Valeria Stenzel

Rest In Peace

Valeria (maiden name Grzegorzewski), born, 1863 1863 in Krajkowo/Kraikova Plock (Poland) to parents Jan Grzegorzewska (father), and Joanna Kozłowska (mother). Her maiden name is Kashubian, which is a culturally distinct ethnic sub-group from Northern & Central Poland.

At age 18 Valeria was married to a young Blacksmith named August Stencel (born Feb 4, 1857, in Wróble Prusy (Poland). August's parents are Józef Stencel (father) Karolina Gacka (mother).

Valeria is the first known adult Stenzel ancestor to immigrate to the United States; she left Plock County, Prussia (now Poland) to cross the Atlantic from Hamburg, Germany to New York City, in 1890, at age 27, with only herself and her four children: oldest son Sigmund, age 7 (born the 28th of February 1883, in Plock, Mazowieckie, Poland), her oldest daughter Bratislava, age 6 (born in 1886), her son Josef, 3 (born in 1889), and her Nine-Month-old son Boleslava (born September 1891)...

It is speculated that she died sometime in August in New York 1959, and that her youngest son Boleslava flew in from Europe to attend her funeral. Research into her genealogy is ongoing. There is a NW Stenzel family tree being developed at Ancestry.com for our Stenzel Family tree with information and links to other descendants of Valeria Grzegorzewska Stenzel...

Valeria at age 18

This is the Atlantic Steam Ship's Disembarking Passenger Manifest as recorded at Ellis Island, Valeria is listed as Passenger #79 and her four children are listed as passengers #80 through #83.

The town of Plock, Plock County, Poland from whence Valeria left to travel with only herself & her four children; first to Hamburg, Germany, then upon a packed passenger ship that crossed the Atlantic Ocean to arrive at Ellis Island--with hundreds of other European immigrants--in New York City.

The KASHUBIANS of POLAND

The Kashubians (Kashubian: Kaszëbi; Polish: Kaszubi; German: Kaschuben), also known as Cassubians or Kashubs, are a Lechitic (West Slavic) ethnic group native to the historical region of Pomerania, including its eastern part called Pomerelia, in north-central Poland. Their settlement area is referred to as Kashubia. They speak the Kashubian language, which is classified as a separate language closely related to Polish.

The Kashubs are closely related to the Poles and sometimes classified as their subgroup. The Kashubs are grouped with the Slovincians as Pomeranians. Similarly, the Slovincian language (now extinct) and Kashubian languages are grouped as Pomeranian languages, with Slovincian (also known as Łeba Kashubian) either a distinct language closely related to Kashubian, or a Kashubian dialect.

Among larger cities, Gdynia (Gdiniô) contains the largest proportion of people declaring Kashubian origin. However, the biggest city of the Kashubia region is Gdańsk (Gduńsk), the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Between 80.3% and 93.9% of the people in towns such as Linia, Sierakowice, Szemud, Kartuzy, Chmielno, Żukowo, etc. are of Kashubian descent.

The traditional occupations of the Kashubs have been agriculture and fishing. These have been joined by the service and hospitality industries, as well as agrotourism. The main organization that maintains the Kashubian identity is the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association. The recently formed "Odroda" is also dedicated to the renewal of Kashubian culture. The traditional capital has been disputed for a long time and includes Kartuzy (Kartuzë) among the seven contenders. The biggest cities claiming to be the capital are: Gdańsk (Gduńsk), Wejherowo (Wejrowò), and Bytów (Bëtowò).

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