Poles/Ukrainians in Hamtramck, MI

Hi,

I was looking up people who died in Hamtramck, MI, as my great-aunt and her second husband lived there. I also heard the name mentioned on here. I was surprised to see that many people were Poles/Ukrainians. One man from there even had my uncommon surname. Why were people of Poland and Ukraine drawn to this place?

Many Polish settled in Michigan, not only in Hammtramck but Pozen and Bay City- Saginaw. The auto industry is why my grandparents came and once my grandfather became a foreman at General Motors he encouraged more families from back in Poland to come for the good union jobs he was hiring for. The lumbering era in Michigan also attracted many Poles.

My mother-in-laws family surname Boron lived near Hamtramck, Mi. at one time. Her father John Boron came from Poland. Looking for relatives.

Born and bred Hamtramck here...great multi-ethnic town, still predominantly (55%) Polish.

Great bakeries, restaurants, markets and bars/clubs.

The auto industry was the main reason why Poles immigrated to Ham-Town. Still mostly auto people living there. Lots of new Immigrants...

My Mom was born in Hamtramck in 1946. Her maiden name is Rybka. I am married to a Boron. My husband's father is from the Ellwood City, PA area.

Two branches of my family migrated to Detroit in 1909 and both initially settled in Hamtramck. One branch still lives in the general Detroit area.

The families of mine who settled in Hamtramck were: Kocielko, Pilip, Hancasky and Lewicki. Do these surnames run in your family?

No. Mine were Konasiewicz, Blaszczuk and Cymbalski.

Yes, I am related to Wladyslaw Lawicki. His wife was Raesel Lawicki and they had 3 children, Pauline, Louis, and Walter. Pauline was my grandmother. They lived in Hamtramck 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930.

Do any of these names run in your family.

Using the US federal census are you?

Hi,

This sounds very similar to the last name of my great-uncle Andrew (probably born Andrzej) Lewicki. He was born in 1924 and died in 1999. His wife Anna Kocielko Hancasky-Lewicki (1921 - 1996) was my grandfather's only known sister.

Also, according to the SSDI, a Wasyl Kocielko lived in Hamtramck. He was born in 1914 and died in 1973. That was my great-grandfather's name, but this man is not him. He was probably from the second wave of Kocielkos who came to the U.S. in the 1930's I was told about.

My husbands mother and his cousins across the street all have the last name of Hancasky. I am trying to research his family while we are stationed here in Europe so that we can visit places of our family origins from Europe. His fathers last name is Seiber and his mother last name is Hancasky. Any thing that people me know about either family is greatly appreciated!

Hi,

Your mother-in-law was Darlene, right? She was my father's first cousin. These two links have info about her grandparents, etc.

https://polishforums.com/archives/2005-2009/genealogy/poland-research-4021/

https://polishforums.com/genealogy/kocielko-surname-appreciate-info-7081/

Andrew Lewicki and Anna Lewicki were my grandparents/guardians for over 14 years. Do you live in Illinois?

One othe piece of information you may be interested to know is that Hancasky was a name created by Raymond Hancovczak(not 100% on the spelling at this time), he later returned to the original name however the children from his first marriage and first wife continuted on with Hancasky.