John Nyznyk: My Grandfather, an Enigma

My paternal grandfather John Nyznyk, is an enigma, a mysterious or inscrutable person.  I never met him and have see only two pictures of him, both from his wedding to my grandmother Mary(Maria) Klak in 1914.  There are a few family stories about him, but I have no way of verifying any of them.  In this post, I am using material that has a source--no tales, no hearsay, only the facts.  There are only a few sources that I am sure about--the marriage license, the baptismal certificate of my father and his application for United States citizenship.  There are other documents, but I can't be sure that they are his. His story illustrates the problems of finding information for genealogy research. 
If you know anybody with the name of Nyznyk or Niznik or Nisnik, who has ancestors from Galicia, they may be related to John and could shed some light on his story.

Map of Ukraine, green arrow points to Ternopil'

Pomorjany (Pomorany) is about 15 km SW of Zbirov. and 48 km west of Ternopil"

Arrival in the  United States 1910

John Nyznyk was born on July 27, 1878 in Pomorainy, Galicia, a part of the Austrian-Hungarian.   According to his Declaration of Intent for citizenship, he came to the Port of New York on March 12, 1910 on the Albany.  The Intent (First Papers) was filed on November 19, 1926.  This confirms his date of birth and birthplace. According to the ship's manifest, John arrived in New York on April 1, 1910, on the ship,  S.S. Volturno which sailed from Rotterdam on March 14,1910.  His name is listed as Jan Niznik.  His age is either 22 or 32-- the handwriting is hard to read.  He had $25 with him, he came from the village of Pomorainy in Galicia, his language and ethnicity Ruthenian (Ukrainian) and his occupation was laborer.  He could read and write, and he left his wife Parasia Niznik in Pomorainy.  The ship's manifest also states that he had been in the United States from 1901-1908.  The name and address of the person he was going to in New York is illegible. 

Old postcard sent from Pomorany--Pomorzany in Polish. Source: del campo.net

Marriage to Maria Klak: 1914

John Nyznyk married Mary Klak on November 21, 1914 at St George Greek Catholic Church, 22 East 7th Street, New York, New York.   On the marriage lisence he listed his occupation as a laborer and his residence at 533 East 6th Street, New York, New York.  He also stated that his parents were Paul Nyznyk and Anastasia Romanowicz.  The witnesses to the marriage were Michael Rudnicki (brother-in-law of Mary Klak) and Nicholas Malinowski.  The priest officiating at the wedding was Rev. M. Lysiak.

Birth of son Peter: 1915

Peter Noznick, son of John and Maria Nyznyk was born on August 18, 1915 in New York City at Bellview Hospital. Peter's  surname on the birth certificate was Nausneck, no first name was listed.
According to the Birth Certificate, the family was living at 403 East 92nd St , New York City.  John's occupation was listed as harness maker.  Peter was baptised at St George Church on September 12, 1915. On the Baptismal Certificate his name was listed as Peter Paul Nyzny .  His baptismal sponsors were Michael Rudnicki and Ksenia Malynowska (also a relative of Peter's mother). The officiant was Rev. Pidhorecky.

World War I Draft Registration: 1918

In 1918, all men were required to register for the draft since the United States had just entered World War One. I found a Registration Card for a John Naznak,  with a birth date of July 27, 1876.  I think that this might be my grandfather, but the birth date listed is two years earlier than the birth date on his marriage license.  His residence is 123 Avenue A, Room 12, New York City.  His occupation is listed as upholsterer, his employer is  Liberty Auto Trimming Company.  He is described at tall, slender with grey hair and brown eyes.  He also states that he has filed papers for citizenship, which is different from his Intent papers which he filed eight years later.

