Today I opened up Google Chrome on my desktop computer to find that the Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan website was opened up. I remember looking through it a few days ago and I found it sad that I can't find my surname anywhere. I know that the Kushions came from Poland, but the surname was obviously changed when they arrived in America. From what a possible relative of mine has told me, these immigrants could quite possibly not be related at all and instead came from the same town and adopted the same surname. She also pointed out that it's quite possible that they originated in Ruda Kameralna.
Obviously they wanted to cover their tracks and, although my great-grandfather Frank could speak Polish, it never got past that generation. In my family tree all the Kushions point back to a John A. Kusion, who, from talking with this relative, might not even exist! The Kushion line has been a frustrating one to follow and I'm hoping that if I find more information on Ruda Kameralna and Southern Poland in general at the time they departured I'll get to know more about them.
First I did a google search for "Ruda Kameralna". For the most part all I found was that it is currently a small village in southern Poland within Gmina Zakliczyn, Tarnow Powiat, Małopolska Voivodeship. According to Wikipedia, a voivodeship is much like a province or a state, a powiat is the equivalent of a county, and a gmina is much like a township. Each voivodeship has a coat of arms, code, and car plate designation. Małopolska, aka Lesser Poland, is one of 16 voivodeships created on January 1, 1999 to replace 49 smaller voivodeships that had replaced powiats from 1975 to 1998.
From 1945 (just after World War II ended) to 1998 the voivodeship that Ruda Kameralda was located in was called Krakow (Województwo krakowskie). Prior to 1945, Poland was partitioned between Russia, Prussia, and Austria with Krakow under Austrian-Hungary rule. During this partition time, Krakow became the standing pillar for the Polish as the Free City of Krakow housed the Academy of Krakow and was independent from foreign rule until 1845.
I believe my great-great-grandfather Andrew and his family left sometime between 1907 and 1909. World War I started in 1914, so I know it wasn't the war that prompted them to leave. However, there was the 4th Polish uprising from 1905 to 1907 in the Russian partition. From what I've read, the Austrian-Hungary partition was the most lenient and peaceful of the partition areas, so why would they leave? Maybe they were, in fact, part of the Prussian partition in Posen as one of Andrew's children is said to have been born there. However, I know so little about Andrew and his family that they could have originated anywhere in Poland.
The other half of the mystery is what their original name was. I'm assuming that it sounds close to the surname and my parents have hinted that it used to have -ski at the end of it. The closest surname I've found is Kuchinski. According FamilyEducation.com and Ancestry.com, Kuchinski is an Americanized spelling of Kuczyński (from Kuczyn, Kuczyna, or Kuczyny) or Kuciński (from Kuciny). Finding the origin is only half the battle, however. All of the names I've found for my immigrated ancestors are Americanized names of saints. It's quite possible that they had Polish names that they abandoned. I shall have to ask dad about it more. He talked to great-grandpa Frank much more than anyone else did.
View Kushion Origin Map in a larger map. Note that blue markers indicate origins under Prussian rule while the yellow marker indicates an origin under Austrian-Hungary rule.
