My dad's grandparents on his father's side are Michael and Sophia Stanish. But, when they came to the United States through Ellis Island, they came carrying the names given to them, Michal and Zoska (Fydrick) Stanisz. I know they came from Austria (from the town of Shonak (phonetic?)), but it's unkown if they actually were Austrian or if they were Ukrainian or Polish. My dad remembers them speaking Russian. In any case, Michael came to the U.S. by himself sometime before 1900. His brother, Profir, pushed and pushed him to bring his wife and daughter over, but from what I hear, he was having a good time as a renewed bachelor. Eventually, Sophia and their daughter Sophie made it across the pond. Fourteen or so kids followed after that with three sets of twins and a set of triplets (there may have been a son, Tim born before Sophie).
Michael's brother, Profir and his wife Yusti, landed and lived in New Jersey. Their names changed to John and Susan - I love it! Sophia had a brother living with them in Pennsylvania. He lived in a little shack in the back of the property. His name was Wico (sp?) and all the kids called him Yonko Wico. I'm hoping that the upcoming release of the 1940 census will unveil some more information about all of these characters. Being immigrants they tended to be private and were suspicious of government folk, so hopefully there will be answers.
