Today, we’ll look at some of the descendants of Andrew Szova & Maria Fengya of Hajtovka, Slovakia, along with Andrew’s possible brother (and if not brother surely his cousin) John Szova and & Maria Mucha, also of Hajtovka.
First, let’s look at the family of Andrew & Maria. Andrew was born c1810 and died on 8 March 1896 in Hajtovka. He lived an extremely long life for a Rusyn who spent his life in the village. Most didn’t make it to their 70s.
Maria (Fengya) was born c1811 and died on 18 March 1879, also in Hajtovka.
They were the parents of five, or possibly six, children:
1. Michael, born c1831; died 12 April 1831. He is only called the son of Andreas, no mother recorded. There is a second Michael Szova, born 1832 who was buried on 3 June 1847, also called the son of Andreas, no mother recorded. Since the next child in this list is also Michael, but the son of Andrew and Maria (Fengya), there is obviously a second contemporary Andrew Szova (born 1787; died 1 June1 1847) and there is no way to determine for certain which Andrew was the father of this boy buried in 1831.
2. Michael, born 12 October 1833; died after 1900; married Maria Tengi, 19 November 1868.
3. John, born 13 June 1841; died 6 August 1873 of cholera; married Carolina Liscinsky, 11 December 1867. Carolina was born about 21 June 1845 and died 15 July 1873, also of cholera. They were the parents of two children, John, born 22 May 1871, who died when 5 days old, and Anna, born 14 September 1872, who died 21 July 1874. There are no known descendants in this line.
4. Anna, born 23 October 1852; no further record
5. Maria, born 23 March 1845; died 6 January 1925, Hajtovka; married John Murcko, c1868.
6. Helena (Ilona), born 19 August 1849; married John Krajnyak, 4 November 1878. They were the parents of two daughters who both died in childhood – Irena and Juliana. There are no known descendants of this couple.
Therefore, Andrew Szova & Maria Fengya have descendants through their children Michael and Maria. However, the Szova surname is lost with their grandchildren because Michael was the father of six daughters.
Michael Szova married Maria Tengi. Burial records haven’t been found for either. However, some of the records switch to the Cyrillic alphabet, which I can’t read. It is likely they both died in Hajtovka.
Those highlighted have descendants.
Children:
1. Maria, born 16 November 1869; died 1 November 1940, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey; married Nicholas Hrinya, 15 October 1892, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey. Maria arrived in New York on 20 June 1891. They were the parents of ten children, all living in Passaic in 1920. Some family members changed their surname spelling to Reno.
2. Anna, born 17 April 1873; no further record
3. Susanna, born 10 November 1875; died 24 December 1966, Plains, Luzerne, Pennsylvania; married (1) Michael Mazur, 1901, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey (2) John Chomisak, after 1930. Susanna was the mother of three children – Michael, Mary and John Mazur.
4. Rozalia, born 17 July 1878; died before 1920 and probably before 1910; married John Slusher, 1901, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey. John and Mary were the parents of two children – Mary and John. John Slusher remarried at least two more times after Rose’s death.
5. Helena, born 7 September 1881; she may be Ilona Sova, aged 18, enumerated with the Hrinya family in 1900.
6. Juliana, born 12 October 1884; died 19 March 1891
Andrew’s and Maria’s daughter, Maria, also has descendants:
Maria Szova married John Murcko, c1868. The priest must have forgotten to record their marriage because this couple lived their entire lives in Hajtovka. They are two of my 2X great grandparents.
John Murcko was born 20 November 1831 and died 7 May 1917. Maria was born 23 March 1845 and died 6 January 1925.
They were the parents of six children:
- Maria, born 23 July 1869; died 21 August 1886 of typhus.
- Anna, born 23 May 1872; died 28 June 1967, Udol, Slovakia; married Michael Scerbak, 22 October 1892, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey. They were the parents of seven children.
- Susanna, born 5 March 1875; died 14 July 1961, Garfield, Bergen, New Jersey; married John Kovalycsik, 8 June 1894, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey. They were the parents of six children.
- Helen, born 18 August 1877; died young
- John, born 19 November 1879; reportedly married Maria Fedus, but no further record found
- Helena (Julia), born 7 September 1881; died 20 January 1952, East Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; married Stephen Pristas, c1901. They were the parents of four children.
I will end here as the next generation is that of my grandmother. Distant cousins will be able to recognize many of these names as their own immigrant ancestors.
Next, we have the family of John Szova, born c1816 and Maria Mucha, born 1819.
John died 19 March 1878, aged about 60 years. Maria (Mucha) Szova died 7 January 1884, aged about 67 years. Cause of death was old age.
They were the parents of seven children:
1. John, born c26 Mar 1843
2. Maria, born c28 July 1848; married Michael Zavadszky, 10 November 1878. They had three children, with two surviving childhood – Michael, born 1879, and John, born 1886.
3. Anna, born c 28 July1850; married Michael Murcko, 9 February 1874. Michael was Roman Catholic. They had three children baptized in Plavnica – Michael in 1879, John in 1886, and an earlier John, born and died on 6 March 1882. Michael married Mary Arendacs. He died 17 June 1967, Greenville, Mercer, Pennsylvania.
4. Ilona, born c1854; died after 1869; no further record.
5. Joseph, born c17 December1856; married Anna Liscinski, 19 February 1883. They were the parents of five children born 1884-1901.
6. Michael, born 27 June 1859; died 15 April 1884, of tuberculosis. He apparently was unmarried and had no children.
7. Susanna, born 2 February 1862; she may be the Susanna Szova married to Michael Fabian who had a daughter, Helena, baptized in August 1883. However, no marriage record has been found.
Aside from Michael Murcko who married Mary Arendacs and died in 1967, it isn’t known whether any other family members migrated to America, but it is certainly possible.