No, you are not seeing double. Yes, there is another Władysław (Walter) Mierzejewski in my close family. This gentleman was my grandmother, Helena’s eldest brother.
Władysław was born 20 June 1881, Borowce, Mazowieckie, Poland to Stanislaus and Anna Keijewska. His birthdate is per the Social Security Death Index, I have not found a birth record for him yet. He was in the US by 1908, landing first in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The 1910 US census shows him living at 1815 Twelfth Ave. in Altoona with his wife, Apolonia and child, Zofia. The census indicates each came to the US in 1907, but were married two years. Zofia was a year old. It’s unlikely that they came to the US married. Apolonia was indicated as 20 years old in this census, and if she came in 1907, that would have meant Apolonia was 17 and most probably traveled here with parents or another family member.
Daughter Zofia was born in April 1909. Apolonia died on 12 September 1910 in Altoona of typhoid fever. Her obituary describes her as exceptionally beautiful. Her obituary oddly names her as Cathalina; however, we can easily determine that this is indeed Apolonia due to the naming of her husband in this obituary and the address on Twelfth Ave. is the same as on the 1910 census.
It’s mentioned she was a member of St. Mary’s German Roman Catholic church in Altoona. At the time, Altoona did not have a Polish parish and St. Mary’s seemed to be best suited for the Poles in the region. The following year, a new parish was being built, Sts. Peter & Paul, which was to be primarily Polish, although it did have members of the Greek rite in the parish. The parish later began inviting Greek Orthodox priests to periodically come and provide Greek Orthodox services for those parishioners.
Widowed and with a very small daughter to care for, Władysław remarried not quite two years later. As the case with my grandmother and grandfather, Władysław too married a woman with the surname of Mierzejewski. Bronisława (Bernice) married Walter on 9 October 1912 in Sts. Peter & Paul parish, with pastor Fr. Julius Langer performing the marriage. The marriage record provides the names of Bernice’s parents, Peter and Emily (I would think the names could be Piotr and Aniela or Emilia). Władysław and Bernice would go on to have two daughters together: Czeszlawa (Charlotte), born in 1913 and Harriet (Hattie), born in 1918.
Władysław and Bernice did leave Pennsylvania by 1918 as he gave his address as 1060 Hamilton Ave. on his World War I draft registration.
We can learn a bit about Walter, and Bernice, and Zofja from a passport application Zofja made in Warsaw in 1924. She went to Poland with Bernice in 1921 and it appears Zofja lived there for about three years. This passport application states she last left the United States in May 1921 and arrived in Ostrolęka. Zofja also states that her step-mother brought her to Poland and that her step-mother was a Polish citizen. Additionally, an address that is commonly used with my grandmother’s family–herself and two of her brothers, Władysław and Jan–1763 Buckingham Street is provided as her residence.
The passport application also states her identifying information was a Certificate of Baptism issued by St. Mary’s of Czestochowa Church in Gallitzen, Pennsylvania on January 12 of that year to the Consulate General in Warsaw, and attached also was a copy of her birth certificate from Pennsylvania reflecting her mother’s correct name of Apolonia. So this does prove I have the correct Zofja Mierzejewska because of the identifying passport information. And this brings to me greater detail in my grandparent’s journey here. Both of my grandmother’s brothers had lived at 1763 Buckingham within a span of a few years. They provided that address to my grandmother and grandfather to declare as their destination on the ship’s manifest. My father would be born at this same address later the same year that Zofja would return to the US.
While I never have located Władysław’s initial immigration manifest(s) or his naturalization papers (yet), the 1930 census states he submitted his naturalization papers and the 1940 census indicates him as naturalized. However, his wife, Bernice, was still indicated as an alien in 1940. I also came across an interesting manifest, dated 21 September 1927. Both Władysław and Bernice are listed on this manifest. They are returning from Kaczyny, Poland. The reason for the trip was given as “visit father.”
What is interesting about this document:
- It states Władysław’s place of birth is Borowce, so I have additional verification of birth location.
- Władysław and Bernice’s US address given on this manifest was 620 Woodstock. Next door to Helena and her husband, Walter. (They were residing at 622 Woodstock per the 1930 census.)
- There is a hint for tracing either Władysław or Bernice’s father. (It does not say whose father they were visiting, and of course, finding a Mierzejewski there is as easy as finding ink on a newspaper, so considerable investigation needs to be done.)
- It states that both Władysław and Bernice were in the US from 1908 to 1925. It appears as if they were out of the country for about two years, shortly after daughter Zofja returned to the US. So it’s possible there is a gap in their US residency.
This does leave a question: where were all three daughters–Zofja, Charlotte, and Hattie–while Władysław and Bernice were in Poland? They are not listed on the manifest.
The 1930 census places the family at 1791 Hamilton, and it is indicated they own their own home, valued at $4,400, with all five in the home.
By 1942 and time for the World War II draft, Władysław and Bernice were living on Lincoln and Władysław was working for Willys Overland. By 1943, Bernice did become naturalized, I located her first-time voter registration card. For first time voter registration, her address was on Marmion Ave. Bernice’s voter registration stated she was naturalized 24 June 1943.
Władysław and Bernice stayed at the home on Marmion until they each passed away. Bernice died first, on 19 June 1972. Walter passed just three years later on 24 June 1975. They are buried together in Section 42.
