The Olejniczak’s Immigration / Poznan to Calumet

The Olejniczak’s Immigration from Poznan Province to Calumet, Michigan

K.R. Olen (krolen@gate.net)

For well over two years I had been trying to establish the immigration paths taken by my grandfather, Frank Olejniczak, his three brothers: Leon, John and Anton, and a sister, Agnes, from the Province of Poznan, or Posen as it was known at the time, to Calumet, Michigan. What follows are the details of my efforts, which I hope will encourage others not to give up their searches too readily.

While discussing the subject of immigration with elderly members of my family I promised my father’s 93-year old cousin that I would find out how her mother immigrated to America. Agnes’ daughter is no ordinary cousin. She is Sr. Robertine Rybicki, a nun in the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis. The Order was founded in 1901 in Stevens Point, WI in response to the need to educate poor Polish immigrant families, and was originally known as the Polish Sisters of St. Joseph.

One just does not make a promise to a Polish nun and not keep it, as there are not enough indulgences in the world to compensate for lack of performance. I doubled my efforts!

The immigration of the youngest brother Anton Olejniczak was the easiest to document. The record of this trans-Atlantic passage was found on the Ellis Island website (http://www.ellisisland.org/). He sailed from Antwerp on the Finland, arriving Ellis Island, 6 June 1905. His last residence is listed as Klondau, the German name given to Chladowo, which is in the Gniezno District of Poznan Province. His destination was listed as Calumet, Mich., where he was to meet his brother Frank Olejniczak, my grandfather.

The record of my grandfather’s immigration was found in the Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1891-1937, through the Soundex Index to Canadian Border Entries through the St. Albans, Vermont District, 1895-1924 (M1462, Roll 293). The corresponding ship manifest (M1464, Roll 13) revealed that he sailed from Hamburg on the Bulgaria arriving Halifax, Nova Scotia, 19 June 1902. He was listed as Franz, the German form of Frank, with his last residence given as Klondau. His destination was given as Calumet, Mich. to meet his brother John Olejniczak. Some time later my grandfather’s immigration was also found on the Hamburg Passenger List, 1850-1934, through the Ancestry website (http://www.ancestry.com/).

The first of the Olejniczaks to arrive in Calumet was Leon, who married Katarzyna (Catherine) Krawczyk in Red Jacket on 21 July 1896. Selecting the All New York Passengers, 1820-1957, option on Steve Morse’s website (www.stevemorse.org) entering an exact first name of Leon and the year of arrival between 1890 and 1895 produced 11,179 hits. Adding German as the nationality reduced this number to 419 hits, but no name resembling Olejniczak was found. Substituting Polish for German produced 1,280 hits. Reviewing this latter list for passengers with a surname starting with “O” revealed a Leon Olyneiczak, who sailed from Antwerp on the Westernland, arriving Castle Garden, NY, 4 May 1882. A close inspection of the hand written ship manifest very strongly suggested that this was indeed Leon Olejniczak.

Family lore suggested that John and Agnes had immigrated together, but the record of their trans-Atlantic passage seemed impossible to find through the usual sources. The U.S. Census records for John and Agnes indicated immigration between 1896 and 1899. On a 1913 Application for Employment with the Calumet & Hecla Mining Co. John listed his immigration date as April 1898. Selecting the All New York Passengers, 1820-1957, option on Steve Morse’s website, and entering an arrival date of April 1898 without any additional information produced 31,675 hits. The first portion of the listing had several unnamed passengers. When reviewing page 8 of the 9 page ship manifest for an unnamed passenger, who sailed from Bremen, I found Agnieszka (Agnes) Olejniczak listed on line 9, and her brother Jan (John) listed on line 11. What luck! Both had given Chladowo as their last residence and indicated that their final destination was Calumet, Mich. to meet their brother. They had sailed from Bremen on the Lahn, arriving Castle Garden, NY, 15 April 1898.

I then wondered how their names had been transcribed. Refining the arrival date on Steve Morse’s website to 15 April 1898 reduced the number of hits to 1199. Adding a nationality of German reduced the list to 19 passengers. It then became clear as to why I had so much difficulty finding the immigration record for Agnes and John. Agnieszka (Agnes) Olejniczak was transcribed as Aguiczka Dejnicrap, and Jan (John) Olejniczak had been transcribed as Pass Clejsciczak.

The above illustrates how important it is to read everything and persevere. The records may not be available, or, as is the case more often than not, may be simply cloaked by transcription errors. I had finally documented the immigration of all five Olejniczaks who had initially settled in Calumet. More importantly I was able to keep my promise to Sr. Robertine.

