Labor Day Greetings and Memories
Hello! And Happy Labor Day to you all! Labor Day is strictly an American invention
with no cultural traditions attached to it from any other country. Just a day filled with American pride as we
celebrate with the red, white, and blue!
For me, memory banks unfurl back to
the 1990’s when trips down to West, Texas
on Labor Day weekend to enjoy WestFest
accompanied by my aunt, uncle and parents took center stage. Yes, that same town of West rocketed by the fertilizer plant blast
in April! By keeping true to all of us
who claim Czech heritage, the town once again held their WestFest this year as scheduled reiterating how grateful they remain for life itself and their wonderful culture. Amazing!
As I write these words, I can still hear the Czech music and dancing
ringing loud and strong through the air as the smells of cottage cheese
kolaches (my favorite); apple strudels; Czech Texan BBQ and Kielbasas even now make
my mouth water for more! I regret I
could not attend this time but I am already planning to go next year! Want to join me?
 | ||||
| Great-Grandparents Jan and Anna Kubin's | Wedding | Photo, 1906 |
The Direct Czech Family Lines of
Louise Adele Kubin Polasek
So are you ready to take a quick look
at Grandmother Louise Kubin Polasek’s family tree? Great!
Over the last couple of weeks, I admit to being busily working on getting
this information together for everyone, myself included! Truthfully speaking, my files overflow with
all the information gathered and collected on the O’Rourke – Salmon side since the
start of my genealogical quest! The names
and places are virtually as familiar to me as my very own! I decided long ago to concentrate on that
line because the families had been living in the United States a lot longer and as
such, more local records abounded. I
also feared it would be almost impossible to get data on the Czech lines due to
the Wars and political upheavals suffered by western Europe over the last two
centuries.
Thanks be that my reasoning proved
incorrect! Actually, official recording
of birth, marriage and death dates has been mandatory since the 1500’s and
amazingly enough, most of the records have survived! Currently many of the actual Czech Registers
and town books are online at www.familysearch.org
for all to see. As stated in the
previous blog, the entries themselves are written in German or Czech so I
personally cannot read the information. (Can you? If so, you may want to verify and
translate some of the information and share it with me. I would love it! ) So with these records now readily available
online as well as back in the Czech Republic and with the sharing of
information between distant cousins, the Kubin and Polasek trees have been
growing at a steady rate.
And guess what? I have NOW gone a lot further back on both of
those lines than I have on any for the O’Rourke- Salmon side. Isn’t that exciting? On Grandma Louise Kubin Polasek’s line, I
have identified 18 family surnames which include:
Babirad, Barina, Bobal, Dedka, Doležal,
Jakubicek, Kolinek, Krajca, Kubín, Mach, Mezirka, Mracanek, Nedbalek, Strnadl,
Vavrusa, Zaludek, and Zialudk.
Most of these families can be traced
back to the 1600’s and 1700’s living in the towns of Lipa, Zadverice,
Zelechovice, and Zlin located in Moravia, Czech Republic.
Louise was born on 18 March 1907, the
eldest child born to Jan and Anna Kubin, near Ennis, Ellis, Texas. Her father Jan Kubin had been born in Lipa, Moravia
on 18 February 1872 to Josef Kubin (1 March 1837 - ?) and Frantiska Krajca (22 March 1846 - ?), who
had been married on 28 June 1863, lived at Lipa in house #9 and worked as a
tenement farmer. Jan sailed from Bremen, Germany
on the S. S. Ellen Rickmers on 28 August 1898 and landed at Galveston,
Galveston, Texas on 10 September 1898. He then made his way to Ennis, Ellis, Texas
and married his first wife Frances Krajca on 25 January 1899. They had two children Mary and Barbara before
she died in 1904.
A few years later on 26 February 1906
in Ennis, Ellis Texas, he married Anna Kubin.
