John Murcko is the last of my 2X great grandparents who had children leave the village for the United States, but who never crossed the ocean himself.

The Murckos lived in Hajtovka, which is an interesting tiny village. Back in the day, Ujak (Udol) was almost three times the size of Hajtovka with more than 800 residents to Hajtovka’s 300, but Hajtovka was actually a bit more ethnically and religiously mixed because it was a mile closer to the big town of Plavnica, which had about 1400 residents.

Udol was the home to St. Dimitry’s Greek Catholic Church, which also served Hajtokva and, with the exception of perhaps a few Roman Catholic brides and one Jewish family, Udol was ethnically almost 100% Rusyn.

Hajtovka, on the other hand, although much smaller, had a more mixed neighborhood with a number of Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic families.

Hajtovka residents had to travel to church, regardless of their religious affiliation. St. Dimitry’s was a mile to the east and the Roman Catholic Church of St. James was about 1.9 miles to the south. The most common method of travel was feet because many families didn’t even own a wagon and certainly not horses.

Again, regardless of religion, Hajtovka’s residents were, like most of their friends and family in neighboring towns, zsellers, those landless peasants who worked for others, usually the local manor house.

So although John Murcko spent his life in Hajtovka, he had a bit more of a regional view of life than those in Udol.

John Murcko was born the fourth of seven children of John Murcko and Anna Lisinska on 20 November 1831 undoubtedly at home in Hajtovka, but baptized in St. Dimitry’s Church in Udol. Only John’s sister Maria and brother Peter are known to have married. The other four children likely died in childhood.

John Murcko married Maria Szova, also born and raised in Hajtovka, but their marriage record has not been found. They likely married about 1868 and the priest forgot to record the marriage. Their children are all noted as legitimate so the priest knew they were married in the church.

They had five children and four lived to adulthood and married.

Children: (Murcko)

1. Maria, born 23 July 1869; died 21 August 1886
2. Anna, born 23 May 1872; died 28 June 1967, Udol, Slovakia; married Michael Scerbak, 22 October 1892, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey [My great grandparents lived in Passaic for about seven years before returning permanently to Udol.] They were the parents of seven children.
3. 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.
4. Helena (aka Julia), born 18 August 1877; died 20 January 1952, East Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey; married Stephen Pristas, c1901, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey. They were the parents of four children.
5. John, born 19 November 1879; married Maria Fedus, c1906. They were the parents of eight children. They were the parents of eight children, all born in Hajtovka. It is unknown whether they married in America or at St. Dimitry’s but this family remained in Slovakia.

John and Maria were fortunate to lose only one of their children – Maria, who died at the age of 17, but then watched as three of the others left for new lives in America.

It had to be difficult for John and Maria to seeing their children leave for America, knowing they might never see them again. Anna came back so her children knew their grandparents, but Susanna and Julia never did return to Europe and their ten children never had the opportunity to know their grandparents.

John Murcko died on 7 May 1917 and his wife, Maria, died on 6 January 1925, both in Hajtovka.

The youngest daughter of John Murcko and Maria Szova was Helena, born 18 August 1877, Hajtovka, Slovakia.

Helena, like so many of her family and friends, also emigrated to the United States, settling in Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey. I still find it quite amazing that, unlike earlier generations of immigrants, young girls made the trip across the Atlantic often without male companions. From Udol and Hajtovka, this meant getting to Hamburg, Germany (walking!!!) and then boarding steerage on the ship for the bumpy ride across the ocean to New York. From there, they had to travel another 15 miles by road to Passaic.

Also like her family and friends, Helena married in Passaic, probably at St. Michael’s church. She married Stephen Pristas, c1901. He was born 16 September 1877 in Matysova, Slovakia, a town not far from Hajtovka.

Whether they knew each other in Europe is not known, but it is certainly possible that the Murcko and Pristas families were acquainted with each other in the old country.

Helena also followed the habit of changing her name to Julia. Why this was done, almost 100% across the board, is not known, but for whatever reason, Helenas became Julias in New Jersey.

