Burghardts and Ingrams and Straubs – oh my!

 Early in the morning and during breaks from  work and in the evening when I should be watching tv, I find myself standing in front of these books and papers.
 When I should be sick and tired of sitting in front of a computer I plop down here sifting through “hints” and names on Ancestry.

There are some dead ends but many great finds. I finally broke down and subscribed to the World Explorer Membership which opened up a lot of records to me.

The biggest find was the Galizien German Descendants website. They’ve done incredible work compiling family information for Germans living in Galacia.

It led me to Julianna Ingram Posluszny’s parents, 2 younger sisters with their married names, and back in time to my 4th great grandmother!

On the Straub side – Caroline Straub Posluszny Bonk – it was a lucky break that I’ve been scribbling names for years because I found her parents Adam and Klara (Ingram) with her brother Albert on a list for Josefsdorf. That led me to Albert’s family listing and finally explained who Gertrud Straub, who’s buried in the plot next to Caroline Bonk at St Casimers Cemetery is – it’s her sister in law! Unfortunately Wildenthal, where the Posluszny family lived most of their lives is not part of the series.  But I’m sure something will turn up!

In the meantime, some of the last names that have turned up are: Jung, Putz, Burckhard (as opposed to current day Burghardt), Karl (rather than Kahl), Dengler, Kaiser, Ungeheuer, Sommer and Huber!

 One of many sheets of paper – the circled number to the right of Gertrud’s name takes me to her parent information.

This is where it begins….

This is probably one of the most cherished pictures in my collection.  Six sons and two daughters of Caroline Straub Posluszny Bonk.  It was taken some time in 1907 or 1908 in Yonkers NY.

The front row is John Posluszny (said to go professionally by Post) and his son Johnny, Anna (wife of Joseph) holding daughter Margaret, Mary, Caroline with Walter, and Elzbieta.

Back row is Joseph (who went by Post), Frank, Charles (also Post), John Bonk (husband of Caroline), Juliana and Konrad Posluszny (my grandparents).

All of them came over in bits and pieces, seemingly individually, from 1899 (John) through 1907 (Caroline, John Bonk, Mary, Elzbieta and Walter).  They all lived in Yonkers NY for the first few years and they gradually moved to New Jersey, Fairfield County and Wallingford.  More on all that later!

I look at the faces and wonder what their thoughts and plans were now that they were all together again in the United States.  More than dates and names, that’s the information I crave most.