Immigration Time Line: Aleksandr & Stefania Prokopowicz & Extended Family

Who began the chain of migration that ultimately led my maternal grandparents, Aleksandr and Stefania Prokopowicz, and their three children, Adolf, Paulina, and Jozef, from Wilno to Worcester? Passenger lists for their siblings and some in-laws and cousins help to establish the time line. To date, I have located the manifests documenting the immigration of the following 19 relatives:

Alexandr’s brother and his family — Jozef and Maria Baniukiewicz Prokopowicz and their children Stefania, Michal, and Jozef
Stefania’s siblings — sister Stanislawa Ruscik and brother Ignacy Ruscik
Alexandr’s cousins — Bronislaw and Bronislawa Nowicki
Jozef’s brother-in-law — Wladyslaw Tomczyk
Maria’s siblings — brothers Ksawery and Jozef Baniukiewicz
Maria’s cousins — brothers Mieczyslaw and Czeslaw Baniukiewicz

The earliest emigrant in this group is Ignacy Ruscik, who left Wilno gubernia in 1909. The latest is Czeslaw Baniukiewicz, who sailed in June 1914, two months before World War I broke out in Europe and effectively shut down emigration. The men left singly, in stages. The women and children generally traveled in groups, and all sailed in 1913. All the women and children, and the single man accompanying children, arrived in Boston, on ships of the White Star, Hamburg-American, and Cunard lines. This total of 12 significantly outnumbered the 7 Ellis Island arrivals of men who sailed on New York routes of the Hamburg-American, Russian American, Holland American, and Red Star lines.

Most members of the Prokopowicz, Baniukiewicz, Ruscik, and Nowicki families ultimately settled in or near Worcester. A notable exception was Stefania’s younger brother, Ignacy Ruscik, who set out initially for Ohio but instead made his home in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Brothers Aleksandr and Jozef Prokopowicz were both established in Worcester by the time their wives and children arrived in the fall of 1913. But passenger lists reveal that these immigrants originally set their sights on Maynard, Braintree, Pepperell, and Boston, Massachusetts. Maynard in particular seems to have been a popular destination for emigrants from the Szczuczyn area of Wilno. The Assabet woolen mill had its share of labor issues in those years, and it is conceivable that Poles were being recruited in Europe to replace the workforce’s feisty Finns.

Why the eventual relocation to Worcester? More research would be illuminating here, but it’s obvious that New England’s second largest city had thousands more industrial jobs to offer an unskilled immigrant labor force. It also had a large Polish parish with plans to build an elementary school, and a strong social, retail, and professional network to meet the needs of its substantial Polish-speaking population.

Summarized below are details extracted from the Prokopowicz, Baniukiewicz, Ruscik, and Nowicki passenger lists, presented in chronological order. The given names of girls and single women are followed by the names they later used in marriage. Middle names distinguish two cousins close in age; they were known in adulthood as Joseph Stanley Prokopowicz and Joseph Michael Prokopowicz.

April 1909 — Ignacy Ruscik
Name on manifest: Hamburg Emigration List, Ignaz Rust; Ancestry, Ignaty Rust
Relationship: younger brother of Stefania Ruscik Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Badenia, Hamburg-American
Departure port & date: Hamburg, March 16, 1909
Arrival port & date: New York, April 3, 1909
Status: age 19, born ca. 1890 in S. Gernik [Staro Gierniki[, Wilno, single, farm laborer, able to read/write
Physical description: 5’6”, brown hair, gray eyes
Contact in last permanent residence: father, Antoni Ruscik, S. Gernik [Staro Gierniki]
Finances: paid for own passage, has ticket to final destination, has $5
Destination: friend, Josef Melsosky?, Sandusky?, Ohio
Traveling companions: Bronislaw Leszik, 19; Geronim Kasnady, 31; Antoni Maskewicz, 29; all from Gierniki area

