Posted By:	Francis Wolek
	Email:
	Subject:	Re: Woleks of Paterson, NJ, early 1900s
	Post Date:	April 03, 2009 at 14:46:48
	Message URL:	http://genforum.genealogy.com/wolek/messages/12.html
	Forum:	Wolek Family Genealogy Forum
	Forum URL:	http://genforum.genealogy.com/wolek/

My family lived in Brooklyn where I was born in 1935. I remember we were visited by a cousin from Patterson. This would probably have been in the 1940s when he was a middle teen and I was an early teen. I do not remember his name. Our Wolek family descended from Joseph Wolek (my grandfather) who was born in Klecko Poland near Poznan in 1877 and came to the US in 1903. He had three sons including my father Francis. Joseph's father was Franciszek Wolek born in 1844 and Joseph had 5 brothers and 3 sisters. One brother was named Stanislaw. I know all the sisters (Mary, Agnes, and Eleanore) came to the US and believe at least some of the brothers did also. My wife and I visited Klecko last summer. We also contracted for extensive genealogy research based on church records and have a great deal of data on Woleks in the Poznan area. We certainly are willing to share this and to reply to specific questions. Our family also had legends of Wolek castles and royalty. However, the research for our trip showed our Woleks were most likely farm workers who migrated around the Poznan area where work was available. The real story is of a close knit family who knew there was no future for them in Poland and who worked hard to strike out together for new lives in the US and elsewhere. We found this very inspiring!