Wasyl & Maria

Following Granddad's funeral, I came home with a newfound interest in my genealogy. A few clicks around Ancestry.com only fueled my fascination. It didn't take long before I had completed the family tree to the level of my immediate great grandparents. In total, I've gone back as far as 1812 on my father's side. On my mother's side, I'm limited by the families' more recent immigration to the US. Nonetheless, I can track my lineage through my mom back to the second half of the 1800's.

Considering the source of this interest, it's no surprise that I shortly found my way into one of the thickest books I've ever read, Masters of the Air by Donald Miller. Certainly a healthy dose of appreciation is due to both Miller and Ancestry.com. Then again, I pay for both…so let's call it even.

I didn't know very much about pre D-day (David-day) Granddad Yonych: farm hand, navigator, POW, swimmer, won't go to bed hungry, rumors of a legendary temper (although I was never in his crosshairs), married for life, and only a handful of other things. Enter Ancestry.com…

Born in 1917, Granddad was one of 5 siblings born to Wasyl Janecz and Maria Sobecka. Wasyl and Maria immigrated from Central Europe to the US. Wasyl arrived in New York on August 6, 1913 from Cuxhaven, Germany at age 28. Maria arrived in New York on May 31, 1914 from Hamburg, Austria at age 19.  During this period, the geo-politicol temperature of the region was certainly "hot".  Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated on June 28, 1914 officially signalling the start of World War I.  I can imagine that inhabitants of the region could sense the build-up of tension.  I wonder if Maria and Wasyl were fleeing the region to escape the impending doom?

On May 21^st, 1914 Maria Sobecka departed Hamburg, Germany aboard the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria. Her hometown is listed as Litowicz, Austria. However, my intelligence team tells me that is incorrect.  Maria was born in Brody, Ukraine.  Hamburg is 820 miles away from Brody which is 560 miles away from Stalag Luft III. Traveling in fourth class, steerage, she arrived at Ellis Island ten days later. Here is her passenger record from the Ellis Island Foundation. This is a useful reference because you can clearly see her arrival information and the ship manifest. Maria was single when she arrived. She lists 'agricultural day laborer' as her occupation on the Hamburg Passenger Lists of 1850-1934. Here's a picture on file of the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria. The ship was later the subject of an unfortunate retirement in approximately 1930. Lots more pictures and information about this ship can be found by searching for ship Kaiserin Auguste Victoria.

The New York Passenger Lists, 1820 – 1957 shows that Maria was detained upon entry to the US. This was fairly common for women traveling without men. "These women could not be admitted without assurance that someone would care for and protect them." The record shows that she was detained with her cousin (Tekla Bojoun) for a short period of time. Comparing the number of meals served to Tekla and Maria makes me think that Tekla was detained for a slightly longer period than Maria. Alternately, she might have lost her appetite or been ill…your guess is as good as mine. As best I can determine, they were only detained for one night:

1. Tekla was served only one dinner and one breakfast
2. I've seen both 5/6 and 5/7 recorded as Maria's date of arrival at Ellis Island.  Perhaps Maria arrived on 5/6 and cleared immigration on 5/7.

On the other hand, perhaps it's just a convenient reconciliation. At the end of the day, both Maria and Tekla were en route to Maria's sister, Anna Sobecka. Anna's, address is listed as 128 Ridge St, New York, NY. Interestingly enough, mom recalls that Granddad grew up on Ridge Street. Presumably, Wasyl and Maria settled within walking distance of one another. I don't know for certain, but this might be the building where Granddad spent some (or most) of his childhood. Here's what it looks like today.

Wasyl Janecz boarded the Imperator in Cuxhaven, Germany on July 30, 1913. The manifest shows Wasyl's hometown to be Rameuka (?).  However, Granddad has gone on record saying that Wasyl was born in Rava-Russkaya.  Based on Granddad's testimony, Wasyl and Maria were born only 100 miles apart.  Like Maria and Tekla, Wasyl passed through Ellis Island. His passenger records can be found here. Wasyl was one of the first passengers aboard the Imperator. Its maiden voyage was June 20, 1913. More images of the ship, interior and exterior, can be found here.

The ships manifest, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, shows that he traveled in the steerage class, was in good health, 5' 6" tall, arrived with $45, and was…married? But married to whom? Let the scandal begin! J I've found two sources that say Wasyl was married upon arrival at Ellis Island: The New York Passenger List and the Ellis Island Passenger Record.

Here's where it gets even more interesting. In this image from the aforementioned manifest; what do those two highlighted words say? Is the first word wife? And is the second word Tekla? Could the third word on the same line be the (in)correct or alternate spelling for Boujon?

Whatever the mystery, it'll remain secret now. I can't find any more information about Tekla and the 1930 US Census shows that Mary and William married and are the parents of granddad. I also see that, by 1930, Wasyl and Maria did their best to Americanize themselves: Wasyl became William and Janecz became Yonych.

***** Update - 6/29/2012 *****

While I was on Ellis Island, the folks in the library straightened me out (a little bit).  Turns out that the writer just got the lines mixed-up.  They wrote Wasyl's information on the entry above and vice versa.

The column header reads, "The name and complete address of the nearest relative or friend in country from whence alien came."  For Wasyl, the information reads, "brother: Alecksy Janecz, Rameuka."  The passengers name that is listed above Wasyl reads Nikolay Bochauka.  Presumably, this is the husband of Tekla (the woman who Maria was traveling with).