Vol. 3 no. 2
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1977 BOOK GIVES HISTORY OF ROZAN, ANCESTRAL HOME OF MANY GRALLAS.
The Rozan memorial book printed in Israel in 1977 shares the history of a shtetl in Poland as it was long ago. It was near Rozan where the patriarch, Yussef Gralla settled in the early 1800's, and had six sons, five of whom are ancestors of many of the Grallas now in the United States. A Jewish community existed in Rozan as early as the 16th century. There was little documentation concerning the early Jewish settlement. The writers of the memorial book feel the Jewish settlement in Rozan may have been even as early as the year 1173.
In the Evreiskaya Encyclopedia it states there were 173 Jewish people in Rozan in the year 1765, 773 in the year 1856 and 1,698 in 1897. Today the city has 151 households.
There were six craft guilds in the city for spinners, knitters, weavers, furriers, tailors and shoemakers. Traders dealt in grains and forest products such as wood, pitch, wax and honey as well as animal hides.
Rozan, a town in the district of Makov, where the Rozhanitza joins the Narew river, is 20 Km. east of Makove Mazovietzk, on the crossroads between Warsaw-Ostrolenka and Czarnow-Ostrov-Mazovietzk. This is in eastern Poland, which at various times fell under rule of Germany or Russia.
Beginning in the 15th century, Rozan became the capital of the district of Rozan or Makov. The town flourished in the middle of the 17th century, but later the population dropped to 250 and in 1777 there were only 65 houses.
In the 19th century some progress was felt. Six fairs were held yearly. There was a tannery, a brewery, and with these the population grew from 582 in 1810 to 1,810 in 1860. The population grew steadily, reaching 4,435 in 1910. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Rozan counted 3,500 Jews, about 60% of its total population.
During the Second World War, Rozan was destroyed twice, first in 1939 and again between 1944-45. It was at this time the Jewish population was expelled. 95% of the buildings were in ruins and of 6,000 inhabitants in 1939, only 739 remained in 1945.
The location of Rozan on the main road from Warsaw to Russia made it one of the strategic points along the river Narew to protect. This is why Rozan was destroyed so many times in different wars.
It was a farming region and the people lived from agriculture, cattle raising, fishing and forestry.
The small synagogue in Rozan served not only as a place to pray and worship, but also as the center of the village, a place where elections were held, public events occurred and artisans would meet.
This synagogue was packed with thousands of people when the German armies entered Rozan. The synagogue was set on fire and thousands of people rushed to escape, trampling many in the panic. The details are shared in the Rozan Memorial book by those who survived.
This book can be found on microfilm at the LDS Family History Centers throughout the United States. The film number is 1183647.
GRALLA RECORDS DISCOVERED IN RYCHWAL, POSEN.
Recently records were discovered of yet another small branch of Grallas which resided in Rychwal, Posen.
Josef Gralla and his wife Josefa Janiaka had one child: 5 Feb. 1853, a daughter Josefa was born. At this time Josef Gralla was 38 years old.
Another Josef Gralla and his wife Marianna Walezaka had the following children: 30 Sep 1855, a daughter Maryjanna was born.
14 Jan. 1858, another daughter Maryjanna was born. At this time Josef Gralla was 40 years old and his wife was 31 years old.
More research will need to be done to determine the origin of these Gralla families and other details concerning them. Due to the difficulty in reading these particular documents, research has been slower and more difficult than usual.
STANLEY W. GRALLA, ARCHITECT AND HORSEMAN.
Stanley Gralla of Oklahoma is a well know architect and a founder of his own consulting firm. He has worked on many noteworthy projects, including schools, banks, nursing homes, apartments, as well as many equine facilities. He has cooperated consistently with Gralla family research.
Mr. Gralla is a well known horseman as well as a well known architect. He has written a book the Horseman's Architect, which is a guide to planning equine facilities. He owns and operates a 680 acre horse breeding and hay farm.
