Sunday, May 29, 2016

Had 16 children, 8 lived - Great Grandma Antoinette Jadernik from Cechtice, Bohemia

Great-Grandmother Antoinette Jadernik - born 7/7/1874 - died 4/25/1934



Gram Rose's mother.

-Had 16 children, 8 lived.
Rose
Frank
Antonio
Anna Mae
Agnes
Leonora
Stephen
Charles
Elizabeth
(This is a work in progress!)

- I believe Antionette was named after her father, Anton. 

- My mother's middle name is Antionette.

- Here she is on wash day with Great Aunt Betty


The back of this picture in Gram Rose's handwriting



Antionette was born in Cechtice, Bohemia


She was Bohemian - this is very popular now!


Mom said that Gram told her that her mother was an orphan.  Wondering about that, though, as I found census records from Austria of 1904 that places Anton and Marie Jadernik in Osterreich (Austria), Wein Niederösterreich.  (Parents names of Anton and Mary or Marie are on Antionette's death certificate.)

LINDA DO MORE RESEARCH ON THIS



My questions are where and how did she meet John Schury?

She came over to America in 1906 on the Oldenburg with Gram Rose, (unsure) and Antonio (click on the picture to make it full screen)



The Schury census records from the 1910, 1920 (John on top of next page) and 1930:






Antoinette was naturalized on 9/1/1927.  Note that she spells her name as:  Antonet Sury.


Sadly, she died on 4/25/1934 at the age of 59 of uterine cancer.



Would love to know more about her and to see more pictures.

Mom's notes transcribed

Mom prepared this sometime in the 1980s-1990s.  This may have been prompted by Jason's school family tree project.  I still have 6 more full pages of handwritten notes yet to transcribe(!). 

Would like to eventually put together a digital scrapbook and pull out different sections of this, i.e., about their house, maybe do a page of mom's descriptions with pictures of the house, something like that to make all of these memories come to life. 

Right now in the gathering of information stage.  It's interesting to hear about Grandfather Louis and his service in the Army,  that he was an auxiliary policeman and that when he won at playing the numbers, he bought the kids ice cream at Annie's Candy Store on Climax Street.

It's close to 90 degrees today and a double scoop ice cream sounds great to me!


**************************************************************************

MOM'S STORY
Grandfather - John Hurbanek (born late 1870-early 1880 - died 1953) was naturalized on 2/6/1918. Certificate #901503 - PLB #22036, Volume 239. Louis was 17 years old. 

He came to America sometime before Louis was 1 years old (1901). Louis was a citizen when John was naturalized.

Grandmother - Rosalia Fialla (died 1949). Her family all came to America at the same time. She had a sister Mary who married John Nedlick and a brother Michael who went to New York state (don't know if there were others). Nedlick children are in CA, FL, NY and PA.

Believe John Hurbanek's mother and father came over to America at the same time.

Have an interrment card from Calvary Cemetary dated 8/20/1907 for John Urbanek, deceased, grave #77, row #4, section #8. Paid $13.50. On back written in my mother's (Rose Hurbanek) writing is 8/31/1911 (Amelia, Aurelia, Auulia [writing looks closest to this last one]) Urbanek. Believe these are Louis' grandparents.

Father - Loius, Jr., was born 9/11/1900 in Egbell, Austria. He enlisted in the Army on 5/22/1919 for 3 years at age 18. His # 6428768. Private CoA 17 Tank Battalion. Discharged 5/22/1922. He served 26 months in the Rhine with the A.E.F. He died 3/1/1952. He was a Tally Clerk or Shipper with A.M. Myers Co. on the South Side for all the time I can remember. My mother said during the depression he was a handy man - doing all sorts of jobs (had to quit school after 8th grade to help support the family.)

Lou was working on roof of next door neighbors (Mrs. Shorn) when he lost his footing and fell two stories to the ground. This was around 1931. The fall is believed to have been the cause of the cancer in his lower backbone of which hd died in 1952. He always had a bad back and sometimes he couldn't stand straight up.

Lou 1900-1952 - age 51

Angelina 1902-1983 - age 81

Fritz 1904-1986 - age 83

Henry 1906-1987 - age 81

Kon 1907-

Sarah 1916 -

Note: Lou buried in Calvary not far from Rosalia. Rose's grandmother grave same as Lou's. Fritz and Frank are in Calvary also. Steve (Fran's husband) too. John and Antonia are in St. Michael's Cemetary in Allentown near South Side. Betty was cremated.

