Researching Rafka family line

Question

Hello, I'd like some help with finding out who is who from my ancestors with the surname "Rafka". As of right now there are only 9 profiles on Wikitree with this surname and they are my immediate family and grandfathers. Even Ancestry only has records for 484 people with this surname. I will create profiles for my known aunts and uncles shortly.

One of the major problems I've run into is that the U.S.  census records for 1920 through1940, have different, yet somewhat different first names each time, or at least very different spellings for the names.

My great-great grandfather came from Poland before WWI and it's possible the name was misspelled or shortened. I will fill in all of the information I have up to my grandfather and his siblings, but anything further back is a dead end.

Any help at all is greatly appreciated.

Comments

Here is Michalina's first husband and children:

Name:	Machin Zebrowski [Michalina Zebrowski]
Age:	31
Birth Year:	abt 1889
Birthplace:	Poland
Home in 1920:	Brookhaven, Suffolk, New York
Street:	Coram and Yaphank Road
Race:	White
Gender:	Female
Immigration Year:	1910
Relation to Head of House:	Wife
Marital Status:	Married
Spouse's Name:	William Zebrowski
Father's Birthplace:	Poland
Mother's Birthplace:	Poland
Native Tongue:	Polish
Able to Speak English:	Yes
Naturalization Status:	Alien
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age William Zebrowski 32 Machin Zebrowski 31 Helen Zebrowski 7 Whaclav Zebrowski 6 Roman Zebrowski 5 William Zebrowski 3 [3 10/12]

 

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Name:	Stanislaw Rebacz
Arrival Date:	26 Feb 1913
Birth Date:	abt 1879
Birth Location:	Galicia
Birth Location Other:	rylowa
Age:	34
Gender:	Male
Ethnicity/ Nationality:	Polish
Port of Departure:	Bremen
Port of Arrival:	New York, New York
Ship Name:	Kronprinzessin Cecilie
Search Ship Database:	Search for the Kronprinzessin Cecilie in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Search Hamburg Passenger Lists:	Search for the departure in Hamburg Passenger Lists

 

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Name:	Stanislaw Rypisz
Arrival Date:	22 Jun 1911
Birth Date:	abt 1886
Birth Location:	Galicia
Birth Location Other:	rozloaka
Age:	25
Gender:	Male
Ethnicity/ Nationality:	Polish
Port of Departure:	Bremen
Port of Arrival:	New York, New York
Ship Name:	Barbarossa
Search Ship Database:	Search for the Barbarossa in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Search Hamburg Passenger Lists:	Search for the departure in Hamburg Passenger Lists

 

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Now if I can just find a record for Frank that coordinates with Stanley's birth area.

Betty

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Alright, before I try and add profiles for all of his children, I'd like to try and find out who's mother is who. And also which one's may have died as children or there names change from census to census.

I was told by family that his first wife died, so that's most likely what happened

This is the 1915 New York State Census:

Frank Rafka - 38 - Head

Anna Rafka - 35 - Wife

John Rafka - 11 -Son

George Rafka - 04 - Son

Lottie Rafka - 01 - Daughter

Veronice Rafka - 01

Frank Poplawski - 24

Leokadya Poplawski -24

Edward Poplawski - 24

And this is the 1920 US Federal Census:

Frank Rafka - 43

Michelina Rafka - 29

John Rafka - 17

Bles*A Rafka - 09

Helen Rafka - 04

Edward Rafka - 02

I don't know who the Poplawski's were, or if we were related.

What happened to George, Lottie, and Veronice, and the Poplawski's?

Can anyone actually decipher Bles*A's name from the census, please?

Some of these names change slightly or a lot from census to census. So I'm not actually sure what each persons true first name is.

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All good questions. I believe Helen took her new father's name from Zebrowski to Rafka in 1915 or the person who filled out the census just used the Father's name for all the kids irregardless of their actual names. She then returned to her real father's name in 1930. The same holds true for Adolf.

An interesting side-note is that Michelena seems to be prone to having twins:

Name:	Helen Zebrowski
Birth Date:	abt 1912
Birth Place:	United States
Age:	13
Gender:	Female
Residence Place:	Brookhaven, Suffolk
Relationship:	Daughter
Color or Race:	White
Assembly District:	01
Line Number:	09
Page Number:	11
Household Members:	Name Age William Zebrowski 37 Mishalena Zebrowski 36 Helen Zebrowski 13 Wadislof Zebrowski 11 K Roman Zebrowski 10 J William Zebrowski 09 L Ziegmot Zebrowski 04 Jennie Zebrowski 02 Edward Zebrowski 02 Michael Lukues 34

 

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Is Bles*A Boleck?

 

Betty

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I think it might be. I think that Bles*A, Bolek, and Boleslaus, are all the same person. The age increase per census seems to match up.

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I'd like to make profiles for allof the children, but I'm not sure what to put for their first names and I don't want to accidentally make duplicate profiles.

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The best way to do that is to find birth certificates or records for the kids. family search might be the best way to do that. Plug in the parents' names and try to find birth records for the kids.

Betty

Answer 1

There was a Ma\ria RAFKA b: 20 Mar 1901 (may not have been her maiden name) who's death was registered at Kensington, London Mar Q 1971.