March 1910 — Aleksandr Prokopowicz
Name on manifest: Aleksandr Prokapowitz
Relationship: husband of Stefania Ruscik
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Lituania, Russian American
Departure port & date: Libau (now Liepaja), March 15, 1910
Arrival port & date: New York, March 30, 1910
Status: age 31, born ca. 1879 in Kozarezy, Wilno, married, farm laborer, able to read/write
Physical description: 5’7”, fair hair, blue eyes
Contact in last permanent residence: wife, Stefania Prokapowitz, Kozarezy, Wilno
Finances: paid for own passage, has no ticket to final destination, has $15
Destination: cousin, W. Soroka, Box 1065, Maynard, Massachusetts
Traveling companions: Juljan Czernjak, 29; Jury Stupekewitz-Demid, 19; Awgustin Fisejukewitz, 23; Ossip Primak, 26; Michail Eljorchewitz, 31; all single, from Wilno, with destination Maynard, Massachusetts (27 of 30 passengers on page were from Wilno)

May 1910 — Ksawery Baniukiewicz
Name on manifest: Xavier Baniukiewicz; Ancestry, Haver Baninkiewicz
Relationship: younger brother of Maria Baniukiewicz Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Potsdam, Holland America
Departure port & date: Rotterdam, May 21, 1910
Arrival port & date: New York, May 31, 1910
Status: age 22, born ca. 1888 in Lapate [Lopaty], Wilno, single, farm laborer, able to read/write
Physical description: 5’9”, blond hair, blue eyes
Contact in last permanent residence: father, Josef Baniukiewicz, Lidzkiego [Lida powiat], Wilno
Finances: paid for own passage, has no ticket to final destination, has $30
Destination: friend, Josef Filipczyk?, Box 676, Maynard, Massachusetts
Traveling companions: none
Notation: P-1437/1045-Boston 6/4/37 1-141864 1/17/35 (or 38?)

November 1910 — Mieczyslaw Baniukiewicz
Name on manifest: Miceslaw Baunkewicz
Relationship: cousin of Maria Baniukiewicz Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Grosser Kurfurst, North German Lloyd (Norddeutscher)
Departure port & date: Bremen, October 22, 1910
Arrival port & date: New York, October 30/November 1, 1910
Status: age 19, born ca. 1891 in Szczuczyn, Wilno, single, waiter?, able to read/write
Physical description: 5’6”, brown hair, brown eyes
Contact in last permanent residence: father, Jan Baniukiewicz, Szczuczyn
Finances: paid for own passage, has ticket to final destination, has $16
Destination: ? Morduch Woronowski, 9 Poplar? Street, Boston, Massachusetts
Traveling companions: Anton Baniukiewicz, 28, married, wife Katarzyna Baniukiewicz in Krzynowce, Grodno, destination Boston
Notation: 1-63184

April 1911 — Jozef Prokopowicz
Name on manifest: Osip Prokopowitz
Relationship: older brother of Aleksandr Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Zeeland, Red Star
Departure port & date: Liverpool, April 11, 1911
Arrival port & date: Boston (Hoosac Tunnel Docks, Charlestown), April 20, 1911
Status: 37, born ca. 1874 in Kosare [Kozarezy], Wilno, married, laborer, able to read/write
Physical description: 5’4”, fair hair, blue eyes
Contact in last permanent residence: wife, Maria Prokopowitz, Morga, Russia (Wilno)
Finances: paid for own passage, has no ticket to final destination, has $25
Destination: K. Basinkiewitz [Baniukiewicz], Box 96 Braintree, Massachusetts
Traveling companions: none, but several passengers from nearby villages
Per UK Incoming Passenger Lists: Osip Prokopwitz , laborer, Russian, sailed 3rd class from New York on the SS Caledonia, arriving in Glasgow on December 10, 1911, holding through ticket to Prostken, Suwalki; traveling with Josef Wasiliuk