John Hurbanek and Rosalia Fialla Hurbanek were separated, I don't remember him at all.

Grandma said that he and Fritz lived at 238 Climax Street in Beltzhoover, in my memory.

Sarah married late in her 30's. When Fritz went to the Army, Grandma Rosalia got pneumonia which they said settled in her brain. Daddy & Uncle Kon took her to Mayview. She was allowed visitors one day a week. I remember Daddy going often.

She died after I was married as did Grandpap Hurbanek.

Sarah worked at the A&P in Allentown. She always had candy bars for us.

She and grandma bought us Christmas presents. I remember one year getting a little piano and I was "thrilled to death."

I used to take Jimmy to the movies on Saturdays and we had to stop for Sarah to give us candy and sometimes the money for the show.

The house on Climax was a big Victorian frame house. It had a wraparound porch on the front. There was a large side porch with an entry to the basement with a wooden door that lifted up. There was a second floor entry in the rear with a small porch. They had a double corner lot that had a big garden with vegetables and flowers. There was a brick patio on the side of the house wtih low walls to sit on. There was a garage in the rear wtih access from the alley.

Fritz put his car up on blocks before he went to the army.

I remember all the school children had to collect scrap metal and rubber to take to school for the war.

Fritz gave me a lot of junk from that garage. I wrote to him in the service. I have a photo of him in uniform. I was pretty young then.

I remember that Henry and Rosie lived on the second floor after they married. I think before then they rented it out. After Grandma went to Mayview, Sarah and Fritz moved to the second flor.

My Godmother Louise Mander and her three children moved into the first floor. I was about 10 or 11 years old when the house caught on fire. I was in the kitchen with Louise when someone came knocking on the kitchen door. Louise made me run home to tell my parents. I was so scared. I ran so fast that my legs were like rubber. We all ran back to the house. Fritz was on the second floor and had to be wakened. It was some old phonograph records and papers that had exploded into fire from spontaneous combustion. I had nightmares for years.

Sarah played the accordian and taught me how to play. She was very good. She played cards with me and played all kinds of games. Sometimes she took me to the movies in the evening and would walk me home in the dark. We walked everywhere! Once in awhile we took the streetcar.

Fritz was an ice skater. He was always out at Duquesne Gardens in Oakland. I remember he lost part of his finger at work, but I don't know where he worked. In his later years, he worked at Walton Automotive in Allentown. He moved to a room in Allentown as the neighborhood in Climax was becoming overrun with blacks and he was afraid of them. The blacks stripped the house of all the plumbing, doors, etc., and Fritz let it go. It was torn down and townhouses were built. How sad!

I don't recall ever hearing anything about my dad and his childhood except his having to quit school. He was exceptional with figures. His job as tally clerk required him to add long columns of figures without an adding machine or calculator.

When we lived in Beltzhoover, he was an auxillary policeman. During the war, there were "brown outs". His job was to see that people had their lights out or dark drapes drawn over the windows. He had a hard hat, arm band and a billy. I don't know if he had a gun then. He also helped the regular police when needed.

He was never a very stern man. We were all afraid of him and he only had to give us "the look" and we immediately behaved. In spite of his sternness, he was a lot of fun. We used to tease with him all the time. He loved to talk (we all inherited that trait!). He was an intelligent man. It's a shame he had to quit school.
Daddy was tall, 6 foot, handsome, with dark brown, almost black hair, brown eyes and ruddy complexion. He had a rough sounding demeanor. He loved his family and we loved him. He built us a train platform every Christmas that took almost half of our living room. He allowed me to tap dance on it before he put everything on it. I was allowed to tap dance on the hearth of the living room mantel too. I was always singing and dancing and he loved to hear and watch me."
Whenever he won at playing the numbers, he always treated us kids to ice cream cones from Annie's Candy Store on Climax Street. The cone had a wide top for two scoops of ice cream side-by-side.

We had a front porch with wicker furniture on it. Dad hung awnings every summer and every evening after dark, Mother and Dad sat out there talking long after we went to bed.

There was a small back porch which Dad closed in to make the kitchen longer. It had a door into the dining room as well. Both the kitchen and dining room had linoleum on the floor. We were allowed to roller skate round and round through both rooms. What fun!

i remember we had a telephone in the hall. It was a tall black phone with the mouthpiece at the top and the receiver hung on the side. The kids didn't use it. The number: Hemlock 8444

Mother always had birthday parties for us. One birthday when I was very small someone gave me a dress (a hand-me-down). It was red taffeta. The skirt was row after row of narrow ruffles. I loved it.

