Mary Sadauskaite Vidunas Yorski

Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the Evening News 
(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania)
Mon, Aug 27, 1945 ·  Page 18

This is the obituary for Mary Sadauskas Vidunas Yorski.  She died at home at 20 Penn Street in Kingston about 6 months and 1 week after that.  Her daughter Anne Vidunas was a Registered Nurse who got her education in New York, two hours or so from Kingston.  She came down to care for Mary.  But, once again, the really new news is her sister Martha Markelonis.  I've been conversing with a cousin, who said that Mary and her sister Martha lived next door to each other.  I did find something like that, but no proof of a sisterly connection until I found this article.  And, here are three other sisters still living in Lithuania.

1920 Kingston Census
Mary Vidunas 71 Penn Street 

 In the 1920 Census, Mary is a widow living with her children on 71 Penn Street in Kingston.  She is not working, her two oldest boys are working either in the Coal Mines or as a messenger for the Telegraph.  The next two kids are in school and the baby stays home.

Mary and Louis arrived in 1905 but are not naturalized by this time.  These two speak Lithuanian as well as English, while the other children speak only English.

71 Penn Street from Google Maps

1930 Kingston Census

This is the 1930 Census.  Mary now lives on 20 Penn Street with Andrew Yorski.  Louis, John and Anna are also living with them, along with Louis' wife Frances and their two children Louis II and Dolores.  Andrew is from Poland and is naturalized.  Mary and Louis are also listed as naturalized.  I think it may be because at that time, women and children were naturalized when the husband/father was.

Andrew, Louis and John work in the Coal Mines.  Joseph is gone in the Army.  Stella is also out of the house.

Interestingly, take a look at their neighbors, the Markelonis at 18 Penn Street.  This is actually the other half of the house.  This is also Mary's sister Martha.  So in one duplex, they had many children including Stella Vidunas and Stella Markelonis; Joseph Vidunas and Joseph Markelonis (who is listed here as Adolph Jr).  They also went by the last name of "Markel" which muddies the water.  But, we may or may not get back to them later.

1940 Kingston Census

In this, the 1940 Kingston Census, we find the family living in the same house, this time with Stella Lowman and grandchildren Mary and Edward.  Andrew still works in the Coal mines.

Interesting, the line above, line 41, is Pamela Jane DeLong.  She is the granddaughter of Adolph and Martha Markelonis of 18 Penn Street.

Penn Street Fire Map 1919

This is the Fire Map for the Penn Street area.  If you find 20 Penn Street, you can see they are within a block of St Mary's RC Church, and the Penn Street School.  I don't know if the kids attended that school, but probably they did.  Also, to the left of the map, is the Kingston Coal Company.  Did the Vidunas men-folk work in this mine?  It would be within walking distance.  It make sense to have the workers' housing that close to the mines.

Penn Street Fire Map 1925

This fire map is from 1925.  Again, you can see that 20 Penn Street is within walking distance of the church and the Penn Street School.  But now there is a new street, with it's own school, Pringle Street School built in 1923.  Again, there is the Kingston Coal Mines.

The Rotterdam, which Mary and Louis Vidunas traveled on

This is the ship that carried Mary and her little son Louis to Ellis Island.

1905 Ships Manifest
Marianna Widenown and son Ludvig

 And this is the Ship's Manifest.  You can see on line 10 Marianna Widenown and her son Ludwig.  They are bound for her husband A. Widenowa on Park Street, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.

Again, who knew that Vidunas was spelled this way?  According to people on the FaceBook page "Lithuanian Global Genealogical Society" they found this entry, and everything lines up.  If one takes into account the way the name is pronounced, add in non-Lithuanian people trying to write down the names, and a rushed clerk and we have something weird.


On my to-do list
1. find these three sisters in Lithuania
2. write about Martha Sadausky Markalonis living right next door.
3.  write about immigration proofs
4.  find the naturalization for Mary and Louis.
______________________________________________________

Bibliography

Ancestry.com. (1920). 1920 United States Federal Census. Retrieved from Kingston Ward 5, Luzerne, Pennsylvania : Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com. (2002). 1930 United States Federal Census. Retrieved from Kingston, Luzerne, Pennsylvania: http://interactive.ancestry.com/6224/

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Ancestry.com. (2012). 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Retrieved from Kingston, Luzerne, Pennsylvania: http://interactive.ancestry.com/2442/

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lithuanian.genealogy/

Sanborn Map Company. (1919). Kingston including Edwardsville, Dorranceton and Pringle Boroughs, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, July 1919. Retrieved from Kingston-1919_sheet17: https://collection1.libraries.psu.edu/

cdm/compoundobject/collection/maps1/id/

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Sanborn Map Company. (1925). Kingston including Pringle and Edwardsville, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, June 1925. Retrieved February 11, 2017, from Kingston-1925_sheet28: https://collection1.libraries.psu.edu/

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The Plain Speaker. (1901, December 27). Newspapers.com. Retrieved from Social Page: https://www.newspapers.com/image/

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Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. (1945, August 27). The Evening News (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) [database online]. Retrieved from Page 18: Newspapers.com