Joseph Post – It's All About Family

Admirable Ancestor

The Week 1 topic for 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks for 2026 is “an ancestor I admire” and after looking at my family tree, I’ve decided that falls on my great grandmother Carolina Straub Posluszny Bonk. Although, technically, she is not my biological great grandmother, her son, Konrad and my grandmother Julianna Ingram were 2nd or 3rd cousins, so there is Carolina DNA in my body.

Carolina was born on April 12, 1855 in Wildenthal (what is now Dzikowiec) in the Galicia region of Poland. She was part of “an ethnic German population living in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria in the Austrian Empire established in 1772 as a result of the First Partition of Poland” (Wikipedia). This area was also known as Austrian Galicia or Austrian Poland for my family members asking are we Polish or Austrian or German? The answer would be “all of them”!

If her siblings list is accurate, Carolina was the 11th child born of 15 to her parents. Four of them born prior to her, died at birth or in their infancy. Carolina herself would give birth to 14 children with eight living past five years old.

She married Joseph Posluszny on May 31, 1876 in Wildenthal and she gave birth to her first child in March of 1879 when she was 24 years old.

Seven months following the birth of her daughter Elizabeth Eva in September of 1896, her husband and my great grandfather, Joseph Posluszny passed away. Carolina became a widow at the age of 41 with seven children ranging in age from 16 to 7 months old.

Last September, another of Carolina’s great-granddaughters through her son Joseph contacted me after finding this blog in google. She told me the following: “Pa’s father had been the village blacksmith. Pa’s father had an apprentice. His name was John Bonk. When Pa’s father died, John Bonk took over the blacksmith shop and apparently the family. Pa was not happy with this and it was about that time that he left Austria.”

Carolina and John Bonk were married on May 12, 1898. Carolina gave birth to a daughter who died at birth and in 1903 at the age of 48, gave birth to a son Walter John Bonk.

Her older sons did head to the United States shortly after her marriage to John. Her son John left in 1899, Konrad in 1900, and Joseph in 1901.

Carolina, John, daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and their son Walter immigrated in July of 1907 and resided in Perth Amboy New Jersey until their final destination of Wallingford Connecticut.

*The Posluszny/Bonk Family about mid/late 1907*

This photo ends up in nearly every Posluszny post. Carolina is seated on the right, with her son Walter in front of her. She is 52 years old at the time of this photo in 1907.

*Frank and Josephine Posluszny wedding 8/1909 – Carolina front left*, *husband John Bonk behind her*

She, along with her daughter Mary, was an active member in the local Polish National Catholic Church in Wallingford, St. Casimir’s Church.

Carolina died at the age of 70 (not 64 as the newspaper article said) after suffering from stomach cancer. My Aunt Judy told me in a conversation years ago, that she and her mother, my grandmother Julianna, would go to Carolina’s house a few blocks away to take care of her when she was ill. Also, that my grandfather Konrad and Julianna were kind to her second husband. Carolina and John gave my grandparents the downpayment for their home in Wallingford on Clifton Street. I found it touching that my grandmother did the same for my parents when they purchased our home here on Atkinson Lane.

She is buried in the Polish National cemetery in Wallingford.

*Carolina Bonk – St. Casimir’s cemetery*

I can’t imagine a life with 14 siblings, or to give birth to 14 children only to have 3 die in the same year from smallpox. I don’t know the cause of her husband’s death at the age of 43, but with young children still at home and a business to run, the best option was to married the hired help. She did what she had to, to survive. She was well-respected in her church and community at their death and that makes me proud of her.

Looking Back at 2025

Yesterday, I took a trip down memory lane of the people I researched and wrote about this past year. I’m proud of the information I found, stories I wrote, and living relatives I uncovered during my search. Here’s a review month by month….

January

I started the year with a couple of posts from the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. The first topic was “In the Beginning,” and I chose to write about my parents’ courtship and wedding. I had fun going through old photos of them from their wedding and trips with my aunt and uncle. Ancestry provided the high school yearbook pages and my mom’s collection of postcards showed us the sweetness in their relationship.

The second post was “Favorite Photo.” My favorite photo will always be the Posluszny Family photo that started this crazy research journey! I think it is in every post I wrote about the family this year. It’s probably time to frame it and put it on a wall.

The third post in January told the story of my great-uncle John Posluszny. At the end of December 2024, I wrote about solving the “mystery” of his death in 1942, so I really wanted to start my Posluszny series with his story. I connected with his granddaughter, Janine, in 2012, and she shared the photos of her father, Stanley with me. I enjoyed finding and sharing the newspaper articles with her. I currently have a message out to a great-granddaughter of John and hope I hear from her to make another family connection.

February

On the 1st of February, I wrote about my mother’s diagnosis of brain cancer. Even 38 years later, memories were fresh.

Next up was a little break from family with a post about a sampler completed in 1817 and found by my father in the attic of his paint store in the early 1980s. He held on to it always curious about where it came from. Unfortunately, I didn’t think about researching it until after he passed away in 2010. I still haven’t delivered it to the Portland Historical Society!

