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| Finding Family |
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Author:
Jane Mathis -granddaughter |
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I knew my grandfather had a hard life. He was unwilling to talk about his "growing up" years. I finally got him to talk for a taped interview I did in the 1970s. His mother came to the US from Russia Poland along with his older brother and sister. His father abandoned the family soon after the arrival and his mother was expecting him. Petranal Zawacki Reimkiewicz didn't speak English, she went to "the poor house" and had to give up her two children. John became John Young. Mary became Alice Hopkins. She gave birth to my grandfather William Rynkiewitz and remarried a Mr. Menek. She had 3 more children, but died during childbirth of the 3rd child in 1902. The children were cared for a while by a grandmother but soon ended up at Owatonna Minnesota orphanage. They were Helen, Peter and Frank. I had contact with Peter who had been taken out by a family named Kisrow. He was a minister in Birmingham, AL and died after 1976. Frank was legally adopted by a family named Young and was in contact with my grandfather. Frank never married. He died in 1974. Helen was taken out by a family named Radke. She died in 1975. |
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