(In this story I use the names “Józef” and “Antoni” when they are in Poland and “Joe ” and “Joseph” and “Anthony” and “Tony” when they are in the U.S.) *****
Family stories give hints to our ancestors’ lives but the stories are sometimes misleading or lead to other questions. Little snippets of these tales from the life of my grandparents and their families still remain. One family story is that Józef and his brother Antoni had to swim to safety when they traveled together to the U.S. from Poland. Another one is that Józef’s epilepsy meant he couldn’t work and was caused by his involvement in “the war” – it was unclear if that was when he was in Poland or after he moved to the U.S. There were several questions about Joe’s life with no answers: were the stories about the cause of his epilepsy, not working and the swim true? If Joe and Anthony traveled together to the US, why did we only find Joe’s name on a ship manifest during a family visit to Ellis Island in New York? When did Joe serve in the military and did that cause his epilepsy? Is it true that Joe never worked? And finally, when was his birthday (because even Joe didn’t know!) *****
By doing family history research, I was able to piece together more of his story. While I knew my great uncle as “Uncle Joe” he was born Józef in Poland and went by Joseph or Joe in the U.S. “Uncle Joe” was always in the background during my childhood until he died when I was thirteen. He never married and he lived with my grandparents. Because he never married and had no children, I hope his story makes an impression so that he is remembered by others. *****
JOE’S BIRTHDAY:
In interviewing my mother countless times about family history, I learned that Joe didn’t know when his actual birthday was and that it was celebrated on the Name Day for St. Joseph. Finding out his actual birthday became a goal. I was able to successfully answer the question of Joe’s birthday at the beginning of my research. *****
“Wszystkiego najlepszego z okazji imienin” means “Happy Name Day” in Polish. Joe likely heard that from his brother and sister-in-law while the rest of the family would have stuck to the English “Happy birthday.” Joe celebrated his Name Day on March 19. “Uncle Joe” lived with my grandparents so my sisters and I celebrated his birthday/name day with him when we were young. He liked to celebrate by buying special meats, cheeses, and bread to share with his family along with eating cake someone in the family would make for him. Even though St. Joseph’s name day occurs during Lent, the normal diet prohibitions are suspended for a celebration like this. *****
My mother inherited a small pile of papers related to Joe because I don’t think anyone else wanted them. One item was an abbreviated copy of his birth and baptismal certificate that was obtained in 1966 from Poland, which my grandmother Pauline would have ordered on behalf of her brother-in-law. The correct date of birth for Józef is written in Polish. One of the first records found and translated for me by volunteers on a genealogy Facebook page was the full birth record written in Russian and obtained from the archives in Poland. It was a surprise to learn the real date of his birth. Józef Raczkiewicz was born at 3:00 in the afternoon on 6/18 February 1891 in Sabaudia, Poland, not on March 18 as we believed. The reason that there are two dates listed is that the first date was from the Julian calendar and the second date was from the Gregorian calendar. The Julian calendar was used by the Russian government and the Russian Orthodox Church. The Gregorian date was used by people in Poland and people in the rest of Europe, and it is used by people in the United States today. In the 1800s, there was a 12 day difference between the two dates. *****
I learned that Józef’s parents were Jan Raczkiewicz, a 26 year old peasant and Katarzyna nee Kaszucka, age 21. Józef was their second child. The oldest child Jan was two and a half years old when he was born. “Józef” was baptized 7/19 February in Tomaszów Lubelski. His Godparents were Wiktor Wiciewski and Józefa Skurcz. Her mother was a Katarzyna Raczkiewicz, unknown how she was related. Later, she would marry Józefa Kędra, Jan Raczkiewicz’ half brother. *****
The wrong birthdate for Joe was used on several U.S. official records. The Social Security and Michigan Death Index list the incorrect date since that is what the people reporting his death would have believed. The birth year is also wrong in the U.S.records since it lists 1894 but he was actually born in 1891. It’s hard to believe that someone would not know when they were born but at least Joe had an annual celebration on his Name Day. *****
TRAVEL TO A NEW LIFE