Another great uncle, Joseph Posluszny, was my next subject. I can hear to this day my Aunt Judy saying, “Uncle Joe Post”. I’ve worked with his great granddaughter on Ancestry for many years and the majority of pictures I have came from her. In September, I was contacted by one of Joseph’s granddaughters who lives in Connecticut about 45 minutes away. I look forward to getting to know her better and hearing her stories!

This post was born during my Posluszny research when I noticed, after 15 years of research, that my great grandmother, Caroline Straub is listed on the 1910 census as having given birth to 14 children with 8 of them at the time still living! I headed over to the amazing Geneteka website, started searching, and managed to find the records for five children who died either at birth or a very young age.

March

Early in March we said goodbye to our sweet chihuahua, Wally and late in March was the anniversary of my dad’s passing.

April

The 98th anniversary of my grandmother’s passing was in early April and if you don’t know her story, you can read it here.

I wrote about my great uncle Frank Posluszny. He was a tough one over the years to find anything about because he was in a mental institution from the 1930 federal census to the 1940 census. I had very little information on the family and wasn’t sure where to look. But as the years go by, more information becomes available and I was able to find his great-granddaughter! We emailed back and forth and she actually knew him! She sent pictures which I included in his story.

*Josephine, Frank, and Mildred Poslushny*

May

I spent May working on my great uncle Charles Posluszny’s story. I posted once to check in to say I was working on him and at the end of the month, completed it. Once again, there are grandchildren and great grandchildren alive, but in this case, I don’t have a way to contact them.

June

June was busy with visiting relatives and a trip to Chicago so there were no posts in June.

July

In July I wrote about the sisters in the Posluszny family, Mary Posluszny Biega, and Elizabeth Posluszny Laçź. One who was well known and the other who disappeared without a trace.

August

I finally made it to the last of the Posluszny children, Walter Bonk, son of Caroline Straub and her second husband John Bonk. I knew all of his children and his grandchildren.

My second post was the result of a stranger’s request on Ancestry looking for “living relatives of Alfred Donroe”. He was my cousin in law’s father and he died in World War II. This person in France is working with citizens of Gouesnou France to create a permanent memorial to the soldiers and civilians who died there. I received a comment on there from my younger cousin, and we had a nice email conversation. He and his wife plan to go to France to see the monument.

September

The last quarter of the year I focused on my maternal grandfather and his family. Their lives were so entwined for many so years, that the first story takes you from Jacob and Katherine’s arrival in the United States through 1916. This was Part 1.

October

Engram Family Part 2 took place from 1916 through the 1930s. I became acquainted with a second cousin a few years ago and he sent a slew of family pictures. I also began searching on Newspapers(dot)com using family member’s names where I found Kitty and Louise playing basketball!

Later in the month, I wrote about Theresa, Katherine, and Louise from the 1930s through their lives. My half aunt Joanne shared photos with me as well as few letters Katherine wrote to Theresa’s daughter Irene. I’m grateful to Joanne for the information and the years of emails back and forth. I saved them all and finally printed them out and put them in order. I was overwhelmed by the amount of information that suddenly made sense!

November

Five posts in November! First up was the lives of Elizabeth and Hannah. Elizabeth had an interesting situation which deserved a post to explain it. It’s amazing what a person can find when they look hard enough, and have help from strangers on Ancestry! Thanks to Newspaper(dot)com again, I discovered a third cousin living about 20 minutes away!

In time for Veterans Day, I shared a post from June 2024 called The Effects of War about my grandfathers in World War I, and uncles in World War II.

Then it was back to the Engram Family with Jacob Sr.’s story. I wish I knew more about him!

My cousin, Brian, messaged me pictures of a letter Jacob Jr. wrote to his sister Theresa. The war was over and he was waiting to go home. When Brian and I got together during Thanksgiving week, we sifted through all the Engram pictures and letters and there were more letters from Jacob to his sisters. They were very interesting to read.

December

I wrapped the year up with a re-post of December 7, 1941, the story of my Uncle Walt during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

I rounded out the Engram family with the final story of my grandfather Jacob Jr. I learned so much about him from my Aunt Joanne’s emails that again, didn’t make sense until it was time to write his story.

And here we are – the end of the year! I’ve signed up again for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge and I will be looking through my family tree for new ancestors to tell you about!

Happy New Year!

Joseph Posluszny

Joseph Posluszny, born August 9, 1884, was my grand-uncle. He was the fourth child of Joseph and Caroline (Straub) Posluszny. Like his brother John, he was born in Lipnica, part of the district of Dzikowiec in southeast Poland. I’ve found a discrepancy in his date of birth in his WWI enlistment record but his birth record from the Lipnica archives shows he was born in 1884.

*Joseph’s birth record* – *August 9 birth, 10th baptism, house number 248*

Birth records list their father’s occupation as Colonista, which indicates they were German settlers who migrated to the region in the 18th century as part of a colonization effort by the Austrian Empire. With that migration came land, and family stories say they had a farm.

