Would You Believe It? The Polasek Family Came through Ellis Island!
My Polasek
family hailed from a little village called Jedli, Moravia, Czech Republic. Over the course of
several decades, various members of the family pulled up their generational
roots to head to the great and bold state of Texas,
USA. As
history reveals its secrets, their immigration story is proving to be vastly different
than those for all the rest of my family.
And here it is…….
They arrived
through Ellis Island! How exciting right? You bet! For countless years, I knew that all the
Irish and English side of the family had made their transatlantic trip before the year 1860. A few did come through the Port of New York
but decades before Ellis Island opened on 1
January 1893. We all have heard the
story of Annie Moore the 15 year old from County Cork,
the first official immigrant to walk through its door. I admit that her story has always captured my
attention. What would it have been like
sailing on any ship into New York
Harbor and catching that
first glance of Lady Liberty and her torch lighting the way? Talk about amazing! I dared not hope that any of my direct family
would enter through that same immigrants’ door….but would you believe? They
did! (Go to www.ellisisland.org to find out more information on Ellis Island, its story and timeline including pictures
of the ships, passenger lists, etc.)
Who were these
blessed people who made the journey?
One was Great-great-grandfather Jan Polasek Sr. born 9 December 1833 in Jedli, Moravia
in house #144 to Jan and Barbara Kroboth Polasek. On 5 May 1857, he married his first wife,
Theresia Rizner, born 6 April 1839. They
had 5 children: Mariana, Jan Jr. (Great-grandfather,) Josefa, Frantiska, and Frantisek. Their last child Frantisek (Frank) had made
his arrival into this world in September 1866. Only two months later, Theresia died on 16
November 1866 perhaps due to a weakened state of health from the birth of her
son. Sad to report but baby Frantisek
had also died before 1869 as well.
Grandfather Jan
Sr. found himself all alone with five very small children in his care. So he married Anna Havelka on 22 January 1867
to help him take care of his motherless family.
They had four children: Anna,
Frantisek, Terezie and Emil.
Brother-in-law Fabian A. Havelka was
First Polasek Immigrant
Anna’s brother,
Fabian A. Havelka, and his wife Katerina were the first family members to
immigrate circa 1877. Per the 1880 US
Census they lived on a farm in Williamson
County, Texas. Why
they picked Williamson
County I have not yet
determined, however, the soil proved to be very fruitful and superb for farming. Letters exchanged claimed life was good in America and land was certainly plentiful in Texas.
By 1890, Jan
Polasek Sr. and most of his immediate family made the hard decision to leave
all they had known and finally immigrate to the US.
His son (my great-grandfather) Jan Jr. had married Mary Mares (my
great-grandmother) about 1885 in Jedli producing four children: Mary, Jan (who had died as a baby,) Theresa,
and John Frank. Jan Jr. traveled alone to Texas
landing at Galveston, Galveston, Texas
on 7 July 1892. His job was to locate a
decent place for the family to live and to gather provisions for their arrival
in the up and coming year. Upon his
arrival back home, the final packing began.
Two Groups To America
The family
traveled in two separate groups that next year.
The first group included Jan Jr., his wife Mary (Mares,) daughters
Theresa and Mary, son John Frank Polasek, and Jan Polasek Sr. himself. They traveled to Bremen,
Germany and boarded the ship
H. H. Meier, at the end of April 1893 bound for New York.
They arrived at Ellis Island on 12 May
1893. Can’t you just imagine their tears
of joy at that moment of disembarkation, safe and sound on American soil? Their ultimate destination, of course, Williamson County, Texas
but I do not know by which made of travel they finished their journey….Train? Horse
and wagon? Or did they just sail on another
ship for Galveston?
The second wave
included: Jan Sr.’s wife Annie (Havelka); their daughter Theresa; Theresa’s son
John Polasek; and Rudolph, the son of daughter Josefa Polasek. They too sailed from Bremen
but on the ship Karlsruhe which landed at Ellis Island on 26 December 1893. What a Christmas present! America! By January 1894, the family was more all
together safe and sound in their new home in Williamson County. Amazing!
The
Great-grandparents Jan and Mary Polasek Jr.
lived on farm near a little town named Corn Hill in Williamson County. They had an addition five children over the
next twelve years: Frank Joseph, Joseph
Frank (Grandfather), Frances Mildred, Rudolph Frank, and Louise Annie
Polasek.
May They Rest in Peace
Both
Great-great-grandparents Jan and Annie Havelka Polasek Sr. died in 1911 of old
age. Great-grandmother Mary Mares
Polasek died on 30 April 1917 probably from pneumonia (death certificate not
located yet.) Great-grandfather Jan
Polasek Jr. lived for many, many more years being the last to die on 22
February 1940 at the hospital in Temple, Bell, Texas
of heart failure. All four are buried at
Holy Trinity
Cemetery located behind the Catholic
church at Corn Hill, Williamson,
Texas.
May our Ellis Island immigrants rest in peace!
The Surnames from “M to V” on my Polasek
Family Tree
The following
chart lists the second half of
the Czech surnames from “M to V” on Joseph Frank
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;[i] and
finally, the known residences of each particular family group in the Czech
Republic.
