Born
09 May 1890
Kopyl, Byelorussia

Died
14 June 1965
Poquannock Bridge, Connecticut

Parents
Franciszek Mihael Rymaszewski
Victoria Ackshienevich

Siblings
Bronislava Bulat (half sister)
Maria Bulat (half sister)
Anton Bulat (half brother)
Unknown Bulat (half brother)
Vatslaw Rymaszewski
Fortunat Rymaszewski

Spouses
Agata Suchnat
Married July 8, 1914 in North Creek, New York

Olga Polyvianovich
Married September 24,1931 in New Britain, Connecticut

Anna Agasha Gorbachow
Married November 21, 1958 in Willimantic, Connecticut

Children
Adam Joseph Rumoshosky
Joseph Rumoshosky

Step Children
Jerry Kononchik
Marie Kononchik
Josephine Kononchik
Unknown children from third marriage

Life Story

Josef Franciszek Rymaszewski was born on May 9, 1890 in Kopyl, Byelorussia, about 60 miles SSW of Minsk. His parents were Franciszek M. Rymaszewski and Victoria Ackshienevich. He was the second child from this marriage. Besides his older brother Vatslaw, he also had two half-sisters and two half-brothers from their mother's first marriage.

Josef grew up on the family estate in Swidicze, a small hamlet about 10 miles northeast of Kopyl. His family descended from Polish nobility and his father owned a lot of the land in the area, if not all of it. The village was probably composed mostly of tenant farmers and their families, with the Rymaszewski family living in the large "manor" house. The second son Josef was 7 years old when his father died and his older brother Vatslaw inherited the estate. Vatslaw was 8 years older than Josef and there was another brother Fortunat, probably younger, who may have died young.

Josef probably spent his early years working on the family farm, but with some amount of privilege. The family would travel to Kopyl for church and special occasions.

When Joe was in his early 20s, he fell in love with a young woman, Agata Suchnat, who worked as a maid in the manor house. Her father was a tenant farmer in the village and this relationship did not receive the Rymaszewski family's approval. Finally, Joe and Agata ran away to America aboard the ship Caledonia out of Glasgow, landing at Ellis Island, New York City on June 8, 1913. At the time, Josef was 23 and Agata a year younger.

The only people that they knew in America were one or two men who had previously immigrated from from Swidicze and who were working as garnet miners in upstate New York. There's a possibility that they may have been relatives of Agata. After landing in New York City, the couple took the train north along the Hudson River and got off at the North Creek station. It was already late in the day and the person they had expected to pick them up was not there. Neither of them spoke English, but Joe wanted to go find someone to help them. Agata was too scared to be left alone and they spent the night on the train platform. The next morning, their ride appeared and took them to North River, about 5 miles to the northwest.

In North River, Joe and Agata lived at a lodging house on 13th Lake Road. The lodging house was a very large house at the end of the road with about 35 immigrants boarding there, almost all from Russia, who were workers at the nearby garnet mines. Agata was one of only two women in the house and she did housework there to help pay the rent while Joe worked in the mines. They were married on July 8, 1914 in North Creek and their first child, Adam, was born several months later on October 31st. A second son, Joseph ("Joey"), was born a couple of years later, in 1916.

Sadly, Agata died in Mar, 1917 at the age of 26 of a heart ailment, leaving Joe with two very young children. Before going to work in the morning, he would carry the children to a place that would watch them all day, even walking through the snow. Before 1919, Joe had moved the family to New London, Connecticut where he worked as a machinist at G. Iron Works. When little Joey was 4 years old, he died in the flu epidemic, leaving Joe alone with 6 year old Adam.

Joe started working for the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut and father and son lived as boarders in the area. Sometime before 1927, they moved into a boarding house on Poquannock Road in Poquannock Bridge, Connecticut that was owned by Makarus and Olga Kononchik. Joe was naturalized on June 6, 1928, at which time he adopted the more Americanized spelling of Rumoshosky.

During the time they lived on Poquannock Road, Joe and Olga fell in love and she divorced her husband, who moved out. They were married on September 24, 1931 and continued to live in the former boarding house. Olga had several grown children and the families seemed to have blended well. Pictures of the couple, even years later, show a loving and happy marriage. Joe continued to work as a machinist/driller for Electric Boat and even worked on the first nuclear submarines. In the early 1950s, Olga fell ill and became an invalid, nursed at home by Joe. She passed away on April 6, 1956, when Joe was 66 years old.

Joe continued to live in the same house, but was lonely. He advertised for a wife in a local Russian-language newspaper and received an answer from a woman named Anna Agasha Gorbachow (possible maiden name Topdarova). The were married on November 21, 1958 in Willimantic, Connecticut. It was a marriage of companionship and Anna died just over a year later, on December 4, 1959.

On June 14, 1965, Adam grew concerned about Joe because he was not answering his phone. A neighbor was asked to check on him and found Joe had passed away in his home of a heart attack, related to high blood pressure.

The house was rented for a while and then sold to a steam pipe fitters union, who tore down the house and built their union hall on the property.

Seeking Information

None at this time.

Facts

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Updated 7/8/14