Julia (Murcko) Pristas died on 20 January 1952, East Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey. Stephen survived his wife by many years, passing away on 13 February 1971, Saddle Brook, Bergen, New Jersey.

Stephen and Julia (Murcko) Pristas were the parents of four children:

1. Mary (aka Marie), born 4 September 1902, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey; died 9 September 1994, New Jersey; married George Mereness, 1937, New Jersey. He was born 21 June 1906; died 13 December 2002, Edison, Middlesex, New Jersey. they had no children.
2. John (Jack), born 7 May 1906, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey, died 8 April 2001, New Jersey; married Catherine (MNU), c1930. They had two children, a son and a daughter.
3. Stephen, born 7 December 1909, Garfield, Bergen, New Jersey; died August 1969, New Jersey; married Edith A. Pree, 1928, New Jersey. She was born 1910, New Jersey; died 1971, West Milford, Passaic, New Jersey. They were parents of three daughters and one son. Two of the daughters, Julane and Virginia, have passed away.
4. Helen, born 26 June 1914, New Jersey; died 12 November 2007, New Jersey; married Joseph Anthony Mikulik, 1935, New Jersey. He was born 15 August 1912, Garfield, Bergen, New Jersey; died 12 December 1975, Paterson, Passaic, New Jersey. They were the parents of three children.

This completes the life stories of the descendants of John Murcko and Maria Szova of Hajtovka, Slovakia. They have a number of living descendants living in America.

Last month, I shared what I was able to find about the descendants of John Murcko and Maria Szova of Hajtovka, Slovakia.

I left the two daughters for a later time and the time to talk about their families has come.

Quick recap: John Murcko married Maria Szova c1868 and were the parents of five children: Maria (1869-1886), Anna (1872-1967) who married Michael Scerbak, Susanna (1875-1961) who married John Kovalycsik, Helena (Julia) (1877-1952) married Stephen Pristas and John (1879-1926+) who married Maria Fedus.

Susanna Murcko, the third child of John and Maria, was born 5 March 1875 in Hajtovka, Slovakia. She died on 14 July 1961 in Garfield, Bergen, New Jersey.

Susanna married John Kovalycsik on 8 June 1894, undoubtedly at St. Michael’s Church in Passaic, New Jersey. Susanna and John followed the others from Ujak and Hajtovka along the money trail to New Jersey.

John Kovalycsik died in February 1928 in Garfield, Bergen, New Jersey.

John and Susanna (Murcko) Kovalycsik were the parents of six children:

1. Anna, born June 1896, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey; died 1957, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey; married Michael Wancho, 1917, Passaic, Passaic, New jersey. He was born 12 July 1892, Dushor, Sullivan, Pennsylvania and died in May 1964, Garfield, Bergen, New Jersey. They were the parents of four children: John, Henry, Edward and Dorothy.
2. Susan, born 16 August 1899, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey; died 7 February 1968, New Jersey; married Steven Ruff, c1927. He was born 1898; died August 1972, East Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut;. They were the parents of one daughter, Susan.
3. Olga, born 6 October 1902, Garfield, Bergen, New Jersey; died 8 March 1985, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey; unmarried
4. John, born 4 February 1907, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey; died 1915, New Jersey
5. Peter, born 1910, Garfield, Bergen, New Jersey; died 31 July 1953, Middletown, Delaware, New York; married Jane Theresa Zdankowski, 1938, New Jersey. She was born 8 January 1917, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey; died 28 April 2003, New Jersey. It appears they had no children.
6. Daniel, born 18 October 1917, Garfield, Bergen, New Jersey; died 26 July 1989, Garfield, Bergen, New Jersey; married Joyce Susan Smarsh, 1 June 1957, New Jersey. She was born 1 June 1935, Passaic, Passaic, New Jersey; died 223 May 2004, New Jersey. They divorced, but had no children.

So, of the six children, the two eldest – Anna and Susan – are the only ones known to have had children and they both have living descendants today.