Two Mysteries (The Genealogy Kind) Solved

Genealogy research is like solving a puzzle.  You have most of the pieces but you just can't find that one missing piece to complete the puzzle. There are plenty of mysteries in my family trees, most unsolved, but happily, I did find that missing piece for two of them.

The Mystery of the Sashes.

Katherine Rychly and Olexa Pylatuik

The wedding picture of my great aunt Katherine Rychly and Olexa Pylituik contained a mystery.  As you can see in the picture, they were wearing sashes with their wedding attire.  I asked their daughter, if she could tell me about the sashes, and she said that she was wondering about them herself. 
When I was going through boxes of old stuff, I found a picture of my grandfather John Koshuba, and his brother, Joseph Koshuba, both rearing a uniform with the same sash.  The answer came from  a reader of this blog, who send me an link to the University of Minnesota Media Archive--Connecting Our Collections With Yours.  The sashes were worn by members of a Ukrainian Society, The Zaporozs"ka Sich in Minneapolis Minnesota. 

Peter Wons, Joseph Koshuba, John Koshuba

Zaporozs'ka Sich Society 1914

 The Mystery of the Grandmother's Name

This a portrait of my husband's great grandmother.  It came to me in a box of old pictures from my mother-in-law, Lillian Gerstein after she died.  My sister-in-law had it and when she moved, she gave it to me.  My mother-in-law told me that her mother's name was "Bellie", so I wrote it as Bella, or Belle.  I was never sure that it was her correct name.  The light went on in my head when I was looking through old family pictures from the Gerstein family.   My husband's great aunt's first name was Beile.  Perhaps the woman in the portrait was really Beile.  In my research for this blog, I came across a site for the town of Szczuzcyn, Poland, where my husband's ancestors once lived.  I contacted the site administrator and found out that the mysterious woman was Bejla Pienanzek, who married Wolf Berek (Velvil) Monkowski, and was the mother of my husband's grandmother, Rose. 
To connect with the Szczyczyn Site mentioned here:

For more information about Szczuzcyn, click on this link

The Genealogy of the Krause-Karbovsky Family

One of the families that I am researching is my mother-in-law's family, the Krause-Karbovsky family.
The family name was originally Karbovsky and was Americanized and shortened in the 1930's by Bill Krause when he graduated law school.
Avrom Karbovsky was born in Russia, probably in the town of Szczuczyn, on December 6, 1876.  I do not know the names of his parents. His wife, Rose Monkovsky also born in Szczuczyn, on July 10, 1887.  She was the daughter of Velvil and Biele Monkovsky.
They were married in 1903 and immigrated to the United States, arriving in Baltimore, Maryland on May 10, 1903.  Since there were rumors of a war; Avrom and Rose thought that leaving was a good idea, because young Jewish men in Russia were often drafted for army service that could last as long as 20 years.

Avrom, Rose and Lillian in the 1920's

Mollie, their first child was born in 1904 in Chicago.  William, was born in 1906 and he was followed by Paul, born in 1909.  In 1910  the family was living at 6117 W. Aberdeen St in Chicago, and Avrom's occupation as a baker. Florence, their second daughter, was born in 1913.  

Sometime between 1913 and 1917, the family moved to Peoria, Illinois, where Avrom opened a bakery, and the family lived at 215 Reid St.
Mollie died in the Influenza Pandemic on October 15, 1918, and was buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Peoria  Ten days later, Lillian was born.
1920 finds the Karbovsky family living at 523 5th Ave in Peoria and  Avrom was now working at the Perfection Bakery.  Florence died in 1921 of unknown causes.  The sixth child and son, Jack was born in 1924. In 1925, Avrom became a naturalized citizen of the United States.   The family was living at 701 Spencer St. in Peoria.

In 1930, the Karbovsky's were back in Chicago and living at 3702 W. Agitite Ave. William was working as a shoe salesman and Paul worked at the Post Office as a sorter.  Avrom continued to work as a baker. Lillian and Jack were in school.

Avrom and Rose, 1940.

Between 1930 and 1940, the family changed their surname to Krause . They now lived at 4251 N. St Louis Ave in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago. and had lived there since 1935. Lillian graduated high school and was working as a switchboard operator. Avrom's occupation was listed as a painter. Jack was in high school.  Both Bill and Paul were married and had their own households..  Rose became a  U.S. citizen during the 1940's.
Avrom died on February 4, 1946 in Chicago and is buried in Waldheim Cemetery in the Stuchiner section.  After Avrom died, Rose lived with Lillian and her husband, Dave Gerstein,  Rose died in 1956 in Chicago.  She is buried next to Avrom in Waldheim Cemetery.

Rose's certificate of Naturalization

Avrom's Certificate of Naturalization