*Victoria Puscizna Rzesut

Victoria Puscizna was my Great-Grandmother and wife of Kasper and Anna Rzeszut’s oldest son Anthony.

Victoria came to the U.S. in 1909 from what is now Dominikowice, Poland. Following is the Passenger List with her information as reported to immigration officials at Ellis Island. All of Victoria’s information appears on Line 19. Click the below image to view the passenger list.

The Passenger List For Victoria Puscizna

Source: Immigration and Naturalization Service. Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957. National Archives Microfilm Publication T715, Roll 2335

This manifest tells us:

• Date Of Departure – June ??, 1914

• Port Of Departure – Bremen, Germany

• Date Of Arrival – June 17, 1914

• Port Of Arrival – New York

• Ship – S.S. Barbarossa of the Norddeutscher Lloyd Shipping Line

• Victoria’s name is spelled Wiktorya. This is the only document I’ve seen with the traditional Polish spelling of her name.

• Victoria was 18 years old and single.

• Her occupation was Servant/Maid and she could read and write.

• Her nationality is listed as Austrian, her race is Polish and her last residence was Dominikowice, Galicia.

• Maryanna Puscizna of Dominikowice, Galicia is the name and address of the nearest relative in her home country. Maryanna is noted as being her sister.

• Her final destination is Hazardville, CT where her brother-in-law Mike Slick lives.

• She paid for the ticket herself and had $20 (?) on her.

• She was not a polygamist or an anarchist. We can all rest easy.

• She was 5′3″ with a fair complexion and brown hair and brown eyes.

• Her place of birth was Dominikowice, Galicia.

S.S. Barbarossa

On September 25, 1916 Kasper and Anna’s eldest son, my great-grandfather, married Victoria Puscizna. Click the below image to view Anthony & Victoria’s Marriage Certificate.

The Marriage Certificate for Tony Zeszut and Victoria Puscizna

SOURCE: The State Of Connecticut. Town Of Glastonbury Town Clerk’s Office. Certificate of Marriage. Town Of Glastonbury. 1916. Volume 10. Page 22.
Tony Zeszut and Victoria Puscizna.

The information on the marriage license is as follows:
State Of Connecticut Bureau Of Vital Statistics License #357
Marriage License Town Of Glastonbury
• Groom’s Name:Tony Zeszut
• Age: 21
• Color: White
• Occupation: Mill Hand
  
• Birthplace – Town: blank Country: Poland Austria
• His Residence: Glastonbury
• Single, Widowed or Divorced?: Single
• 2d 3d Marriage: First
• Name Of Father:Kasper Zeszut
• Maiden Name Of Mother: Annie Kopec
• Bride’s Name:Victoria Puscizna
• Age: 19
• Color: White
• Occupation: Mill Hand
• Birthplace – Town: blank Country: Poland Austria
• Her Residence: Glastonbury
• Single, Widowed or Divorced?: Single
• 2d 3d Marriage: First
• Name Of Father: Joseph Puscizna
• Maiden Name Of Mother: Mary Bolek
The certificate is signed by clergyman D.L. Baker (the same person who married Julia Zesut and John Pendrok the previous year) and indicates the marriage ceremony took place on September 25, 1916 in Glastonbury. The license was applied for on September16, 1916.
Copies of CT marriage Licenses are open to the public and a copy of Anthony and Victoria’s can be ordered from the Glastonbury Town Hall. The order form for a copy can be reached through here….or just ask me for a copy.

Wedding Photo Of Anthony Rzeszut and Victoria Puscizna
A few years ago my mother posted a message to a genealogy forum asking if there was anyone out there related to Victoria Puscizna. In 2007 Flora Stoneberg who is Victoria’s sister Anne’s granddaughter read the post and got in touch with my mother. It turns out Flora was interested in her own genealogy and had been researching the Puscizna line. I spoke to Flora a few months ago and learned that Anna Puscizna had a twin brother who never emmigrated from Poland and who had died young. She also sent me a digital photograph of a phot of Anna and Victoria’s mother Maryanna Bolek Puscizna. I was amazed that a photo of her existed. Maryanna never came to the U.S. so the photo must have come over with Anna or was mailed back in the early 1900’s.

Maryanna Bolek Puscizna
Source: Maryanna Bolek Puscizna. Photographer Unknown. Date Unknown. From the Florence Stoneberg Collection. Digital photo of original photograph held by Sharon Clarkin LaFlamme .  Received via email 2007.
*I’ve seen Maryanna’s first name written several different ways but will stick to this spelling until a definitive source is found.
After Anthony’s unexpected death in 1929, Victoria never remarried and lived the rest of her life in the Hartford, CT area. She died on June 20, 1966 and is interred at the St. Augustine Cemetery in Glastonbury, CT in the Zesut family plot. Following is her obituary and a photograph of her headstone.

Obituary For Victoria Puscizna Rzesut
SOURCE: Victoria P. Rzesut Obituary, The Hartford Courant, Hartford, CT, June 21, 1966, page 33.


Burial Headstone For Victoria Puscizna Rzesut
Source: Burial Headstone For Victoria Puscizna Rzesut. Photographer E.J. Wrann. St. Augustine Cemetery, Glastonbury, CT. September 29, 2007. Digital Photograph.