Marching Through Siberia

American history students generally focus on "our" wars: the Revolution, Civil War, the "Great War," WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Kosovo, and now Iraq 1 & 2. How much do we know about Japanese history, outside of WWII? The Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5 included many ethnic Poles among the 300,000 troops who were transported across Siberia to the Manchurian front in the winter of 1904. Family lore has it that our grandfather, Piotr Szymanowicz, was conscripted by the Cossacks and traveled to Harbin, and probably further toward the front. Before he died, his remarks about being in China were recorded in the hospital record. This may have been "his" war.

Nothing is known about Peter's early life in Poland. The vital records in his own hand are his date of birth, recorded on his petition for Naturalization, his parents' names, recorded on his Social Security application, his marriage, his children. We have no information about any siblings. The ship manifest says his last place of residence was Siedlce, which was the Polish province south of the Bug River. He was a fisherman who came from a fishing region.

Born in 1881, he would have been 23 when the Japanese attacked the Chinese coast at Port Arthur in February 1904. The Russians may have wanted a diversion from domestic political unrest, and wanted to secure the valuable trading center of Harbin, but their participation in the war went badly and became very costly. The Navy suffered from the length of the trip from the west to the East China Sea, and the infantry was seriously delayed coming across Siberia in the winter. Was Peter among them? The photo came from Google images, but it gives an idea of what they might have looked like at that time.

The Szymanowicz Family in Northampton MA

Fifteen years after arriving at Ellis Island, Peter Szymanowicz and his wife Valerie purchased a home and opened a neighborhood store on the corner of Holyoke and Hawley Streets in Nothampton, MA. Their children attended local schools and were becoming more Americanized as time went by. They continued to speak Polish at home, and among friends and family in the local ethnic community.

Workers were needed in the early 1900s in the farms and factories and they were recruited from Canada and Eastern Europe. Witold Zawacki, the first of the family to arrive in this country, chose industry. When Peter left the mills of Easthampton, his corner grocery still depended to some extent on another factory; the Belding Silk Mill was located nearby on Hawley Street and the store provided sandwiches and snacks to the workers.

When he turned 18 in 1926, their oldest son Benny, who was born in Poland, filed a Declaration of Intent to become a United States citizen. He described himself as a store clerk, 5 feet, 5 inches tall, 130 pounds, with light brown hair and blue gray eyes. He was described in the City Directories in later years as a restaurant worker, working for Federated Baking Company, and later as a gas station attendant.

Valerie also filed her Declaration and later, the Petition for Naturalization in 1929. She described herself as 5 feet 4 inches tall, 159 pounds, with brown hair and eyes; a housewife. Her friends Theresa Golash and Mary Borowski were her witnesses. Peter's Petition was witnessed by John Franchi and Antoni Zaleski, both of Easthampton, also in 1929.


The Szymanowicz family first belonged to St. John Cantius parish on Hawley Street, which served the large Polish American community. In 1931 a large group left the church in a disagreement with the pastor's "tyrannical" attitude. Some of them founded the Polish National Church on King Street. Valerie transferred her family to Sacred Heart church and school on King Street, a predominantly French parish. The boys served on the altar. Henry, John and Joe made their first communion at Sacred Heart on 28 May 1933 and were confirmed on 30 April 1936.

In 1936 the Connecticut River valley experienced its worst flood in at least 100 years, when ice jams in the river combined with torrential rains and frozen ground. Flood waters rose on Hawley Street and the inventory of the Szymanowicz grocery was ruined. The family salvaged some of the unlabeled canned goods and had "mystery meals" for weeks after. But the toll taken by the storm was much worse. Benny contracted an infection during the clean-up after the storm and died 15 April 1936 in Dickinson Hospital. At 27 he was a member of the Knights of Columbus, who served as poll bearers. He was buried at St. Stanislaus cemetery in Easthampton.

On 26 November 1936 Valerie died of ovarian cancer at the age of 47. The date was Thanksgiving Day. Her obituary states that she died "after a short illness," but she had been seen by a surgeon in Boston who determined that the condition was inoperable. The obituary enumerates her membership at Sacred Heart Church, Our Lady of Czestokowa Society, the Polish Women's Alliance of America, the Polish Roman Catholic Union, St. Anne Society of Easthampton, and the Polish National Alliance Wolna Polska of Northampton, which were represented at her funeral. She was buried with her son in Easthampton.

