Re-examining the records: Aleksandr and Józef

Look, and look again. No matter how many times you've pored over some genealogical resource, whether it's a document, or a photograph, or some random bit of memorabilia connected to an ancestor's life, there is always the chance that you've missed something.

I can attest to that. Since 1996, I have spent countless hours re-reading passenger lists and census pages line by line and column by column. I've studied maps and photos inch by inch, corner to corner. I've used a gamut of Polish, Russian, and Latin dictionaries to ferret every possible translation of a word.

No matter how much you knew (or thought you knew) at some earlier point in your research, "You don't know what you don't know," as the saying goes. If a big breakthrough today reveals a new family surname, it just might be the same name you glossed over yesterday.

A couple weeks ago, I came upon evidence that redefined the relationship between my maternal grandfather Aleksandr and his "half-brother" Józef. In fact, they were first cousins. In 1900, Józef provided his parents' names for a 1900 premarital examination that was conducted by a Catholic parish priest in the presence of three witnesses.

My mother's family had always referred to the men as brothers or half-brothers. In my previous post, I described what records I had used, and what records were unavailable to me, in trying to clarify Aleksandr and Józef's relationship.

What did I miss? Had I previously overlooked some tiny but telling detail in the data I had compiled on these men? I had to take a fresh look at it all.

There is not much, at least not in the way of documents that link these men.

I have found my grandfather Aleksandr's parents, Kazimierz Prokopowicz and Paulina Zubrzycki, identified on four records: Aleksandr's 1878 baptismal record and Kazimierz's 1881 death record, both in Iszczolna parish; my grandparents' 1900 marriage record in Szczuczyn parish; and Aleksandr's 1937 Social Security application in the United States.

For Józef, I have the 1873 baptismal record naming his parents as Jerzy Prokopowicz and Marianna Badziuk, and Jerzy's 1880 death record, both in Iszczolna parish; and his (newly found) 1900 premarital exam questionnaire in Żołudek parish.

When it's laid out like that, it looks so obvious that Aleksandr and Józef were not brothers or even half-brothers. Except, of course, that my family said they were, so I played devil's advocate with the church records:

● Just because Jerzy and Marianna had a son named Józef, did not mean that Kazimierz might not also have fathered a son named Józef, either with his first wife, Katarzyna, or his second wife, Paulina.
● Just because Kazimierz's death record identified a surviving daughter named Józefa, did not mean that the priest might not have made an error in the entry, writing Józefa instead of Józef. I have found numerous errors in the metryki, some far more egregious than misidentifying a son as a daughter.

Both of those are legitimate considerations, especially given the gap in church records available on microfilm (no records for 1870, 1872, 1874-1876).

Records of immigration and settlement in the United States did not help to settle the half-brother question:

● Both Aleksandr and Józef were married when they immigrated, so passenger list references were to their wives, not their parents. (See Immigration Time Line: Aleksandr & Stefania Prokopowicz and Extended Family).
● Written physical descriptions offered no insight. Ship manifests: 1910, Aleksandr, 5'7", fair hair, blue eyes; 1911, Józef: 5'4", fair hair, blue eyes.
● The men's World War I draft registrations similarly focused on their status and relationships in America, not Europe.
● When Józef, by then known as Joseph, died in 1927, his obituary named his parents as "Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Prokopovich" (wrong!) and his widow as "Mary Bunekevich." There was no mention at all of siblings, though he likely had surviving sisters.
● Joseph died years before the 1935 Social Security Act was passed—the upshot being no SS-5 application form recording his parents' names.

One thing nagged at me, though: the 1873 birth year on Józef's baptismal record and on the 1918 draft registration. That seemed like too much of a coincidence. The red flag was flying.

In the end, it was Maryanna Baniukiewicz's name appearing all along the paper trail that I could not overlook. The Józef Prokopowicz she married in 1900 was undeniably the same Józef who was born to Jerzy Prokopowicz and Marianna Badziuk in 1840, the same Józef who was later to make immigration plans with his cousin, my grandfather Aleksandr.

My grandfather Aleksandr and his half-brother Józef who was really his cousin

My grandfathers' lives and relationships continue to surprise me. Almost exactly one year ago, I discovered that my paternal grandfather, Julian Prokopowicz (1895-1951), had fellow-immigrant cousins in New England that I had never heard about. Last week I discovered that Józef Prokopowicz, the half-brother of my maternal grandfather Aleksandr Prokopowicz (1878-1939), actually was not his brother at all, but his cousin.

