or 1909. I can send census records and draft cards if needed.
Cheers,
Doug

BarbOslo
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2025 11:17 am Post subject:

Hi Doug,
Share with us everything you have. The most important thing is to find the Manifest, which can confirm where the family comes from.
-Barb

Trish
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2025 11:51 am Post subject:

Hi Doug and Barb,

I believe this is the manifest for Ludwik Gawlak. Ludwik is on line 20. It is a two page manifest.

Regards,
Trish

Name Ludwila Gawlak
Gender Male
Ethnicity/ Nationality Polish
Marital Status Single
Age 15
Birth Date abt 1894
Birth Place Galicia
Other Birth Place Hartlona
Last Known Residence Harklowa, Galicia
Departure Port Bremen
Arrival Date 13 Feb 1909
Arrival Port New York, New York, USA
Residence Place Galicia
Final Destination Willimantic, Connecticut
Height 4 Feet, 9 Inches
Hair Color Blonde
Eye Color Blue
Complexion Fair
Money in Possession 10
Person in Old Country Kenton Gawlak (Anton Gawlak)
Person in Old Country Relationship Brother
Person in Old Country Residence Harklowa M Skolyszyn Galicia
Person in US Maria Gawlak
Person in US Relationship Sister
Sibling
Kenton Gawlak
Ship Name Scharnhorst

Ludwik Gawlak Manifest, Page 1, Line 20.jpg

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Ludwik Gawlak Manifest, Page 2, Line 20.jpg

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BarbOslo
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2025 12:46 pm Post subject:

Hallo,

Thanks for the Manifest, Trish. Hope we can confirm this.
Harklowa is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Skołyszyn, within Jasło County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland.
It did not find a birth recorder online from Harklowa, but if we get the names of Ludwik's parents, we will be able to take a step forward.

-Barb

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Pfronten778

Joined: 10 Dec 2024
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2025 12:54 pm Post subject:

Hi Barb and Trish,

Thanks for the help! In 1920, he was listed as being the brother of Anthony Gawlak. I asked a family member, and they confirmed their relative in Connecticut was named Anthony. It appears his sister must have gone back to Poland, in both her son's obituary and her brother's obituary she was listed as being 'of Poland'. Also, his description in the draft card is different than in the manifest, but he would have been 48 in 1942.

Louis Gawlak 1920 Census.png

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Trish
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2025 2:00 pm Post subject:

Hi Barb and Doug,

I found a possible brother of Ludwik. This is Franciszek. Franciszek Gawlak is in the 1910 census living with Anton Gawlak. Franciszek is on line 24. Franciszek is going to his sister, Maria. It's the same town that Ludwik came from.

I was trying to see if one of the manifests listed a parents' name. Doug, did you get Ludwik's death record from New York? It could list the names of the parents.

Regards,
Trish

Name Frantrick Gawlak
Gender Male
Ethnicity/ Nationality Polish
Age 19
Birth Date abt 1886
Departure Port Antwerp, Belgium
Arrival Date 25 Apr 1905
Arrival Port New York, New York, USA
Residence Place Harklooa
Ship Name Kroonland

Franciszek Gawlak Manifest,, Line 24.jpg

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Trish
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2025 2:17 pm Post subject:

Hi Doug and Barb,

This could be the sister, Maria (Marya) Gawlak. She is on line 29.

Regards,
Trish

Name Maryana Gawlaz
Gender Female
Ethnicity/ Nationality Austrian
Age 20
Birth Date abt 1883
Departure Port Hamburg
Arrival Date 29 May 1903
Arrival Port New York, New York, USA
Residence Place Hainlowa
Ship Name Patricia

Marianna Gawlak Manifest, Line 29.jpg

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BarbOslo
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2025 2:32 pm Post subject:

Then we have all the siblings in place. I'll see if I can find anything else.
-Barb

BarbOslo
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Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2025 4:18 pm Post subject:

Hi,
I sent an email to the State Archives in Rzeszow asking if they have birth records from Harklowa from the years 1875-1890. I will contact you when I get an answer.
Regards,
-Barb

Trish
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2025 10:07 am Post subject:

Hi Doug and Barb,

I found the other brother, Anton Gawlak. Anton is on line #24.

