>and moved to Minersville, PA. Why did he go through Baltimore, stay with a >family named JENKINS (doesn't sound like *they* were relatives) >Ralph Lewis, Harrisburg, PA - rllewis@usa.net (also RalphLewis@aol.com) > Many families here in the coal mining area of central PA, including my Slovak grandparents, "took-in" boarders. My uncle, who was born in 1903, told me he could always remember people staying with them. Source of a little extra income and in their case they could help people from their own countries. My Polish grandfather stayed with an Anderson family in a small mining town until he married. This was something affordable, home-cooked meals, companionship of someone who understood the mines, etc. If you can read "Out of This Furnace" by Thomas Bell. It is a novel based on his Slovak ancestors in PA and will give you some insight to what our ancestors had in store for them when they came to this new land. Joanne