June 1911 — Bronislaw Nowicki
Name on manifest: Bronislaw Nowitzky
Relationship: cousin of Aleksandr & Jozef Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Birma, Russian American
Departure port & date: Libau (Liepaja), June 6, 1911
Arrival port & date: New York, June 21, 1911
Status: age 22, born ca. 1889 in Kemjany [Kiemiany], Wilno, single, laborer, not able to read/write
Physical description: 5’3”, brown hair, brown eyes
Contact in last permanent residence: Iwan Nowitzky, Kemjany, Wilno
Finances: paid for own passage, has ticket to final destination, has $25
Destination: uncle, F.? J.? Mikijanetz (Mikijaniec), Box 751, Maynard, Massachusetts
Traveling companions: none

February 1912 — Jozef Baniukiewicz
Name on manifest: Osip Benikewitz
Relationship: younger brother of Maria Baniukiewicz Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Amerika, Hamburg-American
Departure port & date: Hamburg, February 18, 1912
Arrival port & date: New York, February 27, 1912
Status: age 22, born ca. 1890 in Lopaty, Wilno, single, farm laborer, not able to read/write
Physical description: 5’11”, dark blond hair, blue eyes, scar on left cheek
Contact in last permanent residence: father Josef Benikevitz, Lopaty, Wilno
Finances: paid for own passage, has ticket to Boston, has $16
Destination: brother, Ksaweri Benikewitz [Ksawery Baniukiewicz, Box 196, Paper Mill (corrected to East Pepperell), Massachusetts
Traveling companions: none, but several on list from Orla

February 1913 — Stefania Ruscik Prokopowicz
Name on manifest: Stefania Prokopowitz; Ancestry, Stefenca Sedkopenitz
Relationship: wife of Aleksandr Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Arabic, White Star
Departure port & date: Liverpool, January 28, 1913
Arrival port & date: Boston (Hoosac Tunnel Docks, Charlestown), February 8, 1913
Status: age 30, born ca. 1883 in Kasarety [note: actually born in Staro Gierniki], Wilno, married, housewife, able to read/write
Physical description: 5’ 4”, black hair, brown eyes [note: had blue eyes]
Contact in last permanent residence: friend, M. Prokopowitz, Kasarety [Kozarezy]
Finances: husband paid for her and children’s passage, has ticket to final destination, has $25
Destination: husband, Alex Prokopowitz, 93 Lamartine Street, Worcester, Massachusetts
Traveling with children: daughter Paulina, age 5; son Osip (Jozef), age 2
Traveling companions: sister-in-law, Maria Baniukiewicz Prokopowicz, and nephew, Osip Prokopowicz

February 1913 — Paulina Prokopowicz (marr: Pauline Londergan)
Name on manifest: Pawlena Prokopowitz
Relationship: second child of Aleksandr & Stefania Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Arabic, White Star
Departure port & date: Liverpool, January 28, 1913
Arrival port & date: Boston (Hoosac Tunnel Docks, Charlestown), February 8, 1913
Status: age 5, born ca. 1908 [note: actually born July 1906] in Kasarety [Kozarezy], Wilno
Physical description: none (child)
Contact in last permanent residence: M. Prokopowitz, Kasarety
Finances: father paid for passage, has ticket to final destination
Destination: father, Alex Prokopowitz, 93 Lamartine Street, Worcester, Massachusetts
Traveling companions: mother, Stefania Prokopowicz; brother, Jozef Prokopowicz; aunt, Maria Baniukiewicz Prokopowicz; cousin, Jozef Prokopowicz

February 1913 — Jozef Prokopowicz (Joseph Stanley Prokopowicz)
Name on manifest: Osip Prokopowitz
Relationship: third child of Aleksandr & Stefania Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Arabic, White Star
Departure port & date: Liverpool, January 28, 1913
Arrival port & date: Boston (Hoosac Tunnel Docks, Charlestown), February 8, 1913
Status: age 2, born ca. 1911 [note: actually born July 1909] in Kasarety (Kozarezy), Wilno
Physical description: none (child)
Contact in last permanent residence: M. Prokopowitz, Kasarety
Finances: father paid for passage, has ticket to final destination
Destination: father, Alex Prokopowitz, 93 Lamartine Street, Worcester, Massachusetts
Traveling companions: mother, Stefania Prokopowicz; sister, Paulina Prokopowicz; aunt, Maria Baniukiewicz Prokopowicz; cousin, Jozef Prokopowicz

