Coming to America: the Klara Wojtkowska’s Story

    Growing up in a mixed family, my father being Irish and Italian and my mother a full-blooded Pole, I tend to hear stories of how their family came to the United States at the beginning of the 20^th Century. They were not rich; they barely had enough money to voyage across the Atlantic. Relatives came from Ireland, Southern Italian, and Poland, which was conquered by three empires – Russia, Austria, and Prussia, now Germany. They wanted a new life, the freedom to worship since they were devout Roman Catholics, And, of course, to fulfill the American Dream.

    Most of the stories I heard came from the Polish side of my family. I was close to my mother’s side. I never considered to be Italian, even though my surname is Italian, and I have never considered to be Irish. I was a Pole with a funny last name. My Polish grandfather raised me while my father was out looking for a job or taking care of his elderly parents down in Florida.

    One story in particular dealt with my great-grandmother, Klara Wojtkowska. Before I begin how my great-grandmother came to America, let me explain her surname. Polish has feminine and masculine words. This also goes with their surname. A male surname is the head of the house. However, one will use a feminine notation when addressing a female member. For example, one will address Pan (Mr./Sir), Jan Wojtkowski for the masculine, and Pani (Mrs./Lady) Jozefa Wojtkowska for the feminine. 

    It was 1910, in Warsaw, in the Congress Kingdom of Poland, which was part of the Russian Empire; a young seventeen-year-old minor noblewoman was preparing to attend a ball in honor of the Russian Czar. Her name was Klara Wojtkowska, the daughter of a minor nobleman, Pan Jan Wojtkowski. At this Russian Ball, Pani Klara Wojtkowska was to meet her future husband, a young Russian nobleman. Pani Wojtkowska knew she did not want to see this Russian dog, let alone marry him. Two years ago, in 1908, Pani Klara Wojtkowska met a young man who tended to her father’s land. His name was Wladyslaw Mocek. He was tall, well-fit, and had profound, piercing blue eyes contrasting his black hair. One can see how Pani Wojtkowska would like to get to know him more. They began to talk. Wladyslaw wanted adventures. He knew Russia was not his place, and an Independent Poland was just a dream. He saved some money to buy a passage to the United States. There, he will work and save enough money to buy himself some land and raise a family. Klara was intrigued. She didn’t want to become another property to the Russians. She wanted to be free like Wladyslaw.

    On the day of the Russian Ball, Pani Wojtkowska received a letter from young Wladyslaw Mocek that he purchased land just outside Indiana, Pennsylvania, and became a farmer. He met several other Polish farmers, too. He also asked her to come to America and to become his wife. Klara knew that this was the very opportunity to escape. Instead of going to the Russian Ball, she bought herself a train ticket to Hamburg, Germany, and a passage to America. Within a month, Wladyslaw Mocek married Klara Wojtkowska. They bored ten children, three girls and seven boys, including my grandfather, Walter Joseph Mocek.

    Most of the research came from word of mouth via aunts, uncles, cousins, my grandfather, and my mother. I looked into ancestry.com to find some more records. However, these records were the official census records. It confirmed where my great-grandparents were living. I used a DNA test kit, 23andme.com. Again, it confirmed where my great-grandparents were from Warsaw, Poland. Then, in 1995, I received a letter from a distant cousin, Leszek Rye, and his mother, Lucia, who was the younger sister of Klara, whom she never met. They were living at the time in Warsaw, Poland. It didn’t give much detail about my great-mother. However, it did highlight his mother and who he was. He even attached a family tree to his letter.

    Stories like this are the reason why I want to become a historian. I want to explore more about my family. I recently learned that Klara Wojtkowska is related to Igancy Jan Paderewski, a famous pianist, and the first Polish Prime Minister after Poland gained its independence, through her mother, Jozefa Wojtkowska (Paderewska). This will be the next adventure in my life.

Source:

Rye, Leszek. "Family Letter." January 24, 1995.

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/34896121:60525?tid=&pid=&queryId=ee4825d89c90b7425cae426db263d9f5&_phsrc=RQb46&_phstart=successSource

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/12247766:6061?tid=&pid=&queryId=ee4825d89c90b7425cae426db263d9f5&_phsrc=RQb46&_phstart=

https://you.23andme.com/