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I just stumbled onto this thread as I was searching for yet more clues about my grandmother's family.
The thread topic reminded me of my own Ukrainian grandmother's secretive nature. We always joke that she must've been a spy, because she sure was good at covering her tracks!
For example, these are a few of my grandmother's aliases:
Nascia Domanska, Anastasia Domansky, Anastasia Maxymof, Anastasia Macksymon, Anastasia Markson, Anna Markson, Anna Kolosowsky
I think these aliases originally came about mainly because she couldn't read or write in English when she arrived in the US in 1909 and was forced to rely on others to complete documents for her. But, sometimes, she changed her name to suit her purpose.
Her country of origin/ethnicity varies from Austria/Poland/Ukraine/Galicia/USSR/Russian/Rusyn/Ruthenian/Ukrainian. All of these places/ethnicities overlapped at some time during her life. She was ethnic Ukrainian.
Her birth dates range anywhere from 1891 to 1893 to 1895 even, depending on when and who you asked. Actual day of the year was arbitrary since they apparently didn't keep track of that back then.
Her first husband (Maxymof) died after they had two children and my grandmother never married my grandfather, so my mother was never officially acknowledged by my grandmother or introduced to the rest of her family. My mother's existence was a secret--supposedly "for her protection." (This made tracking siblings/parents of my grandmother especially difficult.)
My grandmother was never naturalized and never applied. She reluctantly filled out the 1940 Alien Registration Act paperwork and blatantly lied about everything on it. She gave her address as her grown daughter's house in the Bronx (even though she lived in Manhattan with my grandfather) and only indicated the existence of two children on the documents (once again, my mother was left out.) She indicated that she was widowed.
My mother was never officially named when she was born--her birth certificate indicates "Female Kolosowsky." She was known as "Baby" until it was time to go to school and then my grandmother made up a name for her. (Actually she asked my mother what she would like as a name. My mother said "Jan.") She became "Jan Markson" even though her name was "Kolosowsky."
My grandmother does not appear in any census records until she takes up residence in 1930 with my grandfather. Later, she had a secret apartment in her name that she would bring my mother to every day for lunch.
She also was a Communist sympathizer/supporter and attended rallies in NYC--just to add to the cloak and dagger mystery! Rumor has it that she would often gather a crowd on the street and speak passionately about the topic.
My grandmother NEVER spoke about her family to my mother. My mother knew nothing whatsoever of her mother's family until I began researching last March (2007). She didn't even know for sure what my grandmother's maiden name was!
I just wanted to sympathize with you about your difficult ancestor search. I've been having a difficult time as well, but persistence pays off.
(If your grandmother had a social security #,spend the $27 and get the SS-5, it might be an important key. (Go to Rootsweb, find the record and print the letter out.) Also apply for death and marriage certs as well. These will give you a place to start.)
-Courtney
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