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Katie (Catharina) Zaremba was born in Czerce, Sieniawa County, Jaroslaw District, Galicia (State), Austria (now Poland) according to her husband Alex's application for citizenship papers and church marriage documents. She was the daughter of Jacob and Katie Zaremba, their names were listed on their marriage license and in the official church marriage record. Katie's true age is something of a mystery, as several official documents for her have her birth year from 1886 up to 1891. Most documents support 1886 as her birth year. Her original gravestone indicates that her birthdate was 17 March 1889....
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Katie (Catharina) Zaremba was born in Czerce, Sieniawa County, Jaroslaw District, Galicia (State), Austria (now Poland) according to her husband Alex's application for citizenship papers and church marriage documents. She was the daughter of Jacob and Katie Zaremba, their names were listed on their marriage license and in the official church marriage record. Katie's true age is something of a mystery, as several official documents for her have her birth year from 1886 up to 1891. Most documents support 1886 as her birth year. Her original gravestone indicates that her birthdate was 17 March 1889. Her second gravestone added in the 1970's indicates that her birthdate was 22 March 1891. Her obituary written in 1976 indicates she was 91 years old at the time of her death, which would mean that her birth year was 1886. Her marriage license and official church marriage record indicates that she was 20 years old in 1907 at the time of her marriage to Alex Gajda, thus, she was born in 1887. In this bio and memorial, since there is official records that indicate 1886 was the year she was born, that is reflected here. That region was also called Galicia, Austria and it was under the rule of Austrian Archduke Franz Josef of Austria from the first partitioning of Poland until 1918 and the end of WWI. Ethnically, Katie and Alex both self-identified in formal documents as "Ruthenian", for more reading on that a good place to start is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruthenia. It is complex, with extensive geo-political and orthodox religion implications.
Alex was born nearby in Manasterz/Monastyrz, Jaroslaw District, Galicia, Austria (now Poland) about 11 km from Czerce. It is unknown if the met in the US or knew each other before emigrating. Sixteen year old Alex arrived May 24 1902 at New York Harbor, Ellis Island aboard the steamship "Fürst Bismarck" which departed Hamburg, Germany May 10, 1902. He appears to have travelled with a family from Manasterz named Choden and a cousin named Eva Duda.
Katie's arrival date and means is still only oral history, and best research to date is that Katie arrived between 1902 and 1906. Oral family history, as told by Katie herself is that she was a stowaway on a cattleboat and only 14 years old and that she came with an older sister. Stowaways were common in the Ellis Island era, as many were afraid of the medical exams and being turned away, so sought passage on commercial and other shipping lines as 'cargo' and arrived at commercial docks where it was easier to slip in unnoticed. No finite data has been found to confirm or dispute the oral story.
Oral history has it the sister returned to the old country. However, research has uncovered that Katie had two sisters who lived in or near Allentown Pa. Her older was sister's name was Senka (or Ksenia) Zaremba (Mrs. Joseph aka "Anna") Orzechowski, and records show she came to join (or rejoin) Katie in June 1906 aboard the "Amerika" of the Hamburg Amerika Line and her destination was Allentown to join "sister Kat'a Zaremba 719 Front St, Allentown PA" . Katie's younger sister was Eni "Annie" Zaremba (Mrs. Wasyl aka "Annie") Telepchak. It is not known when or how Eni came to the US at this time. Eni also worked in a cigar factory, and Senka worked as a sewing machine operator. Both sisters remained in that area until their deaths. It is known that Katie and Alex knew Joseph Orzechowski -Ksenia's husband — as he witnessed their marriage according to the actual church record. Alex Gajda lived at 147 Bridge St in Allentown, PA and Katie lived at 138 Bridge Street, Allentown. More research revealed that 138 Bridge Street was the home of her sister Senka(Ksenia) & her brother-in-law Joe Orzechowski. Literally, a few houses apart in what were believed to be 'company housing" for the Allentown Coal Co and the Crane Iron Co. across the street from this housing area.
Katie and Alex were married in Northhampton, PA on 20 July 1907 • St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church, 1343 Newport Ave, Northhampton, PA. Their names are listed as Catharina Zaremba, age 20, from Czerce, Jaroslaw, Austria, daughter of Jacob and Catharina Zaremba and Oleksa Gajda, age 21, of Manasterz, Jaroslaw, son of Matheus and Mariae Gajda. After their marriage they lived at 152 Bridge Street, Allentown, PA.
The couple was married by the Fr. Nestor Dmytriw, the first Ukrainian/Ruthenian clergy and scholar in both Canada and America to address the needs of the Carpatho/Rusyn, Ruthenian, Ukrainian immigrants to adhere to the Eastern Orthodox Catholic traditions.
In 1908, Alex and Katie moved from Allentown, PA to Minneapolis MN between July 1908-Oct 1908 and lived at 22 S. 19th Ave, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, MN. Oral history says that they may have run a boarding house in the Pillsbury/General Mills District just 2 blocks west of "Bohemian Flats" on the Mississippi River near downtown Minneapolis. Their address was on top of the bluff, not in Bohemian Flats itself. Alex is likely to have been a manual labourer in the Mills District. Bohemian Flats was a notoriously poor, overpopulated emigrant district of the Minneapolis Mill District. For further information, research Bohemian Flats.
