Andrew (Andrzej) Seckla (aka Sekula) Catholic Born Galicia Poland 1874 Need Help

Question

Andrew (Andrzej) Seckla (aka Sekula) was born in 1874 in Galicia Poland. We have his obituary & 1920,1930,1940 census reports also his gravestone photo & cemetery info to build upon.

He married Mary Novak sometime in 1900 in Galicia Poland. They were Catholics. They arrived in America in 1905. Their first two sons born here in New Jersey. The rest of the kids in Connecticut. He died June 26, 1957 in Middletown Connecticut.

We have much more info added to bio, etc; since last update. We know from family story they left some kids in Poland with family to raise; so it seems they fled to America for reasons unknown; maybe the Russian war? We need more records & resources to find the parents.

We know they changed the name from Sekula to Seckla. See son Ladislaw Walter Sekula’s Birth Record on his profile page.

 Any help is appreciated.

Thank you wikitree family.

Comments

Hello Andrew!  See this page I have put together for the village where my great-grandparents are from.  I'm basically cataloguing my journey while researching historical and cultural information which will help other researchers.  I have many research links, but the one you want to pay special attention is the one for polish archives. On the history timeline, what will also apply to pretty much every village in the Polish side of former Galicia is written about after 1880.  This is important for anyone researching in this area.  Cieplice, Jaroslaw, Galicia, Austria

Answer 1

As far as I know, Galicia wasn't officially Poland - it belonged to the Austrian Empire between 1804 and 1867. After that it was part of Austria-Hungary until 1918. Nowadays it is part of Poland and the Ukraine.

There was a significant amount of Germanic (Geman, Austrian, ...) and Ukranian minorities living there. Depending on where the family came from before they lived in Galicia, I can imagine that Mary Novak's original surname was Neumann. The German name Neumann was sometimes changed to Nowak or Novak in Poland. Sekula was originally a Jewish name, I think - at least that's what google says.

The 1905 Russian Revolution might be a reason why they moved to the US, although I'm not sure how unstable the situation was in Galicia at that time considering it was part of Austria. Even their direct neighbour Ukraine only became socialistic in 1919.

What I would consider is the fact that around the year 1900 Galicians became more and more antisemitic and even violent. Jewish people were discriminated against even by the crown. It surprises me a bit that the family was supposedly catholic.

Comments

Wow! This is very revealing as to why I have such a high German percent dna match! We couldn’t figure out how we thought polish but it’s deceptive! Thank you excellent responce helps us understand our origins better. Thank you for this excellent post! The catholic religion is relayed to me by family as their daughter my great grandma was catholic and they are also buried in the catholic cemetery. I will ask more about Andrew and Mary being catholic in more detail.

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I posted the death report of the wife. Mary (Novak) Kusck. Her parents are listed maybe this will help. I posted the question under her mother Theresa Kusck she married Charles Novak. All the help is appreciated. We don’t know the origin of the surname “Kusck”

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I did a quick search for the name "Sekula" on galiciangermandescendands.org and it told me that alternative names for "Sekula" are: Czajka, Czaika, Sekata. There is only one person with that name in their database: Josef Czajka who was living in Rytro/Altsandez in 1845. I don't think their database is complete, but maybe this is a good point to start your research.

The surname Kusck is really unusual and when I search for it on the same page, they suggest the name "Kusch" - but this name also does not appear in their database.

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Thank you everything you mentioned is helpful

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Ok we have his death record. Date of birth etc. any way you can help in our search for his parents and birth location in Polish Roman Catholic Records etc?

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There were several reasons that attributed to why Ukrainians and Jews left Galicia.  Over a 100 years span there was increasing "Polonialization" of the land.  Many Ukrainians began giving their children Polish variation of the first name.  The persecution was specifically because 1) Ukrainians/Ruthenians were Greek Catholic and Polish were Roman Catholic.  2) After WWI and WWII, Ukrainians were suspected to sympathize with Russia, so often they were either executed or deported. Russia didn't like them either, b/c they were truly their own culture/ethnicity. Russia displaced many Ukrainians to Siberia. By WWII if they had not fully converted religion or married someone Polish, they were deported to the Ukraine.   What I have noted from the census records, there were only Polish landowners (not Jewish or Ukrainian, at least from the village where my ancestors lived.)

