It’s time for one of my favorite activities – Saturday Night Genealogy Fun with Randy Seaver on Genea-Musings. He issues some great challenges every week and I like this one:
1) Pick an ancestor, any ancestor. What do you know about them? What source type(s) do you have for each item? Answer the 20 questions below about your chosen ancestor.
I’ve chosen my paternal Rusyn great grandmother, Anna Murcko.
) Ancestor’s birth name: Anna Murcko [church record, census, marriage record, death certificate]
2) Ancestor’s parents: John Murcko and Maria Szova [church records for baptism, marriage and burials]
3) Ancestor’s birth date and place: 23 May 1872, Hajtovka, Slovakia [church baptismal record]
4) Ancestor’s baptism/christening date and place: 26 May 1872, Ujak, Slovakia [St. Dimitry’s Church baptismal record]
5) Ancestor’s spouse birth name: Michael Scerbak [marriage record]
6) Ancestor’s spouse parents: John Scerbak and Maria Patorai [church records]
7) Ancestor’s spouse birth date and place: 17 February 1868 [baptismal record]
8) Ancestor’s spouse death date and place: 16 March 1932, Ujak, Slovakia [church burial record]
9) Children of Ancestor and spouse: a) Helena (Julia) Scerbak b) Michael Scerbak c) Peter Scerbak d) Maria Scerbak e) Infant f) Michael Scerbak g) Stephen Scerbak [church records]
10) Ancestor’s death date and place: 28 June 1967, Udol (formerly Ujak), Slovakia [death certificate]
11) Ancestor cause of death: old age [death certificate]
12) Ancestor’s burial location: St. Dimitry’s Church cemetery, Udol, Slovakia [Find A Grave]
13) Ancestor’s occupation(s): Private farm peasant [death certificate]
14) Ancestor’s military service: None
15) Ancestor’s residences: Hajtovka and Udol, Slovakia and Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey [church records and census records, death certificate]
16) Ancestor’s land records: Michael earned enough money in New Jersey to buy a small piece of land in Udol, Slovakia [Anna’s death certificate]
17) Ancestor’s probate records: None
18) How do you keep track of this information?: RootsMagic software.
19) What records do you need to find?: None
20) Have you written an ancestor genealogical sketch about this person?: Yes.
Cool to know you found those Slovak records!!!
I had no idea cemetery records are available for Slovakia.
Many residents of Ujak and Hajtovka emigrated to the Passaic, NJ area. Some stayed forever, some came and returned home and some traveled back and forth through the Years. Find A Grave has a listing for the (now) Udol village cemetery. Also, the church registers recorded burials back to the early 1800s. Good thing because Rusyns put wooden crosses on the graves – no gravestones until later in the 20th century.