Andrew C. Leas ³

  General Notes:

Andrew immigrated from Austria/Poland with his father, Jacob Lis/Liss/Leas about 1877 via Chicago. The Polish priests were trying to encourage immigration with the promise of free land. Many Irish and Germans were already in NE but a Catholic presence was sought. The town in NE where they lived was originally Burrows but was changed to Tarnov recalling one of their Polish hometowns.

In Poland, the name was spelled LIS, meaning fox. It is spelled the Polish way in the parish records of St. Michael the Archangel parish in Duncan, NE. With the concentration of Germans in NE, the spelling was adjusted to LISS. After Jacob and Andrew were naturalized [article in the Columbus Journal, Sep 26, 1906], the spelling was Americanized to LEAS. Not all of Jacob's children adopted the new spelling, most kept LISS but Andrew's line kept LEAS. ⁴

  Noted events in his life were:

• Immigration: To Chicago, Abt 1877, From Poland. ⁴

• Residence: US Census, 1900, Burrows Township, Platte, Nebraska.

• Residence: US Census, 1910, Burrows, Platte, Nebraska.

Andrew married Annie Starcez, daughter of John Starcez and Reisa Mecek, on 31 Aug 1891 in Platte County, Nebraska.¹ (Annie Starcez was born about 1868 in Poland-Austria.)

Andrew next married Katie Olsufka on 9 Apr 1907 in Tarnov, Nebraska, USA.² (Katie Olsufka was born about 1889 ⁵.)