Friday, November 16, 2012

Fact vs. Fiction: More on the Nawodylo Family

The Nawodylo Family story, as mentioned in my last post Family Stories may or may not be completely true. I have not found evidence that Grzegorz "Harry" Nawodylo and Agata Frankowski were "rent-out children" as my Uncle Jack claimed, although they could have been. I also wonder if they ever really worked in Bremen, Germany. They might have, but then I think they would have listed Bremen as their last place of residence on their ship manifest. Instead they each listed the same town in Poland -- Bihale.

Now, it must be true that they had met each other before they came to the US because they sailed here together. I found their ship manifest on the Ancestry web site. They were not yet married, but they travelled together along with Agata's brother Stanislaw Frankowski. They all listed their last residence as Bihale, Poland. Although the story from Uncle Jack was that his parents came to the US in about 1909, they actually came in 1907 through the port of Baltimore.

Page 1 of ship manifest for Stanislaw Frankowski, his sister Agata Frankowski, and friend Grzegorz Nawodylo

Page 2 of ship manifest for Stanislaw Frankowski, his sister Agata Frankowski, and friend Grzegorz Nawodylo
This ship manifest is for the SS Chemnitz sailing from Bremen on Oct. 3, 1907 and arriving at the port of Baltimore on October 17, 1907. Page 1 shows Agata's brother Stanislaw Frankowski listed on line 2, Agata listed on line 3, and Grzegorz listed on line 4.

Stanislaw Frankowski's information:
Page 1: (age) 24, (sex) Male, (married or single) Single, (calling or occupation) Farm laborer, (Able to read) Yes, (Able to write) Yes, (nationality) Austria Galicia, (race or people) Polish, (last permanent residence (country)) Galicia (town) Bihaly, (the name and complete address of nearest relative or friend from country whence alien came) father, Wojciech Frankowski, Bihaly, Nowogrobla, Galicia, (final destination (state)) Illinois (city) Chicago. Page 2: (whether having a ticket to final destination) Yes, (paid for by) Self, (amount money in hand) $10 crossed out, $16 listed, (Ever before in the US) No, (name of relative or friend going to) friend, Oleksa Biela, 719 18th Street, Chicago, IL, (4 questions about ever committed a crime, polgamy, anarchy, etc) No to all 4 questions, (condition of health) Good, (Deformed?) No, (Height) 5'9", (complexion) fair, (hair) blond, (eyes) blue, (distinguishing marks) none, (birth place) Bihaly, Poland.

Agata Frankowski's information:
Page 1: (age) 23, (sex) Female, (married or single) Single, (calling or occupation) None, (Able to read) Yes, (Able to write) Yes, (nationality) Austria Galicia, (race or people) Polish, (last permanent residence (country)) Galicia (town) Bihaly, (the name and complete address of nearest relative or friend from country whence alien came) father, Wojciech Frankowski, Bihaly, Nowogrobla, Galicia, (final destination (state)) Illinois (city) Chicago. Also noted is that she is the sister of Stanislaw. Page 2:  (whether having a ticket to final destination) Yes, (paid for by) Self, (amount money in hand) $10 crossed out, $20 listed, (Ever before in the US) No, (name of relative or friend going to) friend, Oleksa Biela, 719 18th Street, Chicago, IL, (4 questions about ever committed a crime, polgamy, anarchy, etc) No to all 4 questions, (condition of health) Good, (Deformed?) No, (Height) 5'1", (complexion) fair, (hair) blond, (eyes) brown, (distinguishing marks) none, (birth place) Bihaly, Poland.

Grzegorz Nawodylo's information:
Page 1: (age) 23, (sex) Male, (married or single) Single, (calling or occupation) Farm laborer, (Able to read) Yes, (Able to write) Yes, (nationality) Austria Galicia, (race or people) Ruthenian, (last permanent residence (country)) Galicia (town) Bihaly, (the name and complete address of nearest relative or friend from country whence alien came) mother, Paraska Leszko, Bihaly, Nowogrobla, Galicia, (final destination (state)) Illinois (city) Chicago. Page 2: (whether having a ticket to final destination) Yes, (paid for by) Self, (amount money in hand) $10 crossed out, $15 listed, (Ever before in the US) No, (name of relative or friend going to) friend, Oleksa Biela, 719 18th Street, Chicago, IL, (4 questions about ever committed a crime, polgamy, anarchy, etc) No to all 4 questions, (condition of health) Good, (Deformed?) No, (Height) 5'4", (complexion) fair, (hair) blond, (eyes) green, (distinguishing marks) none, (birth place) Bihaly, Poland.

This information verifies that Agata was Polish and Grzegorz was Ukrainian (also known as Ruthenian). They went to Chicago to stay with their friends the Bielas. We always thought that they came to the US with Agata's brother Joe (who settled in Canada), but this seems to indicate that she had another brother named Stanislaw. This is another mystery to unravel.