I can imagine for Ruthenians/Ukrainians immigrating to the United States (or other places in Europe, France was also a popular destination) was their best choice.  For the first time they could own land to farm.  They could live someplace without fear of execution.  Many people contact me after creating the page for Cieplice, and we all say the same thing ... our immigrating ancestors didn't talk about their homeland much.  Now knowing what I know, I probably wouldn't either.

So for the Ruthenians, they were their own ethnic people who never had a country to call their own, until Ukraine was formed.  After WWI you see a sort of ethnic cleansing and persecution ... even for Polish living in the Ukraine former Galicia.

Galicia was run on sort of a "serfdom" system until the 1850s.  So even though Polish people owned land, that number was incredibly small.  Polish and Jewish were just as poor as Ruthenians, and could not afford to purchase land.  Galicia was said to be one of the poorest countries in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

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I appreciate this insight it’s been very helpful in understanding the time and history. I hope to find Andrew Sekula ”Seckla” parental lineage in the process of also understanding the times they lived. Thank you

Answer 2

Hi Andrew, my mother's mother was a Sekula from Grybow Poland.  I still have relatives there.  I hired a genealogist in Poland and have been able to to obtain records back to my 4th GG Sekula.  He charges $25 per record.  The records are Catholic church records which are full of information.  He translates each record as well.  Well worth the money.  You could also try an LDS library.  I have not been to one yet, but understand that they have come Polish church records as well.  Even if you find the records, they are very hard to read and of course are in Latin.  Let me know if you would like contact info for my genealogist.  Good luck!  Connie

Comments

Ok we have his death record. Date of birth etc. any way you can help in our search for his parents and birth location in Polish Roman Catholic Records 

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Answer 3

Look at [[Space:Galicia]] for a history and links in Wikitree.

I have found in researching Galician that migrated to the US in this time frame:

They transitioned from putting Galicia or Austria to Poland as country if origin on their Census records as the country changed.

You can sometimes find the city they came from in naturalization,  draft registration records, or marriage records in the US.

The Polish government is now starting to consolidate their church records.  Some are now already online.

Comments

This is what I’m hoping to find some kind of draft registration or similar document which will have more info to get us back on the trail again. Thank you

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We just found Veronica Seckla and her Husband and Children. She cameniver in 1912 from Poland. Much more info added with help from a Seckla cousin. It might be enough to find their parental lineage

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Seckla-12

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Ok we have his death record. Date of birth etc. any way you can help in our search for his parents and birth location in Polish Roman Catholic Records etc?

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Answer 4

*Solved"  Through his sister's passenger manifest record, we were able to identify his birth place as Ziempniow, Mielec, Galicia, Austria.

Comments

Amazing job! Wow! This is a huge break on this brick wall ancestor. You can also use the share link from ancestry and those with no membership can view. I can’t see the image source but am a member of ancestry just haven’t renewed yet. I’m so excited! The info cousin Rick had helped and now this is great! We have the location !

Thank you :)

Also all the updates and improvements so special!

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Aweseme, Skye!

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The sister Anna is now coming to light. She is new to our research!

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Im updating the Find A Grave info it won’t let me put in Ziempniów, Mielec, Galicia, Austria so I added it in the bio and Austria as birth

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Just found 1910 census

Name: Andrew Skola

Titles and Terms:

Event Type: Census

Event Date: 1910

Event Place: Perth Amboy Ward 5, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States

District: ED 33

Gender: Male

Age: 30

Marital Status: Married

Race: White

Race: White

Relationship to Head of Household: Head

Relationship to Head of Household: Head

Birth Year (Estimated): 1880

Birthplace: Austria

Immigration Year: 1906

Father's Birthplace: Austria

Mother's Birthplace: Austria

Sheet Letter: A

Sheet Number: 33

Sheet Number and Letter: 33A

Household ID: 564

Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

Affiliate Publication Number: T624

Affiliate Film Number: 899

GS Film Number: 1374912

Digital Folder Number: 004972874

Image Number: 00648

Household Role Sex Age Birthplace

Andrew Skola Head M 30 Austria

Mary Skola Wife F 20 Austria

John Skola Son M 3 New Jersey

Wladyslus Skola Son M 1 New Jersey

John Klaus Boarder M 35 Austria

Citing this Record:

"United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKBH-W76 : accessed 2 June 2019), Andrew Skola, Perth Amboy Ward 5, Middlesex, New Jersey, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 33, sheet 33A, family 564, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 899; FHL microfilm 1,374,912.