Anastasia Merecki

I was born in Poland, April 1, 1885 and birthed by a midwife named Maria Sowa. I am the daughter of Andrzej (Andrew) Zajac and Marianna Kruk. I was baptized April 2, 1885 in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Jasienna parish in the Diocese of Tarnow. My record of baptism in the books is: Vol.5, page 103, serial no.6. Rev. Ludwik Ligaszewski performed the sacrament. My God parents are Jacob Mitkowski and Barbara Michalik.

In 1903, I was 18 yr old. My sister Kataryna (22yr) and we planned to move to America. Our father Andrzej, had already made the voyage and was living in Buffalo, New York. In March 2003 Kataryna and I made all the arrangements to go. Our father paid for our tickets but we had to come up with the traveling cash. We each had only $4.00 in our pockets. Can you imagine traveling across the world with only $4.00 to your name!! First we traveled over land through Poland, then Germany and headed to the ports at Bremen. We were excited and nervous at the same time and nearly missed our ship, the Konig Albert. The Konig Albert had two masts, two stacks and two screws. She could do 15.5 knots, carried 2,175 passengers and flew the German flag. The first part of the voyage was quite calm and enjoyable. We left Bremen and headed for Cherbourg, France to pick up more passengers. Then off to cross the Atlantic. After a few days the seas turned rough, many people became seasick but Kataryna and I were fine. Eventually we passed the Statue of Liberty and everyone cheered, it was quite emotional. We arrived Ellis Island, New York on March 26, 1903. Our final destination was East Buffalo, New York, to be exact, 169 South Ogden Street, where our father was waiting for us.