Stanislaus Rosemarynoski immigration

Stanislaus Rosemarynoski is my great grandfather. He was born in Poland. Now, Poland did not exist as a country when he came to America. Germany had invaded from one side and Russia invaded from the other. So various papers list his home country as Russia, with him speaking Polish. Basically, he was Polish in Russian occupied Poland. After WW I, Poland became a country again when the map was redrawn after the war.  Various online sources provide a brief or lengthy history of Poland.

Different sources give different information on his date of birth. Marriage records and passenger lists indicate a birthday of 7 January 1897. The 1920 US Federal Census suggests 1889, while the 1930 US Federal Census suggests 1890 (this discrepancy is common with Census records). His WW II draft registration card and his death certificate indicate 7 January 1890. And his Naturalization records indicate 7 January 1891. When a date is given, 7 January is consistent.  But the actual year various from 1897-1891.Stanislaus Rosemarynoski

He arrived at Ellis Island in New York in 1909.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The passenger list for arrival in New York is below in two images.

Stanislaw Rosmarinowski passenger list 1909 New York arrival Astanislaw Rosmarinowski passenger list 1909 New York arrival B.png

Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.  Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897. Microfilm Publication M237, 675 rolls. NAI: 6256867. Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 36. National Archives at Washington, D.C.  https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=nypl&h=4033150053&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=1068 accessed 5 Mar 2018.

Stanislaw Rosemarynoski is on line 2 of the passenger list. He sailed on the SS President Grant, departing from Hamburg on 8 May 1909 and arriving in New York on 20 May 1909. His age is 21 years, placing his date of birth about 1888. His father is listed as Wojceck Rosmaryinowski, and his final US destination is Norwich, Connecticut to visit a friend named Jan (?) Karnocki.

His Marriage Record is in a post about his wife, my great grandmother, here.

His immigration papers are below, in three images as three pages.

Stanislaw Rozmarynowski US Naturalization Papers page 1

Stanislaw Rozmarynowski US Naturalization page 2.png

Stanislaw Rozmarynowski US Naturalization page 3.png

United States of America, Stanislaw Rozmarynowski Naturalization File, Declaration of Intention (Superior Court of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 24 April 1937), US Department of Homeland Security, US Citizenship and Immigration Services Genealogy Program 1200 First Street NE Washington, D.C. 20529-2206, File No. 4359, obtained by sending hardcopy request. Declaration of Intention to become a US Citizen.

The blank areas are “redactions” from the Federal Government. Their opinion is to provide privacy for anyone such as children who may still be living. I disagree with this position, as the document is used for genealogy, so any time someone redacts genealogical information, it can be rather frustrating.

From this document, we can see he waited a while before he filled out Naturalization papers. His Declaration of Intention to become a US Citizen didn’t happen until 1937. His petition for Naturalization to become a US Citizen didn’t happen until 7 Sept 1939. Why is this date important? World War II started on 1 Sept 1939, just a few days earlier, when Germany invaded Poland. Germany had invaded Poland years earlier, and at the end of WW I the map of Europe was redrawn, and Poland was “taken” from Germany and became the country of Poland again. How did WW II start? Germany wanted Poland back, and invaded with blitzkrieg tactics. There were certainly other considerations, but Poland was invaded by Germany on 1 Sept 1939. Within a week, Stanislaus filed to become a US Citizen. Perhaps he was afraid he would be shipped back to Poland, away from his wife and family, to a country that was now embroiled in war, and that he hadn’t lived in for over 30 years. He actually becomes a US Citizen a few weeks later, in December 1939.

Later in WW II, more men were required to register for the draft, even if they never served. There was something called the “old man’s draft” for men born between 1877 and 1897. In 1942, this would have been for men aged about 45-65. They never were drafted, but they registered nonetheless. Below is the draft registration card for Stanislaus, with two images.

Stanislaw Rosmarinoski WWII draft registration A.png

Stanislaw Rosmarinoski WWII draft registration B

Ancestry.com, U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 (Lehi, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010), Ancestry.com, The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) for the State of Massachusetts; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975; Record Group Number: 147; Series Number: M2090.

This document gives us some more information, including name of wife and date of birth. This confirmed we have the right person.

The second page, or back side of the card, indicates he had red hair. This was information very important for my mother! Her father had jet black hair, but she had some aunts with bright red hair! Now she knows the red hair did not come in a bottle, but was inherited from their father Stanislaus.

Finding such documents is part of the fun of genealogy!

