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Z A M A G U R Z E A R E A R E S E A R C H P R O J E C T
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© The Zamagurze Area Research Project -- all rights reserved
Monthly Newsletter # 12 -- for Feb 2000
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Greetings to all ZARP members -- here's our 12th newsletter. I had a
combined CSGSA/Polish/Jewish Gen conference at ASU Saturday to get a 24-page
issue of the journal done for as well as an all-day Family History Center
Fair to help with the same day. All were excellent and well attended. And
now I can get back to ZARP duties!
Professor Daniel Batalden who spoke on the push factors of our East
European immigrant ancestors coming to America was very interesting. One of
the things he showed which I had heard nowhere else was the fact that for a
time in the latter half of the 1800s and early 1900s many villagers (men
especially) went to the larger cities in Eastern Europe to take jobs in the
immerging industrialization going on. Indeed most major cities grew in
population 100% to over 800% in just a few decades!
But working conditions were so deplorable and housing so difficult to
find that many approached by shipping agents from Germany decided to leave
this mess and go to America. This would answer many questions people have
about documents that show their ancestor coming from some big city before
coming to America. Then later it is discovered that his family and ancestors
all hailed from a small village, often far away from that city.
The large two-story Mesa Family History Center here outside Phoenix
where I live is the largest and busiest outside of Utah. They have an annual
fair and this year had already logged 1200 attendees by noon! It was highly
informative. An LDS (Mormon) representative from Salt Lake came and answered
questions after an address. They still have crews microfilming in both
Slovakia and Poland. I will share more insights gained from this as space
and time permits next time.
As ZARP grows your help and suggestions are appreciated. If you have
area photos for our webpages send those in, too. (JPEG format is best!) We
again have several new ZARP members this issue: Vi'tany' & Powitanie!
(Welcome!) :))
-- Paul K. Bingham
ZARP Team Leader
bingham@iols.netWEBSITES TO CHECK OUT__________
(1) Osturna Master Database is now on the Osturna Family Site:
http://www.myfamily.com/security/new
(2) Thanks to Joe Marhefka who found this site with (among many other
things) a Slovak/English translation service! http://www.verbatoria.com/
(3) As a reminder our ZARP webpage is at: http://ns1.iols.net/users/bingham/
and ZARP's secondary webpage on Delphi is at:
http://members.delphi.com/pkbinghamYOUR GREAT LETTERS____________
--"Hi Paul, Thanks for keeping me on the newsletter list. Very interesting
bits of info! I was wondering if there is anyone in the gorup who has
ancestors from Lechnica in Spis county. Would like to see what information
they have about the village. Thanks for all of your good work!" Best
regards, Anne Lucas Ryba, granddaughter of Jan Majer (Meyer) of Lechnica
***Hi Anne, From a book on the Tatras I got in Slovakia I find the following
description: "South of the "Red Monastery" (Cerveny Klastor) on the banks of
the Dunajec is Lechnica at an altitude of 490m and with a population of 280.
It is a community which originated at the end of the 13th century. In 1319
master Kakas^ donated it to the nuns of the Carthusian order who intended to
build here a church and a monastery. The population lived by farming, sheep
breeding and forestry work. The most important monument of the community is
the Roman Catholic church of St. Jadok. It originated in the 19th century by
reconstructing an early-Gothic building from the 14th century.