United States Census: 1920

According to the 1920 Census, John Noznok was living at 613 East Eleventh St in New York City.  There are several discrepancies in this Census record, so I am not sure that this man is my grandfather.  His age is 42, born in 1878, and he states that he is married and that he has filed first papers.  His occupation is listed as a trimmer in an auto factory.  His year of immigration is listed as 1913, his birthplace is listed as Galicia and his mother tongue is Ruthenian (Ukrainian.) The only information that is consistent with other sources is his age, native language and birthplace and that he is married.

Declaration of Intent to file for United States Citizenship 1926

John filed his Declaration of Intention for US citizen ship in 1926 in the Southern District of New York.  He states that his name is John Nyznyk, he was born on July 27, 1878 in Pomorainy,  Austria.  His physical description lists his complexion as dark, his height as 5 feet, seven inches, his hair gray and his eyes brown.  His occupation is upholsterer.  His says that he is married and his wife Mary, born in Austria, who lives with him at 138 East Third Street, New York City.  He also says that he came to the United States on the ship Albany, on March 12, 1910.  He does not mention that he has any children.  He signed his name "John Nyznyk" and the signature looks similar to his signature on World War I registration document. The date of filing is November 19, 1926.

Petition for United States Citizenship 1930

John Nyznyk's Petition for Citizenship was filed on April 8, 1930.  He lists his address as 533 East 6th Street, New York City, the same address as he had when he married in 1914.  He says that he  married Mary on November 21, 1914, and that her residence was unknown to him since 1915. He also states that she came to the United States in 1916 or 1917. He said that he has two children, Michalina born in 1910 and Paul, born in 1904.  He also states that his wife, Anna Kowalsky died in 1913.  He does not mention my father Peter at all.  He said that he came  to the United States on June 6, 1910 on the ship Niew Amsterdam, which left from Rotterdam, under the name Jan Niznik.  His two witnesses confirming residency were Michael Pochmarsky and Stephen Hysa, both of New York.  On November 10, 1930, he received certification of his citizenship by the US District Court at New York City, New York, petition number 167317. Again, inconsistencies are present in this document.  His date of immigration and name of ship differ from the Declaration of Intent. The information about wife Mary contradicts what he stated in the Declaration of Intent as well.

 My Conclusions--based on the information I have

There are quite a few discrepancies in John's petition. According to his Petition (1930), he arrived on June 6, 1910 on the Niew Amsterdam.  According to the ship's manifest (1910), he arrived in New York on June 1, 1910 on the S.S. Volturno.  The wife listed on the ship's manifest was Parasia, not Anna. If he had been in the United States from 1901-1908(Manifest), he probably wasn't the father of Paul, born in 1904(Petition).   In the Petition, he does not mention that he has a third child, my father, born in  New York in 1915.  He states in the Petition that his second wife's residence was unknown to him since 1915, but in his Declaration (1926) of Intent, he stated that he was living with her.

I do not think that the Jan Niznik on the ship's manifest is my grandfather.  There are three ships mentioned, the Albany, The Niew Amsterdam and the Volturno-- on which ship did he arrive?  It doesn't seem that the  authorities who determined  his citizenship cross checked the sources.
Although John could read and write, I doubt that he had the knowledge to do the research necessary to find the records he needed.  He probably had to hire somebody to find that information.  So after studying the sources, I have concluded that the only information about John that is consistent is his name, birth date and physical description, place of birth and native language.  His story did not end in 1930--I will revisit it next week.

Winter Holidays in Eastern Europe: Hanukkah.

An Eastern European silver Hunukkiah.

While Christians in Eastern Europe were celebrating St Nicholas Day and Christmas, Jews celebrated Hanukkah, known as the “Festival of Lights.”  Hanukkah, a festival lasting eight days usually occurred in December.  The holiday is based on a historical event, the liberation of Israel from the Syrian Greeks in 164 BCE (I am using the abbreviation for Before the Common Era, an alternative to the older BC or Before Christ).