Stanley Gralla was born in Housatonic, Mass., the son of the late Stanley Gralla, also of Housatonic. He has two brothers, James Gralla of South Lee, Mass., and Thomas Gralla of Boston. His grandparents were John and Sophie Gralla. He married Mary Anna Conley and has two sons, Shawn, age 26, and Todd, 21.
NEW FILMS PROVIDE CONTINUED INFORMATION.
The Family History Library Acquisitions department has been doing extensive filming in Poland. Recent acquisitions include an area in which I am interested. My Gralla family came from the village of Tost, now called Toszek in Silesia. From that village, my great-grandfather, Valentin Gralla moved to another village called Koschentin, or its Polish equivalent, Koszecin. The library has filmed only some of the civil registration for that town. Recently two more films were received.
Although I was not able to locate extensive material, I was able to determine that two daughters of Valentin Gralla married and had children in Koschentin. One daughter Marianna Gralla married Josef Nanzka Nov. 18, 1882, and on Nov. 15, 1884 they had a daughter named Maria Gertrud.
Another daughter married Johann Galuschinsky on Oct. 8, 1880 and had a son on the Dec. 14, 1883 named Franz Josef. A third daughter Pauline, died in infancy at the age of 1 year and 4 months on May 27, 1878.
It is very exciting to find these and all documents regarding the various Gralla families. It is also interesting to be able to see their signatures, more than one hundred years after they signed particular documents. To show the types of sources that we are using for the information in these newsletters, a copy of a document, and its translation follows.
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT:
Number 8. Koschentin, on the 8th of Oct. 1880.
Appears before the civil registrar, today in the instance of marriage, the gardener Johann Galuschinsky, single, who is known here, Catholic religion, born on the 8th of June 1853 at Wiersbie, resident of Wiersbie, son of the gardener and carriage driver, Constantin Galuschinski and his wife Franziska nee Kukowka of Wiersbie.
And the unmarried farmer's daughter, Sophie Gralla, known here, Catholic religion, born on the 13th of May 1860 at Irrkau-Koschentin, resident of Irrkau, daughter of Valentin Gralla and his wife Josepha Kandzia, residents of Irrkau.
FAMOUS GRALLAS FOUND IN GREAT CATALANA ENCYCLOPEDIA.
Bernardo Gralla.
Resided at Lerida and Barcelona around the time of 1467. Bernardo Gralla, Politician, honorable citizen and councilman of Lerida during the years of 1453 and 1461, was the son of Nicolas Gralla, co-founder of the famous Santa Maria hospital, of which he was the first manager in 1454. He intervened in the revolutionary action of 1460. The purpose of which was to detain prince Carlos de Viana. When the war against King Don Juan II (1462) broke out, he was an outstanding member of government. Later he was chosen as a governmental representative for the region of Catalunya.
Miguel Juan de Gralla.
He possibly resided in Lerida during the 15th century. He died in 1531. Miguel Juan de Gralla, was a distinguished official and royal teacher in a classroom, and delegate of the generals (1491-1494). He was a royal accountant teacher of Catalunya. (1501-1520). Originated the Borques de Lerida lineage. He was also the castellan and feudal lord of the castle of Subirat. (This castle was the subject of earlier newsletters.) He was at the service of Ana de Bretana until the capitulation of Reunes in 1491. He returned to Cataluna and intervened in the name of the king in the municipal reforms and of the Generals and he was designated by the king as a delegate.
He also intervened as an ambassador in matters of the distribution of the kingdom of Napoli. In the year 1499, he was again sent to France because of the marriage of Ana de Bretana to Luis XII of France. Miguel Juan de Gralla was married in 1506 to Anna Despla i de Corbera, He transformed the Barcelona house of Despla into a lavish palace with a facade of beautiful decoration of the renaissance and it was known since then as "Casa Gralla". In its interior there was a beautiful patio whose lower level was of renaissance style. The Gralla palace was torn down in the year 1856.
