Sponsorship

     A very important lesson that I have learned by doing genealogy is that families immigrated to America, not individuals.  So if you are thinking that my great-whomever came over on the boat, you are dead wrong.  The greatest influx of immigrants came to the US during the last quarter of the 19th century thru the first quarter of the 20th century.  During this time frame the US had in place strict immigration laws.  You just did not come here.  You had to have a "sponsor".  This sponsor would vouch for your character and guarantee you a place to live.  Forms had to be filled out on this end to get official approval by immigration to allow the individual on the other end to be "let in".  You also had to possess a trade or profession that would be useful.  So if you thought that your one relative came over, you most likely had numerous brothers, sisters, and related cousins of your relative immigrate also.  Your related family here is actually much larger than you realize.  The only problem is that you have not realized the related surname in many cases.  Also, just because an individual immigrated to the US, it does not mean their descendants are here.  One of my cousins was actually deported not too long after arriving.  He must have not "worked out" in the eyes of immigration authorities back then.

      I became aware of this revelation myself when I finally came across a cousin that I did not know existed in the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin where my grandfather lived.  Over time the families lost track of each other.  But one person in that family line was also doing genealogy and a little bit ahead of myself.  I also saw this sponsorship policy in action when I finally traced my grandfather thru Ellis Island.  The two passengers above his name were listed as cousins under the ship manifest heading of person known at final destination.  The address of known person was also duplicated.

     Here are two lines from my family tree that you can see how the system of sponsorship and the concept of families, not individuals, immigrated to the US.  Remember, this very well may not include all in these families.  But these are just the ones that I know of to date.

Sponsorship of Apanasewicz Line

     Barbara Jankowski, my great-grandmother, is the matriarch of one of my tree lines to immigrate to the US, but she was not actually the first of the family.  Barbara's maiden name is Apanasewicz.  The first of the known family line to immigrate was Barbara's nephew, Constantine Apanasewicz, who immigrated in July 1911.  His sponsor, listed on the ship manifest, is listed as a friend.  This may be true, but, then again, it may not be true.  Perhaps this friend was really a third cousin.  But Constantine did not want to explain it, or the manifest recorder could not care less and just marked down friend.  In February 1912, Constantine Apanasewicz sponsored his wife, Judita, their five children, and Barbara Jankowski according to the ship manifest.  In July 1912, Constantine Apanasewicz sponsored his nephew, Pikonor Awlasewicz, according to the ship manifest.  That same ship manifest of July 1912, shows that Barbara Jankowski sponsored her son, John, and a nephew, Edwaud Onosclewicz.  Edwaud's family relationship could be either from the Apanasewicz or Jankowski family lines.  This is all that I have uncovered for now, but I suspect that that there may be even more.  You can plainly see how more recent passenger ship manifests can illustrate the story of family sponsorship.

Sponsorship of Nowacki Line

     Older ship manifest records may only list the passenger's name and possibly a few other neat tidbits of information.  This is common prior to the formal creation of Ellis Island.  Even early Ellis Island records were not required to contain detailed information as dictated by stricter immigration laws.  But the sponsorship of family concept can still be interpreted by information on US Censuses that list the year of immigration or by ship manifests.  Furthermore, with the absence of an 1890 US Census, I have gone to church marriage records in which all in this family belonged to the same Catholic parish church in Chicago, and later parts of this family moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin and belonged to the same parish church.  These records through their marriage records show street addresses of siblings living on the same city block.  Also, researched information shows that early on this family moved almost yearly from one apartment to another.  It would not surprise me that as each family sibling immigrated to the US, he or she lived with that sponsor until he or she moved out due to financial independence or marriage.

     Felixa Nowacki, my great-grandmother, is the matriarch of one of my family tree lines to immigrate to the US.  To date, she is the oldest known of all siblings in this Nowacki family line.  She was also the first to immigrate.  Felixa immigrated to the US sometime in 1885.  This event started the sponsorship of many from her family.  Felixa's younger sister, Frances, immigrated in 1886.  Another sister, Valentina, immigrated in 1887.  Felixa's younger brother, Felix, immigrated in 1888.  Another younger brother of Felixa, Casimir, immigrated in 1892.  In 1895 Felixa's mother, Magdalena, immigrated with her youngest daughter, Stanislawa.  It is assumed that Magdalena's husband died and mama was brought over to be with her children.  Here again, this illustrates that families, not individuals, immigrated to the US for a new way of life.