Category Archives: New York City

Six immigrant ancestors and the fault lines of World War I

Posted on July 15, 2014 by johnkowal

To the day they died, I’m sure my immigrant ancestors remembered where they were when they learned of the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, one hundred years ago. That calculated act of terrorism plunged the countries of their … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Line - Agin, Family Line - Bosakowski, Family Line - Kowal, Family Line - Sabol, Germany, Kharucha Vel'ka, New Jersey, New York City, Slovakia, Zalozce/Zaliztsi | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Andrew Sabol’s final chapter

Posted on April 19, 2014 by johnkowal

Tracing the life story of my great-grandfather Andrej (Andrew) Sabol has been a painstaking effort. But now I can write the final chapter. I first found Andrew (he used his English name after he emigrated) on ancestry.com, in U.S. census records for … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Line - Sabol, New Jersey, New York City | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

My connection to the very first settlers of New Amsterdam

Posted on January 17, 2014 by johnkowal

I have lived in Manhattan for most of my adult life. But I did not realize until very recently that I descend from the first European colonists to call this island home. My ancestors were part of an advance party … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Line - Agin, New York City | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

The final chapter in the Bosakowski immigration story

Posted on January 16, 2012 by johnkowal

In a series of earlier posts, I described how my grandmother Katarzyna Bosakowska was one of over a dozen family members who came to America in the early years of the 20th century in a classic chain migration. Katarzyna’s older … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Line - Bosakowski, New York City, Zalozce/Zaliztsi | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

18th pale descendant

Posted on June 22, 2011 by johnkowal

In the song “The Queen Is Dead,” from my favorite Smiths album of the same name, Morrissey sings: And so, I checked all the registered historical facts and I was shocked into shame to discover how I’m the 18th pale … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Line - Agin, New York City | Tagged , | 6 Comments

The Lower East Side or the Eastern Front: the Bosakowski family during World War I

Posted on June 21, 2011 by johnkowal

In earlier posts, I told the story of how my grandmother Katarzyna Bosakowska came to America. She was one of at least sixteen Bosakowski family members from the town of Zalozce, in the far northeastern corner of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Line - Bosakowski, New York City, Zalozce/Zaliztsi | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The phonograph swindler

Posted on April 23, 2011 by johnkowal

Not long after my grandmother Katarzyna Bosakowska arrived in New York in April 1912, she landed a job as a live-in servant with the family of Joseph H. Mayers. Mayers, an immigrant from Russia, lived at 101 Essex Street with … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Line - Bosakowski, New York City | Tagged , | 3 Comments

The Bosakowskis take Manhattan: 1910-1915

Posted on April 23, 2011 by johnkowal

In an earlier post, I provided an overview of the sixteen Bosakowski cousins – including my grandmother Katarzyna – who immigrated from Zalozce, Austria to the United States in the first two decades of the 20th century. Then, in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Line - Bosakowski, New York City, Zalozce/Zaliztsi | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

My grandmother’s immigration records – at long last!

Posted on April 16, 2011 by johnkowal

When you start a family history project you have this dream of finding the very moment when your ancestor first set foot in America. In practice, this can be extremely frustrating. There are all kinds of indexes and databases, from … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Line - Bosakowski, New York City, Zalozce/Zaliztsi | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

The first group of Bosakowskis come to New York: 1905-1910

Posted on March 27, 2011 by johnkowal

On May 26, 1905 Ignacy Bosakowski sailed into New York harbor on the S.S. Carpathia – a ship that would become famous seven years later when it rescued the survivors of the Titanic. Ignacy boarded the ship in Trieste two … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Line - Bosakowski, New York City, Zalozce/Zaliztsi | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments