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TATRA AREA RESEARCH GROUP
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© TARG All rights reserved.
Newsletter for February 2002
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Hello TARG members! Boy, I almost missed February entirely with a TARG
newsletter. Sorry about that! I have been working hard trying to get a new
feature going on the TARG webpage. It is a series of high-resolution maps
covering all of TARG. Unfortunately this is not quite up and running
yet...but will be soon. Ultimately it will have click-on villages as well as
be linked to village names on the master list. Just a click will take you to
the right map. (So many TARG members have trouble finding their ancestral
villages -- this should really help.) The URL is: www.ancestral.net/Home.html Keep checking back -- as we will be "fully mapped" shortly!
-- Paul K. Bingham
TARG Founder

WEBSITES__________
1) The new TARG website is up and running! Come visit at:
www.ancestral.net/Home.html.
2) Ron Cieslak has a website dedicated to Jakubany, SK...a village just
south of Nova Lubovna. There is lots of information. The URL is:
www.geocities.com/jakubanyrecords Thanks, Ron!
3) Helene Cincebeaux's Slovak Pride publication includes pictures, maps,
history and a huge surname database. The database is now available online on
her website at: www.helenezx.homestead.com. Helene is also finishing to book
up her trips to Slovakia and Poland this summer. If you want to go, you can
still get in! Just follow the links on her website.