 

SS Potsdam, my great grandmother sailed to America from Poland (Rotterdam) on this ship

My great grandmother, Rose Bruderik Rosemarynoski, sailed across the Atlantic aboard this ship. I previously wrote a post on this blog about her passenger list, with her name on it. She sailed to America in 1907.

Some info taken from Wikipedia

SS Potsdam

Renamed SS Stockholm

Later SS Solglimt and SS Sonderburg  

SS Potsdam was an ocean liner built in 1900 by the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany for the Holland America Line for transatlantic service from Rotterdam to New York. She was the largest ship operated by HAL at the time.

In 1915 the ship was sold to the newly-founded Swedish American Line and renamed SS Stockholm for transatlantic service from Gothenburg to New York. In 1929 she was sold to Norwegian interests and converted to the whale factory ship SS Solglimt. Following the German invasion of Norway in 1940 the Solglimt was captured by the Kriegsmarine, transferred to the First German Whaling Company and renamed SS Sonderburg.

The Sondenburg was scuttled by German troops in 1944 to block entrance to Cherbourg harbour. In 1946 she was partially demolished to clear the shipway, with the final remains towed to the United Kingdom in 1947 to be scrapped.

ship 1 ship 2

Potsdam, c. 1910

 stockholme.jpg

Stockholm enters port with a thousand African Americans of the 369th New York Regiment returning from WWI

 

taken from the website
http://www.thegreatoceanliners.com/potsdam.html

Potsdam

Renamed Stockholm (I)/ Solglimt/Sonderburg 1900 – 1947

The early decades of the 20th century were indeed prosperous times for the world’s shipping companies. A vast number of emigrants were leaving the homes in the Old World and set out to find a new life on the other side of the North Atlantic. Most of them came to the United States, where the unrestricted immigration laws welcomed anyone who was healthy and could earn their living in America.     This made the North Atlantic the most profitable shipping lane. The shipping lines were competing for popularity among the emigrants’, for it was in fact they who provided the real income. The steamship design had evolved rapidly, resulting in larger, faster and more luxurious vessels constantly surpassing each other. These liners carried the wealthy in luxurious settings, but it was the

 potsdam
The Potsdam‘s original appearance, as built.

steerage passengers – cramped in small staterooms below deck – who made it viable to built such large ships. It was, in a sense, all about carrying as many people as possible across ‘the pond’.     One of the companies embroiled in this fierce competition was the Holland-America Line, or HAL, which had started its business back in 1872 with their first steamer – Rotterdam. The company’s official name was Nederlandsch Amerikaanische Stoomboot Maatschappij, and the abbreviation of this – NASM – was suitably emblazoned on the line’s green and white houseflag.     During the closing years of the 19th century, Holland-America Line was enjoying prosperous times, and it was decided to expand the fleet with three new sister ships, the largest yet for the company. The contract for the first ship was granted to the German shipbuilding yards of Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, while the following two sisters would be built in the Irish yards of Harland & Wolff, Belfast. It was also the Belfast builders who designed the new trio, so even though she was built in Germany, the first ship was of Irish design just like her younger sisters would be after her.     Laid down as yard number 139 at Blohm & Voss, work proceeded on the new ship until, on December 15th 1899, the day of launch finally arrived. The new ship – the first of her class – was christened Potsdam, and was then sent down the ways into her proper element. However, there was still work to be done. Now she was to be fitted out with her engines, and craftsmen of different types were to transform her innards into comfortable passenger areas. Just short of five months later, the new ship was delivered to HAL on May 5th 1900 after satisfactory sea trials. She was now ready to start her career as a Holland-America liner.     Just twelve days after her delivery, the Potsdam set out from the port of Rotterdam on her maiden voyage on May 17th, bound for

 potsdam room
One of the Potsdam‘s public rooms, done in a classic turn-of-the-century style.

