Brygida was born in Gostynin, Poland. The history of Gostynin, a city about 80 miles west of Warsaw, dates back to the 6th century when a Slavic settlement was built north of the town. Control of the town was fought over from the 12th century, although the period of time between 1462 and 1655 was relatively calm and prosperous. However, in 1655, Sweden invaded, leaving more than 90% of the town in ruins. It was again burned by the Russians in 1772. And then in 1793, following the second partition of Poland, Gostynin was captured by the Prussian army. By 1824, Russian-controlled Congress Poland, relocated 124 German cloth makers and their families to Gostynin
In 1881, the city had 6,174 residents and was under Russian control as a result of the 3rd Partition of Poland in 1794. According to the "Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland", the economy was predominantly based on wool-weaving. The city was surrounded by farmland and the Vistula River served to transport the grain grown in the area.
Brygida was born in 28 June 1885 in Gostynin, Poland.
 |
|
It (the baptism) took place in the town of Gostynin, on June 29, 1885, at 9 a.m., Emilia Lach, a midwife, 56 years old from Gostynin, appeared in the presence of Franciszek Dolecki, a farmer, 28 years old, and Walenty Zdziennicki, 68 years old, both from Gostynin, and presented the child. She announced that she was born yesterday in Gostynin at 9 am to Józefa Kulińska née Dalecka, 36, and Karol Kuliński, a worker from Gostynin. On the same day (10 July 1885 - Gregorian calendar), the one-day-old baby was baptized and on that day she was named Brygida. The godparents were Franciszek Doliński and Marianna Nowakowska. |
Notice how Karol did not show up to inform about the birth of Brygida, which was customary at the time, and the midwife only claims that he is the father of the baby. But this is for another blog post.
However, we do know a bit of Brygida's lineage on her mother, Józefa's, side:
All were from the area surrounding Gostynin, but we know little more than that. I purposely did not include Brygida's father's lineage since as mentioned in her baptismal record, Karol was not present and the record also states that Józefa was not living with husband.
Brygida's mother, Józefa, worked in the fields and as my mom remembers being told, when Józefa gave birth, she was expected to resume work in the fields. Actually, this is consistent with the way author Władysław Stanisław Reymont describes life for a peasant farmer in his Nobel Prize winning book "The Peasants".
I have never found a record of Brygida's passage to the US. The nearest I can find is that of Agata Kulinska, who arrived at Ellis Island on 25 of Feb 1905 on the ship Breslau. If this is true, Brygida arrived with $6 to her name expecting to be a maid/servant.
She also brought with her pride possession: a Polish prayer book, written in 1898 and published in Budziejowice, which is located near Kraków. .
 |
| Marriage Record 1906. |
Son Joanas (John) Nadwodny was born the following year on 7 November 1907 and daughter, Wanda, on 6 Dec 1909.
I've never been able to find a census record for Brygida for 1910, 1915, 1920, or 1925. Brygida's half-sister, Marianna, immigrated to the US in 1914, leaving behind two children: Adam and Wanda, and joining her husband, Józef, in Brooklyn. Józef had immigrated to the US, arriving in Ellis Island on 5 Dec 1912. Whether Marianna and Józef planned to send for them later, we shall never know. Marianna lived in Brooklyn until her death in 1972. Nina remembers visiting Chiocka Maruska when she was a young girl.
 |
| Wanda Palczewska (b. 1902) and Adam Palczewski (b. 1904) with Józefa Dalecka and Karol Kuliński (Abt. 1912) |
The next record we have of Brygida is John Nadwodny's WW1 draft card from 1918, stating that he was married to Regina Nadwodny and living at 174 Wythe Ave.
Brygida is mentioned in Wanda's marriage record in 1927 and John's marriage in 1929, both described on the page honoring Joanas (John) Nadwodny, Jr., my grandfather. However, on Wanda's marriage record she is referred to as Helen Andrychowska and on John's as Eugenia Kaleuska.
And then on 21 April 1930, Brygida, now called Helen, married William Larson. There are a few items of note. Helen was living at 169 E. Broadway, Manhattan, which is where Paolina Livaccari (my grandmother) was living at the time she and my grandfather were married in 1927. Helen's last name is listed as Andres, which is crossed out and replaced by Nadwodny. And her father's last name is listed as Andres. John Sr. is stated as having died around 1920. The full marriage record can be found here.
