Anthony Raczkiewicz born March 13, 1896

When Anthony John RACZKIEWICZ (my grandfather) was born on March 13, 1896, in the village of Sabudia, his father, Jan, was 28 and his mother, Katarzna (nee Kaszucka) , was 24 years old. Jan was a peasant farmer and his wife had come from a family of furriers from the city. Their family already consisted of 5 year old Jan and 4 year old Jozef. Mikołaj Roczniak, 30 years old, and Andrzej Lisikiewicz, 23 years old accompanied Jan to report the birth of his son in the city of Tomaszów Lubelski. His Godfather was Mikolaj and the Godmother’s name hasn’t been deciphered in the record, which is written in Russian. The document was read out loud, and signed by the priest , because they could not read or write.

Klementyna Immigrates To the U.S.

In March of 1913, Anthony’s future first wife, 17 year old Klementyna Goleiowska, (my grandfather Anthony Raczkiewicz’ first wife) traveled to the U.S, six months after Anthony. She landed in New York with a final, planned destination of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She had a brother-in-law, Wicenty Zyzyk who was already in the U.S but the ship manifest is not legible enough to discern where he was living. She was a 17 year old servant girl traveling with a friend, Paulina Malec, a 17 year old farm hand. Also on the ship from the same home town of Tomaszow was Katarzyna Nadowornik , a 45 year old housewife and her children Feliska, 17, Katarzyna, 14 and Joseph, 11. Katarzyna was a witness later at Antoni and Klementyna’s wedding on 20 June, 1916. Klementenya left from Rottendam, Holland and arrived in New York on March 11, 1913. When I wrote this at the beginning of February 2020, I didn’t know if they knew each other In Tomaszow or met in Grand Rapids. Since then I have learned that someone with Klementyna’s maiden name was named Godfather for Anthony at his birth. When Klementyna immigrated from Poland, several people from Tomaszow were traveling with her and their destination was also Grand Rapids. Katarzyna Nadowomik, 45, a widow and her children Felika, 14, Katarzyna, 14, and Jozef, 11 were traveling with her. One of them ended up being one of the witnesses at the wedding --Catherine Nadwomik. The other witness was Anthony’s brother Joseph. Clementena’s sister, Marya Golebiowska, immigrated the same year as her, arriving August 5 1913. She traveled to Grand Rapids from Tomaszow with Stanislawa Kudlicka (and Anthony’s brother John married Frances Kudlicka.) (BTW, Klementyna’s mother’s maiden name is Roczniak. I recently had the pleasure of communicating with some of Andrzej Dubiels relatives--Joan Kessler and Sue Vandenberg. Their relative Anna Dubiel had immigrated to Emmett, Michigan. They had a picture of her and her family that I asked about. I also know that the family that Klementyna and my grandfather Anthony visited in Bay City, Michigan when their daughter was born, that the wife’s maiden name was also Roczniak. I am sure I will find more connections!)

Grandpa's Sweet Tooth and other Memories

Candy store, George C Bratt 1921 The Grandpa of my memory is hard to reconcile with the Grandpa I am discovering through researching family history. My memories are of a man who spoke little English, who made me feel like I was his favorite and layed on the couch or sat on the front porch, spitting out chewing tobacco into a coffee can. He proudly tended his roses and made sure his yard never had dandelions. Anthony had a sweet tooth and a favorite holiday gift to give him were chocolate covered cherries. He would give grandchildren Paulette (me), Linda and Lori a quarter each to get lots of penny candy at the candy store around the corner on Bridge Street. He would walk us to the American Bakery for sour cream cookies, paczki, and rye bread. The Grandpa of the past left a country with conflict and lack of opportunities, endured a journey that lasted for months, made his way to a city where he married and had children and lost them both, then married again and had more children. He worked in a tannery, an unskilled job like many of the other Polish immigrants. For a short time, he ran a “game room,” making $100 a day. My interest in genealogy is an attempt to understand that young man, who I never really knew.

