Tag: Ellis Island

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Elcik New York History


Sat 7/18/2020 12:58 PM

Hello John,

My grandfather Andrew Elcik was born here in Lisbon Falls, Maine in 1911 ( died 1995 on Long Island ), and it was my great grandfather John Ilcik who came here thru Ellis Island in the early 1900s (don’t have an exact date but early 1900’s NOT 1940’s or 50’s. All they know is it was spelled “Ilcik” in Europe (Austria-Hungarian empire what is now the Czech Republic). It was changed by mistake at Ellis Island when they just put it down wrong (not on Purpose). We are Slovak and Not Czech, and my grandfather Andrew and Great grandfather spoke the language.

As I shared with you on Facebook, my father is John Elcik, born in 1943 in Queens, NY, and died in 2018. You have the correct year of 1962, when I believe my great grandfather died. If you did not see it on Facebook, my grandfather Andrew Elcik came to NYC between 1929 – 1932 because he could not find work at the paper mill anymore due to the great depression. He ended up working for Bryers Ice cream for 40 years. He married Jeannie Pascarella around 1939 and had two sons Andrew Elcik born in 1941, and my dad John Elcik born in 1943.

My uncle is still alive but hazy about the family’s past. I wish my dad John Elcik was alive because he could help solve this mystery. My uncle Andrew Elcik had three children Christine born 1965, Andrew born 1967, and Jaqueline, born 1970 or 71. We have pictures of my great grandparents and grandfather from Lisbon Falls, which I will eventually scan to you. We will eventually figure out the direct link.

More to come.

John Elcik (NY)

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A Family Mystery?


Fri, Aug 7, 2020, at 12:17 PM

Cousins, etc.,

Is there is a relation that connects the waves of Elcik (Elick, Elsik) families that immigrated to America in the 1880s? I can connect two as being us. We share a common heritage (Austria/Hungary/Slovakia), surname, and given names; specifically, John and James. We all settled initially in Lisbon Falls or Durham, Maine. Those that eventually went on to New York are part of the group I’m researching to see if a link exists.

  • John Elsik (Austria) (1866-1941) – My Great-Grandfather (Sr.) arrived here in 1891, 5-years before my Grandfather is born.
  • John P Elcik (1896-1963) – My Grandfather (Jr.)
  • John Paul Elcik (1928-2011) – My Father (III)
  • John Paul Elcik (1952-) – Myself (IV)
  • John Paul Elcik (1986-) – My son (V)

I can’t yet place the following family:

  • John Ilcik (16 MAR 1886-05 SEP 1962)
  • Andrew John Ilcik (26 OCT 1911-04 APR 1951)
  • John J. Elcik (5 AUG 1945-15 SEP 2018) (New York John’s Grandfather)
  • James G. Elcik (26 JAN 1934)
  • John Elcik (New York John, my contact)
  • Nickolas Elcik (2001)

John Ilcik (Slovakia) (1886-1962); There is only a 10-year age difference between this individual and my Grandfather. I think families are related, but I don’t have evidence. I suspect the link exists in Europe.

I would dismiss this as an Ellis Island spelling mistake except for New York John, and I see a family resemblance in some photos. We may decide to take DNA tests as…
Curiosity killed the cat satisfaction brought it back. 🙂

Any thoughts?

John, IV

P.S. And then there is another John Elcik (22 DEC 1931- 14 APR 2019) that I can’t place anywhere. Beth, it is these facts that could drive me crazy. 🙂 Have I mentioned that there are other ways to spell John? Johann, Jan. Am I crazy?

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Lisbon Historical Society


On Sun, Sep 20, 2020, at 5:26 PM

Lisbon Historical Society <lisbonhistsoc@gmail.com>,

YES. How do you do this?? The name on the gravestone is Ilcik, which was his name when he arrived at Ellis Island. George, as a surviving son, was Bob Elcik’s father. Bob was in Jack’s class.

How do you find these obituaries?

Beth

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Re: Goldie

Fri 2/5/2021 11:04 PM
John,

After reading the explanations of Slovak names’ spelling and especially upon their arrival at Ellis Island, it makes sense to me the different spellings of Elcik/cikIlcrik on gravestones.  Possibly both Ilciks, your great grandfather, and John NY’s great grandfather used that spelling when they lived in this country.  
 
I now think the “y” was dropped depending on who was writing it, especially at Ellis Island.  The birthdates are what’s important and linking them to the correct parent.  
I’m still baffled as to why we can’t link the NY Elciks and our Elciks, and I’m convinced somewhere, and somehow there’s an answer.  
Beth
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Brick Wall Breakthrough

Sun 3/14/2021 12:53 PM
Fantastic Four,
I want to celebrate!
One of the larger goals of my ancestry research has been to see if we could establish a relationship between the two Elcik families, which I have been referring to as the “Elsik” and the “Ilcik” families.
Specifically, I have been attempting to link my great grandfather with the great-grandfather of a different John Elcik. I live in Florida, and the other John lives in Rocky Point, New York.
  • John Elsik (1866-1941) married Mary Pelcarsky (1875-1936), through whom I (IV), Dad (III), and John (Jr.) descended. In the 1910 Census, John Elsik identified his surname as Elsik. Elcik is the spelling used for the rest of the family.  John immigrated in 1891 and Mary in 1896. Ancestry and I agree that John Elsik is my great-grandfather.
  • John Elcik (1886-1982) married Mary Jeho Zena Jonek (1887-1951). John immigrated in 1905, and Mary immigrated a year later in 1906. He came to America through Ellis Island, and the name was changed to Elcik from Ilcik, as told to his grandson. His son, Andrew J. Elcik (1911-1995), married Jeannie Pascarella through whom many of the “New York” Elcik’s descended. This family includes my “New York” contact: John Elcik.
We know for sure that there is a connection between the New York Elcik’s and us. [Thank you, Beth.] Their George Elcik (in the 1920 Census) married Jack’s father’s sister Anna Gamache. This would not be a blood relative, but it has been the best Beth (and I) could come up with.
Today, I decided to do some research on the DNA finds in my Ancestry.com account. I search for the Elcik surname, and I get a hit for 1_jelcik.  The Family Tree associated with the hit has only two names, and one is private. The father of the DNA match is shown to be Andrew Elcik (1911).  On my family tree, this would make the DNA be that of John J. Elcik (1943-2018), who is the father of John Elcik in Rocky Point, New York.
May we all celebrate?  I think we have done it. The closeness of the relationship interests me, but the relationship alone is a win.  The attached document is Ancestry’s take of the probability of different relationships.
Bottom line, the Ancestry relationship calculator is now telling me that I am related to John in Rocky Point. He is my “great-grandnephew of husband of grandaunt.” I can almost understand this description.
This also lends credence to the Slovakian language experts that say the difference between Ilycsik and Ilcsik is probably a spelling difference.
Would everyone agree that I should encourage John Elcik to fill out his family tree if he has access to his father’s Ancestry account?  
Again, can we all agree to celebrate?  
John, IV
P.S. I have no idea why I couldn’t find this earlier.  Perhaps., John took my advice, and the Ancestry account is him and not his father. Lol.