After Valerie's death, 20-year-old Jennie assumed the household duties for the family. Charlie was working in Connecticut. Bert was 16; Henry was 13; the twins 11. Jennie worked in a variety of jobs around Nothampton during the following years. She was a waitress at Smith College between 1937 and 1938. In 1938 the Belding Silk Mill closed and so did the Szymanowicz' store.

Bert was the first of the children to graduate from high school. The Nothampton High School year book in 1938 said, "Her composure and wit never fail her even at the most critical moments." As a senior she was on the staff of the Students' Review and was listed as Advertising Manager, and was photographed with the Literary Club and Science Club. She then attended Smith College and graduated in 1942. After Henry and Joe graduated from high school in 1943, Peter sold their home. He was 62 and moved to an apartment on Main Street above the store fronts with his children Jennie, Henry and John. John joined the Navy after graduation in 1944, as Joe had in 1943. Thus the next chapter of the Szymanowicz family closed after 18 years of home ownership.

Drohiczyn nad Bugiem, Our Polish Roots

Detailed gazetteers of historic Poland give valuable insight to the land our ancestors left behind. Because the information was compiled only a few years before the wave of migration from Eastern Europe, it provides a snapshot of their home town. I found a great deal of information in
Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich : Warszawa 1880-1902. T. 1-15 or Geographic Dictionary of the Former Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic Lands.

Drohiczyn-laki, on the east bank of the Bug River, was within the Bielsko region, Grodno Govern. The population was 1,402, having grown from 173 residents in 1800. The demographics consisted of 682 men and 720 women; 384 Catholics, 498 Jews, and 530 Russian Orthodox. There was one Catholic church, two orthodox Churches, and a school up to third grade.

The Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity was established about 1350. In 1660 the Jesuits had established a "collegium" and high school. There were 285 students in 1784. There were also ruins of a seventeenth century castle.

The town was populated by farmers and fishermen, boasting one windmill and no industry. A large farmers market was held four times a year. The community was often flooded by the river. A ferry provided access across the river.

Today, Drohiczyn is a seat of the Roman Catholic Bishopric. There are three church-monastery complexes from the 16th and 18th centuries. A small Jewish cemetery remains in Drohiczyn. although there are no longer Jewish inhabitants. The oldest known grave stone is from 1876.

Between Niemirow and Drhoiczyn, this portion of the Bug River is known as the Podlaski Gorge. River trips are offered by boat or barge, where travelers can view "its lofty banks where towns with magnificent pasts and historical monuments are situated."

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor

Piotr Szymanowicz arrived at Ellis Island in New York on 29 March 1910. The 28-year-old immigrant had $33 in his pocket, according to the ship's passenger list. He had left the port of Antwerp, Belgium eleven days earlier, in steerage aboard the steam ship Kroonland. His first name is recorded as Franz on the manifest. His occupation is entered as fisherman, his "race" as Polish, and his prior place of residence as Siedlce, Russia. He was recorded as being 5 feet, 7 inches tall with brown hair and brown eyes.

Piotr was no wide-eyed boy when he sailed into New York harbor 100 years ago. He had been conscripted by the Russian Army and traveled as far as Harbin, in Manchuria. He had a young family and set off from the small village on the Bug River to make a better life for them.

Piotr is believed to have been born on 29 June 1881 in Drohiczyn Russia/Poland. He was the son of Jozef Szyanowicz and Zofia Kapuca. They were fisherman, and his sons remembered his ability to tie string into nets in later life. When he was 24, Piotr married Walerya Zawacka in the local Catholic Church in Drohiczyn on 19 January 1906. Their first child, Kazimierz, was born in Drohiczyn on 4 August 1907, followed by another son, Bonifacy, born 21 December 1908. Their first son died before his second birthday, on 16 June 1909.

Jadwiga Zawacka, Piotr's 19 year-old sister-in-law, had accompanied him on his journey to this country. When they arrived in the United States, their destination was Easthampton, Massachusetts. They were to join Witold Zawacki, Jadwiga and Walerya's brother, who lived at 2 Harrison Avenue in that city. Witold was employed at the West Boyleston Manufacturing Company. Peter also secured employment at the cotton mill, and sent for his wife and young son.