Unnamed Infant Raczkiewicz Dies November 4, 1920

On this day, an unnamed Raczkiewicz infant passed away in 1920, in Grand Rapids, Michigan and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This Polish cemetery near Walker St. and Richmond is 100 acres large and was founded in 1909. Its name was changed in 1947 from Polish Catholic Cemetery to Holy Cross Cemetery. "The Rise and Fall of the GR Polonia"

Places Anthony Raczkiewicz Lived in the Westside of Grand Rapids, Michigan

After his arrival in Michigan on October 4, 1912, Anthony lived in various houses on the westside of Grand Rapids, Michigan. I couldn’t determine where he was for the first year. By 1914 he shows up in the Polk Directory. Living with his brother John at 122 Winter Ave. NW and brother Joseph was at 946 Dayton. In 1915, Anthony was still on Winter and John had moved to 255 Olive Avenue and there is no note on Joseph. In 1917, Anthony and his first wife Klementyna (nee Golebiowska) lived at 319 Seward Ave.NW. When he and his brothers registered for the World War I draft on June 5, 1917, he still lived at 319 Seward. Brothers Joseph John “Jan” Raczkiewicz lived at 327 Gunnison NW, with Jan’s wife Frances. In 1918, Anthony and Klementona lived at 450 Third St. NW. In 1921, Anthony lived with second wife Pauline (my grandmother) at 208 Lexington NW. John and Joseph lived at 315 Gunnison. By 1924, Anthony and Pauline lived at 503 Milwaukee Avenue. Beginning in 1925, their address was 501 Milwaukee Ave. NW. 503 and 501 are on the same property but there was an apartment upstairs and a small house behind them. In the 1930 census, it shows the Raczkiewicz family (with oldest two children Lorraine and Anthony Jr.) still lived at 501 Milwaukee NW. Renters upstairs were John and Pauline Kunecki and children Roman, Celia and Elaine. Anthony’s brother Joseph lived with them. Pauline’s 61 year old father, Walter S, Skrobat, also was living with them instead of at his home in Oil City Pennsylvania. Living nearby (in their little house) at 503 Milwaukee Ave NW was Pauline’s sister, Victoria Palczewski, husband Frank and daughter Lillian. They still lived on Milwaukee Ave,. when my mother Shirley was born in 1936. It was common for Polish immigrants to take in boarders both to help out the immigrants and as a source of income. (Information from “The Poles, the Dutch and the Furniture Strike of 1911”, Mary Patrice Erdmans, Polish American Studies, Vol. 62, No. 2 (Autumn, 2005), pp. 5-22) Shirley says that when she was a teenager, that she often stayed with her older sister Lorraine because the house was crowded. Anthony’s brother Joseph lived with them her whole life. In the 1940 census, Anthony and Pauline and their four children were still at 501 Second St. NW. and the house was worth $3,000. The Home Owners Loan Association looked at the prospects of almost 250 metropolitan areas and rated the areas on a scale of A through D. The houses in the area where their house was located were rated D. “The Fourth Grade or D areas represent those neighborhoods . . . characterized by detrimental influences to a pronounced degree, undesirable population or an infiltration of it. Low percentage of homeownership, very poor maintenance, and often vandalism prevail. Unstable incomes of the people and difficult collections are usually prevalent. The areas are broader than the so-called neighborhoods and others will lend only on a conservative basis.” Loans were still possible in a D area but different servicing was required. In 1942, Anthony registered for the World War II draft. He still lived at 501 Milwaukee Ave. N.W. Various Polk Directories give the same address for additional years. They lived on Milwaukee for approximately 37 years until a demolition order came through (05/23/62 1153 OK Wrecking) because of a highway being built. US196, between the Lane St. exit and US 131 was being built through in their neighborhood, splitting the west side of Grand Rapids. They moved to 827 Douglas NW and son Ron and his wife Pam had to move out of the little house in the back and buy their first house. Anthony was proud of his rose garden in the backyard. The house was built in 1920 and was sold in 1990 and 1992 for $48,000. In 2020, the house is a rental--three apartments total, not looking great on the outside but fixed up on the inside for student rentals for the nearby Grand Valley State University.