The composer Handel wrote an oratorio about Judas Maccabee.  It is often performed  during the Hanukkah season.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the ruler of the Syrian Greeks, began to harden his rule of Israel,  defiling the Temple in Jerusalem and banning the Jewish religion and requiring the Jews to follow Greek cultural practices.  The Maccabees, a group of Jews led by Judah Maccabees and four of his brothers, sons of the priest Matthias, fought for over three years to liberate and rededicate the Temple in Jerusalem.  Because the victory happened during the holiday of Sukkot, which happened in early fall, the Maccabees decided to celebrate Sukkot after the Temple was rededicated, on the 25^th day of the month of Kislev, in the year 164 B.C.E.  Since Sukkot is a seven day observance, Hanukkah used the same time frame.

 

Painting by Auguste Dore, "The Victor, Judas Maccabeus"

The story of Hanukkah was told by Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian, writing 250 years later, calling it the Festival of Lights. In the Mishnah, the oldest part of the Talmud, written a century after Josephus, the Festival of Lights became known as Hanukkah, (dedication in Hebrew) In the Talmud, completed 600 years after the victory of the Maccabees, the story of Hanukkah centered on the miracle of the jar of oil.  Although the victory of the Maccabees over the Greeks was unexpected, the fact that a jar of oil, containing enough oil for one day, lasted for eight was considered miraculous.   By this time, fasting and mourning were not allowed during the Hanukkah festival.

A special candelabra, called a Hanukkiah was used for the holiday.  It had places for either eight candles or oil pots, and one spot for the Chumash, a candle used to light the others.  At first, the Hanukkiah was simple, but with time, they became more elaborate or fanciful. 

Chocolate coins made in Israel by Elite.

Hanukkah was a happy holiday, no work was allowed while the candles burned, so that time was filled with games. Children played dreidel, a small spinning toy, and adults played games of chance. Children were given coins as gifts on the fifth day of the holiday, a part of this small gift was expected to go to charity. 
 

Old dreidel.

Gelt remains today as foil covered chocolate coins.  My father-in-law always gave everyone in the family a dollar bill, announcing that it was Hanukkah gelt. Fried foods, usually prepared using rendered goose fat were eaten all over

Sufganiyot, jelly doughnuts.

Eastern Europe during Hanukkah. In Poland, jelly doughnuts were the preferred treat, in Lithuania, fried potato pancakes called latkes were favored. Cracklings, fried crisp goose skin, called gribenes in Yiddish, were a special treat.

Potato latkes

With the development of Zionism, Hanukkah took on a new meaning.  The idea of fighting for freedom and for national identity became associated with Hanukkah.  As Jews left Eastern Europe for Palestine in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, often they had to defend themselves.  The story of Hanukkah and the Maccabees was the story of freedom and liberty.  The founding of Israel continued these ideas.  The Jews defeated the Greeks in 164 BCE, because they were deprived of their religion and identity. The Holocaust raised the same issues of oppression, religious freedom and cultural identity that Hanukkah did two thousand years ago.

Celebrating Hanukkah in the Lodz Ghetto, World War Two.  Source: Yadvashem

I have not been blogging for the past few weeks, since my brother was very ill and passed away on November 16, 2014.  he suffered from leukemia and developed acute myeletic leukemia.He was a great brother, and had many friends. I miss him.

Pete and me, January 2012.

Landmines and Dead Ends: John and Michalina Nyznyk's Story.

King Jan Sobieski's Castle in Pororyany, Ukraine

When a person begins to research their family tree, all the information found is like finding a treasure. But, what if that treasure is a little bit tarnished?  What is it is not a treasure at all?

Studying the Nyznyk/Noznick family has been a treasure hunt, but sometimes it is like exploring a minefield.  First of all, it was fairly easy to find information about John Nyznyk, my paternal grandfather. Using Ancestry.com, I found quite a bit about him.  When I added that to what I already had, I thought that I had a fairly good idea of his life.  Then, I started to step on the landmines.

John Nyznyk in 1914.  Two wedding pictures are the only pictures I have of him.