Walerya and her year-old son departed Antwerp five months after Piotr, on 13 August 1910 aboard the SS Finland. The Kroonland and the Finland were sister ships of the Red Star Line. When they arrived in New York ten days later, Walerya was recorded on the ship's manifest as 5 feet, 3 inches tall with fair hair and blue eyes at 22 years of age. Her previous residence was listed as "Rygican" (Drohiczyn?) Grodiev. She could not read or write.

The strong manufacturing climate in Easthampton at the turn of the last century attracted many Polish workers. City directories list Piotr, later "Peter" as employed by West Boyleston Manufacturing Company or Easthampton Rubber Thread Company. Their residences near the factories were likely owned by the mills. Walerya's other brothers, Karol and Waclaw (Karl and Walter), followed her to Easthampton and had families nearby.

The family grew in Easthampton for the next 15 years. The children born to Piotr and Walerya are recorded in Easthampton, and in the records of Sacred Heart parish, a church built in 1909 to serve the Polish population. Their children were:

• Casimir, born 17 April 1912, baptized 21 April with godparents Stanislaus Kozakiewicz and Ludowica Kosakowaka.
• Janina Helen, born 20 October 1916, baptized 29 October with godparents Wenceslaus Zawacki and Francisca Florczyk.
• Bronislava, born 7 June 1920, baptized 13 June with godparents George Mancruk and Jadwiga Szysko.
• Henry, born 9 August 1923, baptized 19 August with godparents John Szysko and Sophia Bednarz.
• Joseph (twin) born 1 August 1925, baptized 1 August 1925 with godparents Anthony Guodj and Mary Storogoj.
• John (twin) born 1 August 1925, baptized 9 August 1825 with godparents John Franchi and Antonio Lagonska.

In 1919 Walerya "Valerie" became a founding co-president of the local Polish Women's Alliance of America, Group 289 of Easthampton. She served with Dr. Julia Bauman. The national headquarters in Illinois has not retained records from this period. She was also a member of the Saint Anne's Society of Sacred Heart church, which was founded in 1917. A parish school was constructed and opened in 1919, and enrollment for eight grades in 1921 totaled 500 students. A convent was later constructed in 1922 for the Franciscan teaching sisters. Benny, Charlie and Jenny probably attended this school.

Peter filed a Declaration of Intent to become a United States citizen in Hampshire County Superior Court on 3 November 1923. He described himself as 5 feet 7 inches tall with dark brown hair and blue eyes. This important step toward "ownership" in their new country was followed by the purchase of a home and business in Northampton, Massachusetts on 1 September 1925. The home on the corner of Holyoke and Hawley Streets included 1/10 acres and was subject to a mortgage to the sellers for $3,500 as well as $2,500 to the Northampton Institute for Savings.

Fifteen years after arriving in this country with only $33 and a dream of a better life, the Szymanowicz family and their six American children were ready for the next chapter.

You Say Potato, I Say Potaaato; When it's Carved in Marble it's Forever

Alternate spellings sometimes make a researcher wonder who they are following through the maze of documents. Some name changes were deliberate, due to family arguments or delusions of grandeur. We know that naming patterns of children can sometimes hint at the names of their grandparents. How did you choose your children's names?

George and Sarah Haith were British immigrants in the first half of the 19th century, who lived in Springfield, Otsego County, NY with their large family. In various records, the name is spelled Heath, Heith, or Haith, indicating that they may have been illiterate. “Haith” would sound like a cockney pronunciation of “Heath.” George was born about 1800 and Sarah about 1805.

The family first appears in the 1840 census in Springfield, although their children born in the 1830s were said to be born in NY. They do not appear to have owned land. In the 1865 NYS census, Sarah was said to have borne 13 children. Eight are known from census records, born between 1825 and 1849, which would have been Sarah's likely childbearing years. Two sons who are also found in the Otsego County census, born in England, may be among their children:

• Mary, born about 1825 in Lincolnshire, married Dewitt C. Colman about 1844 and had 11 children in Otsego County. Sarah was living with Mary’s family in 1870;
• Edward, born about 1826, married Elizabeth
• John, born about 1827 in England
  
• Dennis, born about 1830 in England, married Mary A. Rhyde;
• Sarah Jane, born about 1833, married Henry Wiltse and moved to Hamilton, NY, mother of pro baseball players “Hooks” and “Snake” Wiltse;
• Ann E., born about 1839, married Tunnis V. Leroy after 1855 when she was working as a dressmaker and living with her sister Mary;
• Henry, born 1841 in Otsego County, married Martha O. Willsey before 1865;
• Albert C., born in Springfield, NY in 1842
• Fannie, born 1843, married Eugene O. Ayres
• Prudence born 1849 in Otsego County, was said to be “idiotic by fits for 16 years” in the 1865 census. By 1870 she is no longer listed with her mother, and it is not known what happened to her.

