Travel to a New Life

It was known through family stories that our relatives left Poland for safety and better opportunities. I always understood that the economic and political situation is why the Raczkiewicz siblings left Poland.  On a census document later in the United States, it was reported that Anthony had a first-grade education.  While I am no historian, a little research on what was going on shows some of the challenges.  In 1898, a few years before Anthony was born, there were Anti-Polish Emergency Laws in the Prussian Partition. When he was ten to twelve years old, from 1905-1907, there was a revolution in the Russian Partition.  

There was fighting outside the area they lived in 1914 during World War 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomasz%C3%B3w_Lubelski. Anthony was age 17, then and  Polish Legions were being formed within the Austrian Army.  In 1915, Russian Poland was occupied by the central powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria).  https://epdf.pub/historical-dictionary-of-poland-historical-dictionaries-of-europe.html 

We don’t have a clear understanding of what impact this had on Anthony or his family. Little snippets of family stories of this time remain.  One family story is that Antoni and Josef had to swim to safety.  Another story was that an older sibling (John or someone else?) was supposedly arrested or shot for attempting to “steal” corn from his own farm, which was no longer in his control.  Another one is that Josef’s epilepsy was caused by his involvement in the war--it is unclear if that was when he was in Poland or after he moved to the U.S.

During a family trip to New York, several of us tried to find immigration information on Anthony and his brother Joseph.  We went to Ellis Island and found a Josef Raczkiewicz who emigrated to the United States when he was 20 years old, departing on July 26, 1913, and arriving at Ellis Island on September 6, 1913. We couldn’t find any information about our Grandfather being on the same ship but as far as she knew, our mother believed they came over together.  We left the Statue of Liberty confused but in awe, using our imagination to think of the decision to leave home, the determination to make arrangements to leave, pay for it and endure the taxing travel required, since the ship, Amerika,  departed from Hamburg, German, approximately 500 to 600 miles from their home. 

When I decided to trace our family history, I still believed the family lore that Antoni traveled with Josef and I looked at every line on that particular ship’s manifest to find his name as well as many other possible voyages.  I also looked for their sister Marion without any luck. One day I got lucky though and received more information which helped to solve the mystery.  I sent away for the Alien Registration form of the United States Department of Justice, Immigration & Naturalization Service through the National Archives.  I found out that Anthony arrived in the United States at Detroit, Michigan, on October 4, 1912, by train, as a passenger, entering as a permanent resident. From there, I was able to find the US Border Crossings from Canada to the U.S., 1895-1960 in Ancestry which told me that Antoni and Josef sailed on the SS Mount Temple, from Antwerp to Quebec, Canada, leaving on September 18, 1912, and arriving October 2, 1912, with a final destination of Grand Rapids, Michigan to their brother Jan.  In Family Search, I found the ship manifest (Vermont, St. Albans Canada Border Crossings, 1895-1954, Roll 320, R214, Bernard-R240.) 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Mount_Temple The ship was put into service in 1901 carrying cargo.  By 1903, a wireless telegraph was added and the ship was retrofitted to carry passengers in one direction and cargo on the return trip. The ship’s history included hitting another ship, being grounded several times, and being stuck in rocks on a shore. Earlier, the same year Anoni and Jozef were on this ship, the boat was on its usual journey from Antwerp to St. John with 1,461 immigrants on board.  The wireless operator picked up a distress signal from the RMS Titanic, from the night of April 14 to the morning of April 15. Even though Captain Moore had been directed to avoid icebergs, they went to the last known position and waited in an area of heavy ice. Without seeing the Titanic or survivors, they headed for Canada.  There was controversy about their role and some accused them of being near and not helping with the rescue.  Rumors continue to this day. When Great Britain entered World War I on 2 August 1914, the ship was used to transport food and troops until it was captured and sunk on December 6, 1916

It is about 700 miles from Poland to Antwerp. The current train ride would be 23 hours. https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Antwerp/Tomasz%C3%B3w-Lubelski

On the manifest, I learned that 20-year-old Antoni and his 22-year-old brother Josef were born in Zabaldy (Sabaudia) and were farm laborers who could read and write.  While they were Russian citizens, they were Polish.  Their father, Jan, of Zabaldy, Lublin, Russia had paid their passage and Antoni had an additional $18 in his pocket. 

 Since I now knew that they didn’t come through New York, I looked more into trips through Canada, and not only did I find the documents for Anthony and Joseph, I also found them for their sister Marion (Mary or Marja) and this helped me learn of another sibling. Marja was 22, born about 1901, and described as 5’1” with a medium complexion, fair hair, and grey eyes and was a single farm laborer who could read and write when she left Zalbaldy (Saubadia) for Southampton England.  Her passage was paid for by her brother Piotr, who remained in Zalbaldy, Tomasjow, Poland and she brought $30 with her on the trip. She sailed on the Melita to Quebec, Canada, and arrived on October 5, 1923, with her final destination planned for 208 Lexington NW, Grand Rapids, Michigan, where her brother Anthony lived. She would have been about 11 years old when her brothers Anthony and Joseph left--it is interesting to think what her life was like the next ten years until she herself came to the US.

Their older brother Jan at age 22 HAD come through New York, leaving Hamburg, Germany on February 3, and arriving February 18, 1910. He traveled with several other men from Tomaszow: Stanislaw Czarnopis, 20, Jonf Benks, 45, and Raische Agey, 36.