Julian in Worcester, Massachusetts, and his cousins in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, lived about forty miles apart—not all that far, but maybe just far enough to limit their visits. Aleksandr and Józef, on the other hand, were close throughout their lives. They grew up in the same small village (probably in the same small house) in Russian Poland and jointly planned their immigration to the United States. Their wives and children sailed together when the time (and money) arrived for steerage tickets to a new life.

Aleksandr's and Józef's families settled within a quick walk of each other in Worcester, Massachusetts. Aleksandr and wife Stefania, and Józef and wife Maryanna referred to themselves as in-laws, as uncle and aunt to each others' children; those sons and daughters were cousins, and friends in their early years. When Aleksandr died, he was buried in Józef's family plot in Worcester.

"Not full brothers"

My mother, who outlived the rest of her family, was always quick to note, however, that her father and her uncle were "half-brothers, not full brothers." She knew no more than that. Did the men have the same Prokopowicz father, and different mothers? Or different Prokopowicz fathers, and the same mother? When I asked newfound second cousins (Józef's grandchildren) a few years ago, they knew as little as I did.

Using microfilmed church records from Iszczolna parish in what is now western Belarus, I have tried to document Aleksandr's and Józef's origins. However, there are no films for 1870, 1872, and 1874-1877, a significant gap, especially for their parents' child-bearing years. Lacking access to six years' worth of records, I know I am missing information that is vital for my genealogical research. The records I have found make me certain of that.

Trying a new research strategy

A few nights ago, I approached The Half-Brother Question from a new angle, using a really wonderful resource: ePaveldas, a portal representing several archives, libraries, and museums in Lithuania. These distinguished institutions collaborate in making much of the nation's cultural heritage accessible by digitizing their holdings. A fairly recent addition is numerous metryki and censuses from Żołudek parish. This is somewhat surprising because today's national boundaries place Żołudek, long a part of the old Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilno, in Belarus, not Lithuania. To my knowledge, Żołudek is the only parish in my ancestral Lida region whose records (an incomplete set, from the 1670s to the early 1920s) appear on ePaveldas.

Particularly because some very important records from Iszczolna parish elude me, I hoped I might find hints in Żołudek parish records to solve the half-brother mystery. This seemed possible because Józef Prokopowicz had married a young Żołudek parishioner, Maryanna Baniukiewicz of Łopaty village. (A 1913 baptismal record from Our Lady of Częstochowa Parish in Worcester for the couple's youngest child identified their parishes of origin in Europe: Iszczolna for Józef, Żołudek for Maryanna.) Based on their oldest daughter's birth in March 1901, I guessed that Józef and Maryanna had married in 1900.

Premarital exams and marriage banns

In the ePaveldas collection of text documents labeled Rankraščiai (Manuscripts), I found two relevant Żołudek parish books: 1895-1901 premarital examination questionnaires and 1897-1906 marriage banns announcements. I began with late 1899 banns, and quickly found Józef and Maryanna's three readings listed for 30 January, 2 February, and 7 February 1900. Couples' names and reading dates were in fact the only information the banns books provided.

Knowing the banns dates, I quickly located Józef and Maryanna's questionnaire, which the Żołudek parish priest had filled out with them on 7 February 1900. I have not yet located 1900 Żołudek marriage records on ePaveldas, if they are there, but I can theorize that Józef and Maryanna were wed soon after the questionnaire was completed and by 27 February 1900. Many weddings took place on the same day as the third reading of the banns. Ash Wednesday was 28 February, and Polish Roman Catholics traditionally did not marry during Lent.

Who Józef's parents really were

What I hoped, from either a questionnaire or a marriage record, was to learn the names of Józef's parents—whether, as half-brothers, he and Aleksandr shared the same father, or the same mother.

What the questionnaire (shown at right) instead revealed was that they shared neither. They were not brothers at all. They were first cousins. According to the questionnaire, Józef's parents were Jerzy Prokopowicz and Marianna Badziuk of the village of Kozarezy in neighboring Iszczolna parish. My grandfather Aleksandr's parents were Kazimierz Prokopowicz and Paulina Zubrzycki, also of Kozarezy. Jerzy, born in 1840, and Kazimierz, born in 1845, were both the sons of Stefan Prokopowicz and Anna Piwowarczyk, who had nine children in all.