At least one son served in the Civil War. Albert C. Heith mustered into Company D of the 152nd Regiment of NY Infantry at Mohawk, NY on 15 October 1862. He gave his occupation as a farmer, and was listed at 6 feet 2 ½ inches tall, light complexion, blue eyes, brown hair. He was appointed as Corporal on 20 September 1862, after enrolling for three years on 18 August in Springfield. He was promoted to Sergeant on 12 March 1863. On 19 September 1863 Albert was detailed as Sergeant of the Guard at the Headquarters of the Provost Marshal of the Fifth District in New York City. Nine “substitute volunteers” were committed to his custody, three of whom escaped. He was charged, reduced from the rank of Sergeant to Private, and placed under arrest. Parker D. Fay, Captain of Company D, vouched for his character, stating that he had never been “censured or reprimanded” in the past. On 3 November the prisoner was received at Fort Columbus NY. By the time the muster roll was entered for March/April 1864 he had been promoted to Corporal once again (April 24). On 5 May 1864 Albert was mortally injured at Wilderness, Virginia. Three officers and 10 enlisted men died in battle; 36 were injured. Albert was one of the four who did not recover. He died on 12 May 1864.

Henry Haith named his son Albert C. Heath in 1869.

George died 20 February 1869. Although his headstone gives his age as 56, census records indicate he would have been 69.

Sarah R. Haith died 25 January 1874, aged 69, and is buried in the Springfield Center cemetery on Route 20. In 1870 she had been living with her daughter Mary Colman in Middlefield, but she is also listed with Sarah Wiltse's family as a “domestic servant.”

Notable Women Ancestors: Rachel Andrews Colman

Can you imagine the changes and experiences of a woman who lived through almost an entire century in colonial Massachusetts? Details are scant, but her life of 92 years would be remarkable in any time. She survived the hard work of everyday life on the frontier, bearing eleven children, wars and diseases. The family's attitude of stepping up and participating in each new governmental process is attested by her husband's activities in the community. If only "women's work" had been included in the historical records we might know more about her part in the settlement of north-central Massachusetts!

Rachel Andrews Colman was born about 1716. Her parents were Ezekiel Andrews and Abigail Curtis. The place of her birth or marriage is uncertain, likely in or near Ipswich, MA. She was married to James Colman, and their first child, Elizabeth, was born in Ipswich in 1734. Church records of Chebacco (Essex) parish list four more children born in the following years: James in 1736; Rachel in 1738; Ezekiel Andrews in 1740; Job in 1741.

About 1743 the family moved west a distance of 50 miles, and transferred their relationship from the Ipswich church to Lunenburg in 1744. She was 27 with four children under ten as they left "civilization" of a colonial port town which had been in existence for over 100 years for the unknown wilderness.

More children are enumerated in the Lunenburg church records, although it is believed that the family settled in the northeastern part of “Dorchester Canada,” which became Ashburnham and is now in Ashby. They were among the earliest permanent settlers of the area. The years between 1744 and 1749 were dangerous times on the “frontier” and many settlers gathered at the fortifications in Lunenburg during periods of unrest during the French and Indian war.

The remaining children born to Rachel and James include: Mary in 1744; Aaron in 1746; Benjamin in 1749; Solomon in 1752; Ruth in 1754; and Abigail in 1758. That same year her 20-year-old daughter Rachel married Daniel Harper in Lunenburg. Her children spanned 24 years and had names chosen to honor grandparents and biblical figures.

