Uncle Jack telling Uncle John Stories...

  Uncle Jack is Clarence John Hansen.  He is the son of Clarence Hansen and Rose Švec. Uncle John is Rose's brother.  Their parents are Frank J. Švec and Mary Vrkocova.  Uncle John was born in Vlastibor (then Lastibor) Bohemia in 1888.  He came to America in 1890 with his parents and also on the same ship was Mary's sister Annie.
     Uncle John was a cigar maker. When he decided to marry, he thought he should have a more secure job so took a railroad job--at about half the pay.  He married Florence Minnie Schultz who was born in Ohio.  She went by Minnie.

     Once, while in Osakis, he fell on his stairs and broke his back.  The stairs were very narrow and the medics couldn't get him down the windy stairs, so John got up off the stretcher, walked down the stairs and then got back on the stretcher.  He had a full body cast applied.  Uncle Jack offered to pick him up from the hospital when it was time to be discharged.  One day, John turned up on Rose's doorstep--he had taken the train and then the bus and walked a couple blocks to Rose's house.  He was supposed to wear this cast for a while. One day he asked Clarence where his (John's) tools were.  He went down to the basement and after a bit they heard pounding and buzzing.  John came up the stairs with the body cast in hand. He told Rose that he would put in her garden in the spring and he did.
     Minnie worked at a tea house in St. Paul.  This was in the time of the Weyerhausers and the Hills.  She was very good at remembering names and birthdays.  Her savvy garnered tremendous tips from her patrons. Minnie was also quite a fisherwoman.  It was one of John and Minnie's favorite things to do.
     I remember Uncle John telling us he could pick up 3 bricks with one hand.  He also called me "Mrs."  I think he didn't remember my name, but I thought that was so sweet.
     John lived on his own for a long time after Minnie died in 1957.  One of the things he did for himself was make sugar cookies.  (Dot's recipe).  Cindy said he also tried his hand at rye bread.

The Woman of Many Maiden Names...

     Stella Bulera, Arnie's grandmother, is Polish.  I think that helps explain why it was so difficult to pin down her real maiden name.  Of course, there were a few red herrings thrown in there to make matters more confusing.
     When looking for the records of her children's births or deaths, confusion reigned.  Her last name was rendered:

• Lozinski (with a slash through the L)
• Lazewski (may have a slash)
• Laszewska;
• Lejeski
• Laezi
• Laziske
• Lazuski
• Oreswki
• Orzewska
• Legewski and....
• Wyjeski

To top that off, in the church marriage records, her name was given as Orzewska. The notice in the St. Paul Pioneer Press and actually in the marriage record itself in Ramsey County, her name was recorded as Stina Lozewska.

     A lucky break came when I started tracking down the baptismal sponsors of Frank and Stella's children. The sponsors for Andrew Bulera baptized December 10, 1900 at St.Adalbert's, St. Paul, the godmother was recorded as Katherine Stryzewska. 

     I followed this name out in census and death records. Katherine Strzyzewska died on 31 January 1932.  The certificate says she was 96 years old.  She was born in Poland and her father's name was given as Michael Kiszka.  I went to see if an obituary would shed any light on her relationship with Stella or Frank Bulera, because baptismal sponsors are often family members. 

     The obituary in the St. Paul Pioneer Press read thus:

STRZYZEWSKA--Katherine.  In her 97th year at 848 Case street, January 31st.  Survived by her husband, Thomas.  Mother of Stanislava Bulera, John Lazewski and Stanizlaw Strzyzewska (sic), also 20 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.  Funeral from the home of John Lazewski, 850 Case street, Wednesday, February 3d, at 8:30 A. M. Services at St. Casimirs church at 9 A. M. Interment Calvary.  

     Wa-hoo!  This was totally new information in terms of the family tree. It added two generations. It begins to solve the name confusion.  It turns out that Katherine was married previously to Andreas/Andrew Lazewski.  After his death, she married Thomas Strzyzewski.  

     Sometimes in the census records, John Lazewski was recorded as Strzyzewski since Thomas was the head of household.  I'm not sure how Lazewski morphed into Orzewska, but this just shows how creative you have to be in deciphering the Polish names.  Sorry, Polish relatives, but it is much worse than anything I have seen in Irish records! One thing I did learn about the Polish L with a slash through it is that it has a soft w sound. See this Omniglot page for more pronunciation fun!

     The fact that Stella's brother's name is given as Lazewski in their mother's obituary was a big help.  He later muddies the waters by changing his name to Lasky.

     On Stella's death certificate, her father's name is given as Thomas Lazewski.  This is so much easier to understand now.  The first name of her step-father Thomas Strzyzewski and the surname of her father were combined.  This points out how records are not always accurate!

     Stella's death certificate also says she was born in Warsaw, Poland.  This also turns out to be incorrect.  We now have much more information on Stella's origins thanks to Patti Kiszka Metsch.  A couple of years ago I posted Katherine Kiszka Lazewska Strzyzewska's obituary online.  Patti responded to me that she had Kiszkas in her tree and they were from the area of  Poznan. This was a wonderful random act of genealogical kindness!! If I had ever gotten to looking for Stella's origin's, I would have started out searching far from her place of origin. 

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     Stella's baptismal record, courtesy of Patti, says she was born in Trzek on 22 April 1872.  Her parents are Andreas Lazewski and Catherina Kiszka.  Her godparents are Antonius Malecki and Victoria Kiszka (Catherine's sister).
     Thanks to Patti, there is much more to be shared about the Kiszkas.
     Maiden name mystery solved!!!
     And now, Stella Lazewski Bulera has a serendipitous namesake!  Though not intentional, there is now a Stella Marie Blaha--great, great, great granddaughter of Stella Bulera!

Wedding Bells...

     Dorothy Marie Hansen and Arnold Frank Blaha were married on 22 November 1947 at St. Luke's Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. (The church building still exists, but the parish has been reconfigured and the church is now called St. Thomas More).

     In this photo are Arnie, Dot, Jack Hansen, John Blaha, Josephine Hansen, and I think peeping from the back, Bernie Blaha.  If that is Bernie, this photo includes the siblings from both families. Don't the bride and groom look happy!!!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day...Really

Thanks to Irish, the Hansen-Blaha clan can officially celebrate St. Patty's Day. Before she joined the family we had rather feeble claims to the day. Of course there was always green jello to celebrate and an occasional grasshopper pie to add a hint of green. And one of our family gained special status on that day since he had chosen Patrick as his confirmation name. But, then Irish came along and we had a real reason to celebrate. And we still do 41 years later... Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Help Wanted...

     Even though I have been hanging around the Blaha family for 41 years, I felt like I couldn't flesh out the people whose names will appear here.  I've heard stories, like Cindy getting a swirlie from her brothers, but I haven't soaked it all up like someone who has been within the family since birth!  So I'm inviting Cindy to collaborate with me on this blog. I'll supply some records and she'll supply the heart!

Definitely not Irish....

     Coming from a mostly Irish Heritage myself, entering the world of the Czechs, Norwegians, Polish, and Germans is a whole new ball came.  Once in grade school, the students were asked to share their ethnic backgrounds.  I was fascinated by the French, English, and Germans among us.  Some kids had 3 or 4 countries of origin!!  My eyes were green...and not because I was Irish.  ONLY Irish.
     Well, my kids can't claim to be so one-sided!  Matt, Mic, Tim and especially Stella Marie!  This is for you!