Just some random thoughts on the matter Are you certain that the name hasn't been anglicized or changed ... it could be that 'tsky' was converted from 'tcki' or some other variation thereof. What does the real Cyrillic form of Trotsky look like and how would you have converted it to English if you were translating it for the first time?

My mother, Anna Zajac, was born and lived in a small village called Radruz in south east Poland. In about 1941, the Germans came and took her to Germany as forced labour. After the war the Red Cross told here that here family was no longer in Radruz. I was in Radruz in 1995. A few older people remembered the family but did not know exactly what happened to them. They suggested that maybe they settled further east in what is now the Ukraine but was Poland before WW2. I also heard that many families from that area were deported by the Russians to Siberia. Or possibly they ended up in the west like my mother did. If anyone can suggest how I might find out the truth, please let me know. Edward Pawlicki (edpa@pipeline.com.au) P.S. I am am aware that Zajac is a very very common name and this is what has made my research very difficult for me.

I am aware of a Janda family in Cleveland going back to at least 1910. What US locality did this family reside in?

This is my first posting to this list. I would like to correspond with anyone who has information about any of the following family names of my Ukrainian/Polish ancestors who were from villages in southeast Poland. If anyone is researching any of these names, please contact me. BOHDAN (Americanized to Bogdan)- from Hoczew CZEHERYLA (Americanized to Chicarella) - from Wola Michowa GAWRIAK (Americanized to Garrick) - from Berehy/Berehnyhorisni HAWRYKANYCZ (Americanized to Harkanich) - from Wola Mihowa LELO - from Wola Michowa or Hoczew MOLCZAN - from Hoczew ORINICZ (Orinich, Urinich or Orange in America) - from Hoczew and Nowosiolky TERPKO - from Hoczew WENGLINSKY - from Berehy/Berehnyhorisni WOZNY - from Hoczew or Nowosiolky I located Hoczew on the interactive atlas (near Krosno) but could not locate the other villages. It is possible that they are too small, their names are changed or they no longer exist. I suspect that they are all close by the Hoczew village. Janice Kunkle P. O. Box 79 Blairstown, NJ 07825 jkunkle@sprynet.com

Writing to the counties of Mass. proved fruitful for Naturalization records until a couple of years ago, TODAY all county records in Massachusetts are sent to BOSTON and unfortunately you can't work from original records but microfilmed and copied (and sometimes copied incorrectly) records. So unless, your little courthouse and library held onto their records (some did make copies) one is directed to JFK Federal BLDG. ROOM E123, BOSTON,MA 02203. Time is fleeting in terms of research. Now we're dealing with second and third hand information. Ann-Marie >>I am not sure of the legalities but from a practical perspective, my >>grandfather arrived in the US sometime in 1902, (I have never found the >>actual record but I found this date from his second arrival in 1912) anyway, >>he submitted his Declaration of Intent at Batavia, Genesee County, NY in >>April of 1905 after he married my grandmother. >> >Write to the county for all naturalization papers. ---------------------------------- Sam & Ann-Marie Kuczun University of Colorado, Boulder kuczuns@spot.colorado.edu