How could I find immigration information about Józef and his brother Antoni since there was no record of Anthony arriving in New York? Even though I had not learned HOW Józef and Antoni made it to the U.S. I understood a little of WHY they left Poland. It was known through family stories that our relatives needed to leave Poland for safety and better opportunities. The economic and political situation they faced is why the Raczkiewicz siblings were encouraged to immigrate. *****
While I am no historian, a little research into what was going on shows some of the challenges. Economic reasons included a shortage of land, high taxes, and poverty. Around the time that Jan and Katarzyna married, the Peasant Bank was established in 1883 to help peasants buy farmland. Families struggled to obtain enough land to pass on to their children. Wealthy nobles were better positioned to obtain land. Some people left Poland in order to earn money with the intent of returning to buy farmland. The Russian government encouraged people to relocate to areas with industry in Russia such as Siberia. Józef’s parents were lucky that Jan had inherited land from his grandfather but land would have been hard to obtain for the older brothers as they reached adulthood and wanted to marry and start families. *****
Forced conscription into fighting for the Russian Army was another reason to consider leaving. Military service was mandatory. Polish soldiers were put in separate groups which were sent in to fight first during battles and these troops therefore suffered the highest casualties. My sister reminded me of the story about our Grandpa and his brother Joe related to leaving Poland. According to the story, the brothers were facing unwilling conscription into the Russian army and allegedly had to swim across a river in the journey towards the ship that would take them to the U.S. They would have been facing lengthy military terms since the Russian emperor modified the conscription statute in 1874 to compulsory service for all 20-year-olds for six years of service and for nine years in the reserves. All three brothers left at around that age: Jan in 1810 at age 21 years, 7 months and Antoni at 19 years, 6 months and Józef at 21 years, 6 months. *****
Also, since the family was Polish, the Russian government prevented them from practicing their cultural and religious freedoms. An example of the challenges is when his Godmother married in 1905, it legitimized the births of their two children since “The newlyweds explain the delay in registering the act as an external reason, independent of their will.” When Józef was a young teenager, from 1905-1907, there was a revolution in the Russian Partition, with Poles fighting for greater freedoms but when Józef and his brother left in 1912, Russian policies still dominated the area. Along with discrimination, there were frequent epidemics.
Economic and political factors obviously drove people out of Poland, but I will never have a complete understanding of what impact all this had on Joe or his family. The factors that pulled the Raczkiewicz brothers to a particular location such as Grand Rapids, Michigan, were the prospect of jobs, farmland that was affordable, and chain migration. Chain migration is the idea that immigrants gravitate to a particular town after hearing about it from friends and relatives that went there before them. *****
During a family trip to New York, several of us tried to find immigration information on Anthony and his brother Joseph at Ellis Island. We found “Józef 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 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. *****
Ten years later after that trip to Ellis Island, I decided to trace our family history. I still believed the family lore that Antoni traveled with Józef and I looked at every line on that particular ship’s manifest to find his name. I also looked at many other possible voyages arriving in New York. I also looked for their sister Marion, who also came to the U.S., many years after the three brothers, without any luck. *****
One day I got lucky though and received more information which helped to solve the mystery. I applied for the “Alien Registration” form of the United States Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service through the National Archives for my grandfather Anthony. It turns 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 Józef both sailed on the SS Mount Temple, from Antwerp, Belgium to Quebec, Canada, leaving on September 18, 1912, and arriving October 1, 1912, Their final destination of Grand Rapids, Michigan was where their brother Jan already lived. In Family Search, I also found the ship manifest. After finding information from the ship records from nearly 100 years ago, I now could piece together their trip, from their goodbyes, the travel from their hometown to the port, the travel by ship to Canada, the train travel from Canada to Detroit, and finally, their final destination of Grand Rapids, Michigan. I learned that Józef (and his brothers) faced many daunting tasks in their journey. *****
