In honor of the Labor Day Weekend, the genealogy website Ancestry.com opened it’s archives with Free Access Week (Aug 29 – September 5).With that in mind and the fact that they are constantly adding more to their databases, I thought to see what possible new facts were available on our family since having opted not to be paying member. Well, the wait did pay off when I typed in the last name ‘Potenska’, country of birth as ‘Poland’, arrival year as ‘1901’ and set the gender to ‘female’. Not the widest parameters; but, knowing the last name was unique I had confidence about any results found would belong to our family. And, it was.
Bronislawa ‘Minnie’ Potenska was found – along with her sister of our great-grandmother Stanislawa ‘Stella’ and her newborn daughter, Creslawa ‘Charlotte’. This was much more information than was previously available…plus, it also held the records for her sister and her new born daughter who would become our grandmother.
PASSENGER MANIFEST INFORMATION
| Name: | Stanislawa Celmer | Creslawa Celmer | Bronislawa Poteñska |
| Arrival Date: | 29 Oct 1901 | - | - |
| Birth Year: | 1874 | 1901 | abt 1883 |
| Age: | 27 | 4 m | 18 |
| Gender: | Female | - | - |
| Ethnicity/Race- /Nationality: | Russian | - | - |
| Port of Departure: | Antwerp, Belgium | - | - |
| Port of Arrival: | New York, New York | - | - |
| Ship Name: | Friesland | - | - |
| Passage Paid by: | husband | father | self |
| Whom you are joining + where: | Feliks Celmer ? St.182 Astoria, NY | - | brother-in-law |
Source: Year: 1901; Microfilm Serial: 15t715; Microfilm Roll: T715_231; Line: 9; Page Number: 151. (via Ancestry.com)
SS Friesland (Red Star Line)
The house flag was a white burgee with a red star. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Star_Line
Sketch rendering of the SS Friesland (date unknown)
Photo of the SS Friesland (date unknown)
SHIP INFO
| Ship Name | Friesland | |
| Launch Date | Thursday, 15/08/1889 | |
| Built by | J and G Thomson of Glasgow | |
| Years in Service | 1889-1910* | |
| Propulsion | Steam triple expansion T3cy 7000ihp 14kn 1scr | |
| Funnels | 1 | |
| Masts | 4 | |
| Tons | 7,116grt | |
| Length | 437 feet | |
| Breadth | 51.2 feet | |
| Shipping Line | Red Star | |
| Ship Description | Red Star Line ships had a black funnel with a white band bearing a five-pointed red star. | |
| History | Passengers: 226 first, 102 second, 600 third. Launched, August 15, 1889. Service: Antwerp-New York. Vessel was transferred to American Line in 1905. Renamed: La Plata (1910) Italian. Note: This clipper bow liner built of steel was scrapped in 1912. | |
| Notes* | Sold to Italy in 1911 and renamed La Plata. Broken up a year later. | |
| Sources | http://www.redstarline.eu/home.html http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=21083 http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/ShipsF.html |
June-December 1901 (issued August 30, 1901) for the following ships: Vaderland / Zeeland / Kensington / Soutwark
Friesland / Pennland / Nederland / Switzerland
You might notice that there was a trend toward naming their ships with ‘-land’.
STEERAGE
It is more than likely that the Potenska Sisters traveled third class/steerage with the new baby.
Example:
Third-Class Four Berth Room from SS Campania.
Note that sleeping accommodations have moved away from the previous large dormitory style rooms to smaller private ones along with private washstand.
Example:
Third-Class Dining Room on the SS Ultonia.
Dining was community style…with everyone sharing same table.
http://www.gjenvick.com/HistoricalBrochures/Steamships-OceanLiners/CunardLine/1902-12-TheStoryOfTheCunardLine-Part8.html
FINAL THOUGHTS…
A hundred years ago…two young Polish women and an infant girl made a journey alone from the small village of Krzewo, Poland and traveled to the port city of Antwerp. Their goal was simple. The eldest of the two sisters Stanislawa ‘Stella’ was to meet her husband and his brother who had left the year before for the United States. In the time he had been gone, she had given birth to a daughter who would join her in traveling toward this new land. Her younger sister Bronislawa ‘Minnie’ Potenska would accompany her and her newborn daughter, Creslawa ‘Charlotte’. The only thing these women knew about this new land were the two Celmer men awaiting them.
The rest would be discovered upon their arrival.