Regards,
Trish

Name Anton Gawlak
Gender Male
Ethnicity/ Nationality Polish
Age 26
Birth Date abt 1877
Departure Port Bremen
Arrival Date 24 Nov 1903
Arrival Port New York, New York, USA
Residence Place Austria
Ship Name Kronprinz Wilhelm

Anton Gawlak Manifest, Line #24.jpg

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Pfronten778

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Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2025 6:46 pm Post subject:

Hi Barb and Trish,

I emailed the archives in Sanok, and they had a record for Ludwik Gawlak born in Harklowa on September 30, 1894 to Ignacy Gawlak and Agata Ewa Jagielska. He only had one brother though, Jozef Gawlak. Let me know what you guys think.

Cheers,
Doug

BarbOslo
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Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2025 7:22 pm Post subject:

Pfronten778 wrote:

Hi,
I got the same answer from the Archives in Sanok today. Will look into it tomorrow.

-Barb

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Trish
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Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2025 1:14 pm Post subject:

Pfronten778 wrote:

Hi Doug and Barb,

I found this possible manifest for Jozef Gawlak. He is on line #2. Just like the other manifests, it states he is going to his "sister's". Could the people all be half-siblings or step-siblings? Just a thought.

One more note if you look at all the manifests, the Gawlak's are traveling with others all from Harklowa.

Regards,
Trish

Name Josef Gawlak
Gender Male
Ethnicity/ Nationality Polish
Marital Status Single
Age 15
Birth Date abt 1891
Last Known Residence Harklowa
Departure Port Trieste
Arrival Date 24 May 1906
Arrival Port New York, New York, USA
Residence Place Austrian
Final Destination Willimanthie, Connecticut
Money in Possession $10
Person in US Maria Gacolae
Person in US Relationship Sister
Sibling Maria Gacolae (Gawlak)
Ship Name Georgia
Line #2

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Pfronten778

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Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2025 8:29 pm Post subject:

Hi Barb and Trish,

I've been looking into Mary Gawlak, who is mentioned in most of the manifests. In Ludwik Gawlak's obituary, she is mentioned as being "of Poland" and having the surname Pięnta. On some of the online family trees I have seen, she is married to Wojciech Pięnta. I found a gravestone for Wojciech and Mary Pięnta in Osobnica, a town next to Harklowa. I've attached the image below.

Edit: I realize the dates are different but still let me know what you think.

Cheers,
Doug

Wojciech and Mary Pienta Grave in Osobnica.jpg

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Sophia
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Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2025 5:32 am Post subject:

Hi Doug, Trish and Barb,

The manifest that Trish posted for Joseph Gawlak is interesting for two reasons. One is that he sailed from Trieste. The others sailed from Bremen and Hamburg, which is much more usual for emigrants from the Austrian partition of Poland. The other detail is in Column 16 where he states he is going to his sister Maria Gawlak. In faded ink, there is the addition "Bril Wojciech Pinta" where "Bril" (sometimes written Br-i-l on manifests) means brother-in-law. Perhaps you can look for a marriage record in Willimantic for Maria Gawlak and Wojciech Pinta (or Pienta or Pięta -- note that Polish spelling would most likely be Pięta but U.S. records could be any of these spellings) just before the date of this manifest.

Doug, I think the grave marker you found is a different couple with the same names, since "ur." means "born" and "zm" means "died" so it is not reasonable for this Marianna to have been the one these Gawlak brothers were coming to in the years of these manifests. I would also point out that Maria and Marianna are not the same name, and both of these names are used in the manifests so while they could mean the same person, they might refer to two different Gawlak sisters. Just keep an open mind on that.

Best regards,
Sophia

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