What I do (and don't) know for sure

This is the point at which I have to explain what documentation I have for some of these family relationships, what documentation I do not have, and what questions arise from the lack of records. That mix serves as the backstory for scenarios that I can honestly only imagine, by way of explaining how and why Aleksandr and Józef came to be described as half-brothers. For good measure, I'll add the Polish language into the mix, since it is replete with vocabulary terms for all manner of family relationships.

Documentation of Józef's family of origin

Żołudek parish metryki record the marriage of Jerzy Prokopowicz and Marianna Badziuk in October 1866. I have found baptismal records for six children born to them between 1867 and 1879: Rozalia, Michalina, Marianna, Józef (born in 1873), Stefania, and Magdalena. All were born in Jerzy's home village of Kozarezy and baptized in Iszczolna parish. Jerzy died at the age of 40 on 24 December 1880, survived by his widow and all of the children except Michalina and Marianna, who died earlier.

Documentation of Aleksandr's family of origin

My grandfather's family is less well documented. What I have found in church metryki is spotty at best, due to that lack of microfilmed records for six years in the 1870s. Wasiliszki parish reports a marriage between Kazimierz Prokopowicz and Katarzyna Leonowicz in May 1869. The groom's age, village, parish, and parents' names all agree with the details in Kazimierz's 1845 Iszczolna parish baptismal record. The bride's data are equally clear, so the record seems straightforward and accurate. However, I have found no further references anywhere to Kazimierz and Katarzyna as a couple. Most likely because of that unavailability of six years of church records, nine years pass before Kazimierz plays a documented role in another sacramental event.

In October 1878, Iszczolna parish metryki announce the birth and baptism of Aleksandr Prokopowicz, the son of Kazimierz Prokopowicz and Paulina Zubrzycki, residing in Kozarezy. Next documented is Kazimierz's death in Kozarezy on 6 January 1881. Listed as survivors are his widow Paulina, son Aleksandr, and daughter Józefa.

Questions of death, remarriage, and birth

Presumably, Kazimierz's first wife, Katarzyna Leonowicz, died before his marriage to Paulina Zubrzycki, but where and when? I have reviewed the 1869-1871 films for Wasiliszki, Iszczolna, and several surrounding parishes and found no mention of her death. Nor is there any indication that Kazimierz and Katarzyna had any children in the first couple years of their marriage—highly unusual for young Catholic couples in that era. (My search continues, in other parishes.) At this point, I surmise that Katarzyna died sometime during the unfilmed years of 1870, 1872 or 1874-1876. Was Katarzyna the mother of "daughter Józefa" mentioned in Kazimierz's death record? Did Katarzyna perhaps die in childbirth?

When did Kazimierz marry Paulina Zubrzycki? Again, those unfilmed years probably hold the answer, and the marriage record. The Zubrzycki family lived in Iszczolna parish, so the marriage almost certainly took place there. Was Paulina the mother of "daughter Józefa"? Kazimierz's death record offers no clue to his children's birth order, since it follows the traditional pattern of naming surviving sons (in descending order of age) before surviving daughters. At any rate, there seems no reason to think that Kazimierz ever fathered a son named Józef.

Shared households

So how and why did Józef, documented as the son of Jerzy Prokopowicz and Marianna Badziuk, and Aleksandr, documented as the son of Kazimierz Prokopowicz and Paulina Zubrzycki, come to be described as half-brothers when they were in reality first cousins? I have a theory. I may never be able to substantiate it, unless I someday have the opportunity to see an Iszczolna parish census conducted in 1881 or later. But this is it, with a little background on the Prokopowicz family and the village they lived in.

From the early 1800s on, my maternal Prokopowicz family lived in Kozarezy, a tiny village just east of Szczuczyn. The 1795 Russian rewizja (revision list, akin to a census) listed 5 households in Kozarezy; the 1852 parish census, 10 households; and the 1890s-era Slownik Geograficzny, "8 houses, 90 residents." I do not know how many of those houses the Prokopowicz family occupied circa 1880. Probably two. When I visited Kozarezy in 2001, one was still occupied by an elderly Prokopowicz widow (her husband was descended from Michał, the older brother of Jerzy and Kazimierz).

