Count Hompesch

Although Hompesch kept a harem of unmarried women and their illegitimate children on the outskirts of town in Krzywdy (interesting side note, his own marriage was childless and the Hompesch noble line is now extinct), he was very beloved by the people of Rudnik nad Sanem. Even to this very day he is celebrated with an annual wreath laying ceremony and an outdoor wicker festival where giant woven sculptures are placed throughout the village to commemorate the man who founded the industry that the town is still known for.

When Count Ferdinand Hompesch inherited the Rudnik nad Sanem estate from his father he endeared himself to locals by learning Polish, establishing railway lines and bringing modern medicine to the village for the first time. Although I don't understand the politics of this region well, it seems that in addition to be a noble Count he was also in the legislature and elected to a treasurer type position where he balanced the budget of the area in a way that made the town more prosperous than it had ever been.

But his main contribution to the area occurred when he noticed an abundance of Osier growing along the San River and he had an epiphany that wicker basket weaving would be the perfect industry for Rudnik nad Sanem. It was, and it continues to be. Rudnik nad Sanem is one the biggest exporters of wicker in the world.

In 1872 Count Hompesch sent five local young men to Vienna to learn the trade of basket weaving. They returned home and began to teach others. By 1878 Count Hompesch had founded an entire basket weaving school in Rudnik nad Sanem to train the local population on how to weave baskets and furniture.

(Side note: If you're reading the translation of Polish to English of Count Hompesch's Wikipedia page, it says that he founded a basketball school in Rudnik nad Sanem. I thought that was odd for 19th Century Poland, but what the heck do I know? Yes, that was a translation error. He founded a basket weaving school.)

The interesting thing about learning that Hompesch was a willow worker is that in America our Frank Janusz was too. From his earliest records Frank identified himself as a "reed worker". When Frank moved to Cincinnati between 1913-1916 it is my opinion that he did so to find work in the wicker furniture industry. I believe that Frank had no interest working in the textile mills of Lawrence. It was so important for him to work in the medium he was accustomed to, that he left his mother and stepfather, his sister and his three half brothers behind in Massachusetts and started a new life in Ohio where he worked for at least two wicker companies: Willoware and Fick's Reed Co. He sent furniture back home to his sister and at least two pieces were passed down to my grandmother, Jane.

Revisiting some of the stories we know of Frank, the fact that he spoke a "higher dialect" of Polish didn't seem to make much sense at first. How could a man born and raised with his family speak a better dialect of the language they shared? Considering he may be the son of Count Hompesch makes you wonder if he had educational opportunities not available to his younger half brothers Louis, John and William; or to his brother in law, Stanley.

And speaking of Stanley, the story that he was illiterate because he was from the Russian partition and discouraged from education? Not true, according to Dom. Both Mary and Stanley were from the Austrian-Hungarian partition, with Stanley hailing from L'wow the present day city of L'viv Ukraine, which was also known as Limberg to the Austrian-Hungarians, and Leopolis to the Latin speaking Catholic Church (Yes, this one city had four names....very confusing to Americans trying to research their family history! At least three of these names show up our documents.)

However, we do know it was true that Stanley was illiterate and Mary could read and write. The ship's manifest asked that question of the immigrants on board. The reason for this story cannot be known, perhaps Stanley was ashamed of his illiteracy and made an excuse to pardon himself.

Likewise, we will never know if Frank actually spit at a portrait of the Czar in a bar in the Russian partition. However, it would stand to reason that the potential son of an Austrian-Hungarian Count would have no love for the Russian Czar...Right? Researching the history of Poland means also trying to understand Russian, German, Austrian, Hungarian and Ukrainian history and relations one hundred and more years ago. 

At this point the illegitimacy of Frank and Mary is confirmed. Not only did Mary have no father on her marriage license, she actually had to go to Nisko (akin to a county seat where administration work occurred, from what I can tell), and obtain a court order giving her permission to marry, since she had no father to grant the permission himself. 

I found the following information about Count Hompesch on a community page, written in Polish in 2020:

We honoured the memory of Count Hompesch

A pioneer of Rudnik wickerwork, a member of the Council of State, the owner of Rudnica estates, a social activist, a good and caring man – this was Ferdynand Hompesch, who initiated wickerwork in Rudnik, known today not only in Poland but also abroad.

As every year, to commemorate his memory, employees of the Commune and City Hall in Rudnik nad Sanem laid a wreath at his monument and lit candles. October 27 marks exactly 123 years since his death.

The monument, which is a bust, was founded in 1904 by the inhabitants of the city in gratitude for their activity and a number of merits. The monument was made by the Rzeszów sculptor Juliusz Bełtowski.

The Count died in 1897 and was buried in the Czech Republic. His marriage was childless and twenty years after his death the Hompesch noble line ended when the last noble Hompesch died. 

In 1904 the bust of Count Hompesch was erected in Rudnik nad Sanem. 

1904, the year Anna gave birth to William, her youngest son, whose birth is now also a mystery because Ignacy's ship manifest shows he left Poland 11 months before his son was born there.

1904, the year another baby was born, Alexei Romanov, and Czar Nicholas II pardoned the political prisoners in celebration.

1904, the year Frank left jail (maybe) and came to America (definitely). 

1904, the year Mary married Stanley and moved away to L'viv to prepare for her own voyage to America.

This morning I drove to work before 6am with a folksy song playing on the radio I had never heard before. It only caught my attention by the repeated "1904" lyrics. When I got to work I checked the playlist on the stations website. 1904 by Tallest Man on Earth. Was that just for me??

So, now we wait for Dom to do more research, to see if a link can be found between Count Hompesch, Anna Janusz and her children, Frank and Mary...