Bill and Christie, You have both been very kind to take the time to prepare and send me all the data you have. It has already been very helpful to me as well as your very good advice. Christie, I see our Kolczun family is the one living in Brooklyn, New York with Annie & Mary. I now have a bit of intrigue on my hands with the family in PA! You can be assured I will be working on this information. I am so glad I finally took the time to ask my question to the list Bill, I have used the LDS filmed records before but at the time I was researching this line I could not find anything listed for the towns of Trnava pri Laborci nor for close by Vinne' where my husband's grandmother was born (Horanics). Thank you for pointing out the available data and for giving me the film numbers. Actually back in 1984 I had attempted to do some research and I needed to go through the Embassy of The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in Washington DC. I quickly gave up with no data received on George Kolczun. You are right...it is much more rewarding to do the research yourself and that is what I am going to do, thanks to you both. It is only as a last resort that I use a professional researcher. Genealogy is a hobby to me; it is something I thoroughly enjoy accomplishing myself. After 20+ years I am back on the right track again with our Slovak ancestors! You are correct, Bill, in saying they were probably baptized in the Greek Catholic Church. I will try to order the fil very soon at the LDS Family History Center not so terribly far from my home. Thank you to you both, so very much. Marion ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Tarkulich" <bill@iabsi.com> To: <SLOVAKIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2002 10:21 AM Subject: RE: request help Kolczun in Trnava pri Laborci > Why do you need to have his official birthdate? Frankly, it's not > necessary. It sounds like this "professional" researcher is trying to > get you to do his/her work for him/her. It's not like you are filling > out an official document for release of benefits or something. Plenty > of people do very solid gen research with only a general idea of his > birth. If this fellow will not, there are plenty of other researchers > who will. > > If you go to the Mormon's Family History Center near you (find one here > http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp ), you can > order microfilms yourself for about $3.50 which will contain your church > records. There is no obligation to you. > > I just checked myself: go to http://www.familysearch.org , you will > find for the village of Slovakia, Trnava pri Laborici the following: > > Greek Catholic parish registers of baptisms, marriages and deaths for > Trnava pri Laborci; formerly Tarna, Ung, Hungary. Text in Latin, > Hungarian, and Church Slavonic. Order film numbers 1794056 and 1794057 > > > It contains: > Krstení (christenings) 1813-1874 > Krstení 1874-1932 Sobásení (marriages) 1861-1933 Zomrelí (Deaths) > 1862-1943 Zomrelí 1945-1949 . DRUHOPISY (Bishop's copy, a second copy): > Krstení, sobásení, zomrelí 1885-1891 > > So. All you ancestors will probably right there on that film. These > villages are small enough that you can scan it yourself and find them. > You don't even need to know the language in which they are written. All > you need is this little decoder: http://www.bmi.net/jjaso/ I Guarantee > that within two hours of sitting down with the films, you will be > looking at your ancestors. > > How do you know his religion was Roman Catholic? Is that the church he > attended in the US? GC and RC both recognize Rome and head, and have > reciprocal rights. Small villages often had only one church. Where he > worshipped in the US may be a result of what church happened to be > present when he arrived. He probably was baptised Greek Catholic. > > Suppose you'd just rather have someone else do the research. That's > fine, but there is no need to write away, spend lots of money and waste > lots of time on this. He's just being l..a...z...y... > > My GPs were born in the 1880's and died in the 1940s and 1971. I found > them, their brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents, etc. etc. in > the film, all by my little old self. > > Here are the facts: > - "official" records from those time periods are always suspect, very > error-prone. So no date will EVER be precise. > - The only birth records are stored by the Slovak State Archives, were > the church records. The church was an agent of the state. You have to > write to the Archives, wait 4-6 months for a reply. They will read the > exact same pages you can get from the FHC for approx. $3.50/film. If > you want them to send you an official certificate, that's fine., but > it's not necessary. I would much rather make a paper copy of the filmed > page of my ancestor's birth record. That is so much more precious to > me. The original document when he was born. Period. > > Let me know if you have any more questions. > Good luck, > Bill Tarkulich > > > -----Original Message----- > From: genie110 [mailto:genie110@optonline.net] > Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2002 8:43 AM > To: SLOVAKIA-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: request help Kolczun in Trnava pri Laborci > > > Hello,..... In order to proceed with a professional genealogy research, > I need the birth date of my husband's grandfather, George Kolczun born > in Trnava pri Laborci, (today in the eastern most part of Slovakia) > between 1868 & 1871. His religion was Roman Catholic. From later > unconfirmed records, he immigrated to the USA , arriving on 15 July > 1895. He died in Braddock PA on 20 Feb 1936 (confirmed). Could someone > tell me where I should write for his birth record? I believe, at the > time, the people of that area spoke Hungarian and I am able to have a > letter to Slovakia translated to Hungarian. Thank you for any help you > can provide. Marion > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy > records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >

I have translated quite a bit of it and posted my reference guide here http://www.iabsi.com/gen/public/CensusMain.htm Good Luck, Bill Tarkulich > -----Original Message----- > From: Bruce L. Bauer [mailto:bbauer@hiwaay.net] > Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2002 3:28 PM > To: SLOVAKIA-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Hungarian 1869 Census > > > Does an English translation of the 4th page of this census form > exist? Page 1 lists details of the house, pages 2-3 lists > the people > information, and page 4 lists the livestock. My rudimentary > translation > has Horses (3 varieties (what are they??) with 2 types (what > are they??) > and a total for each variety, and a last column I don't > understand, then > donkeys (muzzle?? and ordinary), Cattle (Hungarian and Swiss, with a > breakout for bulls, cows, oxen( is this castrated males???), > and calfs > under 3 years), followed by buffalo, sheep (improved and > common), goats, > pigs, and beehives (my copies are cut off after goats ) I > have forms for > about 20 homes in Jarabina and am trying to understand what > they are trying > to tell me. > Bruce > > P.O. Box 7132 Huntsville AL 35807 > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online > genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=> 1237 >

Bill, Based on info I have gathered so far I am at the point of either (1) Requesting FHC info or (2) writing to Archives in Slovakia. Situation: GF born in Almas (there are at least 4 towns/villages which can claim Almas as their name over history). A clue is fact that his last place of residence was Lucka (there are at least 5 Lucka's). Assuming "his" Almas and Lucka are fairly close together, this would narrow the field down to 2 of the four choices: Jablonov nad Turnou ESE of Roznava and Jablonov, east of Levoca. (I hope). In any case, for that region of Slovakia, I presume the historical records would be in the same Archive office. I have his exact date of birth, but there is some variation in spelling of the last name (Smorey, Czmorey, etc.) Any thoughts on whether FHC or Archives would produce best results and be the best course of action at this point? Understand Archive search comes with cost which is OK. The goal is to identify his parents and confirm place of birth. On another issue - have had absolutely no luck identifying arrival of my GM, Anna Pastircak to the U.S. I have only sketchy info from marriage certificate, etc. No luck on EIDB, even using all the spelling variations I and the computer can come up with. Only have year of immigration (1905) from 1920 Census records but that doesn't track with her comment to me when I was a child that "she came to the U.S. when she was 14". Born 1895, plus 14 equals 1909 vice 1905. A mystery continues. On another note: I would never have found my GF's ship manifest info without the Stephen Morse "Missing Manifests" software. NOTHING else worked. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, Bill Smorey Researching Smorey, Czmorej, Csmorey, Czmorey, Pastircak, Konzal, Konzel, Serrianni, Serianni, Giordano, McCormack, Clark > More Ellis Island database search tips dealing with errors > > For those searching with www.ellisislandrecords.org I'd like to point > out a couple more examples of database transcription errors which will > inevitably haunt you all. I uncovered the following examples just today > and one of them let to a significant breakthrough for me. > > Arrival: November 02, 1903 > SS Belgravia > > You will see a BIG boondoggle here: Line 24 has the incorrect > passenger name in the "text" list. And age. Looks like the passenger > name (from the "image") is FEDOR POLULIK (but you won't find it in the > database index ("text") recorded that way; it's listed as MOLNA, JOSEF.) > Here is the story: > > Here are the passenger list lines, page 109, List 21: > 0023. Pastornak, Josef M 25y S Austrian, Polish Brody > 0024. Molnar, Josef M 26y M Austrian, Polish Smerek > 0025. Molnar, Josef M 26y M Hungarian, Magyar Nagy Ecs > > (navigate to these listings by going to the web site above, searching > for any of these names, finding the correct entry by date shown above. > Then look at both the "text" and the "image" of the manifest.) > > I stumbled across this entry. Having exhausted the intuitive, obvious > means of searching the database (names that sound and look alike), I > began scouring manifests, page-by-page, looking at the "text versions." > Instead of looking for Surnames, I was scanning for village names. > That's how I found this one. > > For me, the bigger reward was just a half-hour ago, when I found my > Grandmother's first passage to America. I had been looking for 17 > months online for it. I had been looking for MARIA DZIUBA (DZUBA), who > had originally been from Wetlina, moved south to Nova Sedlica. In the > same manifest (as above) I found her name, misspelled as: MARIA SZIUBA, > when I noticed entries for "Novaszedlicza". > > So, the manifest is correct, it's just a great example of how the people > who typed the data into the computers at EIDB messed up. They were > either not careful enough in their typing or were not adequately trained > in the reading of cursive or they were rushed. I still say God Bless > them. However, the moral of the story is to never give up and keep > thinking of different ways to find them. That's my encouragement for > you for today! > > > ______________ > Bill Tarkulich > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >

Does an English translation of the 4th page of this census form exist? Page 1 lists details of the house, pages 2-3 lists the people information, and page 4 lists the livestock. My rudimentary translation has Horses (3 varieties (what are they??) with 2 types (what are they??) and a total for each variety, and a last column I don't understand, then donkeys (muzzle?? and ordinary), Cattle (Hungarian and Swiss, with a breakout for bulls, cows, oxen( is this castrated males???), and calfs under 3 years), followed by buffalo, sheep (improved and common), goats, pigs, and beehives (my copies are cut off after goats ) I have forms for about 20 homes in Jarabina and am trying to understand what they are trying to tell me. Bruce P.O. Box 7132 Huntsville AL 35807

