My Great Grandfather Adam Budny disappeared some time in 1917. As far as the current generation knows, he was never heard from again. No telling if his wife Mary Borucki if found out what happen. She was pregnant with her seventh child, my grandfather. She had nine children in all. The first two didn’t make it past the first couple of months after birth.

Families either have no stories to relate or have an abundance of tales to tell of past generations. It seems that Mary’s children told their children a different spin on Adam’s disappearance. The stories told seem to weave around key words that I try desperately to grasp to assemble some thread of truth or clue. Adam Budny is my brick wall. I have nicked a brick in Mary’s brick wall and hope to knock it down soon. Adam’s is another story, where did he came from, why did he leave.

I heard the common one from my father that his grandmother was royalty, a Polish Countess. Other stories from my Dad, included Adam abandon the family as he did not want to care for seven children. Adam ran off with another woman, Adam ran off to join the priesthood. However, I also heard a story that Adam was studying for the priesthood when he met Mary and left the calling to marry her. Two different threads regarding priesthood, is there a connection. When you listen to the stories from past generations go back and look for common threads in the stories. Key words may lead you to other resources to explore.

My uncle Edward once said that Adam came from Budne or Budni, Poland and either Adam’s or Mary’s father political status was equivalent to a Senator. Mary’s family disproved of the Adam’s and Mary’s marriage, because Adam was a stable laborer and beneath her station. Edward conveyed that the family lived in Scranton, PA, then Chicago and finally Detroit, MI.

Aunt Phyllis told her son Chester, that Adam left the family and moved to Erie, PA. Through research, there is at this point, an unrelated Budny line with connections to the priesthood living in the area. Could they be relatives waiting to be found? Who knows, I am missing too much info on Adam Budny to make a connection. My cousin Chester who is 90 years old and out lived most cousins who grew up with him. Chester is six years younger than my grandfather. He is all that is left of those who knew my great grandmother. He only has bits and pieces that help weave the stories together. Chester stated that his mother was born in Vandergrift, PA. Where Adam was either a stable manager or laborer working at a Zoo. Another thread woven around ‘stable laborer’.

Chester is so hoping I find Adam somewhere in Pennsylvania. I am not sure I will. My cousin Tom who is descended from Mary’s daughter Josephine told me stories from his mother. Tom’s memory of reading a Ann Arbor News paper clipping detailing the death on Stanley Budny put an end to the myriad of stories about Stanley. Stanley Budny died early in his life. At 14 he became the breadwinner of the family after Adam disappeared. The stories were that Stanley was in the Detroit Purple gang and wash shot by a police officer or was a police officer and shot by a member of the Detroit Purple gang. Was either killed in Ohio or Ontario, Canada while he was doing some thing illegal. I looked for any record in Detroit or Wayne County for Stanley. Early budding genealogist mistake and long term tunnel vision. The winning woven thread is ‘police officer’. Stanley was killed by an Ann Arbor police officer while running through the streets of Ann Arbor, MI located in Washtenaw County.

The story Tom heard from his mother about Adam is interesting to analyze. Aunt Josephine version is that Mary received or inherited some property in Poland. Adam goes back to Poland to inquire, sale or settle Mary’s stake in the property. Adam is never heard from again. According to Josephine, Mary’s brother Ignatz Borucki, writes back to the Polish relatives for news about Adam’s with no success. There are no records or letters supporting this story. Anything could have happen to Adam. It’s 1917, world war one is raging in Europe, men are conscripted into service. The Spanish Flu is rampant and hitting Europe hard.

Back in Detroit, a woman is waiting the birth of her seventh child, wondering where her husband has gone. She has no means of income and will have seven mouths to feed. What happen to Adam and why does the story of his disappearance varies among his children. What did Mary really know if she knew anything at all. What thread did she weave? In the 1918 Polk City Directory, Mary Budny is listed as a widow of Adam Budny.