February 1913 — Maria Baniukiewicz Prokopowicz (2nd marr: Mary Golubowski)
Name on manifest: Maria Prokopovitz; Ancestry, Maria Peskaponeitz
Relationship: wife of Jozef Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Arabic, White Star
Departure port & date: Liverpool, January 28, 1913
Arrival port & date: Boston (Hoosac Tunnel Docks, Charlestown), February 8, 1913
Status: age 36, born ca. 1877 in Kasareti [note: probably born in Lopaty], married, housewife, able to read/write
Physical description: 5’ 4”, black hair, brown eyes
Contact in last permanent residence: daughter, Stefania Prokopowitz, Kasareti [Kozarezy]
Finances: paid for her and her son’s passage, has no ticket to final destination, has $6
Destination: husband, Josef Prokopowitz, 15 Lamartine Street, Box 6, Worcester, Massachusetts
Traveling with child: son Osip (Jozef), age 2
Traveling companions: sister-in-law, Stefania Ruscik Prokopowicz; niece, Paulina Prokopowicz; and nephew, Jozef Prokopowicz

February 1913 — Jozef Prokopowicz (Joseph Michael Prokopowicz)
Name on manifest: Osip Prokopowitz
Relationship: third child of Jozef & Maria Baniukiewicz Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Arabic, White Star
Departure port & date: Liverpool, January 28, 1913
Arrival port & date: Boston (Hoosac Tunnel Docks, Charlestown), February 8, 1913
Status: age 2, born ca. 1911 [note: actually born August 1910] in Kasarety [Kozarezy], Wilno
Physical description: none (child)
Contact in last permanent residence: older sister, Stefania Prokopowitz, Kasareti
Finances: mother paid for passage, has no ticket to final destination
Destination: father, Josef Prokopowitz, 15 Lamartine Street, Box 6, Worcester, Massachusetts
Traveling companions: mother, Maria Baniukiewicz Prokopowicz; aunt, Stefania Ruscik Prokopowicz; cousins Paulina & Jozef Prokopowicz

May 1913 — Bronislawa Nowicki (marr: Bessie Kozlowski)
Name on manifest: Ancestry, Bromslawa Novicky
Relationship: cousin of Aleksandr & Jozef Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Franconia, Cunard
Departure port & date: Liverpool, April 29, 1913
Arrival port & date: Boston (B.&A.R.R. Wharves, East Boston), May 7, 1913
Status: age 22, born ca. 1891 in Schzuzin [Szczuczyn], single, servant, not able to read/write
Physical description: 5’4”, black hair, brown eyes
Contact in last permanent residence: friend Nowiski? in Schzuzin [Szczuczyn], Wilno
Finances: passage paid by brother, has ticket to final destination, has $25
Destination: brother, Bronislaw Novicky, Box 751, Maynard, Massachusetts
Traveling companions: Marie Harbin, 26, of Schzuzin, father Michal Sobol?, destination cousin Michalina Jabielskaya, Box 751, Maynard, Massachusetts

September 1913 — Stefania Prokopowicz (marr: Stella Nadolny)
Name on manifest: Stefania Prokopowicz
Relationship: first child of Jozef & Maria Baniukiewicz Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Cleveland, Hamburg-American
Departure port & date: Hamburg, August 26, 1913
Arrival port & date: Boston (Commonwealth Pier, South Boston), September 5, 1913
Status: age 10, born ca. 1903 [note: actually born March 1901] in Kasarety [Kozarezy], Wilno
Physical description: dark blond hair
Contact in last permanent residence: grand-uncle, Jozef Tomczik, Kazarczyn
Finances: father paid for passage
Destination: father, Jozef Prokopowicz, 89 Millbury Street, Worcester, Massachusetts
Traveling companion: uncle, Wladyslaw Tomczik, age 24

