Posts Tagged Gaber Genealogy

Importance of Speaking to Living Relatives to Glean Information

I thought I identified the correct family line on the Molner branch of my extended family tree. The information fit, names of the sisters matched so I thought, and the location fit. I heard a story that the mother died young that fit in with data I gathered. I spent countless hours trying to find records of their lives.

Then I went to a wedding.

In September 2015, I attended my niece’s wedding. I had the opportunity to connect with Aunt Sandy. Aunt Sandy is related to my older brother and sister. The Molner branch of the tree is from my mother’s first marriage to Robert Gaber. My mother, Shirley, married Robert in July 1954. Robert died suddenly in December 1956. My mother was a widow at 21, with two toddlers to raise.

There wasn’t much contact with the relatives and descendants of this line as in most families the ties that bind where long cut and we drifted apart. My sister reconnected to Aunt Sandy when she moved to Florida where her Gaber grandparents once owned a house that Sandy now lives in. That night at the wedding, Sandy and I, started talking details of her mother, Elizabeth Molner family.

I found out I was way off this branch. Luckily, the axillary bud of this twig was fairly short when I lopped it off my family tree. In its place has grown a sturdy twig that will support the leaf primordia that will turn into leaves to fill in the family tree.

Meet the Molner’s

Aunt Sandy provided the names of the siblings, the parents, and that the family lived in Mahanoy, Pennsylvania. Turns out Elizabeth Molner was one of nine children both to Paul Molner and Veronica Petrilla. Both parents lived to the early 1950’s. Currently, I can only find information about the parents from the 1930 and 1940 Censuses and possible death records.

The 1930 Census has Paul’s birthplace is listed as Poland, Russia. Veronica Petrilla Molner is from Austria. Paul immigrated in 1905 and Veronica immigrated in 1904. Married about 1917. The first four children were born in Illinois. The remaining five were born in Pennsylvania. The 1940 Census contradicts with the 1930 Census listing all the children born in Pennsylvania.  Except Elizabeth Molner, who is now married to Stanley Gaber, is listed on the 1940 Census as being born in Illinois.

I will have to create a research plan for this family to locate further information. Did the parents marry in Illinois, are there naturalization papers, can I find out from whence they immigrated and all the other pertinent details. Now that I am on the right footpath.

Am thankful that I spoke to Aunt Sandy while she is still alive. My own father passed away last November 2015. There are still more questions I should have asked. It is so important to connect to the past through the living.

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#52Ancestors: Week 15 – Grzesiak surname – “How do you spell that?”

This is week 15 of the 2015 #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge where a group of u52ancestors-2015 Images blog about a different ancestor for each week of the year.  To learn more about the 52 Ancestor Challenge visit Amy Johnson’s site at Amy’s website.

 

This week theme inspiration is “How do you spell your last name”? I have to make corrections all the time to my last name, Budny. I have written about the “Borucki” last name too. Sure, you can get the spelling down. But, can we latter descendants actually pronounce the name correctly?

Intertwined on the family tree is the lineage and descendants of my mother’s first husband, Robert Gaber. Robert’s grandmother is Rozalia Grzesiak. “Grzesiak” is the spelling I am currently using in my Family Tree Maker database. That may change depending on future research and consensus. Rose, as she is most known by in various records, was of Polish ancestry. Grzesiak or Griacjka may be of Lithuanian ethnicity. Rose’s birth location has been recorded as Lithuania, Poland Austria, or Galicia.

I have listed the various spelling variations gleaned from Ancestry or FamilySearch. It appears that Rose could not write her name. An “X” mark is used as her signature on both Helen and Blanche’s birth records.

How do you spell “Grzesiak”?

Rozalia Gressiak – 1891 – Rose’s marriage record to Casper Gaber
Rose Gresshack – 1906 – Helen Gaber’s original and corrected birth record
Rosalia Greszek – 1915 Katie Gaber’s marriage license to Alexander Ravinski. This marriage doesn’t appear to have been solemnized.
Rose Gresiak 1925 – son Joseph’s marriage record to Anna Syrze
Rose Greshock – 1926 – daughter Caroline Gober (Gaber) marriage record to Frank J Neja (Naja)
Creesiak – 1929 – Blanche Gaber’s marriage record to Ferdinand Kozakiewicz in Detroit, MI
Grzesiak – 1941 Delayed birth record for Blanche Gaber, born in 1908. Rose was the informant.
Rozalia Griacjka Gaber – Find a Grave Memorial# 133016852

Sources:

“Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMC5-VNR : accessed 12 April 2015), Kaspar Gaber and Rozalia Gressiak, 01 Jun 1891; citing Marriage, Pennsylvania, county courthouses, Pennsylvania; FHL microfilm 2,131,180.

Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Birth Records, 1906-1908 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. – Original data: Pennsylvania (State). Birth certificates, 1906–1908. Series 11.89 (50 cartons). Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Record Group 11. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

“Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMCY-VTX : accessed 12 April 2015), Rosalia Greszek in entry for Alexander Ravinski and Katie Skrowron, 06 Jul 1915; citing Marriage, Pennsylvania, county courthouses, Pennsylvania; FHL microfilm 2,131,385.

“Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMZS-9GJ : accessed 12 April 2015), Rose Gresiak in entry for Joseph Gober and Anna Syrze, 11 Nov 1925; citing Marriage, Pennsylvania, county courthouses, Pennsylvania; FHL microfilm 2,131,506.

“Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMZS-S7Z : accessed 12 April 2015), Rose Greshock in entry for Frank J Neja and Caroline C Gober, 14 Jun 1926; citing Marriage, Pennsylvania, county courthouses, Pennsylvania; FHL microfilm 2,131,506.

Blanche Gaber’s marriage record. Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867–1952. Michigan Department of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics. Ancestry.com. Michigan, Marriage Records, 1867-1952 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.

Findagrave.com, Find A Grave Memorial# 133016852, created by: roger56chevy, Record added: Jul 19, 2014. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=133016852&ref=acom

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#52Ancestors – No. 37 – Monsignor John A. Naja

This post is number 37 in the series of the #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge where a group of us blog about a different ancestor for each week of the year.  To learn more about the 52 Ancestor Challenge visit Amy Johnson’s site at Amy’s website.

Monsignor John A. Naja

Monsignor John A. Naja

A leaf hint appeared on my tree that caused me to scamper up the family tree of my mother’s first husband.  I was delighted to finally find a passport application for someone that was in my (extended) family. In reviewing the passport, I discovered that the person attended the SS. Cyril & Methodius Seminary in Orchard Lake, MI, in the 1921.   This past August 2014, I attended the Polish Genealogy course as part of Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) at the Polish Mission on the seminary campus.

My mother’s father-in-law, Stanley Gaber, had a sister named Caroline Gaber.  Caroline married Frank Naja.  Frank’s brother, John Antony Naja (1901-1980) became a priest.   The Naja’s were saloon keepers and possibly an Undertaker back in the day. In the early  part of the 1900’s, the Gaber’s and Naja’s families resided in Shenandoah, PA.  John went to study for the priesthood at the Michigan campus in his mid teens.

In 1921, John decided he wanted to travel and go to school in Europe and applied for a passport. The application includes his photo and a follow up letter to correct the spelling of his name.  His last name was incorrectly spelled at Maja.

John A Naja_PassportApp2John A Naja_PassportApp1John A Naja_Baptismal

Source:
Passport Applications, January 2, 1906–March 31, 1925. NARA Microfilm Publication M1490, 2740 rolls. General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Photo:  http://www.poles.org/db/pol_parish/stladislaus_philpa/st.ladislaus_01.html

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#52 Ancestors – No. 18 – Kasper Gaber

This post is number 18 in the series of the #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge where a group of us blog about a different ancestor for each week of the year.  To learn more about the 52 Ancestor Challenge visit Amy’s website.

It’s been a rainy day here on the west coast of Florida.  Perfect time to do some genealogy research and add a post to my blog. I chose to blog about my mother’s first husband’s family, the Gaber’s.

Kasper GABER is the grandfather to my mother’s first husband.  Kasper is sometimes spelled Casper.  Born in 1866, he immigrated from the Austrian Poland Partition around 1885.  He settled in Shenandoah, Schuylkill, Pennsylvania.

The Gaber family names varies in records.  Variants both written and probably spoken pronunciation, include Gober or Gobrich/Gabrich.  They are diminutives of the Polish name.

The earliest record for him may be the 1890 Census Directory Listing.  There is a Casper Gabel listed at 360 S. West Street in Shenandoah.  The record at PA USGenWeb site is typewritten and not an original copy.

Kasper marries Rozalia GRIACJKA (Gressiak) in June 1891.  They have 12 children of which nine survive infancy. For the next 35 plus years they reside at 356 S West Street. Just a few doors down from the 1890 Directory. The 1910 Census has them residing at 356 1/2 West Street.

There are a total of 16 people living in one house. The Gaber family with their five children and four boarders are living in one section of the house.  They rent out part of the house to the Ptascosky family and their boarder who either live upstairs or downstairs at 356 West Street.

Below is a current image of the house address captured from Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/4iuZa.  The length of the house is long and looks like it had a basement entrance at one time, which looks scary to me. The house is owned by Kasper. The dwelling becomes a single family house by the 1920’s and only the Gaber’s live there.

Gaber Residence from 1900-1930.

House at 356 South West St, Shenandoah, PA

Kasper passes away in 1934.  I have not located Rosie Gaber in the 1940 Census.  Some members of the family, including my “step” grandfather, Stanley Gaber, move to Michigan after 1935.

Kasper Gaber Gravestone

Kasper Gaber Gravestone

Kasper is buried at Saint George’s Cemetary, West Mahanoy, Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, United States. The Polish Gravestone translation on his tombstone reads, Prosi o modlitwę (“Asking for a prayer” or “Please say a prayer for him”)

Sources
Google Maps
http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/schuylkill/census/1890/shenandoah4.txt
http://www.pgsa.org/PDFs/CrashCourseInPolish.pdf
NARA Census Records
“BillionGraves Index,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/27MJ-YCJ : accessed 03 May 2014), Kasper Gaber, 1934; citing Saint Georges Cemetery, West Mahanoy, Pennsylvania.

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