Why do you need to have his official birthdate? Frankly, it's not necessary. It sounds like this "professional" researcher is trying to get you to do his/her work for him/her. It's not like you are filling out an official document for release of benefits or something. Plenty of people do very solid gen research with only a general idea of his birth. If this fellow will not, there are plenty of other researchers who will. If you go to the Mormon's Family History Center near you (find one here http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp ), you can order microfilms yourself for about $3.50 which will contain your church records. There is no obligation to you. I just checked myself: go to http://www.familysearch.org , you will find for the village of Slovakia, Trnava pri Laborici the following: Greek Catholic parish registers of baptisms, marriages and deaths for Trnava pri Laborci; formerly Tarna, Ung, Hungary. Text in Latin, Hungarian, and Church Slavonic. Order film numbers 1794056 and 1794057 It contains: Krstení (christenings) 1813-1874 Krstení 1874-1932 Sobásení (marriages) 1861-1933 Zomrelí (Deaths) 1862-1943 Zomrelí 1945-1949 . DRUHOPISY (Bishop's copy, a second copy): Krstení, sobásení, zomrelí 1885-1891 So. All you ancestors will probably right there on that film. These villages are small enough that you can scan it yourself and find them. You don't even need to know the language in which they are written. All you need is this little decoder: http://www.bmi.net/jjaso/ I Guarantee that within two hours of sitting down with the films, you will be looking at your ancestors. How do you know his religion was Roman Catholic? Is that the church he attended in the US? GC and RC both recognize Rome and head, and have reciprocal rights. Small villages often had only one church. Where he worshipped in the US may be a result of what church happened to be present when he arrived. He probably was baptised Greek Catholic. Suppose you'd just rather have someone else do the research. That's fine, but there is no need to write away, spend lots of money and waste lots of time on this. He's just being l..a...z...y... My GPs were born in the 1880's and died in the 1940s and 1971. I found them, their brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents, etc. etc. in the film, all by my little old self. Here are the facts: - "official" records from those time periods are always suspect, very error-prone. So no date will EVER be precise. - The only birth records are stored by the Slovak State Archives, were the church records. The church was an agent of the state. You have to write to the Archives, wait 4-6 months for a reply. They will read the exact same pages you can get from the FHC for approx. $3.50/film. If you want them to send you an official certificate, that's fine., but it's not necessary. I would much rather make a paper copy of the filmed page of my ancestor's birth record. That is so much more precious to me. The original document when he was born. Period. Let me know if you have any more questions. Good luck, Bill Tarkulich -----Original Message----- From: genie110 [mailto:genie110@optonline.net] Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2002 8:43 AM To: SLOVAKIA-L@rootsweb.com Subject: request help Kolczun in Trnava pri Laborci Hello,..... In order to proceed with a professional genealogy research, I need the birth date of my husband's grandfather, George Kolczun born in Trnava pri Laborci, (today in the eastern most part of Slovakia) between 1868 & 1871. His religion was Roman Catholic. From later unconfirmed records, he immigrated to the USA , arriving on 15 July 1895. He died in Braddock PA on 20 Feb 1936 (confirmed). Could someone tell me where I should write for his birth record? I believe, at the time, the people of that area spoke Hungarian and I am able to have a letter to Slovakia translated to Hungarian. Thank you for any help you can provide. Marion ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237

Hello,..... In order to proceed with a professional genealogy research, I need the birth date of my husband's grandfather, George Kolczun born in Trnava pri Laborci, (today in the eastern most part of Slovakia) between 1868 & 1871. His religion was Roman Catholic. From later unconfirmed records, he immigrated to the USA , arriving on 15 July 1895. He died in Braddock PA on 20 Feb 1936 (confirmed). Could someone tell me where I should write for his birth record? I believe, at the time, the people of that area spoke Hungarian and I am able to have a letter to Slovakia translated to Hungarian. Thank you for any help you can provide. Marion

Detained Passengers / Alien Lists Here is some info that may be of use to people trudging through the ship manifests Most every manifest has a corresponding Detainee list. Most people neglect to look for these and sometimes they contain valuable information. It is usually at the end (sometimes at the beginning, sometimes missing) of every manifest and can be several pages long. Many people were detained for ordinary reasons - not enough money, waiting for someone to pick them up. Ellis Island (www.ellisisland.org) has digitized them, but they are not indexed. You get to them by going to the text page and pressing "next" until you can't go any further. Then display the original image, press "next" again and you should start to see the detainee list. Press next again to see the next page of the list. Alternately, you can go to Steve Morse's site and move ahead more quickly: http://home.pacbell.net/spmorse/ If you are looking at the microfilm (National Archives or Mormon's Family History Center), you can also find these at the end/beginning of the manifest pages. ______________ Bill Tarkulich Andover Business Solutions 12 Hathaway Road Lexington, MA 02420-1806 (781) 862-7575 bill@iabsi.com