In the year of 1517, in Bruselas, Miguel Juan de Gralla received, the title of Lord. In 1520 he was aid in the position of rational teacher (royal accountant) by his son Francisco de Gralla i Despla, who inherited the position and got married in 1527 to Guiomar D' Hostalric Sabastida and became an aristocrat in Bolonia in the year 1530.
TOSZEK, HOME OF MANY GRALLA ANCESTORS IN SOUTHERN POLAND.
The town of Tost, Silesia, now known as Toszek, Poland is a district town in Southern Poland. As early as 1222, a castle stood in the town. This castle was attacked in 1241 by the Mongols, 1433 by the Hussites, and in 1570 and 1811, it was destroyed by fire. After the 30-year war, Count Caspar Colonna rebuilt it into a renaissance castle. Today only ruins remain of the castle. Gralla family members still live in the town and in the surrounding areas of Tost. Some Gralla ancestors earned their livelihoods working at this castle as servants and gate watchmen.
This entire area is heavily industrialized. In 1970 the population of Tost was 4,868. The town was greatly destroyed in WWII by Soviet Troops.
Entry to the castle Toszek Catholic Parish in Toszek
COMPUTER LISTING OF GRALLA NAMES BEING FORMULATED.
Because of an ever-increasing number of names of Gralla ancestors, it has become difficult to keep track of them without the help of a computer. Therefore, we have begun a listing of all Gralla names and are gradually getting them recorded on computer so we can easily make both alphabetical listings as well as geographic listings of Grallas throughout the world. Below is a listing of Grallas from Olschienen, East Prussia. This is not a complete listing as research is still continuing in this town. As new names are found, we will add them to the Gralla lists.
INFORMATION REQUESTED FOR FUTURE NEWSLETTERS.
In the hopes of making the newsletter interesting for all branches of the Gralla family, we hope that you will continue to send in items of interest which can be published in future issues. We appreciate those of you who have done so in the past.
_________________________________________________________________
1977 BOOK GIVES HISTORY OF ROZAN, ANCESTRAL HOME OF MANY GRALLAS.
The Rozan memorial book printed in Israel in 1977 shares the history of a shtetl in Poland as it was long ago. It was near Rozan where the patriarch, Yussef Gralla settled in the early 1800's, and had six sons, five of whom are ancestors of many of the Grallas now in the United States. A Jewish community existed in Rozan as early as the 16th century. There was little documentation concerning the early Jewish settlement. The writers of the memorial book feel the Jewish settlement in Rozan may have been even as early as the year 1173.
In the Evreiskaya Encyclopedia it states there were 173 Jewish people in Rozan in the year 1765, 773 in the year 1856 and 1,698 in 1897. Today the city has 151 households.
There were six craft guilds in the city for spinners, knitters, weavers, furriers, tailors and shoemakers. Traders dealt in grains and forest products such as wood, pitch, wax and honey as well as animal hides.
Rozan, a town in the district of Makov, where the Rozhanitza joins the Narew river, is 20 Km. east of Makove Mazovietzk, on the crossroads between Warsaw-Ostrolenka and Czarnow-Ostrov-Mazovietzk. This is in eastern Poland, which at various times fell under rule of Germany or Russia.
Beginning in the 15th century, Rozan became the capital of the district of Rozan or Makov. The town flourished in the middle of the 17th century, but later the population dropped to 250 and in 1777 there were only 65 houses.
In the 19th century some progress was felt. Six fairs were held yearly. There was a tannery, a brewery, and with these the population grew from 582 in 1810 to 1,810 in 1860. The population grew steadily, reaching 4,435 in 1910. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Rozan counted 3,500 Jews, about 60% of its total population.
During the Second World War, Rozan was destroyed twice, first in 1939 and again between 1944-45. It was at this time the Jewish population was expelled. 95% of the buildings were in ruins and of 6,000 inhabitants in 1939, only 739 remained in 1945.
