Introduction

My mother was Kathleen Jeanette Coleman, born as Kathleen Jeanette Steil.  Her mother was Catherine Julia Steil, born as Catherine Julia Lukaschewski.  Catherine's parents were Rudolph Wilhelm Lukaschewski and Anna Janzen.  Catherine's ancestors can be traced to the birth of her paternal grandmother in 1823. 

Rudolph and Anna were born in Poland.  Rudolph was born on April 10, 1863 in the town of Oliva.  Anna was born in the neighboring town of Danzig on November 18, 1864.  For much of its history, the majority of the inhabitants of Danzig and vicinity were German speakers.  This predominantly German-speaking area of Poland is located by the Baltic Sea.

Danzig is a harbor city on the Baltic Coast in northern Poland.  It is currently known as Gdansk.  This area has had a turbulent political history.  The Polish territory of Danzig was invaded by Swedish armies in 1700 and remained under Swedish domination until 1709.  The Russians then invaded the territory, claiming to be liberators.  Danzig came under the control of Prussia in 1793.  In 1807, French troops laid seige to Danzig and took control of the territory.  Danzig was then proclaimed to be a "free city" although it was administred by the French.  Russian and Prussian troops ousted the French troops in 1814.  The Vienna Congress then allocated Danzig to Prussia and so the Russian army withdrew.  In 1871, Danzig became part of the German Empire. 

Rudolph immigrated to America in 1887.  His mother Louise is listed as a passenger traveling with Rudolph on a ship named the Weser.  She was 60 years old at the time.  It appears that her husband Frank Lukaschewski was deceased.  The Weser arrived in Baltimore on April 27, 1887.  Rudolph and Louisa settled in Detroit, Michigan. 

Anna had arrived in America a few years earlier in 1881.  She travelled alone at the age of 16 on a ship named the Wieland.  The ship's registry shows that she had been a resident of Danzig, a "free city" in West Prussia that operated independent of both Germany and Poland.  Danzig was part of a Polish Corridor that provided the Republic of Poland access to the Baltic Sea.

Rudolph and Anna married on April 25, 1891.  The marriage records list Rudolph's parents as Frank Lukaschewski and Louise Kohnke.  Anna's parents are listed as Arnie Janzen and Annie Rebaud. The name Rebaud is more frequently found in France than in any other country.  Perhaps the Rebaud family put roots in Danzig during the French occupation of the city in the early 1800s.

Polish Funeral Procession in Detroit (1891)

Detroit city directories show Rudolph and Louisa (and presumably Anna) living at 934 Dubois in 1894 and at 470 Alexandrine Avenue in 1895.  Land title transfers published in the Detroit Free Press in 1895 show that title to the house on Alexandrine was transferred to Rudolph on April 8, 1895.

Census records for 1900 indicate that the country of origin of Rudolph and Anna was "German Poland." Rudolph was listed as owning the house where they resided at 470 Alexandrine Avenue in Detroit.  Louise, whose birth year was listed as 1823, is shown as renting from Rudolph.  Louisa was listed as a widow who had given birth to five children, only two of whom were still living in 1900. Those two were Rudolph and his brother Albert. 

Passenger and immigration records indicate that Albert had also immigrated to Detroit in 1887.  Albert married his wife Matilda Godlewski in 1888.  The 1900 Census records indicate that Albert's occupation was a bricklayer. 

Census records for 1910 (#1 and #2) show that Rudolph and Anna had seven children at the time: Frank (18), Phillip (16), Catherine (15), George (13), Lucy (11), Helen (9), and Therese (7).  Rudolph's occupation was listed as a laborer who did odd jobs.  Louise is not listed since she had died in 1902.

Census records for 1920 show that Rudolph and his seven children were living in a home he owned which was located at 1354 Van Dyke Avenue in Detroit. This was just two blocks from an area that was later known as Indian Village.  The Census records listed Rudolph as a laborer working for a railroad company.  Catherine was still in school.  Frank was an electrician, Phillip a fireman, George a plumber, Louise a typist, Theresa a stenograper, and Helen a stenographer. The 1920 Census records did not list Rudolph's wife Anna since she died on August 30, 1919. Ana's funeral service (listed as A. Lucas) was conducted at St. Anthony Church.

Rudolph filed a petition to become a naturalized American citizen on August 25, 1921.  He took his oath of allegiance to the United States of American and became a naturalized citizen by order of the federal district court on January 27, 1922.  His daughter Theresa died three years later at the age of 22 due to heart failure following a thyroidectomy. 

Rudolph died on March 26, 1928 at the home of his daughter Catherine and her husband Frank Steil on Fullerton Street in Highland Park.  His funeral was held at St. Anthony Church and is listed under the name R. Lucas.  His grave is located in Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Detroit.  His wife Anna and his mother Louise are buried on the same plot as is his daughter Catherine Steil and her husband Frank.  Rudolph's brother Albert and his wife Matilda are buried on the adjacent plot.  For a video taken at the grave of Anna, click here.  For a video at the grave of Rudolph, click here. (Videos make take about two minutes to load.)

By coming to America and leaving Danzig behind, Rudolph and Anna avoided the turmoil and hardship that Danzig experienced after the First World War.  Danzig had become a temporary location for stateless and persecuted Jews who were seeking a better life elsewhere.  In the 1920s, some 60,000 homeless Jews passed through Danzig. 

Then came the "Nazification" of Danzig in 1933 when the Nazi Party gained control of the city through a democratic election.  Jews started to leave the city.  In 1937, two synoagogues were burned down and two other desecrated.  Two years later, laws were passed excluding Jews from economic life and various professions.  Danzig was invaded by Hitler's Nazi army in 1939.  The Nazis established a concentration camp 30 miles outside of Danzig.  It was the last camp to be liberated by the Allies on May 9, 1945.  Over 60,000 died there during that six year period -- half of them Jews. 

Modern day Gdańsk (Danzig in German) has a population of 582,000. At the center of its Main Town, reconstructed after WWII, are the colorful facades of Long Market, now home to shops and restaurants.

Colorful Historic Houses in Danzig/Gdansk, Poland (2016)

Essays on the Lukaschewski Family

Three essays have more information about the Lukaschewski family.  The first one is titled "Polish Icing on a German Cake."  The second one is titled "From Lukaschewski to Lucas: The Americanization of a Polish Family."  The third one is titled "In Memory of Catherine Julia Lukaschewski."