Golimowski USA : A Genealogical History of a Polish Family in America

Introduction

Welcome to Golimowski USA! This site has been developed for the purpose of sharing genealogical information about the Golimowski families that immigrated from Prussian Poland to the United States in the late 1800s. This information is based primarily on archival research conducted by the author of this site, as well as reminiscences of family members whom the author has interviewed. Every effort has been made to present only documented or corroborated information as fact; any speculation is clearly identified as such. However, the reader is cautioned that official documents are not immune to error (on the contrary, they are often rife with them!) and that information corroborated by different sources may have originally come from the same faulty source. Moreover, new documents occasionally and unexpectedly come to light that change completely a longstanding story or hypothesis. This site, and the research on which it is based, is currently a work in progress and probably always will be. Contributions and correspondence from readers are welcome and appreciated!

To preserve personal privacy, only family members or persons authorized by family members have permission to view this site. To request access, please contact David Golimowski.

Historical Background

The surname Golimowski is rare in both the United States and Poland. It literally refers to persons from a place whose name begins "Golim---". One such place is Golimowo, a village in the county of Witkowo, which lies east of the city of Poznań in western Poland. Whether the Golimowski family is named for this particular village is uncertain, but historical and modern records indicate that the Golimowskis originated in the vicinity of Poznań.

Poznań was the urban center of a large region known as Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) before the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. Wielkopolska was the historical origin of the Polish nation in the 10th century and has remained one of the richest and most developed provinces of Poland. In 1793, Wielkopolska was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia and became known as the Prussian province of Posen, the German name for Poznań. Posen became part of the Empire of Germany after the unification of the German states in 1871. After Germany was defeated in World War I, Wielkopolska was returned to Poland, which was restored as an independent nation.

The immigration of large numbers of Poles to the United States began in 1854 and was chiefly caused by economic, political, and religious oppression by the ruling governments of Prussia, Russia, and Austria. Under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck, Prussia was especially determined to destroy the Polish culture and language within Posen. In 1873, Prussia made the German language compulsory in all schools in Posen. In 1886, Prussia established a commission for the purpose of purchasing land from Poles and leasing that land to German colonists. Between 1854 and 1890, about 80% of all Polish immigrants in the United States came from Posen.

Families of Golimowskis appear to have emigrated from Posen to the United States between 1880 and 1900, settling primarily in the vicinities of Buffalo and Schenectady, New York, Chicago and Peoria, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The relationships between these immigrant families is presently unknown, but records reveal some migration of Golimowskis between the cities, suggesting that the families may have recognized some degree of kinship.

References

1. Richard Burke, Prussian Poland in the German Empire (1871-1900) (New York, 1981)
2. The Province of Posen (Poznań) by the Poznań Marriage Indexing Project
3. "Poles in the United States", by the Catholic Encyclopedia