New York. At over 12,000 gross tons she was the largest HAL liner yet, and she sported the classic steamship look with two masts and a single funnel painted in the colours of Holland-America Line – yellow, green and white. She measured 571 feet from her straight stem to the tip of the counter stern, and she was indeed the latest masterpiece of the Dutch merchant marine. But although fitted with luxurious First Class areas and comfortable Second Class staterooms, there could be no misunderstandings about her primary role as an emigrant ship when looking at her carrying capacity; 282 people in First Class, 210 in Second and as many as 1,800 people in Steerage.     Potsdam went through her first summer of service on the North Atlantic, but she quickly proved to be slowish and it was not long before she was known as a ‘poor steamer’. The cause of this soon turned out to be insufficient flue draught, and the company decided that something had to be done to remedy this unfortunate flaw. So, during her first winter overhaul from 1900-1901, the Potsdam’s funnel was heightened by a full 23 feet, or nearly seven metres, to improve the draught. When she emerged from the refit, her funnel was an easily identifiable feature that soon earned the ship a suitable nickname – ‘Funneldam’. Nevertheless, the cure had been successful, and Potsdam’s speed had been noticeably improved. The original flaw left one scar though, as the ship never had any reserves of speed.     Returning to service, Potsdam settled into her service on the North Atlantic. In the following years she was joined by her two sisters; Rijndam in October 1901 and Noordam in May the year after. As ships of the same basic design, they were in most aspects

 potsdam tall
A picture showing the Potsdam‘s distinctively tall funnel, and with neutrality markings on her side.

very similar to the Potsdam, but their Harland & Wolff-built machinery proved better than the German-built one of their older sister. Thus, Potsdam became the only one of the class to sport the extremely tall funnel, although the funnels on the two sisters were slightly taller than in the original design.     So, known by many as ‘Funneldam’, Potsdam continued her service with the Holland-America Line. The shipping industry continued to prosper, but in 1912 an event took place that shocked the world. White Star Line’s brand new Titanic – the largest and most luxurious liner in the world at the time – collided with an iceberg on her maiden voyage and sank with a loss of more than 1,500 souls. At this point, the steamship design had come to such a stage that such an accident had been unthinkable. But the fact that Titanic indeed had foundered, and perhaps most importantly that she had not carried enough lifeboats to accommodate all her passengers, made all shipowners rethink their safety procedures. HAL was no exception. The Potsdam was given two extra pairs of lifeboats, fitted aft on a deckhouse.     And at this time, a menacing dark cloud was looming on the horizon. As the political situation in Europe grew more and more tense, the danger of a great conflict became a very real fact. And so, in the summer of 1914, the shots in Sarajevo triggered what was to become World War I.     As a nation, the Netherlands kept a neutral position, but submarine warfare in the Atlantic endangered the line’s vessels. To protect them as much as it was possible, the Holland-America ships were painted with neutrality markings – the ship’s name and home port in large letters – on their sides. But the war resulted in a serious decline in passenger numbers, and the Potsdam was subsequently laid up at Rotterdam for sale.     But, as it were, there was another company that had a great interest in the laid-up Potsdam. In Sweden, the Broström Group was realising the dream of a Swedish transatlantic shipping line. Originally the plan had been to build two 18,000-ton ships to start operations, but it was soon realised that this idea had to be revised. So instead, the newly-formed Swedish American Line (SAL) purchased the Potsdam in September of 1915, and renamed her Stockholm.     The Swedish American Line was in many ways a result of the great emigration. The idea was to provide a route from Sweden to America without any unnecessary detours, as well as giving the emigrants a chance to sail on a Swedish ship with a Swedish crew.

 postcard
A postcard of the Stockholm, at the time of her arrival to SAL the largest ship in the Swedish merchant fleet.

With the Stockholm, the new service could soon begin. But first, the ship had to be brought up to contemporary Swedish standards, mainly in the Third Class areas.     When finished, the Stockholm was ready to inaugurate SAL’s sailings. But before she set out on her second maiden voyage, a gala dinner was held on board to celebrate the birth of the new company. This attracted a great deal of attention in the press, and had Sweden’s Prime Minister Hjalmar Hammarskjöld as guest of honour. Then, finally, on December 11th 1915, Stockholm sailed out from Göteborg bound for New York. It was a joyous occasion, but there were a few reminders about the fact that war was raging in Europe. For one thing, the ship was painted with neutrality markings. And during the crossing, she had to call at Kirkwall to undergo an inspection for contraband.     Thanks to Sweden’s neutrality, the new company soon prospered despite the fact that they had only one ship in their fleet. But the service had to be postponed after two years, when unrestricted submarine warfare was introduced on the North Atlantic. Neutrality markings were no longer protection from lurking U-boats, and so the Stockholm was laid up at Göteborg in May 1917.     But when the bloody conflict finally came to an end in 1918, SAL could recommence their sailings. After a little more than a year in lay-up, Stockholm resumed her service in June. But despite that the war was over, there was much work to be done before everything would be back to normal. Soldiers from many nations had been brought in to fight the war in Europe, and now those who had survived were to be shipped home again. So, in 1919 the Stockholm was chartered to the United States for troop repatriation.     Shortly afterwards, the Stockholm was returned to the Swedish American Line, still as their only vessel. But this came to an end in February of 1920, when the Virginian was bought from the Canadian Pacific Railway Company and renamed Drottningholm. At last, the Stockholm had a fleet mate. SAL’s intention to improve their fleet was also reflected when in 1922 the Stockholm was sent

 music
The popular First Class Music Salon on board the Stockholm.