Anna had been born in Lipa as well on 9 January 1878 daughter to Jan
Kubin (30 December 1851 – 3 March 1885) and Frances Bobal (17 January 1844 – 11
December 1919), who had been married on 6 August 1862, and lived at Lipa in
house #79. Anna was married to her first
husband Joseph Kituch in Lipa on 19 November 1895 and had two children Frances
and Anna Kituch. Joseph died on 14 February 1898 suddenly after a wagon fell on
top of him crushing him to death. Anna,
her daughters Anna and Frances, and her mother Frances Bobal Kubin sailed from Bremen, Germany
on the S. S. Hannover on 21 July 1904 and landed at Galveston,
Galveston, Texas on 13 August 1904. The family made their way to Ennis, Ellis, Texas
where other members had already been settling.
Anna and John have six children: Louise, Rose, Emilie, Agnes, John, and Velma,
who died as a baby. Anna died on 22
February 1918 in Ennis due to complications after the birth of her daughter
Velma as well as from pneumonia, becoming another victim of the Great Flu
Epidemic of 1918. Jan continued to
struggle with their deaths for several years and finally died himself on 24
October 1921 after hitting his head in an automobile accident. Life had not been the easiest for the Kubins
here in America
but the family continued.
Since Louise’s parents Anna and Jan
happened to be both Kubins, they did share common ancestors as her 2nd
great-grandfathers were brothers. The 4th
great-grandparents (my 6th) Kasper and Rosina N. Kubin had a son named
Josef born in 1752 in Lipa, Moravia who married Veronika Dolezalova, born on 17
September 1760, the daughter of Josef and Margareta Dolezal, her other set of 4th
great-grandparents. Josef and Veronika,
her 3rd Great-grandparents. married on 31 January 1780 in Lipa, Moravia
and had at least two sons, Tomas and Petr Kubin. Thomas married Katerina
Merzykova and became the grandparents of Anna Kubin. His brother Petr married Veronica Dedkova and
became the grandparents of Jan Kubin.
Make sense? Good.
The following chart lists the Czech
surnames on Louise Adele Kubin Polasek’s family tree (and mine!) It lists: each
surname as the family uses it now in English or Czech; the farthest ancestor
traced back for that particular family at this time (GGPs stands for
Great-grandparents) and marriage date if known; paternal line showing name,
birth date, personal residence and occupation; maternal line showing name,
birth date, personal residence; meaning of name if found; and finally,
the known residences of each particular family group in the Czech Republic. (As
you can see I had to make changes in the family surname charts for the Czech lines. b. = stands for born.)
Farthest
Gen. Back and Year of
Marriage
|
Paternal Line
|
Maternal Line
|
Meaning of Name
|
Our Family's Last Residence
in the Mother Country
|
|
Barina
|
3rd GGPs
|
Jan Barina
(b. before 1785), lived in
Lipa.
|
Lipa,
Moravia, Czech
Republic
|
||
Bobál
(Czech)
|
3rd GGPs
|
Jan Bobal
(b. before 1770)
lived in house # 18 in
Luzkovice.
|
|
Zelechovice, Luzkovice, and
Lipa, Moravia,
Czech Republic
|
|
Dedka
(Slovak)
|
2nd GGPs
15 Feb 1803
|
Petr Kubin
(b. about 1783) in Lipa.
|
Veronika Dedkova
(b. about 1784) in Lipa
|
Lipa, Moravia,
Czech Republic
|
|
Doležal
(Czech and Slovak)
|
4th GGPs
about 1760
|
Josef Dolezal
(b. about 1725) lived in
Lipa.
|
Margareta N.
