According to an extensive genealogy site on the internet, my great-grandmother Frances (probably originally Franciszka) was born in Poznań, Poland in the late 1880s. Her parents were from Poznań, as were their parents and their parents’ parents, and so on and so forth, going back to at least the 1600s (via the Walkowiak family) and maybe earlier. Some time around 1890 Wojciech Walkowiak, his wife, their adult children, their spouses, and their children all decided to pick up and leave Poznań for Schenectady. Based on the number of children in all these families, I could easily have hundreds of fourth cousins living in Schenectady.

It is also possible that all of these relatives lived in villages located in a province or region referred to as Poznań, not in the city itself.

I couldn’t find my great-grandmother’s family in the 1900 US census. The 1910 census showed her parents and seven of her eight surviving siblings living on their family farm in Albany County. It’s not surprising that she wasn’t there: By that point she had married my great-grandfather, a man of such mystery that he hardly ever appears in any official documents.

By the time we get to 1920, the family has settled down in the house on Sunset St. that would remain in the family at least until Aunt Sophie died in 1993, maybe later, as I think that Uncle George might have inherited the house. According to the 1930 census, the house was worth $7000 at the time. Zillow shows that it sold earlier this year for $5000 (not a typo). Think twice before investing in Schenectady real estate.

The 1920 census shows that my great-grandfather had his first papers (coded PA for papers) and that my great-grandmother was an alien (AL). Both were born in Poland. Depending which dates and records you trust, my great-grandmother was somewhere between two and eight years old when she moved to the United States. She died before I was born, so I never met her. I’m told that she spoke pretty good English – but that she had an accent.

1920s Census

I’ve cut up the images of the census pages and pasted them back together to show the relevant details.

At the time she had five children; their mother is listed as being born in Poland.

1920s Census

This is also consistent with information from the 1915 New York State census (of which I do not have an image).

Things get interesting by the time we get to 1930. My great-grandfather has completed the process of becoming a naturalized citizen. My great-grandmother has decided that she was born in New York. She now has nine children (Uncle George wouldn’t be born until 1931). Now their mother is listed as being born in Poland NY.

1930s Census

This information is echoed in the 1940 census. My great-grandmother continues to assert that she was born in New York. The 1940 census didn’t ask everyone where their parents were born, but Uncle Steve was one of the people who was asked; the form says that his mother was born in New York.

Based on the information that I’ve seen, this sounds like a do-it-yourself version of the DREAM Act. (It’s not entirely clear, as there is also family lore that says that my great-grandmother traveled from the US to Europe when she was very young – possibly with some fraction of her family – and then came back to the US some years later. Maybe she was born in the US but didn’t remember her early years here?)

As an aside, the 1940 census shows that both Aunt Anna and my grandfather had moved out of the house by then (both were married at the time), but the remaining eight siblings were still living with their parents. Uncle George, Aunt Aggie, Uncle Cas, and Uncle Steve were all students at the time, so that made sense. But Aunt Bernie (age 19), Aunt Helen (age 21), Uncle Ed (age 26), and Aunt Sophie (age 29) all had jobs. And they were all still living with their parents (in a 1500 square foot, 3-bedroom house). You might complain about Kids These Days living with their parents well into their 20s. My relatives were way ahead of the curve on this one.