Sat 7/11/2020 8:32 AM
All,
Facts are never enough. Knowing that our ancestors came here from Austria/Hungary does not definitively tell us the motivations. And changes in the spelling of surnames or given names are not necessarily done to make them fit better into their new lives in America. Sometimes, it is just a misspelling on a public document.
The motivation for immigration to America in the late 1800s is unknown. I have speculated it was both political and economic, given the timing and events in history. Census data records the early arrivals working as laborers in construction, wool, and paper mills, suggesting that economics may have been a factor. There are no first-hand accounts yet to tell us to what extent economics or politics played in immigration.
In researching the Elcik surname, I discovered that the name in official documents (Birth, Census, Marriage, and Death records) spelled “Elick” or “Elsik.” Is this a misspelling or a thoughtful name change? I don’t know. Certainly, misspellings occur. The transformation of Mary Elcik into “Marie” is the most obvious.
John
P.S. The three emails I have mailed you are published (with edits) in the family tree to document the journey.