September 1913 — Michal Prokopowicz
Name on manifest: Michal Prokopowicz
Relationship: second child of Jozef & Maria Baniukiewicz Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Cleveland, Hamburg-American
Departure port & date: Hamburg, August 26, 1913
Arrival port & date: Boston (Commonwealth Pier, South Boston), September 5, 1913
Status: age 9, born ca. 1904 [note: actually born September 1903] in Kasarety [Kozarezy], Wilno
Physical description: dark blond hair
Contact in last permanent residence: grand-uncle, Jozef Tomczik, Kazarczyn [Kozarezy]
Finances: father paid for passage
Destination: father, Jozef Prokopowicz, 89 Millbury Street, Worcester, Massachusetts
Traveling companion: uncle, Wladyslaw Tomczik, age 24

September 1913 — Wladyslaw Tomczyk
Name on manifest: Wladyslaw Tomczik; Hamburg Emigration List, Wladislaw Tomchik
Relationship: brother-in-law of Jozef Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Cleveland, Hamburg-American
Departure port & date: Hamburg, August 26, 1913
Arrival port & date: Boston (Commonwealth Pier, South Boston), September 5, 1913
Status: age 24, born ca. 1889 in Kazarczyn [Kozarezy], single, farm laborer, able to read/write
Physical description: 5’6”, dark blond hair
Contact in last permanent residence: father, Jozef Tomczik, Kazarczyn [Kozarezy]
Finances: brother-in-law paid for passage
Destination: brother-in-law, Jozef Prokopowicz, 89 Millbury Street, Worcester, Massachusetts
Traveling companions: niece and nephew, Stefania & Michal Prokopowicz

September 1913 — Adolf Prokopowicz
Name on manifest: Adolf Prokopowicz
Relationship: first child of Aleksandr & Stefania Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Franconia, Cunard
Departure port & date: Liverpool, September 16, 1913
Arrival port & date: Boston (B.&A.R.R. Wharves, East Boston), September 24, 1913
Status: age 9, born ca. 1904 [note: actually born March 1899/1900] in Gernika [Staro Gierniki], Wilno
Physical description: none (child)
Contact in last permanent residence: grandfather, Antoni Rusz in [Staro] Gerniki, Wilno
Finances: father paid for passage, has ticket to final destination
Destination: father, Aleksandr Prokopowicz, 6 Bigelow Street, Worcester, Massachusetts
Traveling companions: maternal aunt, Stanislawa Ruscik, age 18

September 1913 — Stanislawa Ruscik (marr: Statia Budnik)
Name on manifest: Stanislawa Rusj
Relationship: younger sister of Stefania Ruscik Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Franconia, Cunard
Departure port & date: Liverpool, September 16, 1913
Arrival port & date: Boston (B.&A.R.R. Wharves, East Boston), September 24, 1913
Status: age 18, born ca. 1895 in Gerniki [Staro Gierniki], Wilno, single, servant, able to read/write
Physical description: 5’4”, brown hair, brown eyes
Contact in last permanent residence: father, Antoni Rusz in Gerniki, Wilno
Finances: brother-in-law paid for passage, has ticket to final destination, has $4
Destination: brother-in-law Aleksandr Prokopowicz, 6 Bigelow Street, Worcester, Massachusetts
Traveling companions: nephew, Adolf Prokopowicz

July 1914 — Czeslaw Baniukiewicz
Name on manifest: Czeslaw Baninkiewicz
Relationship: cousin of Maria Baniukiewicz Prokopowicz
Passenger ship & shipping line: SS Kroonland, Red Star
Departure port & date: Antwerp, June 20, 1914
Arrival port & date: New York, July 1, 1914
Status: age 19, born ca. 1895 in Serneczyn (Szczuczyn), Wilno, single, farm laborer, able to read/write
Physical description: 5’8”, brown hair, brown eyes
Contact in last permanent residence: father, Jan Baniukiewicz, Szczuczyn, Wilno
Finances: paid for own passage, has ticket to final destination, has $17
Destination: brother, Mieczyslaw Baniukiewicz, 65 Millbury Street, Worcester, Massachusetts
Traveling companions: none