On Sat, 22 Feb 1997, William A Anikouchine wrote: > In searching the death records of the Matriky of Slovinky, Slovakia I > found several cholera epidemics. The first one I found was in the late > summer (August to September) of 1831. It seems to have started with the > advent of really hot weather and terminated with the first frosts of > fall. Exactly like the cholera epidemic I had found - it started very abruptly the first day of August, 1855. The last week of October that same year it had tapered off, and no cholera deaths in November. The location was Nizna nad Oravou (Orava Region), less than 20 km from the Polish border and a main highway which follows the Orava River. One response mentioned a cholera epidemic in Poland in 1854. Thanks Will, Margaret Sheremata > Another outbreak occurred in 1849 (the deaths in the first half of the > year were not entered in the Matrika, dare we guess why?) but cholera > deaths are noted from August to October, again ceasing abruptly--death of > the flies by frost, I suspect. > > The town of Poracs, about 8 KM west of Slovinky reported about 100 deaths > from typhus in the first 3 months of 1848. > > Yet another big cholera outbreak was during October to November of 1866, > rather late in the year, it seems cholera appeared again in 1873, but to > a lesser degree. > > Cause of death was noted in the Matriky starting in 1827 so there might > have been earlier outbreaks that went unrecorded except by a surge in the > number of deaths per unit time. Other disease might have been > responsible though. > > BUT the grand prize for grim reaping goes to that spectre, Morbilli. > Yes, that annoyance, measles. Back in the good ol', bad ol' days this > was the number one killer in Slovinky. Took only kids. What a guy. > Every year was pretty much like the other, taking care of the infant > mortality thing. > > A close runner-up was variola, known to us as smallpox. Much more > indiscriminate regarding age. Took anybody. A real Democrat. > > But, yes cholera was the horror. My father, a Cossack born in the > Caucasus in 1895, never swore except of one word: khaleria! It was still > a repugnance that many years after 1831. > > > >When I was going through he LDS burial records I hit upon a cholera > >epidemic beginning the month of August, 1855, Nizna, Orava Region of > >Slovakia. > > > >Instead of the usual two or three burials per month, and two days > >after a > >death, I was suddenly finding five or six deaths a day and > >same day burials. Persons were all ages, multiple deaths per > >household. > >Cause of death was "cholera" all the way down and for several pages. > > > >This definitely is significant in a family history. My great > >grandfather's ten year old brother was a victim. Searched the > >Internet and only found one cholera epidemic in England in 1854, and > >one > >other epidemic in Bukovina which covered period of a few years before > >1849. > > > >Has anyone else found anything like a cholera epidemic while working > >on > >any Eastern European genealogy? > > > Wouldn't it be an interesting study to map the course of the cholera > epidemics through Slovakian towns? > > Cheers, > > Will Anikouchine >

as from march 1st the international code to CZ + SK has been splitted and changed...! -- old: 0042-... -- new: CZ= 00420-... (praha= 00420-2-...), (Brno= 00420-5-) SK= 00421-... (bratislava=00421-7-...)

My grandfather, John Joseph Drajewicz, emigated to the United States from Dukla, Poland in 1910. He left behind at least one brother named Andrew and his parents were Adalbert and Katherine (Sadlo) Drajewicz. Any information on the surnames Drajewicz and Sadlo would be appreciated. Robert Drajewicz BobD953538@aol.com

>(A copy of this message has also been posted to the following newsgroups: >soc.genealogy.slavic) > >Hello June > >I have come in at the tail end of this discussion - > >> >In article <199702210708.XAA25141@home.humboldt1.com>, you say... >> >> >> >>>Any one doing genealogy on Slovakia? Interested in sharing ideas and >> >info. > >You may like to visit my pages at >http://user.itl.net/~glen/FamilyHistoryinHungary.html >it includes Slovakia as it was once known as Upper Hungary. > >Also my actual research is at >http://user.itl.net/~glen/szedmakys.html > >Have fun! > >Alex > Thanks, Alex. It's a beautiful page. I've bookmarked it. June from CA

>Have you checked his passenger manifest? That should give you his place of >birth at that period. > >Jill > >---------- >> From: PJkitty461 <pjkitty461@AOL.COM> >> To: GEN-SLAVIC@MAIL.EWORLD.COM >> Subject: Kacmar >> Date: Tuesday, February 25, 1997 9:08 AM >> >> I have tried every avenue to find information on my great grandfather, >> John(Jan) Kacmar. He arrived in Pennsylvania in 1910 from Slovakia. He >> was married to Elizabeth Bednar who was from Harhaj. They were married >> before he came here. I cannot find his name in the church records where >> Elizabeth was baptized, so I don't think he was from the same village, >but >> possibly a nearby one. >> Does anyone have any ideas where I might find what village he was from. >> He was born March 1, 1890. His fathers name was George. This is all I >> know. >> I have already checked his death certificate, naturalization papers >etc. >> Nothing indicates a village. Can anyone PLEASE help? > Have you tried to locate the marriage record in Elizabeth's church? Many times the marriage took place in the bride's village. That might tell you quite a bit. June from CA