to the yards of Götaverken in Göteborg for conversion into oil-firing. This refit greatly enhanced the performance of her engines, and therefore the funnel was reduced in length by some seven feet, or two metres.     At this time, after only two years of service, the Drottningholm was also in need of a refit. Through her career, her machinery had not been working quite satisfactory, and SAL had now decided to do something about it. However, the absence of Drottningholm resulted in a gap that had to be filled somehow. As fate would have it, this gave the Stockholm a chance to get reacquainted with her Holland-America Line ancestry, when her sister Noordam was chartered to SAL in 1923 and temporarily renamed Kungsholm.     But this was merely a short reunion. After only a year in Swedish America service, Noordam was returned to the Holland-America Line, and the Drottningholm could resume her duties with the company. Together with Stockholm, the two ships provided a link between Sweden and USA. However, the great emigration wave for which the line had been created was now wearing off. In fact, at the time of the company’s birth back in 1915, the emigration had already started to decline. 1923, however, became known as the year of ‘the last wave’ of emigrants. After that, it was all over. SAL had been too late to earn a big share of the business, and now they had to rethink their strategy.     The company would no longer function as a route to a new life for emigrants, but as a link between the former emigrants and their former homeland. And by this time, the cruising industry was beginning to take shape, and SAL wanted ships to earn their share. In 1925, the brand new Gripsholm was delivered, and she was followed three years later by the second Kungsholm.     By now, the old Stockholm was considered surplus of the SAL fleet, and on September 29th 1928 she set out on her final voyage for the Swedish American Line. The following November, she was sold to the Norwegian whaling company Atlas. Under their ownership, the ship was sent to Götaverken for conversion into a whale factory ship. For this less glamorous purpose, she was renamed Solglimt, and she entered service in her new role on September 12th 1929.     Solglimt remained in service as a whaling ship for another decade, although she was sold to the company A/S Thor Dahl in 1930. When World War II erupted in 1939, she continued her operations. But as a Norwegian ship, her career would soon take another turn.    

 whale ship
In 1928, the Stockholm was sold and converted into the whale factory ship Solglimt.

Germany invaded Norway in the spring of 1940. A few months later, while in the Antarctic, the Solglimt was captured by the German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin (formerly the liner Kandelfels) on January 14th 1941. As a prize, the ship was taken to Bordeaux with a cargo of whale oil and taken over by the Erste Deutsche Walfangesellschaft (First German Whaling Company). Renamed Sonderburg, she was now put under the German flag and used as a supply ship in various French ports.     In 1942, the Sonderburg was anchored in Cherbourg when the port was under several air raids. The ship subsequently sank in the harbour due to the damage she sustained. She was salvaged at a later date, but there were not enough resources to repair her damages. Two years later, on June 15th 1944, she was scuttled by the Germans and sunk as a block ship when Cherbourg was evacuated.     The wreck remained in the port of Cherbourg until peace was achieved in Europe. In August of 1946, the French partly demolished the ship with explosives in order to clear the port. The final remains of the former Potsdam were raised in January the following year, towed to Great Britain and scrapped there. Thus ended a long and eventful career in maritime history.

 

 

 

The Potsdam/Stockholm/ Solglimt/Sonderburg – Specifications:
Length: 571 feet (174.5 m)
Beam: 62.2 feet (19 m)
Tonnage: 12,606 gross tons
Engines: Triple-expansion steam engines turning two propellers.
Service speed: 15 knots
Passengers: 2,292 people

 

My Polish Immigrant Ancestors: Rosalie Bruderik

My maternal grandfather was named Rosemarynoski. His parents, my great grandparents, immigrated from Poland. But when, and from where?

My Rosemarynoski great grandfather died in 1948 in Massachusetts. My mother was born and raised in Kansas and never met him. My Rosemarynoski grandfather had four daughters, including my mom, and no sons. He had almost all sisters; he had a brother, but he died relatively young with no wife or children. So really, the Polish Rosemarynoski surname is all women now and so the name is not passed down to any other generations for this branch of the family.