When Katarzyna (Kaszucka) Raczkiewicz (my great grandmother) said goodbye to her two sons Józef and Antoni, it was likely that she was never going to see them again. They were journeying to the United States for a better life. Her oldest son Jan had already left two years earlier and now two more sons were leaving. The remaining six children were ages six to seventeen. Her husband Jan was still alive (and would be for three more years) and he had encouraged his sons to go to the United States and he helped with the cost and the planning. It is hard to imagine what the young men would have packed for their journey and what their mother might have wanted them to bring. They would have had to carry everything so they probably needed to pack lightly. *****
Katarzyna was 39-years-old when Jan left, 41-years-old when Joseph and Anthony left, and 52-years-old when daughter Mary left. As part of the process of doing family history, I have become acquainted with several previously unknown relatives who still live in Poland. One, a first cousin of my mother, Is Eugeniusz Raczkiewicz, a son of my grandfather’s youngest brother Boleslaw. When Eugeniusz heard what I had learned about the travels of the three brothers, he told me about a statue that is near Sabaudia where they lived, and near where he and much of his family still reside. Eugeniusz wrote to me, “It is a figurine built in Sabaudia in 1909. (That would have been a year before their first son Jan left home.) I believe that my Grandma Katarzyna said goodbye from this place and blessed her sons and daughter before the long journey. It used to stand at the end of the village. Today, the residents say goodbye as they drive past it. When you are in Sabaudia, you will see the statue first before you see your grandfather's house. The figurine says: “God bless these inhabitants!” *****
Before they could sail to the U.S., Antoni and Józef first had 700 to 800 miles of travel, some by rail, to get to the port of Antwerp, Belgium from their home. “The initial phase of the journey for the emigrant was the trip to the port.” To get there they would have gone by horse and cart, by foot, and by train. They likely had to pass a border station to go through Germany and to enter Belgium where officials from each country they were entering, policemen and an agent of the steamship company would review papers and determine if they were healthy enough to enter. After this, they re-boarded the train for the ride the rest of the way to the port. Some Poles chose to avoid the border stations but sneaking across the border could be dangerous and difficult. It would have been challenging and full of danger to avoid them but this might be where the story of Józef and Antoni swimming across a river fits in. We will never know. Once Józef and Antoni arrived in the port, they either stayed in shipping company accommodations or found somewhere nearby to stay until the ship was ready to leave. “Hopefully, the wait was short because the cost of the room and food would tax the meager funds that they needed to make a start in America.” *****
THE SHIP & ITS CONNECTION TO THE TITANIC:
Józef and Antoni sailed on the SS Mount Temple, from Antwerp, Belgium to Quebec, Canada, leaving on September 18, 1912 and arriving October 2, 1912. They spent fifteen days on the ocean. In Family Search, I found the ship manifest. The entries for the two brothers are on lines 7 and 8. The form says they are farm laborers who can read and write. They are from Russia and are Polish. It says they are from Zibaldy (Sabaudia) and Tomaszów is listed as well as their father – Jan Raczkiewicz. Their eventual destination is their brother Jan, on West Division Street in Grand Rapids, Michigan. *****
This trip would have been a huge investment of money. The $39 Józef and Antoni carried on the ship is equivalent to $1,130 in today’s money. Adding the tickets for the ship brings the total to around $3,000 for the trip, which doesn’t include the travel from their hometown to the ship. Józef’s passage was paid for by his brother (unnamed) and Antoni’s passage was paid for by their father Jan. “In the early 1900s, steamship tickets for America cost between $30 to $35 for steerage or third class.” That would be approximately $792.67 to about $920.87 in current dollars! “Paying for their ticket was . . . a challenge. People had to save money for years to buy their tickets, or they borrowed the money from relatives. Personal items may also have been sold to pay the passage. *****
