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From:
Subject: Re: [FEEFHS] FEEFHS Digest, Vol 3, Issue 2
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:31:31 EST
Thanks for this information, Mica. Though my grandparents (born in "Slovak
Hungary") indicated on US Census reports that Slovak was their native language
I've been told that grandfather's surname (KLADZAN) was likely Rusyn, not
Slovak, and that his ancestors may have come from Ukraine. Grandmother (PIKULA)
was born in the village of Lastzomer, south of Micholovce. Both were
apparently practicing Roman Catholics, as their vital records were found among those
of the RC churches of the region. Perhaps the Catholic Church was a personal
choice for grandfather's family, but interestingly, my cousins in Indiana
worship today in an Eastern Orthodox church.
I believe you're right about our ancestors' wishing to put their best foot
forward when they finally came to America. They settled in the coal mining
town of Bitumen, PA, and all my father (born there in 1895) ever told me of his
family was that 'They were from Austria-Hungary, and they were poor'. For
years it was believed that Uncle Steve, his brother, was born in Vienna, but of
course we now know otherwise, thanks to the photographing and availability to
all of those long unseen church records in the 1990s by volunteers of the
Mormon Church.
Many thanks for your very helpful additional information, every little bit
is a step forward in unraveling my family's history.
Eugene
In a message dated 1/15/2009 10:34:31 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
writes:
Byf the way, my map indicates that Vinne, in 1806, was one of the "villages
with significant Carpatho-Russyn settlement".
Since perhaps your uncle perhaps claimed to be from Vienna, it must not have
been so uncommon a thing to mention a larger city that everybody would
recognize. Or perhaps our ancestors thought it would boost their image if they
claimed to be from the "city".....as if their whole appearance and demeanor
didn't scream out "peasant"! (At least in my ancestor's case it did!)
Wonder if others in our group have experienced the same thing?
Mica
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