I'm trying to research my paternal grandparents family tree. I have found the ship's manifest from my grandfather's entry to Ellis Island, New York in 1904. The name of his town of origin is listed in the Ellis Island records as "Pvseakow". I can find no reference to that name anywhere. Is it possible that the town name had a different spelling? Has anyone heard of this town? All census records for him list his nationality as Polish, but given the movement of country borders during the past, I'm not even sure this town was in Poland.
I would deeply appreciate any help in identifying this town.
Thank you for your reply! I've added 2 attachments that I've been able to locate. It's hard to read the ship's manifest, but the Ellis Island site calls the town Pvseakow.
Thanks again!
Mike
the ship's manifest, grandfather was Antoni Drozdowski
The 'Pvseakov' thing just looks like something copied incorrectly from handwriting. Looking at the scan, it might not be Pruszków, however the first three letters are certainly Prz which does narrow it down a bit.
Looking at it more closely, that official should have taken a course in penmanship!
Looking at it, and thinking about it, Przemków could be a good bet. Not just because the fourth letter could very be an e, but because Pruszków was beginning to be a bit of a boom town in those years and very much somewhere that people went to rather than from.
Is there a Jewish connection at all? Both places has sizable Jewish communities then, one more than the other.
I thought he was referring to his grandfather's entry, and he is called Antoni Drozdowski. The woman above has the surname Matras, but the OP hasn't said that she is his grandmother.
They came from the same village and Mike didn't say anything when I linked to Karolina Matras above, that's why I assumed that he was looking for her as well. But you're right, the second document refers to Antoni Drozdowski.
Yes, I did notice that, but thought he would have mentioned his grandmother. In his first post he only mentions his grandfather's entry. Oh well, perhaps he'll post later and clarify it for us!
Hi, yes I saw that Karolina Matras apparently traveled with my grandfather to the US, but I have no idea who she was. She was not my grandmother, who arrived later in the US and married my grandfather. Karolina later married a man named John Giera and her name became Caroline Giera. Her family lived in the US in the same general area as my grandfather and she died in 1975, but to my knowledge, her name was never mentioned by my father's side of the family. I'm trying to research who she was, and why she might have traveled with my grandfather, which is part of the reason I wanted to know the name of the town that she and my grandfather came from.
I did a little more research, and it seems that the civil registration records (births, marriages and deaths, 1874-1908) for Primkenau (Przemkow), Kreis Sprottau, have survived the war. They can be found in the Wrocław State Archive, Legnica branch. Good luck!
PS: There's a ton of historic images available on Google
Hi i am trying to find polish birth certificates for my great grandfather Jan Bobrowicz born in 1862 who was from the town of Jablonce which had an ethnic polish population, located in Russian territory in 1900. It became part of Poland in 1918 till 1938 and is now in Belarus. I know it was near the town of Wolkolata.
These sound the best so far however it's hard to know without more information. It's possible that the person posting wa talking about a distant memory of a placename said by somebody who died a while ago.
The word 'Frostianne' does sound a bit like 'Prussian' though, doesn't it, especially if said by someone very elderly.