More Ellis Island database search tips dealing with errors For those searching with www.ellisislandrecords.org I'd like to point out a couple more examples of database transcription errors which will inevitably haunt you all. I uncovered the following examples just today and one of them let to a significant breakthrough for me. Arrival: November 02, 1903 SS Belgravia You will see a BIG boondoggle here: Line 24 has the incorrect passenger name in the "text" list. And age. Looks like the passenger name (from the "image") is FEDOR POLULIK (but you won't find it in the database index ("text") recorded that way; it's listed as MOLNA, JOSEF.) Here is the story: Here are the passenger list lines, page 109, List 21: 0023. Pastornak, Josef M 25y S Austrian, Polish Brody 0024. Molnar, Josef M 26y M Austrian, Polish Smerek 0025. Molnar, Josef M 26y M Hungarian, Magyar Nagy Ecs (navigate to these listings by going to the web site above, searching for any of these names, finding the correct entry by date shown above. Then look at both the "text" and the "image" of the manifest.) I stumbled across this entry. Having exhausted the intuitive, obvious means of searching the database (names that sound and look alike), I began scouring manifests, page-by-page, looking at the "text versions." Instead of looking for Surnames, I was scanning for village names. That's how I found this one. For me, the bigger reward was just a half-hour ago, when I found my Grandmother's first passage to America. I had been looking for 17 months online for it. I had been looking for MARIA DZIUBA (DZUBA), who had originally been from Wetlina, moved south to Nova Sedlica. In the same manifest (as above) I found her name, misspelled as: MARIA SZIUBA, when I noticed entries for "Novaszedlicza". So, the manifest is correct, it's just a great example of how the people who typed the data into the computers at EIDB messed up. They were either not careful enough in their typing or were not adequately trained in the reading of cursive or they were rushed. I still say God Bless them. However, the moral of the story is to never give up and keep thinking of different ways to find them. That's my encouragement for you for today! ______________ Bill Tarkulich

I've added a couple more excerpts from the a book about life in the Carpathians (Carpatho-Ukraine) circa 1947. It's just excellent. I've also added a link to a site with some up-to-date pictures from the region. I hope they bring some understanding of and appreciation for the land of our ancestors. The link is http://www.iabsi.com/gen/under/ Enjoy, ______________ Bill Tarkulich

I've added a couple more excerpts from the a book about life in the Carpathians (Carpatho-Ukraine) circa 1947. It's just excellent. I've also added a link to a site with some up-to-date pictures from the region. I hope they bring some understanding of and appreciation for the land of our ancestors. ______________ Bill Tarkulich

Yes, English is taught in the school (Slovak is primary, children elect it or Russian, English or other languages, but most prefer English, since about 1991. Before 91 Russian was mandatory.) Here is the problem. If you are writing to a very small, rural village, they are mostly filled with elderly. The children are all gone. I have cousins in Slovakia who regularly complain that their villages are "dying" and they are correct. When I walked the streets, there was no one under 50 and even my cousins had moved away to Kosice. Thanks to Joe Stalin and economics, the young are predominantly moving to the cities for work. Small villages only have elementary schools through about 4th grade. The kids then go to a boarding school (state funded) for the remainder of their education. These schools may be 20-40 miles away in other large towns. So, the kids are not around, except perhaps in the summer vacation time. I also contend that it can be perceived as arrogant to write in English when it is clear what the native language is. This potentially could shut down potential correspondence. I know a fellow who went to France, asked where to find a bathroom (in English), the Frenchmen shook their heads, said they didn't understand English. Later it was learned they knew English, but because the American didn't even make an effort, he was shunned. You can always find someone to write a letter. I had a priest in the Byzantine (Greek Catholic) Catholic church translate the letter for me. In this day of email, you can probably find someone in Slovakia who would do it for you for about 1/6 the price of an American-based translator. Even the transfer of money is simple. I just completed this exercise for a translation from Ukrainian. Some (few) will do it for free. If you want to go this route, just post an email on saying your looking for someone to translate a letter, and to write you privately. Then workout a fee on the side. Bill Tarkulich -----Original Message----- From: Ginny Pietsch [mailto:vpietsch@pdq.net] Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 10:12 AM To: SLOVAKIA-L@rootsweb.com Subject: "Blind Letters" Hello Peter, Thanks for the information. I plan to send some letters very soon. Hopefully I will receive a reply. I thought that the young people would possibly know English, but wasn't too sure. Is English taught in school now? Is it offered by choice or is it taught to every student? Just wondering. Toodles, Ginny Pietsch Houston, Texas Researching: Alexovitz, Dlugolinsky ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237

Hello Peter, Thanks for the information. I plan to send some letters very soon. Hopefully I will receive a reply. I thought that the young people would possibly know English, but wasn't too sure. Is English taught in school now? Is it offered by choice or is it taught to every student? Just wondering. Toodles, Ginny Pietsch Houston, Texas Researching: Alexovitz, Dlugolinsky

Thank you Bill! Your information on writing the letters is very helpful. I will follow your instructions and suggestions. I am anxious to begin my search and hopefully receive a reply. Your help and knowledge is a wonderful addition to the Slovakia List. Toodles, Ginny Pietsch Houston, Texas Researching: Alexovitz, Dlugolinsky