Michigan Copper Country Club of Milwaukee

This photo was included in Mary Skiba's album, who was Leon Olejniczak and Catherine Krawczyk's second daughter. Leon was the oldest Olejniczak brother that worked in the copper mines in Calumet. I believe that the photo was taken in the 1920's. Unfortunately, I have not been able to identify a single person, and the "Club" was not a registered organization. I assume that the sign was made by one of the ex-miners, andthe group was embarking on a journey to visit old haunts. Given the rail system at the time and the need for labor, quite a few of the Calumet miners resettled in Milwaukee.
Cheers,
Ken

Kenneth Olen writes...........

Some Polish Marriages in Calumet

The records of the Calumet, Michigan marriages of my grandfather and his brothers and sister were posted on The Polish Pioneers of Calumet, Michigan website on 14th February 2008. These marriages illustrate that some of the descendants of the Olejniczak, Krawczyk, Tomczak, and Wojtkowiak families became intertwine. Because I had additional genealogical information on the various families, it was relatively easy for me to identify and establish these relationships, even though several names were spelled phonetically or misspelled.

A review of these marriage records suggests how tight the Polish community might have been in Calumet. In my case two of the Olejniczak brothers, Leon and my grandfather Frank, married sisters, Catherine and Victoria Krawczyk. Their brother John married Stanislawa Tomczak, who was a cousin to the Krawczyk sisters. A study of the marriage certificates, including attention to the names of the parents of the bride and groom and the names of the witnesses, provided strong suggestions as to possible family ties.

The names of the parents on the marriage certificates for the Olejniczak brothers and sister, i.e., Leon (m. 21st August 1896), John (m. 30th September 1899), Frank (m. 11th May 1904) and, Agnes (m. 25th October 1899), were Stephen Olejniczak and Mary Kubiak (Kubick in the case of Frank’s record). The Krawczyk family name did not fare as well on these records. Catherine’s marriage certificate indicated that her family name was Krafchyk, and Krofczyk was reported on Victoria’s marriage certificate. Both certificates suggest that their father’s name was Wm., where in fact it was Walenty.

The mother of the Krawczyk sisters was Magdalena Wojtkowiak. Magdalena’s sisters, Josephine and Mary, were married to Michael Frankowski and John Tomczak, respectively. Michael Krawczyk, Victoria's brother was witness to her marriage toFrank Olejniczak. As mentioned above the daughter of John Tomczak and Mary Wojtkowiak, Stanislawa, married the other Olejniczak brother John. Witnesses to the marriage of John Olejniczak and Stanislawa Tomczak were Melchior Rybicki and Agnes (not Rjnerku) Olejniczak, my grandfather’s sister. About a month later Melchior and Agnes married in same church in Red Jacket.

Leon Olejniczak's wife Catherine Krawczyk died 1st May 1911 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Leon returned to Calumet, probably with his family, and married 4th June 1912 a widow, Agnes Furyon Tomczak, who married first 20th February 1900 to another John Tomczak, son of Joseph Tomczak and Antonia Silorska. Following the miner’s strike in 1913 Leon moved his family to Detroit. Prior to 1910 Leon, Frank and John Olejniczak, Walenty Krawczyk and Michael Frankowski and their families moved to Milwaukee, and Melchior Rybicki and Agnes Olejniczak moved their family to East Chicago, Indiana.

The three Wojtkowiak sisters that immigrated to Calumet all married in Chojnica, Oborniki Co., Poznan, Poland (Posen, Prussia): Magdalena married Walenty Krawczyk 28th Jul 1872, Josephine, married Michael Frankowski 14th Nov 1875, and Mary married John Tomczak 23rd Nov 1879. A fourth sister, Catherine, stayed in Poland and married Walenty Goraczniak 17th Feb 1885 in Chojnica. The Tomczak’s were the first to immigrate to Calumet in 1885. The Frankowski’s followed in 1889, and the Krawczyk’s arrived in 1891.

The village of Chojnica no longer exists as it was absorbed into the Biedrusko Military District. It was in Oborniki County in Poznan Province, just north of the City of Poznan, west of the river Warta. During the German occupation Chojnica was also known as Schweinschade.

The Olejniczak’s were all born in Chladowo, Gniezno Co., Poznan, Poland. At the time of their immigration Chladowo was in Posen, Prussia and also known as Klondau. My grandfather immigrated to Calumet via Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1902. The details of Leon, John and Agnes’ immigration have yet to be discovered.
Kenneth Olen (krolen@gate.net)