We got new clothes every Easter. I remember getting white Mary Janes one year and going to church with my Dad. We had a very long walk to church. Mostly we went to St. Canice's in Knoxville and later to St. George's in Allentown. He and I went to church together a lot. (It's strange, but I don't remember anyone else going with us.)

We always had company at our house. Relatives were always there. The coffee pot was always full. We played cards all the time. Mrs. Schubert, the next door neighbor, taught us how to play all kinds of card games.

I had a litle desk in the corner of the living room. I was always writing, drawing and putting notes on music paper. I loved drawing clothes for my paper dolls and had dreams of becoming a dress designer. I had that dream until I graduated from high school.

I always envisioned my name on the credits of the movies.

The real world required one to go to work.

Mother wanted me to go to designer school downtown, but I was eager to earn some money of my own. Little did I know that I wouldn't have any of my own or very little of it. I had to turn it all over to my mother - all $23.16 a week. She gave me $3.16 of that - so much for independence!

For all the discipline in our house, my mother was lax in many areas. We kids came and went as we pleased. She never knew where we were. As for myself, I roamed all over Beltzhoover. I knew all the streets and who lived where. I played with kids everywhere, even colored ones.

We got a bath once a week. No one prodded us to brush our teeth (we didn't). However, our clothes were clean. Mother washed every week and had tons of laundry. We always had plenty to eat and clothes (most of which were hand-me-downs).

We had a couple of dogs. I remember Skippy the best. He was given to us as a puppy from Jewish friends of my Dad's. He wouldn't eat anything with pork in it! He was Jimmy's dog more than the rest of the kids.

Fran married at age 20 in 1945. Steve Grden was 29. They lived in Kittaning for awhile and then moved in with us. They shared a bedroom with me and Al later. They bought me a book while on honeymoon. It is Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. I was 13. I still have it.

Lou went to the service after high school. We were all so upset. He went to Fort Meade in Maryland. He had a cushy job in the hobby shop. Every time he came home on leave, we all cried and carried on when he had to go back.

Christmas was always wonderful. Santa always came on Christmas Eve around 7:00 p.m. and he would bang on the side door and leave all the presents. One year he even came in the house. We opened our gifts then. Mother always baked nut rolls and lots of cookies and had a ham.

Our aunts and uncles used to stop by sometimes after we were in bed. I don't recall that they gave us many gifts, but I always bought them all something from my savings.

The Christmas I was 8, Mrs. Rischer, a friend of Mom's, gave me my very own book titled "John Martin's Stories for Children." What a thrill, my very own book. I read and reread it and still have it.

My Grandpap Schury lived down on Montooth Street with Betty, Pauline, Charlie and Stevie. Across the strest was the Koval family. They had 4 kids, Louie was my age. Aggie, Lois and Georgie lived in my Grandpap's house for awhile in 2 rooms on the second floor. Lois was my age. We played over at the Koval's a lot. They had all kinds of games and puzzles. Their mother, Fanny, used to play games with us. My mother never liked Fanny. She smoked and was kind of crude. We kids thought she was wonderful.

Next door to Grandpap Schury's was a family we knew as the Albertses. There was the grandfather Charles and grandmother Maude who was blind. There were Hazel and Dave, Dorothy and Chippy and another sister, Pearl, who didn't live there. They had some other relatives who used to visit them in a car. They were all friends with my mother and her brothers and sisters. Lois and I played with Hazel's kids. We always had to leave when the relatives in the car came. They said they were the rich relatives. (When I grew up and met Bob Albitz, I found out that these neighbors were his relatives and that their name was Albitz. Small world!)
 
    

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Schury town of origin? Presburg or Moderdorf?

Could John Schury's parent's parents be from Presburg?  There are lots of Suri's there with many surname variations. 

Trying to remember where I saw the reference that he stated he was from Presburg, but there are many sources (naturalization papers for one) that state that he was born in Moderdorf.   

