Who would be the winner of the genealogy research lottery today? Just a random choice…just a random number taken from the ship’s manifest…for the Georgia leaving Trieste, Italy, on 30 April 1906. She was leaving for America with my grandmother, a girl from her village.

Her name was Franciszka Fuss. She was the same age of 16, or so she had reported . She, too, had paid for her passage and had $10 hidden in her clothing. She was headed for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She would be met at Ellis Island by her brother-in-law. Meanwhile, the voyage would take three weeks. What did this new beginning mean to her? Who would discover her true story?

Clues from records were gathered…really just basic facts. In 1910, she married Josef Pacian. She was 17 years old…she had adjusted her age when she applied for passage to America. (She was only 13 when she came alone to America.) Josef was from the same village in Poland as she. By 1920, the couple had moved from Philadelphia to Bucks County, Pennsylvania where they were farmers. The couple had two children, Anthony and Elizabeth. By 1930, she was a naturalized citizen. One more daughter, Amelia, was added to the family. By 1940, Franciszka and Josef continued to farm, but Josef also worked for a engineering firm in Philadelphia. By 1950, two of their adult children remained at home…son Anthony engaged in farming while Amelia was a seamstress in a hosiery factory. In August, 1968, Franciszka died of heart disease. Her husband and children survived her.

Little bread crumbs of facts are scattered for genealogy detectives’ discoveries. What is not found are the little details of Franciszka’s workings of her heart and soul. Her thoughts, her memories, her real story are lost to the genealogist detective who looks for random clues.

3 May 1871 Somewhere crossing the Missouri prairies

Jostled by the movement of the wagon, I daydream to set my imaginations and memories loose. My husband insisted that I ride and not walk today as I am extremely tired. I am enjoying the colorful spring wildflowers along the way. A few more weeks and then new life will come. Lord, let me make it to our final destination.

I dreamed of another journey more than 30 years ago. As a young girl, I left the Alsace region of France with arrival in a place called New York. So many unknowns…such storms at sea to jostle my whole being…seasickness grabbed me. To steady myself, I touched the colorful silk threads in my sewing kit as I thought of the convent school I would attend. There I will learn to make exquisite embroidery pieces. I had prayed…Lord, let me make it to my final destination.

I am brought back to the present reality, but I soon skip to colorful memories of my early marriage years on a farm in Illinois. Surrounded by our children and a land that I fell in love with, I imagine a kaleidoscope of things remembered. I am jostled by the images of those people and times. I bring myself back to the now and wonder about this new land where we will live. Lord, let us make it to our final destination.

As I sit back on the wagon seat, I hold on and balance myself. I feel life moving inside me as I am reminded that this babe will soon be here. I look across the horizon at colorful skies that foretell a future. Lord, let everyone make it to our final destination. Amen.

~Mary Magdalina Kraemer

Note: Mary was my second great grandmother, who was married to Amos Howell Boultinghouse. After the Civil War, they left their older children on their farm in Dupage County, Illinois. The remainder of the family moved to Osborne County, Kansas in 1871. Mary spoke French as her primary language and struggled with reading and writing English. Why the family left their Illinois home to migrate to Kansas is unknown.