Polasek Surnames
|
Marek
|
10th GGPs
|
Benes Marku
(b. 1536 –
d. 1598)
|
|
“From a derivative of the personal names Marek or Martin.”
|
Cermna,
Bohemia,
Czech
Republic
|
|
Mareš
|
7th GGPs
|
Jiri Mares
(b. 1619 –
d. 30 July 1688)
Lived in Cermna.
|
Magdalena ?
|
“Originally the family was named Sovaty.
-“From the personal name Marie.”
|
Bystrec, Bohemia, Czech Republic
|
|
Orliczek
|
3rd GGPs
|
Paul Orlizcek
(b. before 1750)
Lived in Zborov.
|
|
|
Zborov,
Bohemia, Czech
Republic
|
|
Paukert
(German)
and
Kolár
(Czech,
Slovak)
|
7th GGPs
|
Martin
Paukert
(before 1650)
|
Katerina Kolar
(before 1650)
|
Paukert: “Variant of German Peikert ‘drummer’.”
“Kolár; Czech also Kolár): occupational name from Czech kolár and South
Slavic kolar ‘wheelwright’, ‘cartwright’, agent noun from kola ‘cart’.”
|
Libchavy,
Bohemia,
Czech
Republic
|
|
Peskar
|
4th GGPs
|
Vaclav Jansa
(b. 10 July 1694
d. 8 August 1765)
In Cermna.
|
Katherine Peskar
(b. abt. 1696)
In Cermna.
|
|
Cermna,
Bohemia,
Czech
Republic
|
|
Polášek
(Czech
Slovak)
|
2nd GGPS
|
Josef Polasek
(b. abt. 1790)
In Jedli, house #28.
|
Anna Deutsch
(b 1781)
in Děkanát Zábřeh,
(d. 1 May 1846)
In Jedlí.
|
“A diminutive of Polák (see Polak ‘Pole’).”
|
Jedlí,
Mähren,
Czech Republic
|
|
Rizner
|
2nd GGPs
m. 17 Feb 1789
|
Tobias Rizner
(b. 1759 –
d. 20 August 1820)
Lived in Zborov in house #2.
|
Barbara Orliczek
(b. 1764 –
d. 11 December 1842)
|
|
Zborov,
Bohemia, Czech
Republic
|
|
Rychter
|
8th GGPs
|
Jiri Rychter
(b. abt. 1633 –
d. abt. 1653) lived in Cermna
|
|
|
Cermna,
Bohemia, Czech
Republic
|
|
Sembera
|
1st GGPs
|
Josef Mares
(b. 10 November 1813)
Lived in Dolni Hermanice.
|
Terezie Sembera
(b. abt. 1820) in
Dolni Hermanice in house #54.
|
|
Dolni Hermanice,
Bohemia, Czech
Republic
|
|
Sovaty
|
10th GGPs
|
Jan Sovaty
(b. 1540 –
d. 1585) lived in Cermna.
|
Anna ?
(b. 1545
d. 1595)
In Cermna.
|
|
Cermna,
Bohemia, Czech
Republic
|
|
Vacek
(Czech)
|
6th GGPs
|
David Vacek
(b. abt. 1670)
|
Karina Hejl
(b. abt. 1670)
|
“A pet form of the personal name Václav, Old Czech
Veceslav, Composed of the Old Slavic elements “viece” ‘greater’ + “slav”
‘glory’. It was borne by a 10th-century duke of Bohemia
who fought against a revival of paganism in his territory, and after his
death became patron saint of Bohemia.”
|
Cermna,
Bohemia,
Czech
Republic
|
|
Vejprachticky
|
7th GGPs
|
Jiri Heylek
Hejl
(b. 1610)
|
Marie
Vejprachticky
(b. 1665)
|
|
Cermna,
Bohemia,
Czech
Republic
|
|
Vrba
(Czech
Slovak)
|
7th GGPs
|
Jakub Vrba
(b. abt. 1635)
|
|
“From a habitational name for someone from a place named
with vrba ‘willow tree’, or a topographic name for someone who lived near
willow trees.”
|
Vtelno,
North Bohemia, Czech
Republic
|
|
Vypachticky
|
8th GGPs
|
Martin Vypachticky
(b. abt. 1549 –
d. after 1592)
In Cermna.
|
Magdalena ?
(b. abt. 1555)
|
|
Cermna, Bohemia, Czech Republic
|
Conclusion of
Surname Study
Now you know all the direct surnames for my family lines including:
Polasek, Kubin, Bobal, Mares, Byrne, Gregory, Curran, O’Rourke, McKnight and
Salmon that I have identified so far. As
I uncover more, believe me, you will be the first to know
This concludes our study on surnames. I hope it has been
very enlightening…. a lot of people creating a lot of history.
Next Blogs: Halloween’s Irish Roots Exposed
What’s next? Well,
time to turn a cultural eye on Halloween and check out its’ very Irish
roots.
Love as always,
Sharon
[i] All
definitions were found on the “Meaning
of surname” database from www.ancetry.com, Sept 2013.
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