The location of Rozan on the main road from Warsaw to Russia made it one of the strategic points along the river Narew to protect. This is why Rozan was destroyed so many times in different wars.
It was a farming region and the people lived from agriculture, cattle raising, fishing and forestry.
The small synagogue in Rozan served not only as a place to pray and worship, but also as the center of the village, a place where elections were held, public events occurred and artisans would meet.
This synagogue was packed with thousands of people when the German armies entered Rozan. The synagogue was set on fire and thousands of people rushed to escape, trampling many in the panic. The details are shared in the Rozan Memorial book by those who survived.
This book can be found on microfilm at the LDS Family History Centers throughout the United States. The film number is 1183647.
GRALLA RECORDS DISCOVERED IN RYCHWAL, POSEN.
Recently records were discovered of yet another small branch of Grallas which resided in Rychwal, Posen.
Josef Gralla and his wife Josefa Janiaka had one child: 5 Feb. 1853, a daughter Josefa was born. At this time Josef Gralla was 38 years old.
Another Josef Gralla and his wife Marianna Walezaka had the following children: 30 Sep 1855, a daughter Maryjanna was born.
14 Jan. 1858, another daughter Maryjanna was born. At this time Josef Gralla was 40 years old and his wife was 31 years old.
More research will need to be done to determine the origin of these Gralla families and other details concerning them. Due to the difficulty in reading these particular documents, research has been slower and more difficult than usual.
STANLEY W. GRALLA, ARCHITECT AND HORSEMAN.
Stanley Gralla of Oklahoma is a well know architect and a founder of his own consulting firm. He has worked on many noteworthy projects, including schools, banks, nursing homes, apartments, as well as many equine facilities. He has cooperated consistently with Gralla family research.
Mr. Gralla is a well known horseman as well as a well known architect. He has written a book the Horseman's Architect, which is a guide to planning equine facilities. He owns and operates a 680 acre horse breeding and hay farm.
Stanley Gralla was born in Housatonic, Mass., the son of the late Stanley Gralla, also of Housatonic. He has two brothers, James Gralla of South Lee, Mass., and Thomas Gralla of Boston. His grandparents were John and Sophie Gralla. He married Mary Anna Conley and has two sons, Shawn, age 26, and Todd, 21.
NEW FILMS PROVIDE CONTINUED INFORMATION.
The Family History Library Acquisitions department has been doing extensive filming in Poland. Recent acquisitions include an area in which I am interested. My Gralla family came from the village of Tost, now called Toszek in Silesia. From that village, my great-grandfather, Valentin Gralla moved to another village called Koschentin, or its Polish equivalent, Koszecin. The library has filmed only some of the civil registration for that town. Recently two more films were received.
Although I was not able to locate extensive material, I was able to determine that two daughters of Valentin Gralla married and had children in Koschentin. One daughter Marianna Gralla married Josef Nanzka Nov. 18, 1882, and on Nov. 15, 1884 they had a daughter named Maria Gertrud.
Another daughter married Johann Galuschinsky on Oct. 8, 1880 and had a son on the Dec. 14, 1883 named Franz Josef. A third daughter Pauline, died in infancy at the age of 1 year and 4 months on May 27, 1878.
It is very exciting to find these and all documents regarding the various Gralla families. It is also interesting to be able to see their signatures, more than one hundred years after they signed particular documents. To show the types of sources that we are using for the information in these newsletters, a copy of a document, and its translation follows.
TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT:
Number 8. Koschentin, on the 8th of Oct. 1880.
Appears before the civil registrar, today in the instance of marriage, the gardener Johann Galuschinsky, single, who is known here, Catholic religion, born on the 8th of June 1853 at Wiersbie, resident of Wiersbie, son of the gardener and carriage driver, Constantin Galuschinski and his wife Franziska nee Kukowka of Wiersbie.