After paying for the passage, Józef had $14 left for the trip. On the manifest, this amount was crossed off and re-written as $20. Antoni had $25 entered as the amount of money he was carrying onboard, but it was also crossed off and $18 was written. It is possible that the officials on the ship evened out the money between the two of them. My sister Lori theorized that there was possibly a tax on any amount over $20. Maybe the authorities helped them adjust how much each brother had so that additional tax did not need to be paid. Lori also found out about the Immigration Act of 1882 which created a "head tax" imposed upon certain immigrants entering the U.S. It was fifty cents for each passenger and would rise in stages to $8 by 1917. Józef and Antoni had $39 between the two of them originally and after the adjustments, their total was $38 with the missing dollar likely going to pay for this head tax. *****
What was the ocean trip like for the brothers? I found their names on a steerage list and steerage cabins for 2 to 8 people included a bunk, a seat, a mirror, a hook for clothes and a washstand. The third class included large compartments, occupied by single male passengers. The menu for third-class dining on a 1912 voyage included: “oatmeal porridge, fried tripe, bread, butter, marmalade, milk, tea, and coffee for breakfast; soup, roast beef with brown gravy, green beans, boiled potatoes, biscuits, bread, prunes, and rice for lunch; rabbit, baked potatoes, bread and butter, jam, coffee and tea for dinner.” *****
The ship that the brothers traveled on had a connection to the Titanic. The Mount Temple was originally 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. When Great Britain entered World War I on August 2, 1914, the ship was used to transport food and troops until it was captured and sunk on December 6, 1916. The ship’s history included hitting another ship, being grounded several times, and being stuck in rocks on a shore. The most interesting fact about the ship’s history though, is its connection to the Titanic. *****
Earlier the same year that Józef and Antoni traveled on the SS Mount Temple, the Titanic was on its usual journey from Antwerp, Belgium to St. John, Canada with 1,461 immigrants on board. The wireless operator on the ship picked up a distress signal from the RMS Titanic, on the night of April 14 until the morning of April 15. Even though Captain Moore, in charge of the SS Mount Temple, had been directed to avoid icebergs, they went to the last known position of the Titanic and waited in an area of heavy ice. Without seeing the Titanic or any survivors, they gave up and headed for Canada. There was controversy about the ship’s role in the potential rescue and some accused them of being nearby and not helping with the rescue. Rumors continue to this day. This connection is a reminder of the danger that my relatives potentially faced in their travels. They might not have known about their ship’s controversy but certainly the knowledge that an “unsinkable” boat had sunk would have contributed to the perceived danger of their journey. *****
Fifteen days after they boarded the ship, Józef and Antoni arrived in Canada on October 1, 1912. “After the immigrants had left the ship, they were suddenly confronted with crowds of people they could not understand. Attendants yelled commands in a strange language and pointed their fingers sharply to where they should go.” “They waited in long lines for their turn for processing and admittance.” “They knew that the inspectors might reject some of them, and they feared that family members could be separated if some were accepted and others rejected.” “The medical and legal examinations for the steerage passengers were efficient and quick but sometimes were done callously.” “Over the years about two percent of the arriving immigrants were turned back and returned to Europe.” *****
The next day, the two brothers took the train from Canada to Detroit. They arrived as train passengers, entering the U.S. as permanent residents. “The immigrant trains were crowded and uncomfortable, but the cost of the ticket was low, so the immigrants endured again to save what little money they had.” “When the train stopped at the border, U.S. inspectors boarded the train and collected the Certificates of Admission.” “As our Polish immigrants stepped through the gate into America, they claimed their luggage and then exchanged their foreign money for U.S. dollars.” Upon arrival, the brothers still had about 160 miles to travel to Grand Rapids before being reunited with their brother Jan. *****
WHY GRAND RAPIDS?
