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The Story of Charles S Kolodgy
A Hard Start on Life
Charles was born in his home in Travis (Linoleumville), Staten Island, NY on the same day that his father Franciscus died, 28 July 1905. His parents were Maria Erma Pekar, age 32, and Franciscus Kolodzey, age 34. Two years later, his mother Irma died from Typhoid. By age 2, Charles and his brothers were orphans.
Orphaned
After his mother’s death, family members took the 4 brothers in and cared for them. It is said that because Charles was ill or sickly, the youngest of four brothers, was put into an orphanage. He was listed on the 1910 Census as living in Saint Mary’s Orphan Home in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In 1910, he was only 4 years old (1910 US Census). Two years later, he was admitted to St. Michael's Orphanage on September 12, 1912.
Family Taking Care of Family
By 1920, the 14-year-old Charles was out of the orphanage and lived with his grand-aunt Mary Kolodzey, who was the widowed wife of Charles Linske (Dlugolinszky). Charles' relationship to the Linske family is highlighted in Teal in the picture below.
This same year, Charles' two oldest brothers Frank E. and John J. had just returned from from fighting in World War I in France. According to the NYC phonebook, Frank was living at 215 W126th St in NYC. John was living on Warwick St in Brooklyn with his young bride Alice Brecht.
It is believed that Charles' older brother Joseph (older by 4 years) was adopted by a family known by the surname of "Mathias". A good possible explanation for who this family was another child of granduncle Andreas - Maria Kolodzey, who was married to Arnold C Mathias. This may or may not be correct, but it points to the former. That relationship is shown in Yellow in the picture below.
Evidence that Charles' older brothers kept tabs and checked in on him during his years in orphanages is the photo to the left. This photo was taken at the same studio as several other photos of young Frank, John, and Joseph - known due to several key visual indicators found on the photos. Specifically, the pedestal shown on this photo was also on another photo of Joseph.
Welcome to our site!
As the picture depicts, this site is dedicated to the Kolodzeys that left behind the mountains of Slovakia, Galicia, Deutchia, and Prussia to live in the United States of America. This is our story.