Every family story needs a reliable starting point. For MyCousins, that anchor is the
United States Federal Census.
John P. Elcik, Sr., the great-great-grandfather and namesake of the site’s editor,
immigrated to the United States in the late nineteenth century. His life in America is
unusually well documented thanks to the federal census program, which—every ten
years—records both citizens and non-citizens living in the country.
The census does more than count people. It captures moments in time: family structure,
language spoken, occupation, education, housing, and immigration history. For immigrant
families, it is often the first official recognition of their presence in America.
The 1910 Census: Recognition and Questions
The 1910 United States Federal Census is our first confirmed record of John Elcik and
Maria Anna “Mary” Pelcarsky as an established family in America. That recognition,
however, immediately introduces puzzles that will echo throughout this research.
One of the earliest questions concerns spelling. In 1910, the head of household is listed
as John Elsik, while his wife and children are recorded as Elcik. Is this
an error? A preference? Or evidence of a surname in transition? Throughout the census
years, the spelling of the family name changes repeatedly, reminding us that records are
human documents—subject to accents, assumptions, and mistakes.
Learning to extract meaning from imperfect records becomes one of the recurring themes
of MyCousins research.
Where Did They Come From?
The 1910 census introduces a second, deeper controversy: origin.
According to census records, John Elsik immigrated from Austria, and Mary
Pelcarsky from Slovenia. Family history, church records, and later
documentation consistently tell a different story—that both came from what would later
be known as Czechoslovakia.
This apparent contradiction is historically explainable. At the time of their
immigration, the Slovak lands were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. U.S. immigration
officials did not distinguish between ethnic groups within that empire. Slovaks were
routinely recorded as Austrians, Hungarians, or residents of adjacent regions.
What appears at first glance to be conflicting data is, in fact, a lesson in historical
context.
Why the Census Matters
The census is not the end of the story—it is the beginning. It tells us where to stand,
not where to stop. From these records, we learn where a family lived, how they earned a
living, whether they owned a home, and how firmly they had taken root.
For MyCousins, the census provides the first solid footing from which we can work
backward—toward Europe—and forward—toward the generations that followed.
Every later discovery, from church records to DNA connections, is measured against this
anchor point.