My guess is that the second house (by 2001, uninhabited and used for storage) had been shared by the families of Jerzy and Kazimierz. Large households were the norm in that era, as Slownik's village population tallies point out. Living under the same roof may well have played a part in the deaths, both attributed to "fever," of Jerzy in December 1880 and Kazimierz less than two weeks later in January 1881. (A somber holiday season indeed, with the brothers' deaths on Christmas Eve and the Feast of the Epiphany, respectively.)

Widows and children

If my assumption is correct, the deaths of the two husbands/fathers left a Prokopowicz household of two 30-something widows and six children ranging in age from about 10 months to 13 years. As the only sons, Józef and Kazimierz undoubtedly shared a lot of family responsibilities as they grew up; Józef, older than Kazimierz by five years, might easily have been seen as the "big brother" in this mixed brood of cousins.

It is also possible that one of the widows might have died while the children were growing up, leaving the other to serve as a mother to them all. If that happened, it might have strengthened the children's bonds and blurred the lines somewhat between siblings and cousins.

There may well be several other scenarios that I have not even imagined. I simply do not know the families' living arrangements.

Defining family relationships

How did Marianna Badziuk Prokopowicz and Paulina Zubrzycki Prokopowicz and their children define their connections to one another? The Polish language has very exacting terminology for several categories of family relationships, particularly distinguishing relatives on a mother's side of the family from those on the father's side. For example, wuj is a maternal uncle, and stryj is a paternal uncle.

Brat is Polish for "brother." Brat also is an element in several other family terms. A full brother is a brat rodzony. A half-brother might be called a pół brat, or a brat przyrodni; the latter also signifies step-brother. A male cousin might simply be called kuzyn, or more specifically, brat stryjeczny if he is the son of the father's brother. To a father's siblings, that same son is a nephew, or bratanek. Whether it is used in reference to a male child himself or in reference to his father's relationship to others in the family, brat thus has many applications in the vocabulary of family relationships.

Leaving the homeland, selling the farm

It is fruitless for me to speculate what terms my grandfather's family favored in conversation back in the 1880s, or to speculate how all their lives and relationships evolved over the subsequent three decades. Instead I'll fast forward to the early 1900s. By that time, Józef and Aleksandr had both married and started families of their own. They had experienced the local impact of the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War (military conscription for some village men) and the 1905 Russian Revolution (turmoil and plunder). And they had decided to immigrate to America. Aleksandr left first, sailing in March 1910. Józef followed in April 1911. (Their wives and children finally joined them in 1913.)

How did the men finance their journeys? My mother always explained it like this: "My father and his half-brother sold the family farm to their two sisters to get the money they needed. They knew they were never going back there." One sister, my mother had been told, had "a crippled leg, injured in an accident involving a horse," and owning an interest in the farm might improve her chances for marriage, the two men thought.

Many, many times when I was growing up, I heard my mom and her older sister, my Ciocia Paulina, tell that story about Aleksandr and Józef selling the farm. I never questioned any part of it. Like many family stories held up to closer scrutiny, though, it is rather puzzling. Who exactly were these "two sisters"? Józef had three—Rozalia, Stefania, and Magdalena—assuming none had died between 1880 and 1910. Aleksandr apparently had a sister named Józefa (I know nothing about her, but find it interesting that Józefa was my mother's baptismal name). He also had two half-sisters, Malwina and Anna, born to his widowed mother Paulina several years after Kazimierz's death.

The final tally

To sum up two families' worth of siblings and cousins: Neither my grandfather Aleksandr nor his cousin Józef had any brothers at all. They chose to describe themselves as half-brothers for reasons that I can only guess at, but that suggest a deep bond. Józef had five sisters, three of whom outlived their father. Aleksandr had one sister and two half-sisters. How these women came to be recast in family lore as "two sisters" is another small mystery. Perhaps all but two had married, or had died, by the time the family farm changed ownership circa 1910? I would very much like to see the deeds and documents detailing that sale, if it is ever possible to access them through some archive in Belarus or Lithuania. If I am very lucky, maybe someday records from Iszczolna will appear on ePaveldas.

**************

Next: Re-examining records of Aleksandr's and Józef's lives from Wilno to Worcester. Did I miss some important clues? Did I ignore some red flags?

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