Unlike my mother’s family, there were not many family stories about John.   From what I was told, he and my grandmother split up shortly after my father was born.  When this happened is unknown.  According to the information I had from my mother, he was an alcoholic who wasn’t interested in working, as well as a wife-beater.  My mother said that my grandmother left him when my father, Peter Noznick was about two years old.  He never had any contact with his father again.  My mother told me that my father heard so many horrible things about John from his mother, that he never had any interest in meeting him.  I don’t recall ever hearing my father speaking about his father very much,  almost everything I know was second hand information, told to me by my mother.  I don't remember asking my grandmother much about her past, probably because her English was poor.  I did enjoy looking at her box of old pictures, but didn't asked her any questions about them.  There were some old wedding pictures, but I don’t think that I saw them until after my grandmother passed away in 1969.

Marya Klak, my paternal grandmother sometime between 1911and 1914.  She married John Nyznyk in 1914.

A few years earlier, my father was planning a trip overseas, actually, a trip around the world, and he needed a passport.  It was then that he found most of the information I had about his father, which came from his parent’s marriage license and  his birth certificate.  This is when I stepped on the first landmine, Noznick wasn’t his surname, it was Nyznyk.The name on the marriage licsence was Nyznyk, on the birth certificate it was Nausneck.  My father had had to get an affidavit to prove that he had been using Noznick since he was in school. I have no idea how Nyznyk became Noznick.

The second land-mine was finding out that my father had a half-brother and a half-sister.  I found this  information searching on Ancestry.com when I came across John Nyznyk’s naturalization information. On his  Petition for Citizenship, filed in 1930, he listed two children, Paul and Michalina, living in Pomoryany, Poland (today it is in Ukraine).  He did not list my father.   
The third landmine was the information about my grandmother that John gave during the process of becoming a U.S. citizen. He listed my grandmother, Mary as his wife and said that he had not seen her since 1915, the year my father was born. This contradicted the information he gave when he filed the  Declaration of Intent, (a document stating his desire to become a naturalized citizen) in 1926, when he stated that he was living with my grandmother. I do not think that my father and mother knew about his half-siblings, my brothers and my brothers and I had no idea of their existence. 
 

The fourth landmine, also found when I was searching on Ancestry.com, was the immigration of  John's daughter, Michalina to the United States in 1931.  According to the ship’s manifest, Michalina sailed from Gydnia, Poland, on April 15, 1931 and arrived in New York on April 27.  Her birthplace was Pomoryany, the village where her father was born. Her brother, Paul Nyznyk, was listed as her relative living in her native country.  Her home was listed as Nisczuki, Zborow, Poland. She had less than $50.00 with her, and was planning to become a permanent resident of the United States. She was able to read and write Polish, her occupation was listed as farmer.  She was 5 feet, 4 inches tall, with a fair complexion, brown hair and gray eyes.  Her final destination was 52 Columbia Ave, Belleville, New Jersey.  She was planning to join her father, John Nyznyk at that address.  This is all the information I have about her.  It is interesting, that on the 1940  United States Census, Michalina’s father, John Nyznyk, was living in New York City, and there is no mention of her.

 

I have run into a dead end.  The only information I have found about Michalina is what I have from the Ship’s Manifest.  Did she stay in the United States, did she marry and have children? I have no idea.  I have also reached a dead end on John Nyznyk as well, the 1940 Census is the last information I found about him.  I heard from family stories that he died, probably sometime in the 1950’s or early 1960’s, but after searching several genealogy databases, I found no more information about either John or Michalina.

Growing Up in New York City the Lower East Side Way

The Tompkins Square Boys Club, 10th St and Avenue 

The Library at The Tompkins Square Boys Club

E.H. Harriman, founded the Boy's Club of New York in 1876

Growing up on the Lower East Side of New York City has been chronicled in many novels, studies, newspaper articles and memoirs.  My father, Peter Noznick, never wrote his story, but through many years of story telling, I have managed to put together the story of his childhood, from 1915 to 1930.