As a young girl, Nina spent her summers in Connecticut with her Aunt Jennie and Uncle Peter. Grandma and Grandpa Larson either drove her there (as her father did not drive until the 1940s) or they took the train. Aunt Jennie and Uncle Peter lived in what was likely built as a summer cottage on the Schneider farm. The cottage had only one bedroom and was built on stilts. There was a second cottage next to the one in which they lived, but it was vacant and used as storage. Peter worked as a mechanic in the automobile industry according to the 1930 census and Jennie worked as a switchboard operator at a department store. Nina remembers Aunt Jennie also helping on the farm.
The Schneider farm was located in a valley next to a stream. My mom remembers walking from the cottage up a steep embankment and then down into the valley. My mom also remembers fishing on Fitchville Pond. To go fishing, they had to walk up a hill, across a street, through another farm, and to the rowboat. The lake led to the mill and a dam. The stream was infested with snakes and in a densely covered, dark area.
 |
| Helen Larson, Nina Nadwodny, and Pauline Livaccari |
 |
| Aunt Jennie Nadwodny in rowboat (Abt. 1935) |
Nina recalls visits from the rabbi to oversee the killing of chickens and then to bless their food. She also remembers occasionally playing with the Schneider daughters Rita (b. 1937) and Paula (b. 1939) who were similar in age. According to Nathan's naturalization application, he was born in "Druia, Russia, now Poland" (now Belarus) and immigrated in 1907 via Liverpool, England. Frieda was born in Brooklyn in 1911. Nathan's wife Rifka (Rebecca) Kafkov immigrated from Vilna, located in the then-Russian controlled Lithuania. Abraham immigrated in 1912 through Liverpool, England. According to his WW2 draft card, he was born in 1897 in Postave, Russia. It is unclear how the families met.
 |
| 1930 census Bozrah, CT |
Nina recalled, "Grandma Larsen’s kitchen in the house in Demarest was very small. It consisted of a stove, a table (that we still have and is in the porch), two chairs, the kitchen sink, and a cabinet. It was smaller than my kitchen. It’s hard to know why the kitchen was so small as the house had a dining room, living room, and two bedrooms."
 |
| House in Demarest, NJ |
 | |||
|
Nina remembers that her Grandma Larson wore her hair in braids, which she then arranged like a crown on her head. She would curl her hair using a curling iron that looked more like needle nose pliers. She headed the iron on the burners of the stove, let it cool, and then curled her hair.
Nina remembered, "Grandma Larson used to make blood pudding from the goose that she killed in her backyard. She made her own noodles for soup and I can still see them draped over the table and chairs to dry. The noodles were mainly for soup. She made the best peach pie and chicken soup."
In the 1940s Helen Larson worked cleaning floors in the Bennett Building (93-99 Nassau Street, Manhattan). William Larsen worked in an office in the same building. Nina remembers visiting her Grandpa Larsen's office and banging on the old typewriter.
 |
| Helen Larson (Abt. 1949) |
Nina remembers being at the farm the day World War II ended on August 14, 1945. President Truman declared a two-day holiday. People took to the streets, horns blasted, bells tolled, and people drove around in pick-up trucks, beeping car horns.
Wanda and Peter adapted a boy named Billy (b. 1947).
 |
| Helen, William Larson and Billy Magrel (Abt. 1948) |
 |
| William and Helen Larson, Billy Magrel, Rosie and George Magrel (Peter's brother and sister-in-law) |
Nina remembers going with Grandma Larson into visit Brygida's half-sister, Mariana Kuliński, whom she called Chiocka Maruska. Mariana lived in Brooklyn (170 Diamond St. Brooklyn according to 1940 and 1950 census records). To get to Brooklyn, they would travel from Cresskill to Jersey City, take the ferry to lower Manhattan, then the subway, and then a bus. On Easter Saturday they would travel to St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Greenpoint, Brooklyn to have the Easter basket blessed.
 |
| Helen and William Larson |
Helen Larson was hospitalized for two weeks at Englewood Hospital. She returned home on 4 August 1948 (Bergen Evening Record).
Brygida/Helen died on 19 October 1950.
William continued to post notices in memory of Helen for several years after her passing.
 |
| 19 October 1951 |
 |
| Posted 29 May 1952 |
I remember Grandpa Larson (as we called him) visiting my grandparent's home in Cresskill. He was a kind man, although I remember being frightened of him because of his height.
No comments:
Post a Comment