LETTERS_______________
__Dear Paul, I still correspond with my relative in Lechnica, SK and, yes, I
still plan on going to the "Old Country" sometime. I once again have to
tell you how I so much enjoy the TARG newsletters and am thankful that you
can somehow find the time to put all of the energy you expend in this area.
My ISP (home.com) went out of business and so I had not received your TARG
newsletter lately. I am wondering if the issues that I "missed" are
available. I apologize for the inconvenience. - Dan Zelonka
***Dear Dan: Yes, I have all of the back issues available to anyone who
missed them. I'll send you what you are missing. - Paul
__Hi Paul, Any idea why the word "Dispensati" is written on selected
marriage entries? It does not appear necessarily at the beginning or end of
a month, year, etc. but appears random? Thanks in advance for any clues. -
Karen Melis
***Hello Karen, From Duncan B. Gardiner's book I read where notes using
"dispensatio" were often used in the parish records if the bride and groom
were related. A Latin phrase like "Cum dispensatione in 4' gradu
consanguinitatis" meant literally "dispensation for 4th degree of
consanguinity" -- or that they were in fact third cousins. (An abbreviation
like "Dispensati 4" may also mean the same thing.) - Paul
__Hi Paul, I got your name from the Zamagurze web page. I have two
great-grandparents, one from Gibl (now Zalesie I think) and one from
Hanusovce. They were born in the 1865-75 period, came to the U.S.
separately in the 1880's, apparently married in New York and ultimately
settled in New Jersey. How can I go about tracking this? Their names are
Anton Bolcar (Bolzer, Bolcer) of Zalesie and Johanna Baka of Hanusovce. -
Bob Shive
***Hello Robert, you found an old website for us! Glad it still led you to
us. I have been to both Hanusovce and Zalesie, SK. BOLCAR (and its various
spellings) is a very common name in these villages. I also recognize the
name BAKA from the same area. So you are certainly on the right track. The
LDS microfilms are probably your best at-home reference for the parish
records. These parishes themselves do not have any records prior to 1920.
The word "Zalesie" means "aforested" in both Slovak and Polish...so as you
can imagine with lots of forests around, many villages are called "Zalesie".
There are 21 of them in Poland alone! But the village once called "Gibel"
and now known as Zalesie, Slovakia (the Zalesie closest to Hanusovce) is the
one you want. - Paul
__Hi Paul, I'm needing the mailing address for the Catholic Church
in Bukovina Tatranska, PL and if at all possible the name of priest.
Thanks. - Karen M.
***Hi Karen, my cousin Lucjan sent me two books which cover the entire
"Archidiecezji Krakowskiej" including all of Spisz and Podhale. I think I
probably have more info than you need! Here goes: The church in Bukowina
Tatrzanska is known as the "Parafia Najswietszego Serca Pana Jezusa". It
lists two priests: Proboszcz: ks. mgr. Wladyslaw Pasternak and Wikariusz:
ks. mgr. Andrzej Mieszczak. The address is: ul.Kosciuszki 1, 34-530 Bukowina
Tatrzanska, Woj. Malopolskie, PL. If you need the phone # it's: (18) 207 72
61. The books also have a photo of the church and list more about the
priests, the church's history, cemetary location(s), parish groups,
associated school(s), villages within the parish and even weekend meeting
times! - Paul
__Dear Paul: My great grandfather was born in Oravsky Biely
Potok, SK (1874). Helene Cincebeaux thought that you might have some
suggestions for me. My great grandmother was also born (1878) in Dlha nad
Orava, SK. The surnames that I am researching are: Janostak/Janostyak,
Adamcak/Adamcsak from OBP and, Janik/Janyk & Dubec from D nad O. Any help
would be greatly appreciated. - Susan
***Hello Susan, Hopefully I can help you a little further. Let me just throw
out some thoughts of what you might consider or try next. Dlha nad Oravou
and Oravsky Biely Potok are villages not far from each other. Did your great
grandparents meet and marry here in the US or back in the old country? Many
times locals from a particular area in the old country would socialize after
coming to the US. They spoke the same dialect and had many things in common,
so felt a kinship, even if not of the same village. So if they did meet and
marry in the US, they did not necessarily come from far-flung regions of
Slovakia, although that is still a possibility. Generally if a surname does
not go back in a parish record to the beginning it will list where the
family moved from when they did. Follow the surname back until it does not
appear anymore. Look carfully at the earliest occurance in the record: a
marriage, a birth, etc. Look under "Domu" and see if there is a note instead
of a house number. Or look in the far right-hand column in the record -- the
place where the priest made notes. It may list something like "v (village
name)" or "z (village name)" indicating where the person moved from. The
villages and towns of Kriva, Podbiel, Nizna, Tvrdosin, Habovka, Zuberec,
Sedlacka Dubova, Horna Lehota, Chlebnice, Oravsky Podzamok are all very
close to your two villages of Dlha nad Oravou and Oravsky Biely Potok. I
would begin searching these. I'm sure records are available in the FHC for
these...although some may have been part of another parish back then. The
FHC online catalog should be able to sort these combined and dependant
parishes out for you.
Have you tried the Slovak White Pages online? You might be able to
locate present relatives in these towns by using it. The URL is:
http://www.zoznamst.sk/sk/index.html. Don't be intimidated by all of the
buttons and Slovak text you can't read. Click on the map of Slovakia titled
"Vsetky Stanice v SR" and you will go to the search form page. Where it says
"Nazov alebo priezvisko" type the surname or (even the first three letters
of it) and where it says "Mesto" type the first three letters of the town or
village you want to check. You don't need to fill in anything else. Now just
hit "Vyhladat" and it will search for your matches. The server is a little
slow, so don't give up too soon. A list of surnames with streets and their
villages will be listed. (If there are no
matches it reads "Nenajdeny ziadny zaznam"). Clicking on any underlined
surname listed will take you to a page with that complete listing: full
name, address & phone. Hitting the button marked "Dalsich 20 zaznamov" will
in turn list the next 20 names after the previous screen -- helpful if it's
a long list. The "Spat" button takes you back to the search form if you want
to try different entries. Good luck! - Paul
__Hi Paul: Congratulations on your new website which is warm and charming.
I can hardly wait till you complete it. You should have a wealth of
information for it. I have two questions for you. First, will you have a
special section for Jewish genealogy and records, etc.? For example will someone be
able to list films from the Family History Center in Salt Lake City
specifically for various areas in Tatra for Jewish records? Second question is about
geography. Near the border between Poland and Slovakia is Niedzica which is
on the Dunajec River. The other day, looking at an atlas, I noticed that
Duna is the Slovakian name for the Danube, right? Well, a light went off in
my head...Duna being a link. Question: does the Dunajec flow in the Danube?
If so, where? Does it pass through Toportz or Toporec? Understanding the
geography of an area really helps in researching a family history. Thank you
for your help and good luck in all your work. - Sylvia Cooke
***Hi Sylvia, Thank you for your kind e-mail. I have previously had listings
in the TARG newlsetter of Jewish films available and will likely do the same
on the website. As to the Dunajec being the Danube...yes, I have seen it
translated as such in guidebooks...but I'm not certain this is the same
Danube other European countries refer to in their folk songs. The Dunajec
running through TARG runs a little north of the village of Toporec, SK...but
not actually through it. - Paul
__Hi Paul, My mother's step father named MISKOVIC's death certificate
indicates that he was a blacksmith from Spisz Poland. Some relatives state
he worked in Zubrohlava, SK. Other cousins indicated that his family was
originally Croatian. My review of Ellis Island was not very productive.
Another cousin believes that when he was 35 , he came to USA. I am hoping th
at his Alien Registration application in 1940 is located by INS. It may
reveal more definite data. Also my search indicates that he never applied
for USA citizenship. It is a pity that 50 years has gone by before I became
interested in Genealogy although I have been a history buff all my life.
Thank you for all your help. - Stan Gawel
***Hi Stan: When you say your grandfather came "from Spisz" do you mean the
tiny area now in Poland actually called Spisz (and once part of Slovakia
prior to 1920)? Or do you mean Spis county, Slovakia? I have MISKOVIC --
just like you spell it -- with a dozen listings in my old Spisz database
alone...15 if you count alternate spellings for the name. These were in the villages of
Jurgow, Trybsz, Javorina, Nowa Biala and Kacwin. A very beloved priest in
the parish in Jurgow a century ago was from Zubrohlava. My Jurgow family
ended up going there when times got tough...perhaps on suggestion from the
priest. Others did the same, so your family tale could have some truth to
it. Now if you mean he came from "Spis" county, Slovakia, I have listings
for MISKOVIC coming from the villages of Zalesie, Matiasovce and Spisska
Stara Ves as well. The Ellis Island site adds for MISKOVIC the Spis county
villages of Danisovce, Hnilcik and Hnilec. Did your grandfather speak Slovak
or Polish as his native tongue? Going to the Ellis Island site does not help
narrow things down much when we look at all possible spellings. There are
some 500 MISKOVIC, MISKOVICS, MISKOVITS, MISKOWIC, MISKOWICS, and MISKOWICZ
listed. The birthplaces for these range from Russia to Germany to Croatia.
The majority of them seem to be from Spis county Slovakia and Southern
Poland, however. So if you are sure of the spelling of MISKOVIC, that he
came from Spisz, and that he spoke Slovak, then I would say you should
concentrate on the villages of Trybsz, Jurgow and Javorina as these had the
most MISKOVIC of any Spisz villages. - Paul
__Dear Paul, Could you recommend a researcher in the Lipnica Wielka area
that I could get to do some research for me on the Stercula and Bolibruch
surnames? I would love to find documentation proving my ancestors origins
in the area. - John Batzel
***Hello John, I do not know anyone in Lipnica Wielka itself to do research
for you. Perhaps another TARG member can suggest someone. You can also
contact Vlado Flak, the Slovak genealogist who has done much research for
TARG members both in Slovakia and in Poland. His e-mail address is:
vflak@spisnet.sk. Note that replies may take some time. - Paul