>I am trying to find info on the father of my great-grandfather. I know some >info on my great-grandfather, Stanley Kolasinski. Is there any record of his >that might reveal his parent's names? His death cert? Anyone have any >suggestions? >Anyone with info on the name Kolasinski please let me know too. >Please e-mail me, I'm having newsgroup troubles lately >Mary in MI > His death certificate would have his parents' age and where they were born. However, if , believe it or not, the person who filled out the certificate did not know the facts, you'll get the depressing "Don't know" in that space. The best thing to do is write to the church he attended for his baptismal certificate. In fact, you should ask for all the info about the name in their records. don't forget to give a donation to the church if there is no specific charge. If your ancestor was an immigrant, write to the county where he lived for his naturalization papers. You can go or write to the cemetery where he was buried and ask for the cemetery record. You didn't say whether you must deal with a foreign country. If that's the case, go to your nearest Mormon Family History Center and look up his name in the International Genealogical Index. If you have never been there you'll be pleasantly surprized at the help you'll receive from the volunteers there. I am not Mormon, and I go to my local FHC quite often. Also many times you can buy for a nominal fee pamphlets with lots of info as to how to procede. Good Luck! June from CA

In a message dated 97-02-28 10:24:56 EST, you write: << > If anybody has that Polish Surname Dictionary: > > Kzimierz Rymut's "Slownik nazwisk wspolczesnie w Polsce uzywanych" > > I would be interested in finding out if Smulikowski is a valid > surname? My father-in-law, who is searching Smolikowski, found in the > French National Archives, in Paris, the above surname for a Polish > officer from Galicia, who died around 1858. Or might this name be a > spelling error on Smolikowski? The Slownik says there are 46 instances of Smulikowski in these counties: Warsaw 13 Ciechanow 1 Czestochowa 1 Elblag 2 Gdansk 1 Katowice 2 Kielce 7 Olsztyn 2 Siedlce 7 Torun 4 Wroclaw 6 Joe armata@vms.cis.pitt.edu >> Would SMOLIK/SMOLEK be a diravation from the above name? I have a SMOLIK/SMOLEK born near Prague, Bohemia in my family tree. Annie

