Tag: Europe

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Tackling the Contents of the Flash Drive


Fri 9/11/2020 8:06 PM

Beth,

First and most important, I’m glad you are feeling better. Because I keep crazy hours, I often quote to my kids that “sleep is overrated. But I know that I’m wrong. It is the best thing for us to do. Even more so when we are not feeling well.

I’m also pleased to learn the drives arrived. Given Pam’s experience with mailing something else, I think the Post Office did pretty good by us. ?

Don’t rush into anything. I’m in no hurry. Also, feel free to play with my stuff first. I have lots to do.

I love having additional details about Nancy and her family. Thank you! You answered one of my questions by telling me they are still working. The other part of that question, of course, is the status of the farm. They can’t even be working it. Or could they?

The two items that Nancy references having are old pictures and naturalization papers. The later may be the clue we need for where to search for European ancestors. At least that is my hope.

John, IV

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Why Wait for the Y DNA Test?

DNA


Thu 9/17/2020 7:02 PM

Judy,

I’m attaching a report that gives you information on all the Elcik’s, both living and deceased.

As for DNA testing, I remain confused. As you say, my son’s Y DNA is the same, so there would be no reason for me to repeat his test. Isn’t the same true for my daughter’s DNA? In case you missed that, I have both reports; I’m attaching copies of both.

My rationale for being interested in the Y DNA test is that it can test two specific individuals to determine the likelihood they are related. The John Elcik in New York shares more than my surname. Our grandparents both have ties to Lisbon Falls, Maine. Except for testing two individuals for family ties, I think I have done the rest. If New York John would also take the Y DNA test, it would be an incentive for me to do so.

Again, I am still trying to educate myself.

One other reason for taking a DNA test would be to help me identify relatives in Europe. Currently, I have a brick wall for anything before my Great-grandfather arrived from Europe in 1891. To date, I don’t have reliable information on whether any of the DNA testing firms have enough participation from individuals in Europe.

I think of you as my DNA expert. Am I missing something?

John, IV

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Postscript

Readers:

We write because of speculation that someday, someone will ask about their ancestors and their family history. We wish that when they do that, there is a written record that includes not just names and dates of significant events; but also some idea of who we were both as individuals and as families.

Currently, genealogists are fond of saying that a Family Tree without sources is Mythology. True. But we argue that without stories and images to tell us the lessons learned, we gain nothing from good record keeping.

What follows is a transcript of electronic conversations with relatives as we traced our ancestor’s roots as far back as we could.

Thanks to technology, it is relatively easy to go back five generations to when our family reached the shores of America. What drove Elcik’s to make the journey? We can only guess. Our sincere hope is that someday the situation in Europe that prompted our immigration will be revealed. To identify and meet relatives from “across the pond” is something we wish for our children.

What is generally missing are life stories. We captured a few, added some images, and pray that others will pick up where we left off.

Dr. John Paul Elcik, IV
Contributor and Editor

Beth (Purinton) Gamache
Contributor

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Re: DNA Confusion


Mon 9/28/2020 9:38 PM

Judy,

I picked up on a possibility you mentioned in your last post.

Thus, I have been trying all afternoon and evening to get 23andMe data to Ancestry. Apparently, this is not possible. 

A more positive development is my search resulted in my locating a login and password for my brother Jeff’s DNA test. What is most interesting to us is that our ancestors were not just from the Czech Republic; Poland also fits nicely into our background. We have a mix of Northwestern (49.5%) and Eastern European (41.9%) heritage. I’m attaching a copy of Jeff’s Composition Report, where it mentions Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Poland.

I’m encouraged by this. I hope you are too. ?

John, IV

 

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Why Did Czech Immigrants Come to America?

Nancy and Beth,

I just finished asking you both to see if we can address the question, “Where did our ancestors come from in Europe.” There is another equally compelling question, “Why Did Czech Immigrants Come to America?”

Czech Immigration

The first major immigration of Czechs occurred in 1848 when the Czech “Forty Eighters” fled to the United States to escape the Austrian Habsburgs’ political persecution. Unlike previous immigration, new immigrants were predominantly Catholic.

My father was raised Catholic while his children were not. I recollect that he left the Catholic Church over getting someone (his mother?) buried in the Church Cemetery.  There was some issue about the last rites. I was too young to understand at the time and never followed up. 

Present-day Slavic people are classified into:

  • East Slavs (chiefly Belarusians, Russians, Rusyns, and Ukrainians),
  • West Slavs (chiefly Czechs, Kashubs, Poles, Silesians, Slovaks, and Sorbs)
  • South Slavs (chiefly Bosniaks, Bulgarians, Croats, Macedonians, Montenegrins, Serbs, and Slovenes). 

Do you know in which group we belong to? I don’t. 

