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Note: -j6Z389lhXtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c9ji8LLJyK4/VqUJhQDffmI/AAAAAAAAGco/6IbiMs59Rf4/s800-Ic42/Vict%252520Lab%252520Gasz%2525201933.png" height="206" width="153" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/101087389908224627084/WiktoryaVictoriaLabuzGaszkowski18861969?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">Wiktorya "Victoria" Labuz Gaszkowski, 1886-1969</a></td></tr></table> Notes for Wiktorya Łabuz Łabuz Gaszkowski:
Apparently her maiden last name and her first married last name were both Łabuz.
There are various possible correct spellings for this woman's original first name. The most commonly used Polish spelling of her first name is Wiktorya, so that will be used in this chart. Other possible spellings are Wiktorja and Wiktoria. (There is no letter V in Polish.)
The original Polish language spelling of her last name was Łabuz. That Polish letter that looks like an "L" with a line through it, is pronounced like an English "W". The Polish pronunciation of Łabuz is WAH-booz, or close to that.
Since that "Ł" does not exist in English, it became written as an "L" in the United States. And since the "z" and "s" sounds are fairly similar in both Polish and English, the last letter in her last name was variously written in the United States as a "z" or an "s". So the properly written name in Polish of Łabuz was written as either Labuz or Labus in English.
Wiktorya was born in, and continued to live in, until February of 1913, either the town of Mszana Dolna, or the nearby village of Kasinka Mała. Kasinka Mała means Little Kasinka, and it is pronounced kah-SHINK-ah MAH-wah. Those places were located in the Galicia region of Austria, which itself was a part of of Austria-Hungary before October 31, 1918. On that date, the three "partions" of Poland (Austrian, German, and Russian) were dissolved. The former independent country of Poland was reincarnated. Some international borders were moved, and Poland was granted Kasinka Mała and the rest of the western 40% of the Galicia region. Now, the unofficial region of Galicia includes roughly the southernmost 15% of Poland, and some of western Ukraine.
Mszana Dolna and Kasinka Mała are now in the administrative district of Gmina Mszana Dolna, within Limanowa County, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland.
This <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/4Yt4nM7ya8KAzf8P9">map</a> shows the location of Kasinka Mała, represented by the black dot next to the letter I in AUSTRIA-.
Even though Mszana Dolna and Kasinka Mała were in Austria, the language spoken there was Polish, which is the language Wiktorya spoke.
Even though Wiktorya's hometowns of Mszana Dolna and Kasinka Mała, on one hand, plus the hometown of her daughter Frances' mother-in-law Elizabeth Trzop Surma, Czarna Góra, on the other hand, are all now in Poland, about 13 miles apart as the crow flies, before October 31, 1918, those towns were in different countries, and the inhabitants spoke different languages. Mszana Dolnans and Kasinka Małans were Austrians who spoke Polish, while Czarna Górans were Hungarians who spoke Slovak.
The Łabuz family members were Catholics. Until about late 1913, they apparently attended the St. Michael the Archangel Church in Mszana Dolna. The Łabuz family either lived there or three miles northwest in Kasinka Mała. In the latter case, they would have had to travel a six mile round trip to attend church. In late 1913, the Visitation of Blessed Mary Virgin Catholic Church was completed and was opened in Kasinka Mała.
Wiktorya's last name of Łabuz was both her maiden name and her married last name, until she remarried. Her maiden name is known because she stated for her 1913 immigration that her father's name was Wojciech Łabuz.
Wiktorya's first husband Jozef Łabuz apparently died about late 1912 or January of 1913, likely in or near Kasinka Mała or nearby Mszana Dolna. Jozef and Wiktorya had at least one child, Franciska. After her husband apparently died, Wiktorya decided to travel from there to Chicago to work, and she found jobs as a maid. Wiktorya left her daughter Franciska, who was no more than three years old, to be raised by Wiktorya's parents, Marianna and Wojciech Łabuz. The name Marianna is known because Franciska stated for her ship's manifest when she immigrated to the United States that her last residence was in the home of her grandmother Marianna Łabuz.
In February of 1913, Wiktorya Łabuz left her home in Kasinka Mała. She travelled to the port of Bremen, Germany. On February 22, 1913, she boarded the S.S. Kleist. The ship arrived in New York on March sixth.
Wiktorya had two travelling companions with her. Immediately after Wiktorya's name on the ship's manifest page was the name Marya Stozek. (Marya "Mary" married Wiktorya's brother Franziszek "Franz" Labuz in 1915 in Chicago.) Marya Stozek was also from Kasinka Mała, and she was also going to an address on the south side of Chicago. Two lines below Marya, another girl, Rozalia Kozicka, from the same town, Kasinka, was also going to the same address as Wiktorya.
