Hello again, This line of my husband's is a puzzler, so hope someone can help. After many hours of research, I'm starting to find bits and pieces of new information that might lead to more clues. According to U.S. church records of children from Michael SZLACHETKA's second marriage to Carolina MOTYKA, Michael was from Lazajsk, Poland. However, though some SZLACHETKA church records were found there, Michael's birth was not. But thanks to Ancestry.com as Ellis Island site did not have the listing in the numerous spellings I tried, there is a ship record for Michael and family arriving in New York City on 28 September 1907, heading to Chicopee, Massachusetts, and Michael is listed as from Rahszawa?, Galicia (or Rakzana, as Ancestry.com transcribed it). I've yet to have that confirmed, but from what an older living family member recalls, Michael was initially married to Victoria SLIECH in Poland around 1896 or 1897. Mary Helen was born in 1898. Then Michael was sent just "across the border" (but then still Galicia) for work reasons to what might be today's Ukraine or Austria or Russia, where 2nd child Josephine Caroline was born in 1899. Then first wife, Victoria nee SLEICH, died when the girls were very young and Michael married Carolina MOTYKA - which I'm not sure where that took place. Then Michael and 2nd wife, Carolina, had the following children: 1) Kazimierz SZLACHETKA - 1901 - born in Galicia - married in U.S. Julia Szweitec? 2) Peter SZLACHETKA - about 1903 - born in Galicia - died young in Galicia 3) Peter E. SZLACHETKA - 1905 - born in Galicia - married Caroline L. MOTYKA in ?Chicopee, Massachusetts 4) Julia SZLACHETKA - 1907 - born in Galicia, emigrating as infant - died in Chicopee in 1908 @ 1 1/2 years 5) Walterina SZLACHETKA - 1909 - married Stanley SZUREK 6) Bladopher/Rose SZLACHETKA - about 1910 7) Living SZLACHETKA 8) Walter F. SZLACHETKA - 1913 - never married 9) John SZLACHETKA - 1918 - married Emily DACHOWSKI Michael and Carolina immigrated with Mary, Josephine, Kazimierz, Peter, and Julia, settling in Chicopee, where at least one other line of Szlachetka's settled. In the ship record, Michael is listed with a brother, Tomasz Szlachetka, as closest relative from where Michael was from. I just rechecked the ship record and found via the " " " marks that Michael and family members were listed with "race" Polish and "nationality" Austria Galicia. Interestingly, besides listing of occupation of farm laborer is the number: 1-360046 and then: 6-16-41. Does anyone know what that # would be and possibly a listing of a date June 16 1941? Wonder if that is a citizenship number? As recalled by an older family member, along with Thomas, there were two other brothers of Michael's: Anthony and John. On Michael's ship record (page 2), Anthony was listed as his brother who he was going to see in Chicopee. Quite by accident I noticed another Szlachetka family on that same ship. What a bonus as all the towns in Galicia where they were born were listed. Unfortunately, though, the towns were so mispelled that I had a hard time finding them on a map. However, it just so happens that the large family that was listed right above Michael's record had Chicopee as their destination with this same Anthony Szlachetka listed as an "acq." (? acquaintance ?). So I checked out the towns where that family was born and found the only town "Wegliska" in the whole world is in Poland (according to the JewishGen Shtetlseeker site). "Rakszawa" is only a couple miles away - a very close spelling match to Michael's town, with Lezajsk being only 10-15 miles or so to the northeast. The other family listed on Michael's same ship was: Katarzyna KABARA - 45yrs - born Laczki, Galicia Maria SZLACHETKA - 7yrs Charles SZLACHETKA - 6yrs Franck SZLACHETKA - 3 1/2yrs Ignaz SZLACHETKA - 1 1/2yrs The listed relative that Katarzyna left behind at the same town she left last was "mother" by her same name, Katarzyna KABARA. At this point, I'm not sure if Katarzyna was the daughter/mother's maiden name or what. The emigrating children were listed under the "mother left behind" column as "grandchildren", with the town Laczki Kz.? listed as their most recent location. Then Anton Szlachetka was listed as "acq." in Chicopee, Massachusetts, where Katarzyna was headed for. I looked up Laczki town and the one closest is about 41 miles WSW of Rakszawa, with the next town over being Laczki Kucharskie. The trip for Katarzyna was paid for by "husb." while the children's trip was paid for by "mother". I've been trying to find this family on a 1910 or 1920 census in Chicopee to find out if the children are listed for Katarzyna and/or Anton and how those two might be related - but no success as of yet. The name SZLACHETKA for the children on the ship record seems to have been written in later as the handwriting is different than the original listing. The same type of number and date that I mentioned above as being on Michael's record was on one of the children's - so it makes me wonder if that is when an "error" was made when listing the correct last name for the children. Only speculation, but wonder if the mother didn't have proper papers with her married name in order to board the ship? Or .... possibly she was just a "nanny" with the responsibility of transporting the Szlachetka children to the U.S. There is a Jan Szlachetka who immigrated to U.S. at about 20yrs, arriving 20 Mar 1901 from Rakszawa, but I can't seem to make out the town of his destination where he lists a "brother". It almosts looks like "Scalp Level", and there is a town listed like that in Cambria County, PA. Then when he came over again at age 28 yrs, arriving 13 Nov 1909 - he had a wife, Maryanna SZLACHETKA from Rakszawa, listed as closest relative in town he was from. Also listed on that same ship (next in line) was Josef SZLACHETKA , 18yrs, from Rakszawa, s/o Tomasz SZLACHETKA - both heading for Chicopee, but Jan is stamped as a "non immigrant", so perhaps just a visitor, which explains another trip over for Jan appearing on 2 Jun 1924 at age 42yrs, accompanied by 27yr old Bronislawa and 2yr old Josefa. All three listed from Rakszawa with father/father-in-law/grandfather listed as Tomasz Szlachetka. So my guess is that first wife Maryanna died and Jan remarried. When I got back to my researcher in Poland regarding this newest information, he told me that the priest at the church where he went to look was not very cooperative as he wanted a family member to be with him before he would be allowed to look at the books. At this time, travel to Poland is out of the question. The priest didn't want to be bothered looking himself if the information was not needed for legal reasons, such as an inheritance, etc. Carol Rogers