FAMILY NAME FOUND_______
Someone after New Year's e-mailed me wondering whether the surname
CEDZIDLO was within TARG. I can't remember who asked me, but I told them I
couldn't find it and didn't think so. Well, in my data entry project I've
made it through the "L"s in the Polish phonebook for Podhale and I found it!
Doing a little more research I found (1) in Jastrzebie and (1) in Lacko. (I
also found (2) in Limanowa and (1) in Nowy Sacz...both outside of TARG). If
this was you looking for this surname, please let me know!

HUNGARIAN RECORD ENTRIES_________
Here are some helpful record headings I got off the internet:

Hungarian English Slovak forms
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kis little malá/malé/maly'
nagy large vel'ká/vel'ké/vel'ky'
felso" upper horná/horné/horny'
alsó lower dolná/dolné/dolny'
felso" upper vys^ná/vys^né/vys^ny'
alsó lower niz^ná/niz^né/niz^ny'

Hungarian English Polish forms
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kis little mal~a/mal~e/mal~y
nagy large wielka/wielke/wielki
felso" upper górna/górne/górny
alsó lower dolna/dolne/dolny

CAMERA REPORT________
Thanks to lots of wonderful TARG members, we are now able to purchase a
very nice digital camera to send to my cousin in Spisz. He will be able to
use it to capture photos for TARG in the future. And TARG member Richard
Brozenec who is going to visit relatives in Nowa Biala in April, has kindly
offered to deliver it to him. Thanks, Richard and to all of you in TARG! -
Paul

CONTACTING TARG_____________________
To contact TARG the e-mail address is: TARG_NET@hotmail.com. Our mailing
address is: TARG, P.O. Box 3533, Escondido, CA 92033. Our new website is at:
www.ancestral.net/Home.html. Thanks for participating!
^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v

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