Peter Noznick was born in 1915 in Bellevue Hospital, on Second Ave in New York City, which unusual for that time, since most children were born at home.  His parents, Marya Klak and John Nyznyk were living on East 92nd Street, in the Yorkville area.  Their New York roots, however, were on the Lower East Side.  They were married in St George Ukrainian Catholic Church on East 7th Street in 1914,  and that is where their  son Peter was baptized.

Marya and John's marriage was on the rocks, and within two years it ended and she moved back to the Lower East Side neighborhood. Marya was now a single mother, illiterate, and not fluent in the English language.  Yet, she was able to find the best available situation for her son. She found the Children's Aid Society of New York, which had many services for women in Marya's situation.  She sent him to a Children's Aid Society day nursery, so she was able to work.  She worked at a cook at a summer camp, near Lake George, in Upstate New York, and found an area family to take my dad for the summer.  He had fond memories of that summer, especially of the family dog, a large collie.

Tenement Kitchen from the Lower East Side Tenement Museum NYC.

Marya married Peter Zackowski, and the two of them worked three jobs in order to save enough money to buy a farm. In  the passbooks from the Dry Dock Bank and the Emigrant Savings Bank,  most of the deposits were under ten cents.  At first the family lived on Avenue C, across the street from the Eagle Pencil Factory, between Twelfth and Thirteenth Street.  Later they moved around the corner to 624 East Eleventh St, a typical three room Lower East Side Tenement. They lived there until 1930, when they moved to Connecticut.

Children's Aid Society Dental Clinic

My father moved from the Children's Aid Society day nursery to the Sixth Avenue Industrial School, which served boys through the fourth grade.  The children studied school subjects in the morning and received job training in the afternoon.   He attended a public elementary school for fifth and sixth grade, and in seventh grade moved to the James P. O'Neal Junior High School 64 on Ninth Ave between Avenue B and C. He was in the Rapid Advance Program, which was the "gifted program" of that time.  My dad always liked school, and was a good student.

The Children's Aid Society's Sixth Street Industrial School

Peter joined the Tompkins Square Boys' Club, on Tenth Ave and Avenue A,  which became a very important part of his life.  He had a lot of time on his hands and very little supervision at home, since his parents were always at work.  The Boy's Club provided a quite place to study, sports and recreation facilities, and kept him out of trouble.  He learned to swim in the pool where the Olympic swimmer and star of Tarzan movies, Johnny Weismuller trained, and took advantage of the facilities that were endowed by the Harriman family in 1876.  He attended the Boy's Club summer camp, Camp Carey, on Long Island, in Johnsport, New York.  At Camp Carey, he was able to meet both both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, stars of the New York Yankees. The Boy's Club had a boxing ring, a large gym and just about everything a young boy would want to have.  The dues were fifty cents a year.  The staff members were young college educated men, who provided good examples for many boys who basically played in the street.

A Poster from the NY Public Library

THE GENEALOGY OF MARYA KLAK

Marya Klak, my paternal grandmother, wasa born in Zarvanytsia, Ukraine in 1889, the daughter of Joseph Klak and Anna Domerecka.  She had two brothers, Ivan and Andrij, and one sister, name unknown.  According to my father, Peter Noznick,  both her parents died when she was young, leaving the children orphans.   She was twenty-two when she came to the United States, her passage paid for by her brother.  My father said that since her family was so poor, her chances of marriage were unlikely.  She left Zarvanytsia in March of 1911, and sailed from Hamburg, Germany to New York, arriving on April 9, 1911.  As the ship neared New York Harbor, the steerage passengers came on the deck and watched for the Statue of Liberty. When the Statue came into view, the passengers fell on their knees and thanked God that they were in America.

Marya Klak, between 1911-1914

Marya went to live with her sister and brother-in-law, on Houston Street, in New York City.  She worked as a live-in maid for a family who lived on Riverside Drive.  They story my father told me was that her employer was a famous actress, but I can't remember her name.