Here is a link to a cool site that lists common surnames from Presburg and a map of its location which is now a town called Komarov

http://www.cisarik.com/0_Komarov_Bratislava_BL_Pozsony_Bratislava_stu.html

Komárov
Komarov is joined to the village (town): Bratislava
OLD NAMES of the village(town):
1773 Posonium, Posony, Presburg, Pressporek, 1786 Preßburg, Posony, Pressporek, Posonium, Pisonium, 1808 Posonium, Posony, Pozsony, Preßburg, Pressporek, 1863, 1877–1913 Pozsony, 1873 Poson, 1920– Bratislava
 

Grandma Rose's records of immigration from the ship the Oldenburg state that they last lived in Modorfala, Hungary which is now called Trnava



Trnava
Trnava includes former villages: | Modranka |
OLD NAMES of the village(town):
1773 Tyrnavia, Nagy-Szombath, Türnau, Trnawa, 1786 Tirnau, Tyrnavia, Nagy-Szombat, Trnawa, 1808 Tyrnavia, Tyrnau, Nagy-Szombath, Trnawa, 1863–1913 Nagyszombat, 1920– Trnava
Modranka: 1773 Moderdorff, 1786 Modersdorf, 1808 Moderdorf, Modersdorf, 1863 Moderndorf, 1873–1882 Moderdorf, 1888–1907 Modorfalva, 1913 Vágmagyarád, 1920 Moderdorf, 1927–1971 Modranka
http://www.cisarik.com/0_Trnava_Trnava_TA_Pozsony_Bratislava.html

There are no Suris listed in Moderdorf from 2005 or 1715, but there is a large gap of time that needs researched.

John and Antionet Sury's  naturalization papers state that they last lived in Vienna, Austria.  Grandma Rose was baptized in the Vienna Cathedral.

Could John Schury's parent's parents be from Presburg and then have moved to Moderdorf?  (Since there are several sources that state that he was born in Moderdorf.)  Then did John Schury move to Austria prior to immigration to the U.S.?

Where did he meet Antionette Jadernik, who was from Cechtice, Central Bohemia?

Too many questions - asked too late. 


Surname variations of Schury and Jadernik

There are way too many variations for Schury including:

Sury

Suri

Sura

Surej


Surij

Shury

Oschusi (from 1910 census, waaayyyyyyy off)

Also, with Jadernik:

Yerdnik

Yadernik

Jadelnik
 

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Musings on G-G-Grandmother Terezia Dojcsán 1837-1902

Here is what I have of the skeletal Hurbanek family tree so far (click to enlarge):


There was a Terezia Dojscan in the correct age bracket who is from a small town called Hurbanovo in Slovakia.  The town is named after Jozef Miloslav Hurban. 


An ASTEROID named after him!!!!  Wow!


Joef Miloslav Hurban was a leader in the Slovak uprising of 1848/49 - how did that impact Terezia?  If this is her, she was born during the end of this.

Wikipedia link:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovak_Uprising_of_1848%E2%80%9349

This uprising, among other things, called for the abolishment of serfdom, the abolishment of the privilege of nobility and to make all persons equal before the courts, abolish tax exemption for nobility and inheritance, ensure commoners the right to serve in public office and ensure freedom of the press.

The Wikipedia article is interesting.  Not sure how much impact this uprising had, but would need to explore that further. 

Jozef is possibly not a  relation, but it's interesting that it's a possibility G-G-Grandmother Terezia Dojcsan may have come from a town of the name Hurbanovo.  Here are the distances between Hurbanovo and Gbely - see below.


 
 
 
 



If she did live in Hurbanovo and moved to Gbely, wonder why they moved?  Also wonder when they moved.  What is in Gbely that is not in Hurbanovo? 

Below is what is on Family Search for Terezia Dojscan's birth records.  Could not find any others who come close, but maybe there are more records in Slovakia which are not recorded online.



Here is the record in Slovak:



I'm thinking the names in the fifth column are the godparents?

Tried to get marriage or death records of Terezia Dojcsan Hurbanek on Ancestry and Family Search, but no luck.  Will have to explore online how to get records in Slovakia.


Other random thoughts:

  • Our Hurbanek American migration began with Terezia and Vincentius Hurbanek's son, John (Jan) Hurbanek and his family including my grandfather, Louis Hurbanek, Sr. in 1901 who was their only child (out of 6) born in Gbely, Slovakia.

  • Louis Hurbanek, Sr. is also the oldest child from a large family like Gram Rose Schury Hurbanek.

NOTES TO SELF: 

1.  Find out if there is a place to write to online or snail mail on how to get Slovak marriage and death records

2.  Look up more info on the Hurban name.  G-G-G-G-Grandfather Michael had a last name of Hurban.  What does the "ek" mean and when was it added?  Well, while I'm at it, what does Hurban mean? 