Writing "Blind Letters" June 2002 Bill Tarkulich I have written a number of blind letters. I wrote the letter in English, then found someone who would translate it. Generally speaking the reaction of people in East/West Europe to "blind letters", is much as it is in the west - treated with suspicion. First, it may be looked at as junk mail, quickly discarded. Second, it may be looked at as if you may want to come back and reclaim property. So when they read your letter, they are treating it with great suspicion, looking for the first reason why they should cast if off. So, you must chose your words carefully and capture their attention immediately. Each letter, each family story is uniquely different. For me to give you a stock letter and you to copy it is folly. I have presented below two letters I have written. Each presents an explanation of the context. General guiding principles: a) Keep it brief. One page maximum. There will be more time for details later if the correspondence blossoms. b) Capture their attention immediately. Explain immediately why you are writing. c) Keep it simple. Use straightforward language, unambiguous words. d) Include a couple of post cards or a family photo (if you are comfortable with that.) Post cards seem to be of great interest - easy to read, inexpensive, easy to mail. e) Include a couple of INTERNATIONAL REPLY COUPONS for return postage. Obtainable in any country, good for one "first class" postage. The last I checked, the US Postal Service was charging US$1.10 each. f) NEVER invite yourself to visit. g) Write in their native language. You risk an insult, not even attempting to meet them half way. h) Don't bug them a second time if they do not reply. i) For many reasons, most of them economic, many people have moved from their ancestral village. As you search for families, start at your ancestral village and work outward. Especially good targets are larger industrialized towns or cities where they may have gone. j) Send it air mail (US$0.80 per ounce). It will take about 2 weeks to arrive. To save US$0.40 and send it by ground really does take 60 days to arrive. k) Be prepared to wait 6 weeks or longer for a reply. 2 weeks there, 2 weeks back and the rest of the time for them to talk about the letter, decide what to write and respond. l) General Form of the Address: Name Street address (not required in small villages) or current house number. Town Postal Code SLOVAK REPUBLIC (don't use "Slovakia". It is sometimes confused with "Slovenia." a. Examples Ladislav Rusnak Ulic 101 Ulic 067 67 Slovak Republic Description: Ladislav lives in house 101 in the town of Ulic. There are no street names. Postal code is 06767 Maria Rusnak Krizna 50 Bratislava 811 07 Slovak Republic Description Maria lives at #50 Krizna Street, Bratislava, postal code 811 07 BLIND LETTER OF INTRODUCTION Here is my first letter. Note that I used the word "communicate," rather than "write". Write has multiple meanings which may be ambiguous. I made a vague statement about visiting. I didn't know exact information about my grandparents. You would be surprised how little they may know also. I sent six letters, first to the places closest to the ancestral village. If this went bust, I then would write to the next six, farther out. I received two replies, both written in English (by their children). One has blossomed into a wonderful relationship, having visited with them in 2001 for two weeks. The follow-on letters will serve to establish trust in you. Only then will they begin to open up to you. This is simply human nature. Dear Mr. Tarkulic: My name is William Tarkulich. I am the grandchild of PETER TARKULICH and MARY DZUBA who came to America between 1900 and 1910. They settled in Rochester, New York. I have been investigating my family ancestors and would like to communicate with Tarkulic family members who live in or near Zboj or Nova Sedlica. Peter and Mary had 7 children, two who are still living in America, Julia and Susan. It is possible that their name was originally TARKULIC. We are told Peter had no brothers, but did have a sister named Catherine. Mary had a brother, Michael who came to America and lived near Scranton, Pennsylvania. Mary had two other brothers, Wasyl and Charles both whom remained in Slovakia. I live near Boston, in Lexington, Massachusetts. I am ?? years old. I am a university graduate with degrees in ?? and ??. I work as a ?? for ??. I would like to hear from you. Please write to me. Tell me about yourself and your family. Tell me about the town of Zboj and Nova Sedlica, what kind of town it is, the people, how many people, it's farms, the church, the mountains, it's industry and so forth. There is a possibility that I may visit Slovakia in the next few years. I am sending two International Reply Coupons for your reply postage. You should exchange them at your post office for stamps. If you can make your reply in English it would be helpful to me because I do not know the Slovak language. If not, I will find someone to translate this. Thank you very much for your help. Sincerely, William Tarkulich BLIND LETTER OF INTRODUCTION, SECOND VERSION The second letter was written when I had much more information about my grandfather's family. Turns out my grandmother Dzuba was from an adjacent village. By the time I wrote this letter, I had been corresponding for a year and was planning a trip to the village. Another correspondent from nearby (Mick Sura) traveled to the region and took many photographs for me. He stopped by the house and they sent him away. I found out later that they saw his photography gear and assumed he was a filmmaker. Turns out the area was getting the attention of filmmakers and photographers because the area is so picturesque. Secondly, Mr. Dzuba never replied. We later learned that he was illiterate and probably too embarrassed to ask someone to write on his behalf. So you treat this situation sensitively. When we arrived in the village our cousins placed a call to him (in native Rusyn language) and he gladly invited us to visit. So, the vodka was poured and a toast was made. Moral of the story is that as long as you approach these things sensitively, you can continue to open doors. Dear Mr. Dzuba: I am the grandson of PETER TARKULIC (born Zboj 1884) and MARIA DZUBA (born Nova Sedlica 1888). I am researching my family history and would appreciate the opportunity to share this information with you. My grandparents, Peter and Maria immigrated to America in 1904. Maria's brother, MICHAEL DZUBA also from Nova Sedlica, immigrated to America in 1895. I understand these were the only DZUBA to emigrate to America. My grandmother corresponded with CHARLES DZUBA in Nova Sedlica until the 1950's. I am ?? years old, an??, working for ??. I live in ??, about 20 Km from the city of Boston. I am married and have three children, ages ?, ? and ? years old. I have reviewed the Zboj/Nova Sedlica Greek Catholic church records in Levoca in my search for our family. These records cover 1755 to 1878. I discovered the parents of MARIA DZUBA are PAL DZUBA and ANNA BRASKO. PAL