Their final destination of Grand Rapids, Michigan is where their brother Jan already lived for two years. Why did several Raczkiewicz siblings pick Grand Rapids, Michigan as their final destination? The likely answer is that they knew people from home who had already moved to Grand Rapids for the furniture industry. There were Polish neighborhoods, churches, a Polish military band, choirs, halls for social and other support, and Polish political organizations. *****
The earliest person from their group I have found so far arrived in 1909. The names of the travelers -- Raczkiewicz, Czarnopys, Kudlicka, Niedzwiedz (Nedzwed), Kwiatkowski, Kurkiewicz, Golebiowska, Malec, Eifler, Kiszczynska – to name a few – are somewhere in the family tree as some sort of cousin or aunt or uncle. Family was obviously a big reason. They traveled together, they helped others that were still in Poland to come. I would really like to know who was the first from Tomaszów to Grand Rapids and how did it spread? I know my Grandma could communicate in Russian and Polish even though she was born in Oil City, PA, (her parents were 1rst generation) and she apparently wrote and read letters to and from the "old country" and some of those letters were about additional people coming to the U.S. *****
Józef and others he knew likely came to Grand Rapids for the economic opportunities. However, most of the jobs available to immigrants without a lot of education like him with a first grade education, were in the factories on the Westside of Grand Rapids, within walking distance of where they lived. Immigrants were more likely than the native-born Americans of British descent, to work in the brickyards, gypsum mines and factories. Grand Rapids recruited foreign workers for the furniture industry and the associated businesses such as the tanning of animal hides, the manufacture of hand screws, clamps, varnish, glue, veneers and the preparation of lumber. The city hosted a huge furniture market that was attended by buyers from all over. *****
When they came to the U.S., the people living in the Westside of Grand Rapids were mostly the Dutch and the Poles. They resided in separate neighborhoods, centered around their churches. The churches looked different and different languages were spoken depending on the neighborhood. While the Dutch and Poles worked together in the factories, they didn’t interact after work or on the weekends. Both groups were conservative though the Poles were more oriented to the Democratic Party. Polish Catholics were more likely to vote against prohibition, regulations on theaters and other entertainment and more likely to vote for an eight hour work day. Both groups had the goal of house ownership in a clean and safe neighborhood. The Dutch also worked in the factories but they had arrived much earlier so were making better wages and getting better jobs. In the 1920 census, there were 4,269 foreign-born Poles living in Grand Rapids. The Dutch greatly outnumbered the Polish except on the Westside where they lived and many factories were located. *****
DID “UNCLE JOE” EVER WORK AND WHEN WAS HE IN THE MILITARY?
With his birthdate and immigration information solved, the next questions were about Joe’s employment history and time in the military. Before Józef and his brother came to the United States in 1912, he had been a farm laborer in Poland. His work history in the U.S. was a mystery. The family story was that Joe had never worked in the U.S. because of epilepsy acquired from “fighting in the war.” *****
Even though my mother thought that he didn’t work, I did find work records for him. Joe worked as a tacker at a tanning company and a furniture finisher and cabinet maker. In the earliest Polk Directory I could find that listed him (1914), Joseph was a tacker at Kiefer Tanning Company (260 Front St. SW, owner Irving Orr, 915 Cambridge Dr. SE, leather works.) In 1916, he worked as a furniture finisher. When Joseph registered for the WWI draft in June 1917, he was a cabinet maker at Grand Rapids Piano Case Company. The years that I could verify employment were 1914, 1916, 1917, and then a gap of three years until 1921 when he was again listed as a cabinet maker. *****
When I started doing family history research I was unable to find any service records so I didn’t know when he served. We didn’t know if Joe’s military service was in Poland or in the U.S. After completing two years of family research, I took a look again, and with more understanding of Joe’s life, I was able to begin to piece together his military service with his employment history. There was a reference in the 1930s census to him receiving a pension, which I thought could possibly be a military pension. My mother remembered that her mother had helped Joe with the application process. *****