I have been to Lechnica and the church -- this is a beautiful little
community in a valley very near the stunning Pieniny mountains and National
park there. - Paul
--"Paul, I sent a copy of your GREAT Newsletter to Blanka (was in the
"Possible Lost Members" column) -- she lives and works in Rome, Italy and we
keep in touch." - Joe Marhefka
--"Hi Paul, Would it be possible to include an email address with the
"Letters" section in this newsletter? Some peaked my interest saying they're
from PA or Pittsburgh and I recognize the surnames. I realize you may need
to ask if people mind. I wouldn't mind it personally. I have a phone list
from Niedzica that has Stefaniak's surname. Now I would like to contact this
person to see if we can help each other. Also, 11% of Spis county came to
Pittsburgh area...we might be able to help each other for local info on
fraternities, churches etc HERE. Thanks!" - Karen Melis
*** Hi Karen, we'll print this letter and see what ZARP members think of the
idea. I like it, but many are touchy about their privacy. We'll see what
responses come in. - Paul
-- "Paul, I am very interested in the ZARP newsletter and finding out more
about the Nowa Biala parish records. I have little information on my
great-grandparents, but will try and share what info I have. I am also
looking for living DLUHY and POLTORAK relatives in Chicago area. My next
step is locating death certificates of my great grandparents. Thank you for
the town information - I am excited to connect with people who share the
same heritage! I look forward to hearing from you and the newsletter." - Jenni Hilton
-- Hi Paul, Thank you so very much for the photography you did over in the
old country for us. I'm more excited now to think we will be able to
actually go there and see where Peter's family came from with Helene this
year. Thank you agin for all of your your efforts on our behalf. -- Beverly Huchala
--"Paul, Haven't been involved much as late, (due to husband's health), but
my thoughts are with you all. Thanks for all your time, energy and efforts -
when you get the CDs made make sure I get a copy (if you have a waiting
list) - talk with you later." - Marion Monkvic
--"Paul, Thanks for the update! Your schedule sounds pretty exhausting, hope
you find a few minutes to rest before February!!" - Mary Taylor
--"Hi Paul: If Norman (who's looking for STEFANIKs from Hagy, SK) does find
any that wandered over from Mala or Velka Francovce remember to send him my
way as that's where my Mom's Stefanick's came from! Thanks." - Ed Zadjura
--"I wanted to drop you a line and say how much I enjoyed seeing the photos
at your ZARP website. My great grandparents were from Mala Frankova,
Slovakia according to my great grandfather's naturalization papers. I have
been searching for the name Solava (Szolyava) for a long time. Your site was
triggered with Szolondek which might or might not be my great grandmother's
maiden name. (I have only seen it Zaludek.) I could not believe my eyes when
I found your site. Amazing - Any help would be appreciated!"
- Gloria Butler Davis
--"Hello Paul. I found the date of birth of my great grandfather Wojtech
(Adalbert) Soltys in Jurgow on April 6, 1893. His father was Sebastian
Soltys and mother Anna Vojticka. I could not find anymore information about
Sebastian Soltys because there was three Sebastian Soltys with a wife named
Anna! I could also not find any Anna Vojticka there in the records. My great grandfather Wojtech has two brothers: Sebastian and Andrej (Andreas) and probably three sisters: Zofia, Anna, and a third sister was probably Helena...but I'm not
sure." - Lucjan Soltys
--"Ahoj Paul! D'akujem for the update; you are very busy person! Take your
time; I appreciate all your work. I am amazed at all the computer "upgrading"
and all the hours at your regular job. In high school we learned a phrase...
"if you want something to be done, ask a busy person." I see that the phrase
still holds true. My aunt who will be 88 will certainly enjoy the video; she
was born in the US, but she remembers her father describing Rel'ov and the
Tatra Mts." -Bless you, Marianne PonistMEMBERS MESSAGES ON OTHER BOARDS____________
The Marhefka Surname Message Board on MyFamily.com
Posted by: Joseph Marhefka Jmarhefka@worldnet.att.net
Message: My ancestors lived in Relov, Slovakia prior to coming to the US. My
parents Joseph and Maria settled in East Vandergrift, PA and then in
Boonton, NJ. My grandparents George and Anna lived in PA for a short time
before returning to Slovakia where they died in the 1940's. If anyone is
researching this ancestral line, I would like to hear from you. I am looking
for any information on my great-grandparents in Slovakia.TRIPS TO SLOVAKIA IN 2000____________
Helene Cincebeaux led our fun August tour -- she has three this summer with
stops in the Tatra mountains and two with days in Polish Spisz! She can
provide you a driver/translator for day trips to visit ancestral villages.
Visit her website at: www.our-slovakia.com or e-mail her at Helenezx@aol.com
for more info.
(2) Thom Kolton is taking a group of Osturnites to Slovakia next year
including Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest. For more information e-mail him
at: thom_kolton@hotmail.com.PAUL HADZIMA ON NAME SPELLING CHANGES_________
"What was my Uncle's Real Name?"
Many of us who are new to family history have
problems with tracing our ancestors-especially if we have to follow the
trail back across the ocean to Europe. This is doubly true if they are found
in the Zamagurze area. One problem occurs with names of our relatives and
how they are written down. When we look at documents which should contain
the names of our ancestors, we are disappointed because they don't seem to
be there. There are similar names but seemingly none of them are our relatives.
The possible causes of these disappointments are many. If the immigrant
has had his name changed by U.S. officials at the point of entry or if the
immigrant has decided to change his name himself because of its difficulty,
there is no easy way of figuring out what the original was. However, there
are other changes in the way a
name was written -- and this is particularly true in the Zamagurze area --
that can be dealt with.