While my great grandfather died in 1948, my great grandmother died in 1981. Her name was Rosalie Bruderik, and she married Stanislaus Rosemarynoski. So her married name was Rose Rosemarynoski. Rose and Stanislaus were Polish immigrants.

When I was a kid in the 1970s, my mom travelled to Massachusetts to visit her grandmother and her aunts. She remembers a big box in the backyard filled with photos and immigration documents. While others ate food picnic style, she remembers looking at this rich history of Polish immigration. She remembers seeing American citizenship papers for her grandparents, and old photos. It was a lovely rich history in documents. A genealogist’s dream!

In 1981, when her grandmother died, she reached out to her aunts and cousins, asking about that box of documents. No one knew anything about it. No one remembered what she was talking about, and no box of papers or photos existed. The storage rooms and houses had no such thing, it did not exist. For the genealogist, this is a tragedy. Lost documents are something we never wish on anyone. No one can be blamed, it is no one’s fault. But the genealogist and family historian has a primary mission to save, scan, preserve and share documents and photos. It’s sad that such a thing happened. And every genealogist, unfortunately, has a similar story. So, when I started, I had to find the documents all by myself. There was no scrapbook or box of papers to look at for the Rosemarynoski family.

The first fun document was the marriage record of Rose and Stanislaus.

Stanislaus Rosemarynoski and Rose Broderick Marriage Record image

New England Historic Genealogical Society; Boston, Massachusetts; Massachusetts Vital Records, 1911–1915. Massachusetts, Marriage Records, 1840-1915, page 300, line 100; Marriage record of Stanislaus Rosemarynoski and Rose Bruderick, June 26, 1911. Ancestry.com, 2013, Provo, UT, USA. https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2511&h=908897304&ssrc=pt&tid=114630085&pid=130135263695&usePUB=true
On this image, look at line 100, which lists the details for the marriage record of Rose and Stanislaus. It provides the age of both at the time of marriage (Rosalie was 19), the address for each, and the occupation. Both were born in Poland, Russia; at the time, Poland was not a country, but had been invaded by both Germany and Poland, but the language they spoke was Polish. This record also names the parents of both bride and groom. Notice the mother of the bride is listed only as Anna, with no last name. For whatever reason, Rosalie did not know the maiden name of her own mother.

The next fun document is the passenger list for Rosalie. This comes in two images, left and right, both pages of a large ledger type document.

Rosalia Bruderick passenger list 1907

Rosalia Bruderick passenger list 1907 b.jpg

Year: 1907; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 0954; Line: 27; Page Number: 78.

https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=7488&h=4012763714&tid=114630085&pid=130135263695&usePUB=true&_phsrc=SQt52&_phstart=successSource

Line 27 on both pages lists the details for Rosalie Broderick. She was 18 years old, and coming from a town in Russia (Poland) called  perhaps Dąbrowa. At this point, I need help from someone who knows more about Poland than I do. But we have a hometown. The nearest relative from home is listed as living in Łomża. I do not see a name of either parent listed as nearest relative, so I wonder if both of her parents are already deceased, which may be one of the reasons for her immigration to America. The nearest relative in America she is coming to see is her uncle, [illegible] Bruderik, living in Haydenville, Massachusetts. Of course, this makes sense, as she lives the rest of her life in Haydenville, and that’s where her children, including my grandfather, were born. At the top of the pages, we notice she arrived on the SS Potsdam, departing from Rotterdam on 20 July 1907, arriving at Ellis Island in New York on 30 July 1907.

Read more about her ship in another blog post here.

Now, this raises questions. If she was 19 when she was married in 1911, then in 1907 she would have been only 15 when she came to America. But the passenger list says she was 18, which sometimes has been transcribed as only 10. Sometimes young men lie about their age to serve in the military. An older person gets better privileges. Perhaps she fibbed a little about her age to obtain the privilege of sailing to America. This is in a time before passports and driver’s license documents. The reality is, she was young and likely sailing alone. No one else on that page is from her hometown.

With a request for Immigration and Naturalization papers, we find that Rosalie never became a US Citizen. We cannot determine why this is so, and we cannot ask her. In looking at various documents, she never signed her name, but made her mark with an “x” with a witness, which suggests she never learned how to read and write. I remember her son, my grandpa, talking about how she was such a good cook, making Polish kielbasa at home. But if she never learned how to read and write, then a cookbook was never used. She had all the recipes memorized!

This is a lot of information about the immigration of my great grandmother, Rosalie Bruderik. I have other documents once she was in America, but this is what I have concerning her travel to America.