In 1760 a church was established in Ashburnham and the family transferred their church relations there. Her husband, James, was an active member of the community and was named to committees by the proprietors. Records state that James was granted “about one acre and one hundred rods between the house where he now dwells and the saw mill yard which belongs to Moses Foster Jr. and Zimri Heywood” for “his good service in said township in promoting the settlement there.” When Ashburnham was incorporated in 1765, he was chosen as a selectman and surveyor of the highways at the first town meeting. When Ashby was set off as a town, one of the boundaries was delineated along the land of James Colman. James was also one of the first Selectmen in Ashby. When the church was established, the Colman family was assigned the first pew, signifying their place first on the tax rolls based on assets.

Their other children married and began families. Job and Benjamin married sisters, Elizabeth and Susannah Martin in 1766 and 1770, respectively. James died in 1773 and is buried in Ashby in the “front row” of the old cemetery in the town center. Rachel was 57 and had many years ahead of her. Their youngest child was 15. Sons Job and Aaron gave permission to Benjamin to administer his estate, indicating that neither James or Ezekiel were still alive. Solomon was of age but he was not a signatory to the document. Job had continued the westward migration, moving west to Shelburne, MA

What was her life like in the 35 years after her husband’s death? A nation was born, a constitution written, and Ashby remained a quiet, farming community. Sons fought in the Revolutionary war, daughters bore children of their own. Sons Benjamin and Solomon remained in the area and gave her grandchildren. Rachel died on April 27, 1808 and is buried with James and some of their adult children. Her death is not listed in the Ashby records. Was she living with one of her children elsewhere at the time? This a woman with whom I'd love to have a long conversation...

Notable Women Ancestors: Trypheuny Powers Lawrence

In the early 1700s our British settlers had begun to move west, from the port towns in what we now call the North Shore area, north of Boston, to begin farming the inland areas of Massachusetts. In addition to the dangers of infectious disease, French and Indian wars, poor diet or accident, women were subject to the potential complications of childbirth as often as every two years or so during a 25 year period of childbearing. After 250 years, this memorial of one such woman survives in the cemetery at Littleton Common.

Tryphena (or Trypheuny) Powers was born 22 May 1711 in Watertown, MA. She was the fifth and last child of Isaac Powers and Mary Poulter. Mary had had 5 children by her first husband, Samuel Winship. It was the second marriage for both parents. It appears that Isaac also had four older children.

The name Tryphena was used by English Puritains on both side of the Atlantic until the 18th century. It was mentioned by Paul in Romans, and comes from the Greek, meaning delicate.

When she was sixteen, she married Jonathan Lawrence about 1727 in Groton, in northern Middlesex County, MA. He was born in 1703, so was nearly eight years older than his bride. The Lawrance/Lawrence family, in several variants of spelling, was numerous in the area. His grandfather Peleg has purchased land directly from the Nashoba Indians in Groton/Littleton.

Their 11 children were born over a period of 24 years, from the time Trypheuny was aged 17 to 41. The first 9 were listed in Groton records:

• Jonathan, born 27 August 1728
• Isaac, born 19 May 1731
• Abel, born 16 July 1733
• Tryphenia, born 26 September 1735
• Betty, born 24 February 1737

The Littleton records indicate a vote on 8 January 1738 accepting the Lawrance brothers Peleg, Jonathan, Eleazer and Samuel as voters in Littleton. This does not necessarily indicate a relocation, but a change in the boundary between the two towns. Children registered in Littleton are:

• Olive, born 19 May 1740
• Peter, born 17 October 1742
• Abigail, born 26 July 1745
  
• Timothy, born 31 March 1748
• Lucy, born 15 May 1750
• Benjamin, born 2 August 1752

In 1748 her 20-year-old son Jonathan enlisted as a soldier in the French and Indian War. In July of that year he was captured after a skirmish just across the Connecticut River from Fort Dummer VT. Eight were taken to Canada through Crown Point at a rate of 20 miles per day. The were released in October. Ephriam Powers of Littleton was also one of the eight prisoners who returned. He may have been a son of Tryphena's brother Ephriam. Jonathan married 31 October 1751 to Martha Leighton.

Just three weeks after the birth of her last child, Tryphena died on 25 August 1752 in her forty-second year. Her oldest child Jonathan was 24, and her daughter and namesake was 17, and would have been well able to care for the younger children, with help from her sisters.

Two years later Jonathan remarried to Lydia Fletcher. He lived to be 86 and is buried beside Tryphena in Littleton.