JOSEPH AND JOSEFA JANDA Joseph Janda, son of Jan and Marie Vojat Janda, was born in 1844 in the village of Volenice, Strakonice, Bohemia. Joseph studied to be a tailor and remained a tailor for eight years. Josefa Rejsek, daughter of Frantisek and Marie Prokop Rejsek, was born in 1846 in the village of Strasic, Strakonice, Bohemia. Her father was a miller. Joseph and Josefa were married January 28, 1868, in Strakonice. In 1880, they sold their cottage, land, and cattle. They packed their trunks and bundles and with their children, Mary, Frank and a niece, Mary, went by train to Bremen, Germany, from where they set sail for America. They spent 17 days on the ocean, enduring a severe five-day storm. They landed in Baltimore and went by train to Chicago and on to Nebraska. A brother, Vinc, met the family at the train station and took them by wagon to his home in Fillmore County. They spent the winter with Vinc's family. There were four adults and seven children in a two-room house. The winter was severe and they ran out of fuel, so they burned corn and cornstalks. When their flour supply was gone, they ground corn in the coffee mill and mixed it with water to make cornbread. After the weather improved, Joseph walked seven miles to town for flour, sugar, and coffee. On November 13, 1882, Joseph purchased the S1/2 SE1/4 in Section 19 of Liberty Township from the Burlington and Mis- souri River Railroad Company. They built a dugout. Joseph bought a team of oxen to plow the sod. Finding them hard to work with, he traded them for a team of horses. In April of 1885, Josefa died of pneumonia. She is buried in the Ceski Bratri Cemetery. They had four children: Mary (James) Sluka, Frank (Mary Hlina), Antonie, Anna (Joe) Bures. After her mother's death, twelve-year-old Mary took over the cooking and caring of the younger children. On July 9, 1885, Joseph, age 41, married Rousy Hranac, age 27, daughter of Vencil and Anna Bures Hranac. Rousy was born September 3, 1858, in Cernice, Pisek County, Bohemia. Rousy had a three-year-old daughter, Emma. Many Czech publications were advertising cheap land avail- able in western Nebraska. In 1887, Joseph decided to go to western Nebraska to look over the land. He took along his old- est daughter, Mary, leaving the rest of the family and a hired man to take care of the farm. Joseph and Mary settled in Box Butte County near Lawn, which consisted of a combination of a store and post office. Many Czechs came to this area to settle. They built a sod house, barn and chicken coop and broke some prairie. Joseph left 15 year old Mary to hold down the claim while he returned to Fillmore County to sell his farm and grain. In the fall Joseph returned to Box Butte with his family and a load of farming equipment. Joseph and his children, Mary and Frank, plowed the prairie. They planted flax, corn and wheat. On March 10, 1888, Joseph purchased 160 acres of govern- ment land for $1.25 an acre. On July 3, 1888, he filed a claim on a 160-acre homestead. On October 31, 1888, he filed for a timber claim of 160 acres. He had to plant ten acres of trees and care for them for eight years. Joseph Janda acquired a total of 480 acres in Section 27, Township 27 North, Range 52 West, in Box Butte County. For four years Joseph sowed his crops but harvested very little. If the crops didn't dry up, they were hailed out. Joseph borrowed money to plant another crop and it also failed. The banker took everything except a team of horses and a wagon. Joseph got a job in Wyoming, hauling timber ties and the older children found jobs. With the money, they were able to buy some farming equipment and a couple cows and start farming again. The family planted many acres of wheat. On August 16, 1894, a severe electrical storm hit the area. A belt of lightning struck the house, killing Joseph and Antonie, his 13 year old daughter. They were buried in a Bohe- mian Cemetery near their home. Joseph and Rousy had five children: Joseph C., Gust, Estella, Alice, and Vincent. Alice was born April 22, 1892 and died Jan- uary 28, 1893. After Joseph's death, his children; Mary, Frank, and Anna, by his first marriage decided to return to Fillmore County. They traveled by covered wagon joining eight other wagons that were heading back east. Joseph's widow, Rousy, married Joseph Matejavsky, a homesteader in the area. He was born in 1850 in the village of Sobesice, County of Pisek, Bohemia. They also returned to Fillmore County where their Three children were born: Edward, Stanley, and Agnes (Redmond, Rogers). Joseph died January 27, 1924, and Rousy died March 13, 1937. They are buried in the Bohemian National Cemetery.

(A copy of this message has also been posted to the following newsgroups: soc.genealogy.slavic) Hello June I have come in at the tail end of this discussion - > >In article <199702210708.XAA25141@home.humboldt1.com>, you say... > >> > >>>Any one doing genealogy on Slovakia? Interested in sharing ideas and > >info. You may like to visit my pages at http://user.itl.net/~glen/FamilyHistoryinHungary.html it includes Slovakia as it was once known as Upper Hungary. Also my actual research is at http://user.itl.net/~glen/szedmakys.html Have fun! Alex

In a message dated 97-02-28 11:41:37 EST, you write: << >The only people who show up in the SSDI are those people who died and for : >whom the death benefit was collected. : > : >Annie Not true... The only people who show up in SSDI are those that the SSA was informed of by the filing of the proper forms. Collecting a death benefit is *not* required; merely notifing them to stop delivering benefit checks is sufficient. The DI is basically the master list of everyone who SSA knows for sure is dead. Anyone who was not collecting benefits, and who there was no one who could legitimately claim a death benefit for, might well not be in the file. Some funeral homes as part of their services automatically notify the SSA *anyway*. >> The way to understand the SSDI is to read the article about it at: http://www.ancestry.com/ssdi/article.htm I believe it was written by someone who understood what we are dealing with much better than I do. Annie

In doing my family research I have come across this family with next to no information. Is anyone researching this family who could help me? Descendants of Vaclay/Wesley C. Janda 1 Vaclay/Wesley C. Janda 1851 - 1896 . +Mary/Marie Svejkovsky Yanda/Janda 1855 - 1946 m: 1873 .... 2 Clara Janda 1877 - 1889 .... 2 Hattie Janda 1894 - 1894 .... 2 Louis Janda Unknown - .... 2 Janda Unknown - .... 2 Albina Janda Chaska Unknown - .... 2 Joseph Janda Unknown - .... 2 Dorothy Janda Treiber Unknown - .... 2 Wesley Janda Unknown - Any help would be appreciated. Sincerely. Anne Mary C. Cerney Chapirson Hcounter@AOL.com