Marya Klak and John Nyznyk, November 11, 1914

She married John Nyznyk on November 11, 1914, in St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church, in New York City.  Although Marya was Polish, her husband was Ukrainian.  He was a harness maker, and according to family stories, served in the Austrian Army.  He also was a widower, and father of two children, Paul and Michelina, who were living in his home town of Pomorzany.  My father, Peter Paul, was born August 18, 1915 in Bellvue Hospital.   At the time, Marya and John were living on East 92nd Street in New York City. 

Shortly after Peter's birth, John and Marya separated. I haven't found any records of where Marya and Peter lived during this time, but I have to assume that they lived with members of her family in New York City.  My father  told me that his mother found a day nursery where working mother could leave their children, and enrolled him there. Later, she enrolled him in a school operated by the Children's Aid Society of New York, where he attended until the fourth grade. Marya worked several jobs, including a summer as a cook for a children's camp in upstate New York.  My father stayed with a family in the area and he remembers their collie dog fondly.

Peter Noznick in Central Park NYC 1920's

Peter Noznick 1917

Sometime between 1915 and 1920, Marya met and married Peter Zackowski, another Polish immigrant.  The family lived on Ave C across from the Eagle Pencil Factory. There was a fire station nearby and the horse drawn steam fire engines terrified my father.  They moved to 624 East Eleventh St, between Avenue B and C, and lived there until they moved to Connecticut. They worked several jobs and saved every penny until they had enough money to buy a farm in Windham Connecticut in 1930.  Moving to an old colonial house was a big change for Marya, she had never lived in a house that large in her life.  She wall-papered every room and furnished it with pieces from area farm sales.
Sometime during these years, she became known as Mary.

The Farm in Windham Connecticut, 1940's

Marya lived in Connecticut for the rest of her life.  She missed living in New York and having her friends and family nearby.  She did see them regularly, since they came to the farm for visits almost every summer.  They called her "Choch" which was a shorted form of auntie in Polish.  Marya and Peter ran a dairy farm until the late 1950's, when electric milking machine became the norm.  They continued to sell milk, eggs and hay into the 1960's.  Her son, Peter had three children, Pauline, Peter and Andrew, who spent many summers at the farm.  There was plenty to do there, even through there was no TV. There wan an old radio and an old Victrola record player, which required cranking to operate, as well as 100 acres of farmland and woods to explore.

Mary and her cows, Windham Center Connecticut 1960's

Mary Zackowski, Peter, Julia, Pauline and Peter Noznick 1949

Peter  Zackowski died in 1963. Shortly after his death, some friends brought Mary a puppy, who she named Skipper,  he was her companion for the last years of her life.  Mary died in 1969, a few weeks before the Astronauts landed on the moon. Peter and Mary Zackowski are buried in the Windham Center Cemetery, next to son and daughter-in-law Peter and Julia Noznick.  

Marya Klak and the Pitfalls of Family History

Marya Klak in New York City, about 1911-12

The story of my paternal grandmother Marya Klak illustrates some of the pitfalls beginning genealogists can tumble into. Family stories are interesting to hear, but is everything you are told accurate?  In the case of my grandmother, yes and no.
Some of the stories I was told about her said that she was an orphan, that she had a brother Andrij, and that she stayed at Ellis Island for a few days because he brother did not come to get her in a timely way. Single women were not allowed to leave Ellis Island alone.  A male family member was required to meet them before they could leave for a local address.

First of all, there are a lot of gaps in the story I  was told.  After finding her immigration records, I found that she did indeed come to New York City in 1911, leaving Hamburg, Germany on March 28 and arriving in New York City on April 9, after the ship made stops in Cuxhaven and Southhampton in Great Britain and Cherbourg, France.  There is no record of her being detained at Ellis Island.  Second, she was met by her brother-in-law, Michael Rudnicki, not her brother.  This tells me that she had a sister, something that I did not know.  I found a person by that name of Michael Rudnicki in the 1920 census listed as a widower.  Was his wife alive in 1911?  What was her name? So far, this is a mystery.  Another story I was told was that Marya was accompanying a young girl from her village on the ship.  Again, according to the ship's manifest, she was traveling alone. What about the story of her being an orphan?  According to the ship's manifest, the person listed in her home town was her brother, not her father or mother, so it is very possible that her parents were no longer alive.

