Monday, April 27, 2015

Comparing Notes


Sometimes, when we aren’t certain of our recollection of an event, we can check out our memories with others who were there by comparing notes.

When it comes to figuring out my paternal grandfather’s story, I don’t have that liberty; I wasn’t around yet—not even at the point at which he died.

Of course, I’ve done my due diligence in plying my older relatives with wearying questions—questions which, thankfully, my brother and my cousin have been patient enough to do their best in answering.

But I still want more. So I’ve agonized over every spot and blot jotted down in census records of the era in which Anton and Mary Laskowski lived—and, in particular, those years in which they took in their married daughter Sophie’s own household.

There was just a brief window in which to capture this household, actually: in the 1905 New York State census, and five years later in the 1910 federal census. After that, not only were Sophie and her family moved out of her parents’ Brooklyn apartment, but gone also was any trace of that married name—whether Puhalski, or Puchalski, or any of the other poorly-rendered versions of that Polish surname.

To compare notes in a case like this, then, all I've got to muddle this one out is the documentation left behind by impartial third parties. It all comes down to the detail-capturing prowess of state enumerator, John F. Lupien, and federal enumerator, Charles H. McMahon. Or, more likely, to their handwriting perseverance in the grueling course of their duties on June 1, 1905, or April 15, 1910.

That, however, introduces some problems of its own. While I can be certain of Anton and Mary’s daughter Sophie in the 1905 state census, it isn’t exactly clear what Sophie’s husband’s given name actually was. Whatever it was, it was evidently marked out and, in a different handwriting, the name Thomas was inserted.


Why the change? It’s not that the Polish version of our English Thomas was that challenging; according to one handy Polish-to-English name chart, the Polish version of Thomas would have been rendered as Tomasz—not much different than other European versions of the name.

What makes this difficult for me is what we find when we compare these 1905 notes with those of our 1910 enumerator. In that subsequent document, gone was the Thomas. In its place was inserted the given name, Theodore—the English equivalent of what, in Polish, would have been Teodor.


How could Thomas be mistaken for Theodore? Even rendered with a thick foreign accent, Tomasz would not be easily confused for Teodor.

It’s what followed that given name, however, that causes me the most concern. I guess I should have presumed that the ears which heard “Thomas” in one case and “Theodore” in the other, would never have gotten it right when it comes to Polish surnames. For, in the case of the 1905 record, the verdict was delivered as Puhalaski, while the 1910 decision was rendered as Puhalski—or, maybe, given the strategic placement of one frustrating ink blot, Pukalski.

Granted, the ears of English-speaking enumerators never did seem to mix well with foreign accents. And it’s not, necessarily, the issue over whether that surname was Puhalaski or Puhalski. What I really need to know is: was Sophie’s husband Thomas Puhalaski one and the same with Theodore Puhalski? More to the point, which one should I be pursuing, when he—or they—are mysteriously replaced by one John T. McCann? For that, my friend, becomes the next quest, once Sophie and family move out of Brooklyn and into their new digs in Queens in time for the 1915 state census.


Above: Excerpts from the 1905 and 1910 United States Census records showing the Brooklyn, New York, household of Anton and Mary Laskowski. Images courtesy Ancestry.com.

12 comments:

  1. Whatever was erased and replaced with Thomas doesn't appear to have been Theodore, judging by that downward loop. I suspect Sophia's name was listed first by mistake. Have we ruled out that he was named Theodore Thomas? I have confirmed relatives who routinely alternated between first and middle names.

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    1. I have a lot of those name-switching relatives, too, especially among my mother's southern kin. Actually, I hadn't noticed the Thomas until very recently. Before that point, I had been hoping that it was a Theodore "J" that was the entry, as the later name--occurring with the 1915 census persona--was John T.

      Your idea about Theodore Thomas is quite possible, however, as is the thought that maybe the enumerator had entered Sophie's name first, in error. If only these enumerators knew how much we micro-scrutinize their every move, an entire century ago!

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  2. Wendy offers an interesting thought.

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    1. Thomas J or Thomas T... that is the question...

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    2. Have you looked in the 1910-1920 City directories for:

      1) When McCann pops up?
      2) The spelling of Puhalski they might have used?

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    3. Oh, I've been cheering for that middle initial to be a J, rather than a T...but I'm afraid the verdict is turning out to be T.

      It looks like some serious time spent with city directories will be in order for me!

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  3. The ages of Thomas/Theodore between the censuses seem to correspond (29 and 33). If you look closely at the 1910 census, there appears to be a "T" after Theodore. Also on the 1910 census, the number of years of present marriage is listed as six, which would indicate they were married about 1904.

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    1. Oh, Georgeann, even that 1904 marriage detail plagues me. Do you know, I have hand cranked my way, v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y, through the microfilmed marriage records for New York City, and still could not find any record of Sophie's marriage. So even that way, I haven't been able to secure any confirmation of what, exactly, that surname was.

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  4. I hope things are alright. You are so regular with posting - that when you don't - I have to wonder.

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    1. Thanks for watching out for me, Iggy! The post is there now. Just forgot to change the schedule from "PM" to "AM" when I scheduled it. I'm still here :)

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  5. Theodore T could be Thomas. The ages match up. Those enumerators made mistakes..often. I wonder where else they could have been married Thomas/Theodore and Sophie? New Jersey? It is across the river isn't it? Keep on keeping on! :)

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    1. Yes, that's a possibility: it is a hop across the river to New Jersey. Actually, if you remember Sophie's mother's Aktabowski or Zelinski connection, that was to a family which settled in New Jersey, so you may be on to something.

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