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Semko “Sam” Stachniak

Birth	:	1879 Austria
Death	:	1943 Alberta, Canada
Burial	:	Cost Cemetery, McDonough County, USA
Coordinate	:	40.3189011, -90.7324982
Description	:	Semko, his wife Anna and two daughters, Olga and Mary, arrived in Quebec, Canada on 3 July 1912 aboard 'Lake Michigan'. Their point of departure was Antwerp, Belgium. They were later to homestead NE 3-59-20 W4. In Search of Greener Pastures - A History of Radway and Area, 1993, Vol. 3, p 952/3 971.2/32 "SAM AND ANNA STACHNIAK - submitted by Peter Stachniak Our parents, Sam and Anna Stachniak, met in the village called Posdsiak in Galacia, Poland, and were married in the year 1905. In 1912, they sold most of their belongings and immigrated... Read More	Semko, his wife Anna and two daughters, Olga and Mary, arrived in Quebec, Canada on 3 July 1912 aboard 'Lake Michigan'. Their point of departure was Antwerp, Belgium. They were later to homestead NE 3-59-20 W4. In Search of Greener Pastures - A History of Radway and Area, 1993, Vol. 3, p 952/3 971.2/32 "SAM AND ANNA STACHNIAK - submitted by Peter Stachniak Our parents, Sam and Anna Stachniak, met in the village called Posdsiak in Galacia, Poland, and were married in the year 1905. In 1912, they sold most of their belongings and immigrated to Canada with two daughters, Olga aged six and Mary, aged three, and a large blue trunk carrying their remaining belongings. Sam and Anna left to enter Canada, a new world known as a 'land of milk and honey'. After sailing for almost three weeks they arrived in Halifax, and were helped on to a train, which brought them to Edmonton. They were met at the station by their relatives named Antosko from Eldorena, Alberta, who then took them home to their place, with oxen and wagon. After settling down, Sam and Anna decided to buy a homestead and go farming. Sam bought a quarter section two miles east and one-half mile north of Radway. The price was $10.00. He built a one-room log house on it with a sod roof and a shiny black dirt floor. This construction took a whole year. It was then that he went back to Eldorena and brought his wife and Anna and their two daughters to the homestead where they settled down for good in their own home and started a whole new future. Times were very tough for our family. Father had to take on extra work to make some money to keep his family going. He bought two oxen, a cow, and chickens as a beginning, and worked very hard, clearing land for a garden, breaking the soil with a walking plow and two oxen. Later, they were able to get horses. They grub-hoed the stumps, cleared more land, plowed it with a walking plow and grew some grain. As time went on, they built more log buildings - a barn, chicken coop, and granaries. They dug a well. They kept clearing more land and breaking it with a sulky plow (one-furrow). It was a hard life but they kept progressing slowly and eventually they cleared and broke almost all of the land on this quarter section. During this time, of course, our family kept increasing, almost one every year. We had a family of thirteen children. One son, Michael, died at two weeks of age, and one daughter, Sophie, died from diphtheria at five years of age. We had no luxuries, no radio or television, there were no proper clothes to wear, but we managed somehow. Oh, we had some good times, like a huge chicken dinner after church when the relatives arrived. Included was chicken soup and homemade macaroni. We even had some homemade white-lightning and, for dessert, a homemade cake with icing. As time went on, the older children would babysit the younger children and the much older children would start leaving home to work in order to earn money. You see, we were very poor but we survived and grew up to be adults. We never saw any money at home because there wasn't any. I remember when Father and I took a wagon box load of wheat to the elevator and got paid twenty-five cents per bushel. We sold pigs weighing around 200 pounds at $3.00 per pig. It was enough to survive. We didn't have a tractor and power machinery. We farmed with four light horses and poor equipment. As time went on, five of the girls got married and Father provided wedding celebrations the best he could for all five of them. When the eldest son Alec and son John got married, weddings were provided for them as well. Our life was a struggle, living off the land, and doing only with the absolute bare necessities. However, before Father passed away, he did achieve what he was always struggling for, and that was to clear the whole quarter section of land, and bring up his large family. They all grew up healthy and ready to face the world on their own just like Father and Mother did when they came to Canada. None of the sons wanted to carry on farming on this homestead, for which Father had worked so hard. The future for them was easier and better working out and making their own lives. Mother was forced to sell the farm for whatever little she could get, and after the auction sale, she bought a small house in Radway and lived there approximately six years until the youngest son, Billy, finished school and left home on his own. Mother then moved to Edmonton to her daughter Mary's large rooming house and retired there until her death. Mother passed away in 1959 at the age of seventy-three years. Of the family Mother had, three have died - Mike (at two weeks), Sophie (at five years) and Mary (Kochanowski) who lived in Edmonton."

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Semko “Sam” Stachniak's memorial?
Semko “Sam” Stachniak's memorial is located at: Cost Cemetery, McDonough County, USA.
When did Semko “Sam” Stachniak death?
Semko “Sam” Stachniak death on 1943 in Alberta, Canada
Where are the coordinates of the Semko “Sam” Stachniak's memorial?
Latitude: 40.3189011
Longitude: -90.7324982

Family Members:

Spouse

Children

Michael Stachniak

(unknow - unknow)

Olga Stachniak Kotylak

(1906 - 2002)

Katherine Stachniak Faryna

(1914 - 2008)

Lucy Stachniak Turner

(1924 - 2018)

Sophie Stachniak

(1926 - 1931)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Cost Cemetery
McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.3189011, -90.7324982

2. Stoneking Cemetery
Doddsville, McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.2991982, -90.7446976

3. Archer-Bethel Cemetery
Fandon, McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.3474400, -90.7561300

4. Willey Cemetery
Macomb, McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.2886009, -90.7003021

5. Dunkard Cemetery
McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.3288994, -90.7827988

6. Stoneking Cemetery
Schuyler County, USA
Coordinate: 40.2783012, -90.7491989

7. Rigg Cemetery
Bethel Township, McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.3564522, -90.6951655

8. Rigg Cemetery
Macomb, McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.3570100, -90.6942100

9. Scott Cemetery
McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.2994423, -90.7922211

10. Martha Miller Gravesite
Fandon, McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.3702000, -90.7654000

11. Wayland Cemetery
McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.3764000, -90.7283020

12. Strader Cemetery
McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.3767014, -90.7316971

13. Newell-Dark Cemetery
Schuyler County, USA
Coordinate: 40.2698669, -90.6922226

14. Gibson Cemetery
Colchester, McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.3669014, -90.7750015

15. Prather Cemetery
Brooklyn, Schuyler County, USA
Coordinate: 40.2597008, -90.7617035

16. Blackburn Cemetery
Brooklyn, Schuyler County, USA
Coordinate: 40.2500000, -90.7444000

17. Pennington Cemetery
Industry, McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.3302994, -90.6425018

18. Doddsville Cemetery
Doddsville, McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.2855988, -90.6505966

19. Cox Cemetery
Schuyler County, USA
Coordinate: 40.2496986, -90.7825012

20. Camp Creek Cemetery
Industry, McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.3669014, -90.6466980

21. Whiteflock Cemetery
Colmar, McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.3536468, -90.8301262

22. Neece Cemetery
Colchester, McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.3974991, -90.7897034

23. Noel Cemetery
Birmingham, Schuyler County, USA
Coordinate: 40.2607994, -90.8227997

24. Barber Cemetery
Colchester, McDonough County, USA
Coordinate: 40.4050345, -90.7729031