DZUBA was born in WETLINA, Poland, 1853. A history book on Wetlina describes how the villagers of Nova Sedlica and Wetlina became friends, while working in the Carpathian woodlands. I understand that Operation Vistula destroyed the old village of Wetlina, but I do hope to visit the village. In America, the DZUBA name was changed to "JUBA". There are many JUBA families across America, all related. I am enclosing some documents that you may find interesting. Zboj/Nova Sedlica Greek Catholic Church records, our DZUBA family tree. Over the last year and a half, I have corresponded with the TARKULIC' family of Ulic' and Zboj. With their help, my sister and I are now preparing to visit these villages in July of this year. The Tarkulic' family has generously offered to host our visit. I would appreciate the opportunity to meet you, if this is possible. I understand that a friend of mine, ?? stopped by to visit you. On his own, he traveled to make photographs for me, as a personal favor. I hope that his visit to your home did not cause a disruption. Mick sent me some pictures of the countryside - your villages and natural surroundings are absolutely beautiful. I am also enclosing some post cards of the city of Boston. I have also enclosed "International Reply Coupon" you may redeem at your post office for postage. We plan to be visiting from July 21 to July 31. I do hope we will have the opportunity to meet you, if only to shake your hand. If you are not able to meet us, I will understand. I look forward to your reply. Sincerely, Bill Tarkulich "Blind Letters" Q&A 5574.6 in reply to 5574.5 Q: Where did you get the names and addresses for the six letters you sent A: The names and addresses came from a discussion group member who had just been given a set of six phone books for the whole of Slovakia. At that time, the books were broken up into regions. She gave me a set of 12 names, starting closest to the ancestral village. Nowadays you can accomplish the same thing since Slovakia Telecom has the directory Online. I sent to the first six closest on the list. Strategy would be to write to the second batch if the first came up dry. No reply from the Ancestral village, but two towns away, where a factory resides, I found my first Tarkulic'. By the way, I found many far away in Kosice and the youngest reside Bratislava. The young are moving to the cities. Sadly, many of the more remote villages are dying a slow "death", mostly filled with elderly, while the young move on. An important point to note when identifying where to write. Q: When I go to use the Slovak phone book I am unable to use it because of it all being in Slovak. A:See Peter Nagy's directions for using the Slovak Telecommunications book at http://www.centroconsult.sk/Support/phone.html he's done an admirable job translating the menu. As of 8/02, an English Version exists. Second step was to have the letter translated to the native tongue. THIS IS EXTEMELY IMPORTANT. I respectfully disagree with your informant on writing in English. You must demonstrate some effort to meet them at their level. Whether they read/write English is irrelevant. This is Human Relations 101 here. Timeless, Dale Carnegie stuff. (Recall the stories about the Frenchmen who when blabbed to in English, pretened not to speak English even though they were quite fluent. Americans can be so arrogant, it's true.) Q: What are International Reply Coupons? A: This is an international convention, whereby you can go into any participating post office in the world and get a voucher (IRC) for about US $1.10 which may be redeemed by the recipient for air mail reply postage for that country. This is another important courtesy: Why should they pay money to reply to an unsolicited letter. The people are very open and very friendly as a whole, but you too must demonstrate your sincerity. Your letter should be no more than two pages in length (my rule of thumb.) There will always be time for more correspondence later. Encourage them to write back in Slovak, Rusyn, Ukraine or whatever. You can get it translated. Not worth the risk of no reply. Sadly, some people didn't who didn't reply (whom I met personally when I traveled there) were illiterate and too embarrassed to ask someone to write on their behalf. See the US Postal Service site http://www.usps.com/ibu/postalfin/info/faq/inforate.htm for a Q&A. Q: Slovak Republic Postal Codes: Again, I was provided with this information from a discussion group. Today, in the online world, you can find it at http://www.slovenskaposta.sk/online/hlpsc.htm If you're uncomfortable with the results, ask someone on this forum to check it. It's a friendly lot here, I'm sure someone will help. Q:. I plan to send another letter with a picture of the farm house, and pictures of my grandfather, his brother and family and his sisters. Someone else thought maybe they thought I was after the family farm. A: It's important to try and demonstrate not only your sincerity but also the familial connection. I had been able to put together enough of a tree to demonstrate the connection back to the village (but not these specific people). I explained when they left, and what family developed here in the States. I included my meager family tree, along with any other names or information that might establish my credibility. My strategy was to leave out the pictures first time, they went after I got a reply. Q: What kind of response did you get? Of six letters, I got two responses. One from two brothers living in Snina and then another from a cousin (this took me 6 more months to ascertain) who asked his collegiate daughter to respond on his behalf. He speaks and writes Ukrainian and Rusyn only. In fairness, English only began to be generally available in the classroom within the last 10 years. So it's fair to assume that the majority of citizens over 30 are probably not fluent in English. The reply was warm, enthusiastic and full of surprise and astonishment. I cannot begin to say how important it is to break ground with the younger generation. I have written elsewhere that for what the young lack in wisdom and knowledge, they more than make up for in enthusiasm, energy and initiative. If I was hiring, I'd take a dozen. The want to meet Americans and learn English. They see this as their ticket to success. Take advantage of this, it's a two-way street. Write as if you just beamed down from planet Mars. For some of the locals, you may well have. Many outside of the largest cities have never met (or seen) an American. Most of them didn't believe or ignored most of the Soviet anti-imperialistic American propaganda. They were just as ignorant of our lifestyles as we were of their. However, nowadays their television gets all our Television Situation-Comedies with subtitles and many of them believe this is a fair representation of life in America. Boy, that took a lot of explaining by me to undo! Best, Bill Tarkulich Genealogy: TARKULICH, TARKULIC' & DZUBA / DZIUBA / JUBA, BRASKO, LECKO, LESKO. Villages of Zboj and Nova Sedlica, Slovakia, Wetlina, Poland; Rochester, NY, Scranton, PA

