Sentimental Sunday: Leo and Ona, 1934

The photograph above is of Leonas "Leo" Radauskas (1889-1973), my first cousin two times removed on my Guokas (maternal grandfather's) line, and his wife, Ona "Anna" Tamošiūnaite (1907-1988) .  It was taken about 1934.

In an earlier post about Leo, I related the story about his return to Lithuania in 1928 to seek a wife.  I wonder if the photo above was taken about the time Ona had to appear in the district court in Chicago in her quest to become a U.S. citizen.

Here is Ona's certificate of arrival, which is part of her 1934-35 petition for naturalization.  In Lithuania, Radauskiene is the married woman form of the last name Radauskas.

Here is the left side of the passenger list for the November 29, 1928, sailing of the S.S. George Washington from Bremen, Germany, to New York City, arriving on December 10, 1928 (I "cut and pasted" to move Ona's information directly under the column headings at the top of the page).  Click on it to enlarge it.  It says she was born and last lived in Jasoniai, although her petition for naturalization lists both places as Smilgiu (probably Smilgiai).

And here is the right side of that same passenger list - click on it to enlarge it.  It shows that her mother's name is Agata (probably Agota) Tamosuniene (the married woman form of the surname Tamošiūnas), and that she is going to be with her husband Leo Radauskas of 3548 S. Halsted Street in Chicago.  It also tells us that she's never been to the United States before, she plans to reside there "always" and become a citizen, and that she is 5'7" (tall for that era), fair complexioned, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

The photograph of Leo and Ona in this post came from the private album of Aldona Radauskaitė Zigmantavičienė, the daughter of Steponas Radauskas, a brother of Leo Radauskas.  Thank you Aldona!  Thanks also to my third cousin Osvaldas Guokas, who has been sharing all these photographs and information with me!


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Wordless Wednesday: Leo Radauskas and Two Ladies, Chicago, 1937

The photograph above is of Leonas "Leo" Radauskas, 1889-1973, my first cousin two times removed on my Guokas (maternal grandfather's) line, and two unknown women.  It was taken about 1937.

I'm guessing that the two women might be co-workers from one of the famous hotels or restaurants where Leo worked in Chicago in his long career as a chef.  According to an obituary, besides the Edgewater Beach Hotel mentioned in the earlier post about Leo, he also worked at the Morrison, the Imperial, and the Latin Quarter.

The Morrison Hotel, at the southeast corner of Madison and Clark streets downtown, had at least three restaurants - the famous Boston Oyster House, the Terrace Garden dinner theater, and the Grill restaurant.  It also had private dining rooms and hosted banquets, so Leo would have been very busy as a chef.  This hotel was torn down in 1965-66.

The Latin Quarter at 23 W. Randolph was also a dinner theater restaurant.  And the Imperial House was a fancy French restaurant, in Chicago at 50 E. Walton from at least 1952 to at least 1965.   According to a May 22, 2002 article in the Chicago Tribune, it "specialized in fresh food, flown from anywhere on the globe, it seemed. Meals were stately affairs, a rear-guard action against the 'speeded up' tempo of American dining, according to Patricia Bronte in her 1952 restaurant guide, Vittles and Vice. The menu offered 85 variations on Caesar salad."

The photo in this post came from the private album of Aldona Radauskaitė Zigmantavičienė, the daughter of Steponas Radauskas, a brother of Leo Radauskas.   Thank you Aldona!  Thanks also to Osvaldas Guokas, who has been sharing all these photographs and information with me!

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Lithuanians in Texas

Me (one-quarter Lithuanian) with the "Lithuanians in Texas" historical marker on Hwy 119 in DeWitt County, Texas, 3.2 miles south of Yorktown at the intersection with Lee Alves (County) Road 3024.


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Wedding Wednesday: Stanley Guokas and Anna Narusevicate, about 1925-1928

The bride in the middle of this photograph is Anna Barbara Narusevicate (as spelled on a duplicate Social Security application; likely her father's name was Narusevičius in Lithuania, 1903-2002).  To the right of her (looking at the photo; from her viewpoint, he would be seated to her left) is her groom, Stanley (Stanislovas) Joseph Guokas (1897-1969), the oldest son of Peter (Petras) Paul Guokas (1874-1948) and his first wife, Konstancija Aleksandravičiūtė (ABT 1876-1906).  Peter Paul is the youngest full brother of my great-grandfather Charles (Kazimieras) Guokas (1863-1969), so his son Stanley is my first cousin twice-removed.

Jennie Merritt, my third cousin once-removed, identified the woman in the dark dress with the wreath in her hair as her great-grandmother, Katherine (Karolina) Helen Guokas Sadouskas (1905-1966), Stanley's younger sister, and the man to the right of Katherine as her great-grandfather, Anthony John Sadouskas (1900-1959).  Note that in Lithuania, Sadouskas would be spelled Sadauskas.