During the month of February, a significant number of new subscribers asked how to get started with their genealogy. Joanne Kennedy responded with a post full of help based on her 20 years of experience, (and which I immediately saved for my own files, <always learning>). With graphical or text web browsing you will find a tremendous amount of help pointers and information at the web site of the FEEFHS, http://www.feefhs.org/ - once there, look through the Ethnic, Religious and National Index. At the page for soc.genealogy.slavic you will find the FAQ for slavic genealogy by Stephen Kymlicka (founder of soc.genealogy.slavic and co-owner of Gen-Slavic). In the same index Slovak Researchers will want to study the document "Slovak & Rusyn Roots" -----by John A. Hudick. Now for some reminders, Gen-Slavic is set not to receive MIME messages. I think most subscribers realize this now, as there were not as many errors over the past month. A few subscribers were trying to signoff during February, and were looking for the right commands. All the commands can be retrieved in a document by sending an "INFO REFCARD" command to LISTSERV@MAIL.EWORLD.COM. Most subscribers take the time to unsubscribe or set their options temporarily to NOMail when on vacation or absent from their modems for some reason - prevents a full mail box and cuts down on my error messages too. If a subscriber is using a trial offer of a month free service from an ISP, <you know those free AOL diskettes you get in the mail?> - the SIGNOFF GEN-SLAVIC command is in order if you decide not to stay with that particular ISP. Thanks all, Margaret Sheremata sherema@vax2.concordia.ca GEN-SLAVIC Listowner

Have you checked his passenger manifest? That should give you his place of birth at that period. Jill ---------- > From: PJkitty461 <pjkitty461@AOL.COM> > To: GEN-SLAVIC@MAIL.EWORLD.COM > Subject: Kacmar > Date: Tuesday, February 25, 1997 9:08 AM > > I have tried every avenue to find information on my great grandfather, > John(Jan) Kacmar. He arrived in Pennsylvania in 1910 from Slovakia. He > was married to Elizabeth Bednar who was from Harhaj. They were married > before he came here. I cannot find his name in the church records where > Elizabeth was baptized, so I don't think he was from the same village, but > possibly a nearby one. > Does anyone have any ideas where I might find what village he was from. > He was born March 1, 1890. His fathers name was George. This is all I > know. > I have already checked his death certificate, naturalization papers etc. > Nothing indicates a village. Can anyone PLEASE help?

Well, Diane is certainly correct that Ellis Island was not a processing station in 1880. However, NY was a very busy port and LOTS of immigrants went through that port in the 1880s. In fact, last year I found a passenger list for a friend of mine whose family settled in the same area as Houtzdale, and they did indeed come through NY in, I believe, 1884. We found them via the Hamburg indexes. By all means, check Philadephia, since there is an index. But don't rule out NY. Jill > >Casmer Swidersky went from Poland to Houtzdale, PA in 1880. I found him in > >1910 census. > >Trying to trace him back to Poland (Poznan I think) > >If he came through Ellis Island, and was Naturalized where do I find the > >paperwork? Ellis Island? INS? In the county he lived? > > He probably did not come through Ellis Island, which didn't become a > processing station until the late 1890's. If he ended up in > Pennsylvania, I'd look in the Passenger Index for Philidelphia. > > Naturalization often takes place years after immigration. The > paperwork will most likely reside in the county court that he lived in > at the time. > > >Are there pther documents I might look for to helptrace him to Poland and > >find his parents? > >Marriage license? Death certificiate? SS# (not sure if he had one) > > Marriage licenses sometimes have parent's names. Death Certificate > might as well. The SS-5 will definitely. You can write to the SSA to > have them search their records, but it will definitely go faster (and > is cheaper) if you have the SSN. > > >Anyway THANK YOU for taking your precious time to answer my questions. > > That's what the ng is all about... > > > > > > > > > Adio, Diane > boet@omeganet.es > Searching for: BOETTCHER, VOSIKA, BOHN, MITCH

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