Aleksander Szerszen was my great-great grandfather, and the first member of my paternal line to immigrate to the United States. Today I wanted to take some time to talk about his journey here, and more mysteriously, his disappearance after arriving.

Early Life

Aleksander was born on February 5th, 1878, in the small village of Złotki, Poland. He was born to Jakub Szerszen (1823-1879) and Marianna Podles (1845-1903). He was the youngest of at least 5 children. We can imagine that Aleksander’s childhood was not particularly pleasant, between losing his father at such a young age, and dealing with the many hardships that most Eastern European families faced in the late 19th century – including famines and economic struggle. Continue reading →