On his World War I draft registration, completed on June 5, 1917 in Precinct 9, Ward 1 of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Joseph’s record indicated that he was from Lublin, Poland, and was a Russian citizen. Joseph, 25, lived with his brother Jan, 28, and Jan’s wife Frances at 327 Gunnison NW. Joseph did not claim any dependents as a reason for an exemption and was “willing to be drafted at once.” while his brothers requested exemptions because they were married. On the draft card, the descriptions of the brothers showed that they had some physical similarities but also some differences: Joe was described as short and slender, while his brothers were of medium build. He had light hair and they had brown hair. Joe had blue eyes like his brother John and Anthony had gray eyes. Anthony was the only one listed as having a disability – a deformed finger – which is interesting because Joe’s epilepsy was not reported as a problem at this point. I made the assumption that since Joe registered for the WWI draft on June 5, 1917, it is likely that he ended up serving some time between then and 1921, the date of the next work record. *****
A year after enlisting, on September 6, 1918, Joseph) was naturalized as a citizen of the United States. My mother had a copy of his Certificate of Naturalization, which was issued from the Circuit Court of Calhoun County in Battle Creek, Michigan. Battle Creek is 65 miles from where he lived in Grand Rapids. At the time “Joe” lived at 327 Gunnison Avenue in Grand Rapids with his oldest brother John. Joe was 24 years old and described as 5 foot 5 ¾ inches tall, with a ruddy complexion, blue eyes, and brown hair. In the process of trying to rethink when he was in the military, I made a guess that the naturalization was somehow connected to his military service. The army base for Michigan is Fort Custer, near Battle Creek, so my thinking was that naturalization was probably applied for related to his military service. *****
After analyzing his work record, including the gaps and the naturalization information, I could assume that Joef was likely in the service sometime between September 1918 and when he resumed work in 1921. The U.S. entered the war on April 6, 1917, and the war ended by November 11, 1918, so it was likely that his service was soon after he was drafted. *****
Even though two years earlier I looked for Joe’s military records without success, I decided to look again with this new information. Amazingly, I found him with a different spelling of his name! Joe “Rackiewicz” was in CoE Development Battalion 2 of the 85th Division. His final rank was private. The location WAS near Battle Creek, at Camp Custer, which is five miles south of Battle Creek. Fort Custer was established on July 18, 1917, as a training camp for the 85th Division and was in use for that purpose until July, 1918. For a year, beginning on August 25, 1917, the recruits trained then went to England and from there to Russia. The Michigan Census of World War I Veterans indicated that Joe enlisted on July 24, 1918, and was discharged on September 14, 1918, in St. Louis, Missouri. This was only nine weeks later so there were new questions about his health. Did he already have epilepsy and it was diagnosed in boot camp? Was he injured somehow? *****
Was it possible that he caught the Spanish flu and ended up with neurological damage resulting in epilepsy? The 1918-1919 flu epidemic hit the military hard with 20 to 40% of those in the service affected because of their close living quarters. A little bit of research showed that there was a high death rate but among those that survived there could be devastating consequences. One consequence could be a loss of mental capacity and convulsions and “hystero-epileptic attacks” that were quite common. The Spanish flu hit Camp Custer on September 29 and by the next day there were 557 cases recorded. Joe was already discharged from St. Louis, Missouri two weeks before that so he likely missed the flu outbreak there. The flu started in the Jefferson Barracks, 10 miles outside of St. Louis, Missouri on October 1. It appears that Józef left before this outbreak so his epilepsy was likely not caused by the epidemic of Spanish flu. *****
I found a minor detail of a later address of Front & Shawmut St. NW in Grand Rapids, but the big news in the new information found is that recorded under “Previous Occupation” was that Joe had worked in Cleveland, Ohio! No one had ever mentioned that Joe had gone to Cleveland. The last work record before his service was June 5, 1917, when he registered for the draft and was working as a cabinet maker at Grand Rapids Piano Case Company. If he worked in Cleveland, it could have only been for a short time because, by July 24, 1918, he was in the army. I have looked for records of him in Cleveland but have been unsuccessful, possibly since it was such a short period of time that it never made it into any local directory. *****
A response to my request for his military records from the National Archives was delayed due to lower staffing levels during the pandemic. When a response was eventually received, I was notified that the records were in the area most affected by a fire on July 12, 1973. Instead they sent a Final Pay Voucher but I believe it was for a different Joseph Raczkiewicz so the record request did not provide any additional information. Unfortunately, this means that there are no other military records available. *****