And the unmarried farmer's daughter, Sophie Gralla, known here, Catholic religion, born on the 13th of May 1860 at Irrkau-Koschentin, resident of Irrkau, daughter of Valentin Gralla and his wife Josepha Kandzia, residents of Irrkau.
FAMOUS GRALLAS FOUND IN GREAT CATALANA ENCYCLOPEDIA.
Bernardo Gralla.
Resided at Lerida and Barcelona around the time of 1467. Bernardo Gralla, Politician, honorable citizen and councilman of Lerida during the years of 1453 and 1461, was the son of Nicolas Gralla, co-founder of the famous Santa Maria hospital, of which he was the first manager in 1454. He intervened in the revolutionary action of 1460. The purpose of which was to detain prince Carlos de Viana. When the war against King Don Juan II (1462) broke out, he was an outstanding member of government. Later he was chosen as a governmental representative for the region of Catalunya.
Miguel Juan de Gralla.
He possibly resided in Lerida during the 15th century. He died in 1531. Miguel Juan de Gralla, was a distinguished official and royal teacher in a classroom, and delegate of the generals (1491-1494). He was a royal accountant teacher of Catalunya. (1501-1520). Originated the Borques de Lerida lineage. He was also the castellan and feudal lord of the castle of Subirat. (This castle was the subject of earlier newsletters.) He was at the service of Ana de Bretana until the capitulation of Reunes in 1491. He returned to Cataluna and intervened in the name of the king in the municipal reforms and of the Generals and he was designated by the king as a delegate.
He also intervened as an ambassador in matters of the distribution of the kingdom of Napoli. In the year 1499, he was again sent to France because of the marriage of Ana de Bretana to Luis XII of France. Miguel Juan de Gralla was married in 1506 to Anna Despla i de Corbera, He transformed the Barcelona house of Despla into a lavish palace with a facade of beautiful decoration of the renaissance and it was known since then as "Casa Gralla". In its interior there was a beautiful patio whose lower level was of renaissance style. The Gralla palace was torn down in the year 1856.
In the year of 1517, in Bruselas, Miguel Juan de Gralla received, the title of Lord. In 1520 he was aid in the position of rational teacher (royal accountant) by his son Francisco de Gralla i Despla, who inherited the position and got married in 1527 to Guiomar D' Hostalric Sabastida and became an aristocrat in Bolonia in the year 1530.
TOSZEK, HOME OF MANY GRALLA ANCESTORS IN SOUTHERN POLAND.
The town of Tost, Silesia, now known as Toszek, Poland is a district town in Southern Poland. As early as 1222, a castle stood in the town. This castle was attacked in 1241 by the Mongols, 1433 by the Hussites, and in 1570 and 1811, it was destroyed by fire. After the 30-year war, Count Caspar Colonna rebuilt it into a renaissance castle. Today only ruins remain of the castle. Gralla family members still live in the town and in the surrounding areas of Tost. Some Gralla ancestors earned their livelihoods working at this castle as servants and gate watchmen.
This entire area is heavily industrialized. In 1970 the population of Tost was 4,868. The town was greatly destroyed in WWII by Soviet Troops.
Entry to the castle Toszek Catholic Parish in Toszek
COMPUTER LISTING OF GRALLA NAMES BEING FORMULATED.
Because of an ever-increasing number of names of Gralla ancestors, it has become difficult to keep track of them without the help of a computer. Therefore, we have begun a listing of all Gralla names and are gradually getting them recorded on computer so we can easily make both alphabetical listings as well as geographic listings of Grallas throughout the world. Below is a listing of Grallas from Olschienen, East Prussia. This is not a complete listing as research is still continuing in this town. As new names are found, we will add them to the Gralla lists.
INFORMATION REQUESTED FOR FUTURE NEWSLETTERS.
In the hopes of making the newsletter interesting for all branches of the Gralla family, we hope that you will continue to send in items of interest which can be published in future issues. We appreciate those of you who have done so in the past.