Anthony Runs a Pool Hall

The family legend is that my Grandpa Anthony Raczkiewicz at some point had a “game room” and made $100 a day and was often raided. My mother remembers hearing these stories but it was “before her time.” She always assumed gambling or betting was involved. After Anthony came from Poland in 1912 with two brothers, his first job I found In the Polk Directory of 1914 listed him as a laborer. He got a job at Keifer Tanning Company on 260 Front St. SW and worked there a few years. In 1921, Anthony left the tannery and was a clerk at Charles (Powlski) Powlowski’s Billiards at 612 Bridge St. NW. This location had opened in 1916 as the Buddy Theater, opened by the Buddy Brothers. It seated 500 and was “handsomely decorated in old rose and white” when it was a movie theater. (The Moving Picture World, Vol. 27, p. 457.) Interestingly a few years earlier, Grand Rapids had gone dry, at midnight, April 30, 1918 and the state soon followed with Prohibition voted in until it was repealed in 1933. It is unclear if gambling or alcohol contributed to the money made or the demise of his business Pool halls must have been a popular entertainment with 13 listed in the city that year. Charles Powlowski was from the same part of Poland, immigrated to Grand Rapids and married his wife the same year my grandpa Anthony married Pauline. Powlowski also had a soft drink store at 511 Bridge St. NW. By 1922, the city had 30 billiard halls and Anthony (Radzkiewicz) was listed in the city directory as the owner of the one at 612 Bridge St. NW. He had five competitors on Bridge Street alone. In 1923, he was co-owners with Mr. Czarnopis and there were 33 pool halls in Grand Rapids. This may have been Stanislaw Czarnopis who came to the US with Anthony’s brother Jan. By 1924 the number grew to 34 but sadly, Anthony was no longer running one of them and there was no longer a listing in the city directory. Apparently there was a pool hall again in this location. A person posting on the Facebook Page Grand Rapids History 1960 and before named Matthew Farage, posted that his grandfather Aman Farage owned it beginning in 1927.

Anthony Raczkiewicz & His Siblings are from Tomaszow Lubelskie, Poland

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Sabaudia/22-600+Tomasz%C3%B3w+Lubelski/@50.4513291,23.4332671,13z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x4724af60ea937279:0xa350c5b9c962ba7d!2m2!1d23.4341877!2d50.4714181!1m5!1m1!1s0x4724af11c7aacc15:0x268d7ac08cef58c!2m2!1d23.4163099!2d50.447024!3e0 The first exciting information I learned when beginning to research my grandfather Anthony Raczkiewicz was the name of his parents. Anthony’s parents, born in Tomaszow Lubelski, Poland, were Katie (Katarzyna) Kaszucka (1869-1944) and John (or Jan) Raczkiewicz (abt. 1867- 1920?) When my genealogy search began in November, 2019, I knew that Anthony may have had other siblings, that remained in Poland or also emigrated, that had not yet been discovered by me. I have found that five siblings came to the U.S. The two I knew about were my grandfather, Anthony who was born March 13, 1896 and his brother Joseph who was born in 1891 or 1894. I first discovered their oldest brother Jan/John (born June 1889) also came to Grand Rapids, before Anthony and Joseph. Then I found his sister Marion who was born December 16, 1902 and ended up in Muskegon, Michigan, about 30 miles from Grand Rapids. My mother Shirley Longwell remembers visiting her house one time. Lastly, I discovered Paulina born in either 1901 or 1905 who came to Grand Rapids but I think ended up in the Detroit area. I discovered he also had siblings that remained in Poland: Franciszek (b. 1898), Boleslaw (b. 1906), and Piotr (b.?) These siblings that came to the U.S. all claim Poland as their birthplace on various documents. For example, when the three brothers in Grand Rapids registered for the WW I draft in June of 1917, they all listed where they were born as Lublin (state), Poland (country) and Russian (citizenship.) Anthony listed his city as Tomaszow. Tomaszow is a village in the district of Gmina Pulawy, within Pulawy County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies approximately 7 kilometres south-west of Puławy and 51 km west of the regional capital. John listed his as Zabaldy which is how you pronounce Sabaudia. “Sabaudia is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Tomaszów Lubelski, within Tomaszów Lubelski County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland.”

