WEEK 29 – CHALLENGING

This week in Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, the prompt is “Challenging”.

I already wrote about some of the challenges in my genealogy research with the “Keetley” and “Brinson” surnames back in Week 2, which you can read about here and here.

Another family name that has been challenging to research is Gornowicz. There are several spellings that I have found so far, Garnewitz, Garnowitz, Gorenowicz, Gorniewicz, Gornovitz, Gornovitch, Gornowytz, Gorowicz, Jornowitz, Janowitz and even possibly Gornova. There are probably a lot more than these out there.

I have not researched the family extensively at this point, so some of the following information is only guess work right now. Over the next several posts I will lay out what I have so far.

Mary Gornowicz was the wife of Levin Elliott, my husband’s 2x great grandparents. Mary’s parents were Michael Gornowicz and Helen Krager/Krieger.

Michael and Helen’s daughter, Juliana, immigrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1892 on the “Weimar“. Listed next to her on the passenger list is a family of “Krieger“, who look to be a widowed mother and her 4 children. I am not sure if they are any relation to the Gornowicz family, but they were staying in Baltimore, at 1626 Lancaster Street.

In 1894, Juliana’s parents and siblings joined her in the U.S., travelling on the “America“. The family came in through the Port of Baltimore, Maryland and were going to live with their daughter at 1626 Lancaster Street. (The same address as the Krieger’s from 2 years earlier!!

There were 6 family members that came on this ship:-

• Michael aged 59
• Helene aged 48
• Franz aged 25
• Stanislaus aged 14
• Marie aged 9
• Rosalie aged 5

Even placing Juliana within this family, now age 19, there are some big gaps between the ages of the children. Maybe there are others that died young, immigrated on other ships or some they left behind. Definitely needs more research!

The 1900 census has eluded me so far, but I found Michael in a 1901 City Directory still living in Lancaster Street, so he must still be around somewhere.

In 1902, Michael is listed as living at 1626 Lancaster, with “Jas”. Who is this? Is this Stanislaus?

In 1903, Michael is listed as still living at 1626 Lancaster, this time with Frank.

By 1906, Michael has moved to 2218 Essex Street, where he lived until late 1910. James is also living at this address with Michael in 1906, 1908 and 1910. In 1907 James is gone again, but there is a “Danl” living at this address. Who is this?

The 1910 Federal Census finds Michael and James Gornowicz living with the James Elliott family at 2218 Essex Street. The census shows that there are 2 families at this location, and whoever gave the information to the census taker said that Michael owned his own home and the Elliott family were renting theirs.

As a side note, James Elliott is married to woman named Julia, who I suspect is Juliana Gornowicz. I am still looking for a marriage record, obituary or one of their children’s records to answer this question with 100% certainty. (I’ll write more about Julia in 2 weeks).

When Michael died in November 1910, the estate docket for his will listed his son Stanislaus as living at 2218 Essex Street. There was also a surety bond paid by Frank, and he was living at 2216 Essex Street. (I’ll write more about Frank next week!)

Unfortunately the book that Michael’s will is in is missing from FamilySearch’s website. There are 3 will books for 1910 and I need the middle one!! 🙁 I am not sure if it was missed in the scanning process or if the book is lost. I am still looking, hoping it’s out there somewhere.

I have no information on Rosalie or Helene, after they got off the boat in Baltimore. I have looked for this family in obituaries and at Find-A-Grave.com, and haven’t found anything there either.

If you are related to this family or know anything about them please feel free to leave me a message. I’d love to hear from you! Thanks.