Americans are a nation of immigrants and occasionally we wonder who were my immigrant ancestors, where did they come from and why did they come. If you are in our Pajewski or Gainowski lines, a review of the Page Pages or Gainowski Pages can narrow down who your immigrant ancestors were and where they were from. The question Why did They Come is a little harder since generally the answers aren't written down. Helping our plight, though, is that people generally don't move from place to place without a lot of thought and the reasons they move tend to be just a few. Below is the information that has been collected for our Pajewski and Gainowski families.

1. Michael Pajewski: Michael Pajewski arrived 31 May 1882 in New York on the Nemesis from Amsterdam. Michael was 27 at the time. His mother and father had died about 1872. It appears he traveled with a branch of the Pastwa family, and a few years it he married Helen Pastwa who came in1885. It is not known if Michael had friends or other relatives in the United States already or if he was the family pioneer. But as far as I know, it was through him and the Pastwa family that all the rest followed. At the time, employment opportunities were weak in Prussia and there was an overabundance of population. It was this environment that caused a massive migration from northeast Germany in the 1880s and our Michael Pajewski, the Pastwas and the rest of the Pajewskis were part of it.
2. Martin and Veronica Nicolai: This family came arrived 23 June 1883 in New York on the Nedeland from Antwerp, about a year after her half-brother Michael. Veronica's father died in the early 1850s and her mother died about 1872. Martin and Veronica were in their young 30s when they arrived with their two daughters Annie and Bertha. Veronica was also 6 months pregnant. Their intended destination was Michigan, where it is hypothesized that her brother Michael Pajewski was at the time. It is likely, Michael had written her about life and opportunities for work in the United States.
3. Frank Pajewski: Frank Pajewski immigrated in 1884; he was about 22 at the time. His mother and father had died about 1872. It is believed that his brother, Michael and half sister Veronica had moved to Chicago by this time and told him how great it was.
4. John Pajewski: Johann left Germany for the United States in 1885 when he was about 20 years old. The best data to date indicates he arrived in New York on 9 May 1885 on the Belgenland from Bremen, Germany. His mother and father had died about 1872. My grandmother Elizabeth recalled that he came to avoid the draft in Germany. According to the ship manifest he was headed for Chicago. This may have been for only a short time as the family also recalls that John went to Michigan to work as a lumberjack. This was either in Bay City or Saginaw. After a while he joined his brothers and half sister in Chicago. It is possible that he immigrated with a sister or brother that stayed in Michigan or possibly they were there already.
5. Joseph and Rosa Gainowski: Joseph and Rosa and their family arrived in 1886. My grandmother Elizabeth thought they were farmers in Germany and that the crop had failed prompting them to come. She also recalled that Joseph had an uncle, possibly great-uncle already in Chicago that would vouch for him for employment. However, the Gainowski family immigrated first to Boston. They lived in a poor area and didn't like it. After a short while, they decided to live in Chicago. When they lived on the south side of Chicago, he worked in the Chicago Stockyards.

In summary, it thus appears that brother Michael Pajewski and some of the Pastwa clan made the initial decisions to leave Germany. Most likely they had friends or other relatives here already as usually one doesn't pull up stakes without knowing someone on the other end. Their arrival and letters home likely prompted Martin and Veronica Nicola to immigrate the following year, and then Frank and John in succeeding years.

Joseph and Rosa Gainowski had an established family of seven including a number of young teenagers when they immigrated. It appears that Joseph already had relatives in the Chicago area. They likely came for better jobs or opportunities for the children. There may also have been economic hardships in Germany or the pending draft for the older boys. It is not known if the Gainowski family knew the Pajewski family in Germany.


Initial Web Publication Date: 07/06/03
Intermediate Additions: 06/01/03, 10/21/05
Last Web Upload: 10/21/05