After discovering that my grandfather had 9 brothers and sisters, I wondered why we hadn’t heard more of them. Many of my generation knew that he wrote and received letters from one or two sisters in Poland. What of the others?
Here is the story of of Stanley and his nine siblings and parents.
Magdalena born September 14, 1885. Magdalena married Tomacz Kunat in 1905. A Tamasz Kunot is shown to arrive at Ellis Island on June 2, 1907. He is married and 31 years old. It list him as Polish and last residence of Fukov which does not show up as a location in Poland. He is travelling alone and no subsequent listing for the arrival of a Magdalena appears. The handwriting on the ship manifest makes the listing of Fukov suspect and the comments section which might contain information on a final US destination is
Helena, born September 14, 1885, the second of these twins died three days after birth
Marianna, born March 26, 1888, died the following year in 1889 at 1 year old.
Wojciech, born April 20, 1890 dies at the age of 14 in 1905
Stanislaus, born April 1. 1892 marries Mary Pugacz and dies in Michigan at age 88 in 1981
Jozefa, born July 26, 1895 dies at age 2 1/2 in 1898
Ludwig, January 22, 1898 dies as a 1 year old in 1899
Ludwika, born October 25, 1900 We should assume that this is the second sister that Stanley corresponded with. I have found no record of her death prior to 1920 and any marriage record may not yet be available as Poland archive privacy regulations may hide them for a few more years.
Adam, born December 13, 1902 died in 1903 4 weeks after birth
Katarzyna, born February 6, 1904 dies the same year at 3 months.
Stanley’s father Jozef Lichota dies in 1905. Stanley’s mother Katarzyna Sadowska remarries in 1915 to Pawel Broda.
All of the above births, marrriages, deaths, and remarriages are recorded as occurring at the parish at Dobrowoda, Kikow, Poland.
Please pause to think about these events. Jozef and Katarzyna lose six of their 10 children before the age if 2 1/2 and one son at the age of 14. Can any of us imagine that experience? By the time Stanley leaves for America in 1910, he has at most two surviving siblings Mariann and Ludwiga. His widowed mother is saying goodbye to a son who she knows she will never see again.
The fact that Stanley has surviving sister(s) in Poland make searching for descendants of this family a bit more difficult since no additional sons means the end of the Lichota names from Jozef and Katarzyna. But who doesn’t love a challenge.
An additional note on Ludwika. Her godparents are Wojciech (George) Osak and Franciszka Gor. On Dec. 12, 1910 just a short time after Stanley’s arrival, a Franciszek Osak married and age 39 arrives at Ellis Island. On the his immigration entry log he states he is going to Olyphant, PA to meet Stanley Lichota. I continue to explore potential connections between names that frequently appear as godparents or witnesses e.g. Pawelec, Bojda, Doktor, etc.