Wilmas
Ignatius Wilma family, Winona, Wisconsin, ca. 1905. Frank Wilma standing at right.

2. IGNATZ2 WILMA (Wojciech, #4) 14,15,16 was born on 1 Apr 1859 at Niesiotowitz (Niesiotowice), Stendsitz (Stezyca), Karthaus (Kartuzy), West Prussia (Gdansk), Germany (Poland). 17, 18, 19, 20 He married Anna Agatha Potratz (see #3), daughter of Johann Thomas Potratz and Johanna Koeflchut, on 14 Feb 1881 at West Prussia, Germany (Poland). 21 He died on 15 Jan 1951 at Winona, MN, at age 91. 22 He was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery. 23

Kartuzy is in Kashubia where the people speak a language that is almost incomprehensible to other Poles. This ethnic minority is the remnant of a people conquered over the centuries by Germans, Russians, Swedes and Latvians. Germans in West Prussia dispossesed Poles of their land so many Kashubs moved to the Winona, MN area. 24 Ignatius and Anna Agatha Potratz immigrated to Baltimore, Maryland, on 11 Jun 1881 aboard the vessel Hannover Family tradition holds that he only had the fare for one person so he smuggled Agatha aboard the ship in a steamer trunk. Kashubs came to Winona in response to advertisements from the lumber mills which needed workers and the Hamburg-America Shipping Line which offered a rebate of half the fare to the lumber companies. The index card shows he is accompanied by "Bertha" Wilma, age 28. 25, 26, 27 He was a lumber mill worker and later a crossing guard for the Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. Ignatius is the progenitor of the Wilmas in America. 28, 29
Children of Ignatz2 Wilma and Anna Agatha Potratz (see #3) all born at Winona, MN, were as follows:

3. ANNA AGATHA2 POTRATZ (Johann, #6) 71,72,73 was born on 15 Aug 1856 at Parchau (Parchowo), Bytow, West Prussia (Gdansk), Germany (Poland). 74, 75, 76, 77 She married Ignatz Wilma (see #2), son of Wojciech Wilma and Rosalia Wisotowska, on 14 Feb 1881 at West Prussia, Germany (Poland). 78 She died on 26 Mar 1945 at Winona, MN, at age 88. 79,80 She was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery. 81, 82
She and Ignatz Wilma immigrated to Baltimore, Maryland, on 11 Jun 1881 aboard the vessel Hannover from West Prussia where Poles were being dispossessed by Germans. Family tradition holds that he only had the fare for one person so he smuggled Agatha aboard the ship in a steamer trunk. Poles came to Winona in response to advertisements from the lumber mills which needed workers and the Hamburg-America Shipping Line which offered a rebate of half the fare to the lumber companies. The index card shows he is accompanied by "Bertha" Wilma, age 28. 83, 84, 85 She was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis, the Holy Rosary Society, the Sacred Heart Society and St. Stanislaus, between 1910 and 1940. 86




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Created with The Master Genealogist v 8.08.0000 on 19 May 2024 at 02:31 pm.