I recognize that this is very hard to read.  But it is the actual ship manifest from 1902 in which Frank Polasek and his family entered the United States.  It’s rare that I can actually find the ship manifest, so these are a great treasure.  You can get a lot of information from these manifests, although sometimes the information is unreadable or not complete.  This one is complete and readable.  Woohoo!

What this tells me is the last city they lived in before coming to the United States was Dúbrava in the Austria Hungarian Empire.  Dúbrava is now within the borders of Croatia.  It also tells me they sailed from Bremen, Germany (as many Eastern European immigrants did) and entered Baltimore, Maryland in July of 1902.  It also gives ages, tells us they came from Croatia (even though they were actually were Czech).  It tells us that they had $300 with them and they are going to Cleveland, Ohio.

It also tells us that Frank had lived in St. Paul, Minnesota from 1892-1902.  (I found records of him coming into New York, New York on 12 February  1892). Usually one or two of the family members would come here and once they were settled, send for the family.  In this case, Frank went back to get his family.

Here are the names and ages listed for the family:

Franz (Frank) Polasek, age 45, is listed as a farmer.

Kata (Katherine) Polasek age 39

Mathias Polasek age 14

Elisabeth Polasek age 13

Jozef (Joseph) Polasek age 9

Franz (Frank) Polasek age 4

Jan (John) Polasek age 3

Benedikt (Benedict) Polasek age 2

Mary, Patrick and George were all born in the United States.

Since Mary was born in Cleveland in 1903 we know that the family did travel to Cleveland.  And Since Patrick was born in Owosso in 1904, we know that the family didn’t stay long in Cleveland, Ohio.  I could not find the family on the 1910 Federal Census, but I did find Frank, Katherine, John, Benedict, Patrick and George on the 1920 Census in Owosso, Michigan.  In 1920, Mathias was living in Chicago, Illinois, and Joseph, Frank Jr, and Mary were all living in Pontiac, Michigan.

Until next time… Much love, Velma