The next question--where was her brother Andrij Klak?  I have found no information about him in my searches of available records.   I do have a wedding picture of a man I assumed was Andrij, but there is no way to verify it.  This man also appears in the group picture of Marya's wedding in November, 1914. 

Marya had another brother, Ivan, listed on the ship's manifest  as the family member from her village, Zavanitsia.  The handwriting on the manifest was hard to read, so I made a guess on the name after enlarging the document several times. So the assumption that Marya had only one brother was incorrect after a few hours of research. Research told me that Marya had one brother, Ivan, and one sister, name unknown.  I can't find sources that prove that she had another brother, Andrij, but my parents told me that my younger brother, Andrew is named after him, so I have to use that as proof for now.

Michael Rudnicki appeared again in Marya's life, first as a witness on her marriage license, when she married John (Ivan) Nyznyk in 1914.  Rudnicki reappears on my father, Peter's baptismal certificate as his godfather in September, 1916. 

After my father's birth certificate, the genealogical trail goes cold, Marya disappears. I have not found her or my father on the 1920 Census or the New York Census of 1925.  The next document that I found her on was the 1930 Census, listed as Mary Noznick and most of the information was incorrect as well.  Family stories say that Marya left John Nyznyk when my father was 2 years old, which would be about 1917.  I was told that the marriage ended because he drank too much, abused her and wasn't interested in working.  According to John Nyznyk's citizenship application papers, the marriage ended in 1915.  Which was the real story?  So all I can say for sure is that sometime between 1915 and 1930, my grandmother and John Nyznyk split up and she married Peter Zackowski.  This is documented because Peter and Marya Zackowski bought a farm in Connecticut in 1930 and left New York City.  After 1930, documenting Marya's life is easy.  Mary and Peter Zackowski are listed on the 1940 census living in Windham Center, Connecticut, and according to the census, were living there in 1935.  Willimantic, Connecticut, city directories list them as living in Windham Center as well.

As a person researching family history, what conclusions can I draw from Marya Klak's story?  From the documents I have found, most of the stories of Marya Klak's family have major flaws and inconsistencies.  Sometime in the future, I may find the information that fills in the gaps and proves the stories to be true.  Until then I continue to search, which can be tedious, nothing goes into the tree until the proper documentation and sources are there.  Never accept information as correct, even if it is published in a family history book, or told by an older relative, until you can find the sources to prove the story to be correct.

What do Mollie Karbovsky and Peter Noznick Have in Common?

Mollie Karbovsky and Peter Noznick are connected because they both suffered from the Flu Pandemic of 1918. 

Past epidemics are  ancient and forgotten history for most people today. The Influenza pandemic of 1918 affected 25% of all Americans, killing more people worldwide that World War I.  It is estimated that over 20-40 million people died from the Pandemic of 1918 worldwide.  It was the most devastating Pandemic in world history.
 It reached its height in October of 1918, just before the end of World War I.  The War, with its concentration of troops probably helped its spread and made it a pandemic.  It was deadly, killed quickly, sometimes within hours.  Schools, theaters and other public places in the United States were closed to keep the flu from spreading.  Deaths were so numerous, that funeral homes and cemeteries couldn't handle the numbers.  Quarantine was the only preventative measure available in those days.  We know today, that the Spanish Flu was a form of the bird flu (H1N1)