3.  Maybe I should start from the back and work to the front.
  • Michael Hurban, DOB:  unknown
  • Martinus Hurbanek, DOB;  11/12/1797, Slovakia
  • Vincentius Hurbanek, DOB:  1844, Gbely, Slovakia
  • John (Jan) Hurbanek, DOB:  5/14/1875, Egbell, Hungary (aka Gbely, Slovakia)
  • Louis Hurbanek, Sr., DOB:  9/11/1900, Egbell, Austria (aka Gbely, Slovakia)
4.  Need to cite sources!  While working on another tree for a friend, I went down the wrong branch and didn't realize this until the wee hours of the morning after thinking her family had a huge part in the history of Virginia.  Still, the work wasn't completely wasted as they are some of her cousins and I learned some history, but the findings were not her actual G-G-Grandparents.  Need to have something to back up dates and findings!

5.  Is Hurban a common name in Slovakia?  Like Smith? 


As I end this, I ponder if we are cousins/relations to Slovakia uprising leader  Jozef Miloslav Hurban who was born in 1817 in a town by the name of in Beckov (82.8 km from Gbely, Slovakia,(about 1 hour 20 min minute drive).  Well - probably unlikely.  Also, if Terezia Dojcsan is from Hurbanovo, the town named after Jozef Miloslav Hurban.  More research needed.

In any case, I learned a little bit of Slovak history over a cup of excellent blueberry coffee on this rainy Sunday morning.







Sunday, March 27, 2016

Aunt Frannie's 91st Birthday

Such a beautiful memory written by Aunt Frannie's son, my cousin, Tom Grden

Monday, March 7, 2016

My heart is broken - In memory of Frances Hurbanek Steele

Aunt Frannie will be very much missed.  She lived a wonderful, long life surrounded by family and many friends. 


FRANCES STEELE - age 91, passed away peacefully on March 3, 2016. A lifelong Pittsburgh and Murrysville resident and advocate, she was born in Pittsburgh, PA on March 2, 1925, the daughter of the late Rose and Louis Hurbanek. She is survived by her daughter, Nancy Grden, of Virginia Beach; and son, Thomas Grden and his wife, Patricia Grden, of Baldwin. She is survived by her granddaughters, their husbands, and great- grandchildren she so dearly loved, Tricia and David Hepler and sons, Stephen, Marshall, and Dawson of Sligo, PA, Debra and Jason Amos and son, Nathan of Bowie, MD, and Barbara and George Grisnik and daughters, Madison and Natalie of West Newton, PA. She is survived by her sister, Marilyn Albitz of Pittsburgh; brother, Al Hurbanek of Pittsburgh, and brother, Jim Hurbanek and wife, Sue, of Cleveland, OH. She is survived by many nieces and nephews, and great-nieces and nephews. She was the wife of the late Stephen Grden of Pittsburgh, her life partner despite passing away in 1968. "Frannie" attended South Hills High School. She was a member of St. Gabriel's Catholic Church. She had a career as an office manager with West Penn Power, where she met her husband, Stephen, as well as the Pittsburgh Presbytery, Advantra, and the Pittsburgh History Center before retiring and organizing many movies, bingo, and other activities at her home, Canongate Apartments in Whitehall. She assisted her sister, Marilyn, at the Greentree Historical Society. She had a lifelong love of dancing and organized numerous dances and events. Most remarkable, though, was her love of books, learning, baking, and art/music. Her famous nutrolls, pies, and cookies will live forever for us, and her granddaughters have been excellent understudies. She devoted numerous hours of volunteer time to the Murrysville and Brentwood Community Libraries. She was honored by her family and friends at her 90th birthday for "Richer than I you can never be - I had a Mother who read to me." A heartfelt thanks goes to Drs. Rubin, Kraftowitz, and Czak, and their staffs, for their truly remarkable care and personal support for Fran over the many years. A special thanks to the staff of Asbury Heights, who welcomed her as a new member of their community. Friends will be received at the JOHN F. SLATER FUNERAL HOME, INC., 412-881-4100, 4201 Brownsville Road, Brentwood 15227 on Sunday, March 6, 2016, from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. Funeral Prayer on Monday morning, March 7, 2016, at 9:15. Mass of Christian Burial in St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin Church at 10:00 a.m.



Her Kindergarten picture
 


Riding a pony with brother Lou
 

Hanging out with friends and sister Marilyn (mom in front, Aunt Frannie behind her)



Her high school graduation picture


Her high school senior picture
 


Her wedding picture
 
 
So many more memories to share, but I'd like to mention two sisters, my mom and Aunt Frannie in 1993:
 
 
And again last summer in 2015 -TWO GREAT AUNTS!
 


Love and miss you so much, Aunt Frannie