After Joe’s discharge in 1918, there was a gap in the paper trail until 1921 when Joe was again living with John and his wife and they were both cabinet makers. John returned to Poland after 1921, with his wife Frances to the farm that they purchased with earnings from the United States. It is unclear if Joe continued to work or where he lived. There is a gap of information until 1928 so it is possible that Joe only worked one year or that because he moved from John’s house it wasn’t reported in the Polk directory. In any case, the last listing for employment, he was as a cabinet maker in 1928. By 1929 he was listed with no job and living with Anthony. The 1930 census refers to him as a veteran of World War I and he was not working at that point. In the 1940 census, he was living with Anthony and Pauline and their family. In 1942, he registered for WWII at age 51 (he thought he was 48.) Men ages 45 to 64 were required to register but men were called only up to age 45. *****
Summary of work and military:
1914: tacker at Keifer Tannery, Grand Rapids, Michigan
1916: furniture finisher, Grand Rapids, Michigan
June 17, 1817: cabinet maker, Grand Rapids Piano Case Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan
?: unknown work in Cleveland, Ohio
July 24, 1918: enlisted in the military, Battle Creek, Michigan
September 6, 1918: naturalized as a citizen, Battle Creek, Michigan
September 14, 1918, discharged from the military, St. Louis, Missouri
1921: cabinet maker, Grand Rapids, Michigan
1928: cabinet maker, Grand Rapids, Michigan
1929: unemployed, Grand Rapids, Michigan *****
Joseph did work, somehow acquired epilepsy and had an extremely short tenure in the U.S. military. *****
DEATH:
Joseph died May 17, 1971. From his obituary: “Joseph passed away at age 77 on an early Monday morning. According to his actual birth record, Joe was 80, not 77 years old when he died. Requiem high mass was sung at St. Adalbert’s Church, and he reposed at Arsulowicz Brothers Mortuary, West Stocking Ave. at Third St. NW, and interment was at Holy Cross Cemetery.” *****
He lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan for 57 years after immigrating from “Zibaldy” (Sabaudia) Poland with his younger brother Anthony. He lived among many other immigrants from Poland. When Joseph died, he was living with Anthony and his wife Pauline. Surviving was Anthony Sr. (brother), Mrs. Frank (Mary) Kufta of Muskegon (sister), two unnamed brothers in Poland (they would have been Piotr & Bolesław), and several nieces and nephews. “Uncle Joe” never married and lived with either his brother Jan or his brother Anthony, most if not all of the time. My mother remembers that he had a female friend “Jenny Katula”, who also emigrated from Poland. My mother remembers her name as “Katula” but it might be the “Jenny Sagauska” who was a witness along with Joe in Anthony’s’ marriage. Jenny reportedly lived near the railroad tracks near Seward Avenue, which was only a few blocks away. *****
His death certificate lists him as a factory worker. He died of acute coronary occlusion and had hypertension and a 50+ year history of epilepsy. His doctor was W.J. Jaracz whose office was around the corner at 634 Bridge St. NW. He was a physician born in Chicago of Polish-born parents, who was popular with the Polish families on the westside of Grand Rapids. *****
“Uncle Joe” died when I was 13 years old. My memories are from times at my grandparents’ house, as he was frequently there when we visited. He was often reading newspapers. There was a Polish-language newspaper in Grand Rapids from 1900 to 1957, the Echo Tygodniowe (The Weekly Echo) which was available weekly. He never drove but could walk wherever he needed to go. My grandmother (his sister-in-law) was often scolding him but he would go to the store or do other errands for her frequently. The canaries that she raised lived in his bedroom. Also in his bedroom was a large picture of him as a young man, taken around the time when Anthony and Paulina married. No one knows where the picture of Joe ended up. The picture of Anthony and Paulina at their wedding is in my sister Lori’s dining room. The hints from family stories lead me to some answers about Joe’s life but some questions do remain. I found out about his birthday. I found out that he and Antoni traveled to Canada, not New York. I am not sure if or why he and Antoni had to swim to safety. I found out he worked and the dates of his military service. I still don’t know how he acquired epilepsy. This story of Joe’s life was told to make an impression so that his life is remembered. By learning more about him, I hope that he will be remembered
Tomorrow is the anniversary of my grandfather’s parents’ wedding. The translated record starts out, “ It happened in town Tomaszów(Tomaszó...
Anthony was a member of St. Hyacinth, Polish Falcon Society and Polish National Alliance Society. Card parties, weddings, concerts, danc...