The following additional information about Wiktorya was typed on the manifest page:
She was 26, single, and a servant. She could read and write Polish. She was born in, and had been most recently living in, "Kasinka", in the Galicia region of Austria. Her father's name was Wojciech Labuz. She was going to the home of her brother Franz Łabuz*, who lived at 4445 S. Marshfield Ave., Chicago. She had $25 with her. She was five feet tall, with grey eyes.
Wiktorya's information is highlighted on line 11 of this photo of the manifest page: <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/SWSRqySNfvzmQGrg9">Photo</a>
*Franciszek Łabuz had immigrated July 19, 1910, with Marya Stozek's brother, Piotr Stozek. Both Franciszek and Piotr stated they were going to the same address that Wiktorya stated 31 months later, 4445 S. Marshfield. Franciszek Łabuz married Marya Stozek on May 16, 1915, in Chicago.
In the United States, Wiktorya usually went by the English version of her name; Victoria.
For some reason, Victoria can not be found in the 1920 U.S. census, in Chicago or anywhere else.
In Cook County, on May 5, 1922, Wiktorya Łabuz married Antoni Gaszkowski. He was about 17 years older than Victoria.
Antoni had become a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1921. When Wiktorya married him in 1922, that automatically made her a U.S. citizen.
Antoni turned out to be abusive to Victoria, so at some point after April 8, 1930, and before April of 1940, she left him. But she didn't legally divorce him for many years or decades. She retained her married last name for the rest of her life.
By mid 1926 at the latest, Victoria saved enough money to send for her only daughter, Franciska Łabuz. Wiktorya quite likely saved the necessary money in less than the 13 years she had been in the United States at that point. But at that time, a child had to be at least 16 years old to travel unaccompanied overseas. So even if Victoria had the money before 1926, she had to wait until 1926 before Franciska would be allowed to travel alone to the United States. After arriving in New York, and after getting held in the Ellis Island hospital for some time, then Franciska probably travelled by train to Chicago to meet her mother. In the United States, Franciska went by the English version of her name; Frances.
In September of 1926, "Mrs. Wiktorja Gaszkowska", was living at 5322 S. Bishop St., Chicago, according to Franciska's information on the ship's manifest page from when she arrived in New York from Europe.
A 1928 Chicago numerical street directory (reverse address) shows that at 5322 S. Bishop, the residents were: Gaskowski Anthony (Victoria) But the z was missing. Antoni, too, went by the English version of his name, in the United States.
The 1930 U.S. census had an effective date of April first. The residence of Victoria and her husband was enumerated April eighth. The last name of Victoria and her husband was badly misspelled. The census page shows "Anthony Koskuski", (actually Gaszkowski) 61, and his wife Victoria, 42. They still were living at 5322 S. Bishop. That was one mile from where Victoria's sons Andrew and William Surma were living, at 4844 S. Seeley Ave.
The census page shows that Victoria and Anthony had both immigrated from Poland in 1913, and they both spoke Polish. Anthony was a laborer for an ice company, and Victoria was a maid at a hotel. <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/3VFqchhbnLQJaM9cA">Photo</a>
By April of 1940 at the latest, Victoria went to live with her married daughter Frances Surma, her husband William, and their two sons. Victoria watched the boys at home so Frances and William could both have jobs outside of the home.
Information in the 1940 U. S. census shows that Victoria had a 4th grade education. The census taker misspelled Gaszkowski as Gaczkowski. <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/117rCsKhjhXRof6v7">Photo</a>
At some point, Victoria was legally divorced from Antoni Gaszkowski (much to her puzzlement and chagrin--divorce was a huge taboo at the time especially because they were Catholic). She blamed her son-in-law for arranging the divorce without her understanding what was happening. Even after decades of living in the United States, Victoria did not speak English at all.
Anthony Gaszkowski died April 26, 1948, in Chicago.
The Social Security Death Index correctly shows that the spelling of Victoria's last name was Gaszkowski. Victoria's 1969 obituary in Chicago's Polish daily newspaper, the <i>Dziennik Chicagoski</i> also shows that same spelling.
That SSDI is also showing that Victoria's birthdate was June 19, 1889. But Wiktorya had stated in March of 1913 that she was 26, which, if accurate, means she was born in 1886 or 1887. And Victoria's stated age, 42, if accurate, on the 1930 census effective date of April first, means she was born in 1887 or 1888. And Victoria's stated age for the 1940 census on April first, was 54, which, if accurate, means she was born in 1885 or 1886.
The September 12, 1969, <i>Chicago Tribune</i> contained a death notice for Victoria: <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/kyLsXpuDEvN9e74r7">Photo</a>
The September 12, 1969, issue of Chicago's Polish daily newspaper, the <i>Dziennik Chicagoski,</i> contained a roughly similar death notice for Victoria, but in Polish. A photo of that, along with a translation: <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/UrFeyqcVMxHvTLCx6">Photo</a>
Victoria's death certificate: <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/UkyWnJzUn9kpftWV8">Photo</a>
Victoria's SSN was 357-22-4012.
Note: <table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Vj89vntP9Jf
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