THE REMBAS FAMILY
Our family story begins in Konin, Poland on March 10, 1884 when Egnacy REMBACYZ (Ignatius REMBAS) was born. On January 25, 1911, in Wyszyna, Poland, he married Josephine BIALAS (BELAZE).
Church in Wyszyna, Poland
In 1912, Ignatius and Josephine were expecting their first child. He received word that he was to be transcripted into the Russian Army and he wanted a different life. His family priest helped him (as he had helped so many others) to escape from Poland to America by providing him with a passport and funds through the church. Josephine's brother Bill Bialas (Belaze) came at the same time. The priest had it all figured out. The priest told the authorities that the men were going to a retreat, and then they would disappear. In the middle of the night, the priest took them out and they walked quite a few miles to the boat.
The men came alone without their wives, but were planning to send for them later.
Ignatius and Bill reached America at Ellis Island on September 3, 1912 on the vessel S.S. Ryndam.
They then travelled to Buffalo, New York where they both got jobs at Bethlehem Steel. Ignatius, once he got enough money together, repaid the priest so he could help others. Then he sent money to the Priest in Poland for Josephine and their new son, Joseph, and Bill sent money to bring his wife and his two boys. They all came together on the same vessel, S.S. Potsdam, and arrived in New York City on May 12, 1914.
(Josephine's Passenger Manifest)
(Joseph's Passenger Manifest)
Josephine said that the children got terribly sick on the boat. She said it was a long journey, and took about a month. Ignatius knew somebody through the church who contacted the Priests in New York City to help Josephine. They could not speak English, so the priest met Josephine and Bill's wife. They were put on a train and came to Buffalo where Ignatius and Bill met them.
Bill's wife was here about 2 years, but she got homesick for her family so she returned to Poland with the children. Bill continued to support her and the children in Poland. Bill lived with Ignatius, Josephine and their family for many years.
NOTE: During World War II, Bill's two sons were interned in a concentration camp by the Germans. One son did not survive. However, Anthony lived through all the horror. He was later brought to America by Ignatius' daughter Helene and her fiance. After many months of paperwork, Anthony arrived to find that his father had died just two weeks before. He settled in Buffalo, New York where he lived until his death in 1998.
While Ignatius was in Buffalo, he saved up $3,000.00 to buy a farm in the country. But during the time they lived in Buffalo, their son Joseph contracted polio. They spent all the money on doctors and treatments for Joe. He eventually got back the use of his muscles, all except for his left arm which was never usable again.
Ignatius saw an ad in the Buffalo paper and went with the real estate agent to check it out. Ignatius had a home in Buffalo so he sold that home to make a down payment on the farm in Attica, New York. There was a lot of sickness in Buffalo at that time, and Ignatius was advised to get the children out of the city. Ignatius, being brought up on a farm in Poland, didn't like the city too well, either. So he moved the whole family to the farm.
Bill quit his job at Bethlehem Steel and came to help on the farm. Ignatius continued to work at Bethlehem Steel until he paid for the farm. He would come on Friday night on a train from Buffalo to Linden. Then Bill would get him with a horse and buggy. On Sunday night, he would go back to Buffalo so he would be back at work on Monday. He did that for 4-5 years until the farm was paid for because there was not enough money to keep the family and make the farm payments too. It was only an 85 acre farm. Ignatius thought it would be big enough, but it wasn't by the time he paid for the cows, tools and equipment.
Bill helped with the chores around the farm. Josephine milked the cows. She had done it in Poland so she knew how to do it. Her boys helped her and Bill. Their daughter Genievive (Jenny) helped by doing the cooking for everyone.
After he paid for the farm, Ignatius decided he would quit his job and move to the farm all the time. Bill got a job on the railroad track because Ignatius and Josephine could not afford to pay him. He still helped on the weekends getting the hay in with the boys.
As the children were getting bigger, there still was not enough money. So Ignatius decided to go the Oakfield gypsum mines. He worked there about two years when there was an accident. He was working in the mine and there was a cave-in. The braces fell on his back and it broke his back. They thought he was dead when they got him out. They rushed him to St. Jerome Hospital and he stayed there for a year. Bill would bring Josephine to visit him driving her in a horse and buggy. Ignatius tried to sue the mines for what happened. Jenny, being the oldest girl, would go to the lawyers with Ignatius and try to translate from Polish to English and back.
After Ignatius got out of the hospital, he was still able to drive the horses, but he could do no lifting. The boys had to do all the hard physical work. Somebody saw him driving the horses, and detectives were sent to watch him. Ignatius was getting a little pension, about $10.00 a month. The detectives saw him driving the horses so everything went down the drain and he lost the lawsuit.
After Ignatius and Josephine finally got back on their feet, they bought a car. That was a big thing. He learned to drive on the land in front of the house. He went and got his test for his license. Then Joseph got an old Model "T" and taught Jenny how to drive.
Please look it over carefully:
Ignatius REMBAS (REMBACYZ), b 3/10/1884 in Konin, Poland; d 8/8/1966 in Batavia, NY.
m. 1/25/1911 in Konin, Poland to Josephine BIALAS (BELAZE), b 4/1/1893 in Konin, Poland;
d 10/1/1972 in E Bethany, NY
.... Joseph Rembas (1912-1987), m Stella Fliss (1911-1988)
.... Genievive Irene Rembas (1915-), m LaVerne Arthur Spring (1915-1979)
.... John Rembas (1916-), m Clara Klein (1923-)
.... Chester[Chet]Rembas (1918-1986), m Betty [Ida] (1924-)
.... Regina [Jean] Rembas (1920-), m Matthew DuBois (1920-), Norman Reiter (1916-1967)
.... Helene Rembas (1926), m Clarence [Leo] Zaremski (1922-1988)
on each of the families in our tree:
Following are some of my favorite sites.
Please check them out.
Holocaust Library
Polish Connections
Polish enealogical Society
Polish Home Page
Polish Home Page II
Polish World
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