Against the wishes of many of its 15 million citizens, Czechoslovakia today split into two countries: Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

To quote a Czech Genealogist, Kate Challis recently posted the following:

“The 19th-century pattern was for Czechs who emigrated to the United States from the old country to do so in patterns of chain migration. They came together, lived together, worked together, migrated together, married together, and stayed together even through terrible marriages. They had many children together, they died together, and they are buried together.”

The Slavic Language

Slovak is the language spoken in Slovakia, a country in Central Europe. It is a language from the Slavic language family. It is very similar to Czech, and Czechs and Slovaks understand each other quite well when they speak their own language. Polish and Sorbian are also quite similar.  This latter fact, along with Jeff’s DNA test, suggests that Judy Spivak, a valued contributor to My Cousins, is our relative through her Polish father. 

My father could speak a little Czech. He understood it, but he did not know how to write it. He was what is called a heritage speaker.

John, IV

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Beth Gamache’s Introduces John Elcik to Bill Cizmar

 
Mon 10/12/2020 12:15 PM
Bill,
 
Beth Gamache has been trying to introduce us and has just shared your email with me. She is married to my 1st Cousin Jack and is a co-author of an eBook we are writing about our collaboration on ancestry research.
 
I apologize if I missed it; I can’t find any evidence of a Facebook invitation from you. Could you have reached out to one of the other Facebook John Elcik’s? If so, it is just one more piece of evidence that the same name can create identification issues.  This is true in real life, as well as ancestry research. 🙂
  • My Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/jelcik
  • John Elcik (my son J.P., V): https://www.facebook.com/john.p.elcik
  • John Elcik (Rocky Point, New York): https://www.facebook.com/john.elcik
I am reachable through Facebook (above) or email at johnelcik@msn.com.
 
Bill, I understand from Beth that we both share interests in Ancestry.  Better yet for me, Beth tells me you know a lot about Lisbon. Beth is so happy that you introduced her to the Historical Society 3 years ago.
 
Our brick wall has been to find a link between two Elcik families and/or “jump the pond” to Europe to locate the 6th generation of our Elcik family.
 
Also, I apologize that this email will be so long. It has allowed me to summarize where we are and clarify our goals.  
 

Background Information

 
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) was married to 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.
 
A 1940 Census document for Joseph’s family (sons John J. and James G.) uses the “Elsik” spelling of the Ilcik’s surname. This s particularly significant to us.  This is the first instance I have found of John Elcik (New York) direct relatives using this spelling, which can also be traced back to my Great Grandfather John Elsik, Sr.
 
Thanks to Beth’s research, we know one connection between the New York Elcik’s and us. Their George Elcik (in the 1920 Census) married Jack’s father’s sister Anna Gamache. The is not a blood relationship, yet both my John Elcik (Rocky Point, NY) contact and I think there should be one.  We all come from Western Europe (Austria/Hungry/Slovakia), spoke Slovak, and have a Catholic heritage.
 

Our Goals

 
We all believe the two families are more directly related, if and when, we can “jump the pond” to Europe. I briefly subscribed to Ancestry World Discovery to locate European Ancestors. I also have been trying to find an immigration document.  
 
I am looking hard for a European location to reach out to other descendants of our forefathers. But Europe is a big continent, and I have reached the proverbial brick wall. Individual responses in Census reports on our European origins are nonspecific. How our ancestors identified is as follows:
  • Czech Republic (14)
  • Austria (13)
  • Austria-Hungary (4)
  • Hungary (4)
  • Slovakia (4)
  • Austria-Slovakia (3)
The responses may be due as much to economics and politics as to specific geography.
 
My father always said we came here from Czechoslovakia, but our immigration in the late 1800s came before its creation.
 
As for geographic locations, I have found one reference to Parhovjani S, Czechoslovakia. Unfortunately, I don’t think it exists anymore.  And the literal translations are “parking lot.” Lol.
 
Based on the spelling of Elcik as Elsik in the 1910 Federal Census, I believe the surname spelling to research is Elsik. Or perhaps, Ilcik, if the Durham Elcik’s are relatives.
 
Beth tells me that you might know ways of researching documents, etc. that we don’t.
 
Any tips you have would be very welcome.  In addition to searching for immigration documents, I think a DNA test might help break the brick wall.  
 
It is a pleasure to meet another ancestry enthusiast.  I would like it very much if we can become friends as well.
 
Warmest regards,
 
John
 
Dr. John P. Elcik, IV
15117 Cloverdale Drive
Fort Myers, FL 33919
(561) 543-3626 (my wife Pam’s cell phone)
johnelcik@msn.com
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Elizabeth Baron

Wed 10/14/2020 10:50 AM
Beth and Bill,
 
Could someone be spoofing us with the Elizabeth Baron connection?  Even if we are talking about a Great-granddaughter (note the dates), this is weird.
 
At the same time, I’m not yet willing to let go of Parhovjani S, Czechoslovakia as the place-of-birth for John Elsik, Sr. It is the only clue I have for a European location. 
 
Also, the NARA should be a reputable source of information, wouldn’t you agree?
 
Am I crazy?
 
John, IV