No, I sent it in the native tongue. Often still in the small villages there may be no one who knows English. Second, it's just plain courtesy when sending an unsolicited letter. I have a long treatise on blind letters I would be happy to post here if you'd like more detail. -----Original Message----- From: Ginny Pietsch [mailto:vpietsch@pdq.net] Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2002 9:00 PM To: SLOVAKIA-L@rootsweb.com Subject: "blind letters" Bill, Did you send the "blind letters" to Slovakia written in English? Just wondering if English is spoken and understood as much as it is in European countries. Toodles, Ginny Pietsch Houston, Texas Researching: Alexovitz, Dlugolinsky ============================== To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237

Have you used the Slovakia online telephone books? Put in the first few letters, and the area code of 02 (see instructions at http://www.centroconsult.sk/Support/phone.html ) Suggestions from present-day telephone holders might include Závodský Závadská Zavarská Závradská Zavarský Závadský Závodský Závodný Závadská Závratský Zavarský These are all in and near Bratislava. You can consider sending "blind letters" to see if you are related, or establish a dialog. That's what I did. I found mind. Many people moved to the City during communism. Have you used http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/ and inspected his immigration record? You have a better chance of getting the pronunciation correct by looking at this document. Consider all (pronunciation and transcription ) spelling permutations. What is his first name? Look for others who came, also, from the same village. Bill Tarkulich > -----Original Message----- > From: Zawrazky Kevin [mailto:kevin.zawrazky@sbt.siemens.com] > Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2002 3:13 PM > To: SLOVAKIA-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Help..Looking for Zavratsky, Zavracky,Zauratsky... > > > Hello to Everyone, > > I am researching my surname, Zawrazky. However, I have found > that my spelling may not be correct. My surname has several > possible spellings: Zawrazky, Zawradsky, Zawrasky, Zawratsky, > Zawratzky, Zauratsky, Zavradzky, Zavracki, Zawratsky, > Zavratsky and Zavracky. > > I know that my grandfather and his family lived in Gajary, > Slovakia (formerly Gairing, Hungry) and emigrated to the US > on the 19th of May 1911 from Bremen, Germany. > > I am trying to find other relatives but it is very difficult > to do so here in the US. If any one has any information that > could help me locate my relatives I would really appreciate > it. I have listed my family tree below in the hope it may help. > > Thank you and Best Regards, > > Kevin Zawrazky > > > 1 - Paul Zavratsky > Mary (wife) > (Sons and Daughters) > 2 - John Zavratsky (June 1763) > Apollonia Dubnyk (wife) > (Sons and Daughters) > 3 - Steve Zavratsky > 3 - Steve Zavratsky > 3 - John Zavratsky > 4 - Martin Zavratsky (December 1797) > Mary Haszprunar (Wife) > (Sons and Daughters) > 5 - Florian Zavratsky > 5 - Sebastrian Zavratsky > 5 - Anna Zavratsky > 5 - Matthew Zavratsky (February 1832) > Mary Ort (wife) > (Sons and Daughters) > 6 - Filip Zawrazky (July 1851) > Anna Dobrovodsky (wife) > (Sons and Daughters) > 7 - Joseph Zawratsky (March 1885) > Susan Rusnak (Wife) > (Sons and Daughters) > 8 - Joe F Zauratsky > 8 - Rose C Zauratsky > 8 - William Zauratsky > 8 - Joseph Zauratsky > 7 - Rosilie Zavratsky > 7 - Julius Zawrazky > Julia Tomask (Wife) > (Sons and Daughters) > 8 - Sylvia Zawrazky > 8 - Raymond Zawrazky > (Sons and Daughters) > 9 - Kevin Zawrazky > 7 - Marion Zawrazky > 7 - Elizabeth Zawrazky > 6 - Maria Zavratsky > 6 - Matthew Zavratsky > 6 - Matthew Zavratsky > 6 - Steve Zavratsky > 5 - Francis Zavratsky > 5 - Florian Zavratsky > 5 - Florian Zavratsky > 5 - Matthew Zavratsky > 5 - Sebastian Zavratsky > 4 - Michael Zavratsky > 4 - Paul (Pavol) Zavratsky > 4 - John Zavratsky > 2 - Elizabeth Zavratsky > 2 - Anna Zavratsky > 2 - Martin Zavratsky > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online > genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=> 1237 >