Anthony Raczkiewicz Died 40 Years Ago Today

Anthony J Raczkiewicz died at his residence on October 31, 1980, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when he was 85 years old and is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Pauline, son Anthony Jr. and wife Cecilia, son Ronald and wife Pamela, daughter Shirley and her husband Roy Longwell, John Dykstra, surviving spouse of his daughter Lorraine, as well as nine grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and his sister, Mrs. Frank (Mary) Kufta of Muskegon Heights. Anthony reposed at the Arsulowicz Brothers Mortuary, West, Stocking Avenue and a Funeral Mass was celebrated in the Basilica of St. Adalbert, committal at Holy Cross Cemetery. (Obituary)

Introducing Anthony Raczkiewicz and Pauline Skrobat's Children

(The two older children: Lorraine and Anthony Jr.) After my Grandfather, Anthony Raczkiewicz married Apolonia (Paulina) Skrobat in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on September 6, 1920 they had five children, four that survived to adulthood. An infant passed away on March 24, 1920 and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This Polish cemetery near Walker St. and Richmond St. is 100 acres large and was founded in 1909. It’s name was changed in 1947 from Polish Catholic Cemetery to Holy Cross Cemetery. (The Rise and Fall of the GR Polonia) In 1921, Anthony lived with wife Pauline at 208 Lexington NW. Their daughter Lorraine was born in 1922.. In 1924, they moved to Milwaukee St and the address was listed at various times as either 503 or 501. The house had an apartment upstairs and a small house behind it. Their son Anthony Jr. was born in 1926. With ten years between Anthony Jr. and their next child, their daughter Shirley Ann was born on January 15, 1936, while they still lived on Milwaukee Avenue. She was followed by their son Ronald, who was born in 1940. They lived on Milwaukee for approximately 37 years until a demolition order came through (05/23/62 1153 OK Wrecking) because of a highway being built. US196, between the Lane St. exit and US 131 was being built through in their neighborhood, splitting the west side of Grand Rapids. They moved to 827 Douglas and son Ron and his wife Pam also had to move out of the small house and buy their first house.

(The two younger children: Shirley and Ronald)

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.

Becoming Interested in Family History

 I really didn't expect to spend so much time in retirement researching family history.  It was definitely not part of the plan.  I thought I would be busy with organizing the house after moving into a condo, biking and other exercise, friends and family and maybe teaching a class or something.  All that is happening but a chance email sparked an interest that my husband says is now an obsession. I started my genealogy journey in November of 2019.

My sister Linda McCarthy had convinced us to have our mother Shirley Longwell spit in a cup and send it away for DNA testing.  While I was cooperative, I wasn't that interested.  The spit went in and the results came back.  Linda got around to giving my sister Lori Peterson and me the log in information.  I checked it out and sort of wasn't impressed.  I saw that my "cousin" John Spruit was a DNA match and saw a few people on my Mother's mother's side that I recognized.  Her DNA results were pretty much what I would have expected.  I looked around but couldn't get too excited.

Much later, Linda let us know that Mom had received an email in Ancestry from someone in Poland reaching out as a DNA match.  From Poland?  Now that was kind of interesting!  I thought it might be cool to find out more and maybe see what I could find out from this person.  Unfortunately, they didn't respond back but my interest was piqued.  I decided to also spit in the cup and send my results away which would be very helpful in sorting out which matches were from my Mom's side and which were from my Dad's. 

As I waited for my results, Ancestry suggests that you build a tree with what you know so far.  Thus began combing through what records I did have and collaborating back and forth with my sisters.  I had a tremendous amount from the Longwell side.  Our cousin Jeannie  Brown had done genealogy for as long as I could remember and it looked like other people had also done a lot of work.  I always had charts about my Dad's background.  It was my Mother's side that was very sketchy.  For her mother Apolonia Skrobat, we had some information that her siblings and families from a fairly recent trip to Oil City, Pennsylvania but could only go back to our great grandparents--who we had never met.  The information on her Dad's side was even thinner.  Did Anthony Raczkiewicz have siblings back in Poland?  Who were his parents?  Was there even any way to find any of this information?  

Little did I know but there would be a way.  I am in the middle of discovering lots of information and I think this will be an ongoing journey.  I have already "met" some relatives I never knew about and now collaborate with them.  I may even journey to Poland in a few years with some of them to learn more!  What I am struck with the most though is the stories that are emerging and that are sometimes interesting,  sometimes sad and sometimes amazing.  I realized I didn't want to know these stories alone so I text them to my sisters and relay them to my mother Shirley Longwell all the time.  This blog though is an attempt to share them more widely. Maybe a Facebook Page will be next?