We don't know who the rest of the people in the photograph are.  Most likely they are members of the bride's family.  I have narrowed the date of this photograph to sometime between October 1925, when Anna returned from a trip to Europe under her maiden name (spelled differently, but the birth date and place match), and 1928, when Stanley and Anna both appear in the Alexandria, Virginia, city directory.

This photograph is from the private album of Rasa Petrauskaitė from Čelkiai, Lithuania, a descendant of Peter Paul (Petras) Guokas and his second wife, Aleksandra Michelina Javaišaitė Guokienė (born in 1869), who stayed in Lithuania with her daughter Ona (born in 1908) when Peter Paul immigrated.  Thank you, Rasa, for sharing the photograph through our cousin Osvaldas Guokas!


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Unbroken Chain of Tombstones

This week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge by Randy Seaver is:
Determine what is your longest unbroken line of ancestral gravestones - how many generations can you go back in time?  Do you have photographs of them?

Thanks to a Find-a-Grave volunteer, I can go back five generations on my maternal grandmother's side:

Above:  My maternal grandmother, Sara Melzina Wolfe Guokas Archibald, 1907-1997.

Below:  Her father, Louis Henry Wolfe, 1872-1929.

Above:  My great-great-grandfather, Joseph William Wolfe, 1845-1918.

Below:  His mother, Malinda Jane Smallwood Wolfe Peden, 1823-1874.

Photo courtesy Kathi Lynn King.

Above:  My 4th-great grandfather, Alfred Smallwood, ABT 1800-1868.

I have a lot of information about Sara, Louis, and Joseph (see also the links within these links).  I don't know as much about my Smallwood ancestors.  

Malinda Jane Smallwood Wolfe Peden was born about 1823 in Pennsylvania.  She married William C. Wolfe (1820-1855) in 1840.  They had eight children.  After his death, Malinda married William Peden (born ABT 1830) and had four children with him.  Malinda died April 9, 1874, and is buried at the Highland Cemetery in California, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

Malinda's father, Alfred Smallwood, was born about 1800 in Virginia.  By 1840, he was in East Pike Run, Washington County, Pennsylvania, and the 1850 Census lists his occupation as millwright.  

According to page 1133 of the 1861 Boyd´s Pennsylvania State Business Directory, Alfred Smallwood owned a saw mill in Pike Run, Washington county, Pennsylvania, although the 1860 Census lists his occupation as farmer.  He died September 24, 1868, "in the 68[th] year of his age," and is buried at the Howe Cemetery in Coal Center, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Tombstone Tuesday: Vytautas Guokas, 1944-2005

This is the tombstone of Vytautas Guokas (1944-2005), my second cousin once removed, the grandson of Antanas Guokas (1861-1936), the older brother of my great-grandfather Charles (Kazimieras) Guokas (1863-1939).  Vytautas is the father of my incredibly helpful third cousin Osvaldas Guokas.  This tombstone is in the Pakruojis Old Cemetery in Lithuania.  It is the only Guokas tombstone there and is the most northern tombstone in Lithuania.

This beautiful tombstone is a sculpture called "Broken Window," by Arūnas Guokas, the brother of Osvaldas Guokas, who took and kindly sent me this photo.

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Those Places Thursday: Palujanskas House, Čelkiai, Lithuania, ABT 1947 and 2017

This house is in Čelkiai, Smilgiai parish, Panevezys, Lithuania, the birthplace of my great-grandfather Charles (Kazimieras) Guokas, 1863-1939, and many of my Guokas relatives.  My third cousin Osvaldas Guokas tells me that it was "not moved ever to any other place during land reforms. It looks and it is more than 100 years old."

At one time it belonged to Petras Palujankas and his wife, Virginija Radauskaitė Palujanskienė, who married on February 19, 1922.  Petras is the younger brother of Joseph Anthony Polianski (1890-1952), who emigrated to the United States and married Virginija's older sister, Anastazija (Anastasia) Radauskas (1892-1978).  Virginija and Anastazija are the daughters of Ignatijus Radauskas (1858-1913) and Agota Guokaitė Radauskienė (1861-1942), the latter being my great-grandfather's sister.

Above:  Palujanskas house in Čelkiai in Soviet times, 1945-1950.  Photo from Osvaldas Guokas.

Below:  Palujanskas house in Čelkiai, Lithuania, in June 2017.  Photo by Osvaldas Guokas.

Osvaldas said that the Palujanskas* family left this house when the Communists came to Čelkiai. After they left,  it was the property of the community, then an Aleksandravičius owned it followed by a Radauskas.  Today this house is empty, but is the property of Osvaldas' uncle Stanislovas Guokas and his wife Aldona Kanišauskaitė Guokienė.

*Note:  Some members of the family in Lithuania spell the last name as Palijanskas, and it also appears as Polijanskas in some Lithuanian church records.  In the United States, immigrants from this family spelled their surname in various ways, including Polianski, Polyanski, and Polanskas.


© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.

Sentimental Sunday: Happy Birthday to My Brother Brian (tomorrow)!

My brother Brian, Christmas, 1965

© Amanda Pape - 2017 - click here to e-mail me.