Peter Noznick about 3 years old

So, how did The Influenza Pandemic of 1918 affect my family?  I will start with my Father, Peter Paul Noznick. He was born August, 1915 in New York City, the son of Maria Klak Nyznyk and John Nyznyk. and was 3 years old in 1918. The Flu was an epidemic in New York City by the end of September, 1918.  Peter came down with the flu, and contracted a secondary ear infection, which spread to his mastoid bone (the part of the skull behind the ear.)  In those days, there were no antibiotics, so bacterial infections, such as ear infections, often were killers.  Peter survived the flu, but had the effects of chronic infection in his mastoid.  When he was 14, he had surgery to remove the infected  bone at Bellvue Hospital in New York City.  His family had moved to Windham Center, Connecticut in 1930, so he traveled to New York by train by himself for the surgery and stayed with relatives. He was in the hospital for several weeks, waiting for the only surgeon  who performed this type of surgery to be available.  He said that the men in the beds (no private rooms in those days) next to him died from the procedure that he was about to undergo.  He survived, but lost the hearing in one ear for the rest of his life.
Later in life he suffered from Parkinson's disease, which may be related Flu Pandemic of 1918.

Mollie and William

The Flu Pandemic of 1918 brought tragedy to the Karbovsky family.  Mollie's parents, Avrom Karbovsky and Rose Monkovsky Karbovsky, moved from Chicago to Peoria to open The Chicago Bakery. ( the Karbovsky name was shorted and Americanized to Krause in the 1930's.) At the time, Rose and Avrom had four children, all born in Chicago: Mollie, born in  November, 1904, William, born in 1906,  Paul, born in 1909, and Florence, born in 1913. 
The flu was reported as an epidemic in Peoria on October 11, 1918. Rose was was pregnant and the baby was due in October.   Tragedy struck and Molly, who was 13, died of the Spanish Flu on October 15, 1918.  She is buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Peoria.  Lillian Karbovsky, my Mother-in-law, was born  on October 25, 1918, only 10 days after Mollie's death. 
Mollie's name lives on--in Jewish tradition, people often name children after family member who have passed away, using the first initial of the person's name.  William Krause named his daughter Marsha, and Lillian Krause Gerstein gave her daughter, Sheila, the middle name of Malka, Mollie's name in Hebrew.
For more about the Flu Pandemic of 1918, click on the link from The Centers for Disease Control.
More about the Flu Pandemic of 1918 


This week's recipe is for cookies!  Good for Passover too!
I have made these cookies many times and have given out the recipe to friends.  The cookies are not very sweet, but have a wonderful chocolate flavor, crisp on the outside and soft inside.  They contain no flour, so they make a good Passover dessert.

-->

Chewy Chocolate Almond Meringue Cookies

Heat oven to 350.

You will need 6 oz bittersweet chocolate for this recipe

Makes about 25 cookies

½ cup toasted almonds chopped

2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

3 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped

3 large eggs at room temp.

½ tsp cream of tartar

½ cup granulated  sugar

½ tsp vanilla

3 oz bittersweet chocolate melted

1.     combine the almonds , cocoa powder and chopped chocolate in a small bowl

2.    combine egg whites and cream of tartar in a clean mixing bowl.  Beat with an electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. increase speed to medium. Whip egg whites until foam turns white and begins to hold its shape.

3.    Add sugar about 1 tbsp at a time beating until mixture is glossy and thick

4.    Beat in the vanilla

5.    Fold in the almond mixture gently with a spatula

6.    Add the melted chocolate until just incorporated and no streaks remain.  Do not over mix and deflate the mixture.

7.    Cover baking sheets with parchment paper

8.    Drop the batter by heaping tbspful on baking sheet about one inch apart.

9.    Bake cookies until just firm when gently pressed on top, but still soft inside, about 7-8 minutes.  Do not over bake.

10.  Remove pan from oven and let cookies stand on the pan 1-2 minutes.  Slide the paper from the pans onto a flat surface, let the cookies cool completely before removing with a spatula

Nutrition info:  65 calories/cookie.

4 gm fat

8 gm carb.

1 gm protein

1 gm fiber.