Places

Historical Context, Nowakowski, Places, Szczepanski

Working in a Camden Licorice Factory (Wicenty Szczepanski)
Wicenty Szczepanksi and his wife Mary (Nowakowska) Szczepanski

My great grandfather Wicenty (Vincent) Szczepanski is a little bit of a mystery to me. He was born on 20 June 1874 in what we think was Warsaw, Poland. According to census reports, he probably immigrated to the United States between 1896 and 1902. I have looked far and wide for any documents relating to his immigration here, but they remain elusive. Apparently, he hated having his picture taken, and the only image I have is blurry and overexposed as he stands next to my great grandmother Mary Nowakowska, whom he married in 1902. Although I have found little about his life before he arrived in Camden, New Jersey, Wicenty turns up in every single census record (both US and New Jersey) between 1905 and 1940. He passed away in 1955, and his obituary states that he had been a resident of Camden for 53 years of his life at the time of his death. Continue Reading

Historical Context, Huk, Kroliczak, Nowak, Places, Wisniewski

Bridesburg: The 45th Ward of Philadelphia

One thing that doing genealogical research has taught me is that with an increasing ease of travel in the 20th (and now 21st) centuries, people and families become scattered. I look at my own history: in the last 10 years of my life I have lived in Pennsylvania, two addresses in California, Japan, and two addresses in Minnesota. I pity my descendant who has to piece my crazy travels together! But when the grandparents and great grandparents of my mother’s father (Kroliczak / Nowak) came to the United States from Poland circa 1896-1898, they all settled in the same Philadelphia neighborhood: the 45th Ward, more commonly known as Bridesburg. Occasionally a family member or two would travel a little further down the Delaware River to the 25th Ward next door (Port Richmond), but by and large they stuck together. Continue Reading