Please remember that many if not most of our ancestors could neither
read nor write and had to depend upon others to write his or her name. At
birth and when marrying, the name was written down by the priest-usually in
Latin. This would not, of course, be the form that the individual himself
would use (which would probably be Slovak or Polish). In the late 19th
century, because of the intense "Magyarization" of the area, a Hungarian
form of the name was required on any document, which further complicated the
spelling. If the individual immigrated to the United States, the clerk at
the embarkation point, might convert his name to some other form (perhaps
German since Bremen and Hamburg were common jumping-off points).
My great-uncle was baptized Joannes Hadzima in Uj Bela (Nowa Biala) in
1876, came to the U.S. in 1894 listed as Janos Hadzima, was recorded as John
Hadzima in the 1900 federal census, returned to Europe and came back as
Johan Hadzima (on the ship's manifest) in 1905. He returned once more to
Europe (permanently) and was recorded on the church records of L'ubica (in
present-day Slovakia) as Jan Hadzima. (I found his daughter, Ruzena, there
in 1999). Knowing the equivalents for standard given names and knowing what
the possibilities are could prevent a lot of disappointments.
There are also clues to the spelling of family names. Once more,
remember that since most ancestors were illiterate they counted heavily on
the person writing down their names. Carelessness and rudimentary education
caused many errors. Another problem might arise from the background of the
writer. In the Zamaurze area the situation was indeed a complicated one. The
scribe's native language might have been Slovak, Hungarian, Polish or even
German. Even when they heard the sounds accurately, they might write it
quite differently.
Example: the English "ch" sound (as in "chose") is written "c^"in
Slovak, "cs" in Hungarian, "cz" in Polish and "tsch" in German. So Gac^ik
(Slovak) becomes Gacsik when a Hungarian writes it, Gaczyk in Polish and
Gatschik in German. Another example would be: the "sh" sound in English as
in "sheet", is written "s^" in Slovak, "s" in Hungarian, "sz" in Polish and
"sch" in German. So a name like S^alata in Slovak would be Salata in
Hungarian, Szalata in Polish and Schalata in German. Likewise the simple "s"
sound as in English "set" is not so simple. A Slovak would write "s" like
English, a Hungarian "sz", a Pole "s" and a German an "ss" or
a funny letter called an "es-zet" which looks like a capitol "B". The name
Sas in Slovak is Szasz in Hungarian, Sas in Polish and Sass or SaB in
German.
My great-great-grandmother Magdalena Stolarcik then was Stolarc^ik,
Stolarcsik and Stolarczyk in several records. Therefore it is very possible
that although the person we are tracing was an ethnic Slovak, their name was
never written that way in Europe. But now this fact shouldn't prevent us from finding
them!RECORDS UPDATE______________
I received this notice from ZARP member Pat Smith, who has been very, very
busy. She has some family from Szczwanica, Poland -- just on the ZARP
border -- but nonetheless many ZARP people may end up tracking lines into
this larger border town which has been important for centuries. She wrote:
"I have transcribed baptisms, marriages & Deaths from Sczcwanica. I
understand that Szczwanica doesn't include the Zamagurze research area, but
I wonder if you could put the word out that the transcribed records
are now uploaded to the Poland GenWeb Pages?"
The url is: www.rootsweb.com/~polwgw/frames.html
Thanks, Pat!POSSIBLE MEMBERS LOST___________________
Here's some ZARP surname researchers that we are unable to contact.
If you recognize any of these, please let us know!
Eleanor Sprague howel@webtv.net
Irene Zawasky ZAWASKY@webtv.net
Kenneth Sisitka Kmsisitka@hotmail.com
Mic Hayes MCclain@uakron.edu
Joann Z. Mottese jermo64@hotmail.com
Peggy Folmer pf7santa@webtv.net
Edward Griglak ah870@cleveland.freenet.edu
Russ Hayes/Frank Kurtz randbisc@m7.sprynet.com
D. Redding dredding@mindspring.comOTHER NOTES______________________________
(1) Contact us if you would like the e-mail address of someone in ZARP. (2)
If you have comments, questions, someone's address to add to our mailing
list or missed any newsletter issues, just ask! (3) This e-mail newsletter
is sent out free to all who want it (due to ISP anti-spamming policies in
groups of <20). Newsletter Editor: bingham@iols.net
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