At 17, he departed for the United States on November 24, 1901, and arrived in New York Harbor on December 1st. His ship, Pennsylvania, departed from Hamburg, Germany, with stops at Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, and Plymouth, England, before arriving at its final destination of New York harbor. He was in Zwischendeck, better known as Steerage. Two weeks door to door, I wonder what he was thinking as he traveled. There is no person on his manifest page coming from Wildenthal so it appears he traveled alone.

He was heading to his brother, John Posluszny, who immigrated in 1900. The address for John on the manifest says 57 Jefferson Street in Yonkers. Although there isn’t a census listing for John in 1900, which I mentioned in my story about him, I found their uncle, Michael Straub, his wife Elizabeth, son Michael, and son John at that address.

*Ship’s manifest from Joseph’s arrival Line 23*

Joseph settled in as a hatter, just like his siblings, and continued to live on Jefferson Street at number 41 in the 1905 census.

His future wife, Anna Straub, was born in Wildenthal (now Dzikowicz) on December 25, 1887, to Joannes Straub and his wife Elizabetha. Elizabetha’s maiden name, and married name, were Straub, so there may be a familial connection to Joseph’s mother.

*Anna’s birth record – December 25 birth, 26th baptism, house number 19*

Anna departed Hamburg Germany on the Blücher and arrived in the United States on December 17, 1902. She headed to the home of her sister, Eva Straub, in Brooklyn, NY, with $12 in her pocket.

*Ship’s manifest from Anna’s arrival Line 25*

There’s no New York census record for Anna in 1905. But, they met, and Joseph and Anna were married on February 11, 1906, in St. Stanislaus Koskta Roman Catholic Church, Greenpoint (Brooklyn), NY. The church was only 2 years old when they were married.

Wedding party – brother, Charles is floor left, and John floor right. Brother, Konrad (other records say brother, Frank) standing second left. Back right, Ann’s brother, Adam Straub and wife, Margaret. Seated right, Anna’s brother, Lawrence Straub, *wife Josie, top left. Unsure if Julianna is woman 3rd from left.*

Joseph and Anna’s first child, a daughter Margaret, was born on December 1, 1906, in Yonkers, New York. Margaret is the baby in the front row of the Posluzny Family photo, held by Anna, and Joseph is standing at her right side.

Joseph and Anna moved to Newark, where he worked as a finisher in a hat shop. According to the 1910 Federal Census for New Jersey, Eva, her husband Walter Ingram, and Anna and Eva’s sister Lizzie, 18, lived with them.

The 1920 Federal Census finds them living in Norwalk, Connecticut, in a home they own. Joseph is working as a hatter in a factory. I talked about their hatter profession last year. Joseph worked for the Hat Corporation of America in Norwalk until he retired.

1930 is the first time Joseph is listed as Joseph POST, not POSLUSZNY or POSLUSHNY. Joseph and his brother Charles, who also ended up in Norwalk, were the only two who used Post exclusively as their last name. Aunt Judy said that she wished her father, Konrad, had done the same because she got tired of it being mispronounced. I always used it in response to someone talking about my maiden name Jakiela. I’d say, “You think that’s bad? My mother’s maiden name was Posluszny!”

They had 3 more children: Charles in 1910, Ann in 1915, Joseph in 1917, and Elizabeth in 1922.

*Joseph, Margaret (back)*
*Charles, Joseph, Anna and Ann (seated) abt. 1919*

I didn’t know Joseph and Anna and their family. The ages of their children fell in line with my mother’s family and my mother and their youngest daughter, also named Elizabeth, were both born in 1922.

Interestingly, Joseph, Jr., was born in Wallingford in 1917 and in my early searches I found Joseph his father in the 1915 town directory as a farmer in Yalesville. I never knew if it was really him, and that was the only year. I don’t know why there was the break in location or occupation. Sometime between the 1910 census and 1920 census, his mother and step father came to Wallingford, possibly at the same time from New Jersey.

The next generation, Joe and Anna’s grandchildren, were people I have met in the past. Ann married Walter (Wally) Regan and they had eight children. Margaret married Paul Wupperfeld and they had four children. Charles and his wife Mayre, were childless, Joseph Jr, and his wife, Dorothy had 2 children, and Elizabeth and her husband, Courtland (Court), had four children. The Regans and the Wupperfelds attended the Fourth of July picnics at Pickerel Lake, hosted by two aunts and uncles. Joseph and Anna possibly were there as well. In my head, I hear Aunt Judy calling them “the Fairfield Posts”, and “Uncle Joe”. We also attended a party at Crystal Lake in Ellington hosted by one of the Wupperfeld children when I was about 10 or 11. I have a connection with one of Joe and Anna’s great-grandchildren, Jennie, through Ancestry and her family tree contains at least 25 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren. Like my relative through John Posluszny, I appreciate that connection to the past.

Joseph died at 90 years old on November 9, 1974, in Norwalk. Eleven months later, Anna died on October 20, 1975, at 87 years old.