The birth of their first child Mary Anne was in October 1908 , then Anna in 1910, and then the couple made their way West again, to a new emigrant settlement called Ukraina, in Billings County North Dakota, arriving there on the 26th March 1910 according to Alex's application for citizenship. The family is found in the June 1910 census in section 34- Township 142-Range 98 of Billings County, North Dakota. Alex filed for Homestead on that section, however, that claim was lost in 1925' and he re-filed a different Homestead in the mid-1920's about 2 miles North of the first filing and the family homestead remained in Section 23-142-98 thereafter. In about 1928, the Gajda family's barn was burned out by allegedly by Latin Rite Catholic ethnic groups opposed to Eastern (Byzantine) Rite Catholic Orthodox religious practices even though both were under the auspices of the Pope in Rome. Ukrainian emigrants had built two churches in their new home of Ukraina ND on the prairie. St. Demetrius was built about 1907, and SS. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church was built in 1917. Both original churches were also burned allegedly by factions opposed to Eastern Orthodoxy. Almost all church records were lost in the fires. One book survives. Both churches were then rebuilt by local Ukrainian families over three years. In 1949, the rebuilt St. Demetrius church moved to a location today North of Belfield ND on Hwy 85 and is still in use today. Saints Peter and Paul was moved to the city of Belfield in about 1951, and is no longer in use. The cemeteries for both original churches are still nearest the village of Fairfield ND on the original village site of Ukraina
Katie and Alex had 10 more Gayda children all born in Spring Creek Township, Billings County, ND, Tatianna (1911), John (1912) Andrew (1914) George (1916) Michael (1917) Katharine (1919) Walter Lloyd (1921), Pearl (1923) Josephine (1925) and Olga Sue (1927).
Alex was a farmer and carpenter, he built their first home of sod and lumber. He also built many farm houses, barns some sod and lumber and some just lumber for other early emigrants . His carpentry work included work on the first Ukrainian Church in the area, St. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church at Ukraina, and the home for the first church cantor sent from the old country. That church burned in 1928. At one time, Alex reportedly built a store with the post office for Ukraina. Ukraina ND itself no longer exists, but was situated between Highway 85 North of Belfield and Fairfield, ND today.
Third daughter, Tatianna (also spelled Tytiania on Alex's Naturalization Certificate) appears to be the only child lost before adulthood. She died in 1925 at the age of 14 from complications after falling off a horse according to family oral history. Likely a head injury. Katie gave birth to her 11th child, Josephine, only a week after Tatiannia's death.
Katie's husband, Alex M. Gayda (also spelled Gajda on many documents) died of a heart attack in 2 Oct 1932 in the early years of the Great Depression. Katie was widowed at about 46-47 years old and had 12 children at the time ranging in ages from 5 years old to Mary at 24 years old . Mary (a mail order bride) was already married to James Doseff. Mary and family came to live with Katie to help raise the large Gayda family for a time.
One 1944 St. Demetrius Ukrainian Orthodox Church document for their son, George, lists Katie's name as "Paraskevae" and Alex as "Alexei". Oral history is that daughter Pearl's name was originally also Paraska but was changed on re-baptism in the newly rebuilt St. Peter and St. Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church which opened in late 1932.
Katie, age 69, married a second time June 26, 1954 Mr. John (Jan) Logosz (Logash) , a widower farmer in a area. Katie and John lived in Belfield, ND.
Katie's and Alex's son, George, died in 1955. She then lost second husband, John Logosz, who died in 1966. Her son Michael died in 1973, and her eldest daughter Mary Anne Gayda Doseff died in 1975.
Katie Zaremba Gayda Logosz, age 91, died July 26, 1976 at St. Joseph's Hospital after a two week illness in Dickinson, ND. Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated July 29, 1976 at St. Demetrius Ukrainian Catholic Church and interment in Saint Mary's Catholic Cemetery in Billings County, north of the village of Belfield, ND.
Memories of Katie by her countless grandchildren are of her enormous garden where she grew fruits and vegetables and her own poppy seed garden for her cooking of ethnic dishes such as pierogies, and poppy seed kolaches, Easter bread, and cabbage rolls. She is remembered for her exquisitely hand decorated Easter eggs known as "pysanky". Katie always wore a beautiful scarf of bright colors as in the photo. She spoke mostly Ukrainian, and very little English, and was a very devout Ukrainian (Eastern or Byzantine Rite) Orthodox Catholic in faith. Katie was a strong woman who raised a very large family on the farm during the darkest years of the Great Depression, saw two of her sons go into WWII and come home, and sadly endured the immense grief of losing 4 of her children and both husbands in her lifetime. Bless her memory.
This extensive research was conducted by Katie and Alex's granddaughter and this memorial administrator, ForgetMeNot. Family members wishing more information can make contact through this site by using the "suggest changes" option. If more photographs exist of Katie or Alex, please do add them to their memorials. Based on research conducted in the Sieniawa regional Greek Orthodox Church records, while the Gayda families were of Greek (Eastern Rite) Orthodox religious affiliation, the Zaremba families are not found in any of the regional Greek Orthodox Church records. It seems logical that the Zaremba families were of the Roman (Latin Rite) Catholic religious affiliation, and that Katie converted to the Eastern Orthodox rite after her marriage to Alex. More data will be added here when records are located to prove or disprove this theory. |
