Harasimowicz branch

Harasimowicz (Araszymowicz, Arras, Aras) branch overview

Members of the Harasimowicz shortened and simplified their surname over time. After they migrated to the United States they began calling themselves "Arras" or "Aras."

Jennie Dorotny Harasimowicz, Mike's paternal grandmother

The Harasimowicz family came from an area that was once Russian and is now part of Lithuania, but they spoke Polish.

Jennie and some of her ancestors

The Harasimowicz family was ethnically Polish

The Harasimowicz "Old World" and migration stories

Jennie’s parents (Peter and Maria (Mary)), Jennie (Janina, Yanina), and her two older siblings, Osip (Joseph), and Michalina (Lily, Lillian) were born in Wilno, which at various times belonged to Russia, and they spoke Polish.

Wilno is now "Vilnius," and is part of Lithuania.

In 1909 the family migrated to Minnesota. The younger siblings, Mary, John, and Casimir, were born in St Paul, Minnesota.

Jennie and Henry Edward Blomquist: Workplace romance?

In their early post-migration years, both Jennie and her future husband, Henry Edward Blomquist, were working for Brown and Bigelow, a promotional products company headquartered in St Paul, Minnesota. (The company still exists and continues to make products like clocks, pens, and advertising calendars.)

By the 1920s, at least some of the Harasimowicz family members were using the surname "Arras." According to a St Paul city directory from 1927, Jennie and Mary Arras were working at Brown and Bigelow and living at 369 Edmund Ave in St Paul. A house still exists on that property today.

Jennie and Mary Arras, listed in a 1927 St Paul city directory

369 Edmund, St Paul, Minnesota, today

According to Henry Edward Blomquist's World War II draft record, he was still working at Brown and Bigelow in that era.

Henry Edward Blomquist draft record

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