(b. about 1725) lived in
Lipa.
|
Nickname for a lazy man,
from the past participle of “doležit” “to lie down”.[ii]
|
Lipa,
Moravia, Czech
Republic
|
Jakubicek
|
4th GGPs
|
Jiri Petu Mikeska
(b. about 1706
d. 1786) in Zadverice,
lived in house #65.
|
Marina Jakubicek
(b. about 1708) in
Zadverice, lived in house #65.
|
Zadverice,
Moravia,
Czech Republic
|
|
Kolinek
and
Babirad
|
6th GGPs
about 1688
|
Sebastian Kolinek
(b. about 1657) in
Zadverice.
|
Katerina Babirad
(b. abt. 1658) in
Zadverice.
|
Zadverice, Moravia,
Czech Republic
|
|
Krajca
and
Mach
|
1st GGPs
|
Frantisek Krajca
(b. about 1820) lived in
Lipa.
|
Alzbeta Mach
(b. about 1820) lived in
Lipa.
|
“Mach” is from the personal
name “Mach”, a pet form of Latin, “Matthaeus or Mathias”, in Czech “Matej”.[iii].
|
Lipa,
Moravia,
Czech Republic
|
Kubín
(Czech)
|
4th GGP
about 1760
|
Kasper Kubin
(b. about 1715) lived in Lipa.
|
Rosina N.
(b. about 1720) lived in
Lipa.
|
From a derivative of the
personal name “Kuba,” a pet form of Jakub” meaning “Jacob.”[iv]
|
Lipa,
Moravia, Czech
Republic
|
Mezirka
and
Mracanek
|
3rd GGPs
|
Karel Mezrika
(b. before 1775) in Zlin,
owned a tavern and lived at
house #64.
|
Thekla Mracanek
(b. before 1775) lived in
Zlin.
|
Zlin,
Moravia, Czech
Republic
|
|
Mikeška
(Polish and Czech)
|
6th
before 1673
|
Petr Mikeška
(b. about 1648 during the
Thirty Years War) in Zadverice and worked as a farmer.
|
Kahunta Mach
(b. about 1647) in
Jassenna.
|
From a derivative of the
personal name “Mikolaj” meaning “Nicolas.”[v]
|
Lipa and Zadverice
Moravia,
Czech Republic
|
Nedbalek
(Czech and Polish)
|
4th GGPs
|
Martin Nedbalek
(b. about 1738) in
Zadverice.
|
Refers to one who is
“lazy.”[vi]
|
Zadverice, Moravia, Czech Republic
|
|
Strnadl
|
3rd GGPs
|
Jan Strnadl
(b. before 1785)
Worked as a farmer. in
Zelechovice.
|
Zelechovice, Moravia,
Czech Republic
|
||
Vavrusa
|
3rd GGPs
|
Josef Vavrusa
(b. before 1782)
Worked a farm laborer. in
Zelechovice.
|
From “Vavra” and “Vavrinec”
meaning “Laurence.”[vii]
|
Zelechovice, Moravia,
Czech Republic
|
|
Zaludek
|
3rd GGPs
|
Josef Zaludek
(b. before 1775) lived in
Zelechovice.
|
Zelechovice, Moravia,
Czech Republic
|
||
Zialudk
|
2ND GGPs
28 Jan 1805
|
Martin Bobal
(b. abt. 1785) in
Luzkovice.
|
Rozina Zialudkova
(b. about 1788) in
Zelechovice.
|
Zelechovice, Moravia,
Czech Republic
|
Well, that’s all for today. Lots to take in and to remember. I certainly do hope you found great enjoyment
learning the names and some little vignettes of our ancestors’ lives. I did.
More to come.
The next blog will discuss the Czech
surnames for Joseph Frank Polasek! Watch
for it. Love, Sharon
[i] Meaning
of surname from http://surnames.behindthename.com/name/nedbalek,
Sept 2013.
[ii] Meaning
of surname from www.ancetry.com, Sept
2013.
[iii]
Meaning of surname from www.ancetry.com,
Sept 2013.
[iv] Meaning
of surname from www.ancetry.com, Sept
2013.
[v] Meaning
of surname from www.ancetry.com, Sept
2013.
[vi] Meaning
of surname from http://surnames.behindthename.com/name/nedbalek,
Sept 2013.
[vii]
Meaning of surname from http://surnames.behindthename.com/name/vavra, Sept
2013.
Do you have an email address where I can ask a few more questions concerning the Kubin side? My GGM was from Lipa and my GGF owned a tavern there.
ReplyDelete