Bill, Did you send the "blind letters" to Slovakia written in English? Just wondering if English is spoken and understood as much as it is in European countries. Toodles, Ginny Pietsch Houston, Texas Researching: Alexovitz, Dlugolinsky

Hello to Everyone, I am researching my surname, Zawrazky. However, I have found that my spelling may not be correct. My surname has several possible spellings: Zawrazky, Zawradsky, Zawrasky, Zawratsky, Zawratzky, Zauratsky, Zavradzky, Zavracki, Zawratsky, Zavratsky and Zavracky. I know that my grandfather and his family lived in Gajary, Slovakia (formerly Gairing, Hungry) and emigrated to the US on the 19th of May 1911 from Bremen, Germany. I am trying to find other relatives but it is very difficult to do so here in the US. If any one has any information that could help me locate my relatives I would really appreciate it. I have listed my family tree below in the hope it may help. Thank you and Best Regards, Kevin Zawrazky 1 - Paul Zavratsky Mary (wife) (Sons and Daughters) 2 - John Zavratsky (June 1763) Apollonia Dubnyk (wife) (Sons and Daughters) 3 - Steve Zavratsky 3 - Steve Zavratsky 3 - John Zavratsky 4 - Martin Zavratsky (December 1797) Mary Haszprunar (Wife) (Sons and Daughters) 5 - Florian Zavratsky 5 - Sebastrian Zavratsky 5 - Anna Zavratsky 5 - Matthew Zavratsky (February 1832) Mary Ort (wife) (Sons and Daughters) 6 - Filip Zawrazky (July 1851) Anna Dobrovodsky (wife) (Sons and Daughters) 7 - Joseph Zawratsky (March 1885) Susan Rusnak (Wife) (Sons and Daughters) 8 - Joe F Zauratsky 8 - Rose C Zauratsky 8 - William Zauratsky 8 - Joseph Zauratsky 7 - Rosilie Zavratsky 7 - Julius Zawrazky Julia Tomask (Wife) (Sons and Daughters) 8 - Sylvia Zawrazky 8 - Raymond Zawrazky (Sons and Daughters) 9 - Kevin Zawrazky 7 - Marion Zawrazky 7 - Elizabeth Zawrazky 6 - Maria Zavratsky 6 - Matthew Zavratsky 6 - Matthew Zavratsky 6 - Steve Zavratsky 5 - Francis Zavratsky 5 - Florian Zavratsky 5 - Florian Zavratsky 5 - Matthew Zavratsky 5 - Sebastian Zavratsky 4 - Michael Zavratsky 4 - Paul (Pavol) Zavratsky 4 - John Zavratsky 2 - Elizabeth Zavratsky 2 - Anna Zavratsky 2 - Martin Zavratsky

A nice book about present-day Slovakia, from an American's perspective http://members.tripod.com/~Junas/lil4.html Not for sale in American bookstores, it's published by Matica Slovenska in Slovakia. This is not an ad, it's a recommendation from me. I have a copy, it's great. Reminds me of my travels in 2001 to Slovakia. If you can't go yourself, read this book. Lil Junas distributes the book herself. ______________ Bill Tarkulich

Here is an offline question I received. The answer may be useful to someone else. Q: My husband's church records from Slovakia list "alias" names for his grandparents. Do you have any idea why these people would have alias names? What does this mean? A: What you refer to tantamount to a nickname. Many people had the same name, who could be cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, etc. Here's a real, live example: My GM was born Maria Dzuba, married Peter Tarkulic, became Maria Tarkulic. When I visited I met a Maria Tarkulic who married a Gyorgy Dzuba and became Maria Dzuba. In many villages, the choices of given names were pre-defined - named after your father, grandfather, father-inlaw, for many women in NE Slovakia it was Maria, Helena, Suzanna, Julia, and so on. So you can see, it's easy for many people in one village to have the same name. A nickname doesn't necessarily have to have meaning, it might just be something catchy. It could be "The fisherman", or "muckluck" or "Zboj Petro." Each nickname has its own unique reasons for creation, just as we have "private jokes", the reason may be never know. It's fairly infrequent that you find nicknames in "official" documents, such as census or church ledgers. ______________ Bill Tarkulich Andover Business Solutions 12 Hathaway Road Lexington, MA 02420-1806 (781) 862-7575 bill@iabsi.com