Do you have Slovakian ancestors?

+15 votes
825 views

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Slovak_Roots

Did you have family that lived in Slovakia that historically was part of Austria-Hungary?

Did you have family that lived in Slovakia that was historically part of Czechoslovakia?

Slovakian ancestry can be hard to trace because of border changes. 

If you would like to join the Slovak Roots project, post an answer here and you will get a Slavic Roots badge.

in Requests for Project Volunteers by Maggie N. G2G Astronaut (1.3m points)
I would like to join. My heritage is from Eastern Slovakia (Gelnica, Kojsov area).
I would love to join as my father was born in Malinec Lucenec Slovakia and my mother was born in Prague Czechoslovakia

12 Answers

+12 votes
 
Best answer
Don't forget towns like Szarvas, which is in southern Hungary, but is still full of Slovak family names, because the place was completely depopulated under the Ottomans, and then resettled in the early-to-mid 1700s by mostly-Slovak immigrants. Unfortunately, nobody kept track of exactly where all the settlers came from; other than a few lists of escaped serfs who were the subject of lawsuits between landowners, there are basically no records of the prior lives of Szarvas's residents. My maternal-maternal-etc. line lived in Szarvas, so that's what I know about, but there are other towns like it scattered all over Hungary.

My maternal-paternal line is the other extreme: they lived in the Csallóköz (which is sort of a large island in the Danube between Vienna and Budapest), and they were about as purely Hungarian as it is possible to be -- but that entire area is now Slovakia.

I also have a large helping of Hungarianized German townspeople from places that are now in Slovakia (Losonc, Eperjes, Kisszeben, Gömörpanyit), a bunch of Slovaks from the valley between Besztercebánya and Zólyom, and my illegitimate great-grandmother's unknown father from somewhere in what is now south-central Slovakia.

(What they all have in common is that they were Lutherans. Well, except the Hungarians from Csallóköz; they were true thick-necked Calvinists.)

So definitely count me in: I have Slovak roots both geographically and ethnically. (But I will never be able to wrap my brain -- or tongue -- around the language. It uses consonants as vowels.)
by J Palotay G2G6 Mach 8 (89.9k points)
selected by Vicki Krisak
+11 votes
My father's side is all Slovak as far back as I have been able to trace it (back to the 1700's on some branches). I don't have my full tree added here yet. I'm just adding a few profiles at a time and working on cemeteries and other things on WikiTree in between.

I already joined the Slavic Roots Project. I also asked to join the Slovak Roots Project in December but I'm not sure that it was active yet. So please include me if I wasn't added then! Thanks!
by Anne Svihra G2G5 (5.8k points)

Anne, you are good with the Slovak project. The Slavic Roots badge covers the Slovak project. I added your interests to the page smiley

Thanks Maggie!
+11 votes
I consider myself to be 7/8 Slovak as seven of my great grandparents lived in what would be considered to be present day Slovakia.  One of my lines was a shepherd, so I am very familiar with difficulties and frustrations of these records, many dependent on what the priest decided was important to record.  There is nothing more frustrating than looking at a marriage record with no parents listed, particularly when that is the last clue to work back another generation. Especially when there are multiple families with the same names having children (with, of course, the same given name) born within close proximity.  

I already have a sticker for the Slavic Roots group, but do not have one for Slovak Roots.  I was not aware that was available until I read this post.  I am interested in being included and thank you for that opportunity.

Barbara
by Barbara Geisler G2G6 Mach 1 (19.2k points)
+11 votes
My paternal grandfather is 100% Slovak - mostly from the present day Tarnov area - and I would love to be included!
by Ashley Deley G2G2 (2.0k points)
+11 votes
I'm actually Slovakian myself. I've been adding some of my ancestors, so I guess I'm already kind of working on the Slovak Roots project in a way. :)
by Milan Kurovský G2G Crew (540 points)
+10 votes
Both maternal grandparents came from the village of Velična in the Orava region of the Slovak Republic.  My grandmother's name was Labda and my grandfather's was Farbak.  I've been able to find church records back one generation farther, but I'm stumped beyond that point by confusion created by the same name occurring repeatedly.
by Phil Schmidt G2G Crew (500 points)
The Ondrej Farbak and Zuzanna Huba who had a son Ondrej in 1887 were married in 1886: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRQJ-9NXG?i=107&wc=9P3L-GP6%3A107654101%2C114775701%2C114917001%2C114971801&cc=1554443 (number 7). The record gives names of parents and full birthdates, so it should be possible to get another generation with fair certainty (assuming the 1887 birth is the right one).
The Jan Labda and Maria Borsuk who had a daughter Katrina in 1892 were married in 1880: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRQJ-9NXP?i=99&wc=9P3L-GP6%3A107654101%2C114775701%2C114917001%2C114971801&cc=1554443 (bottom right, second to last entry on page). No names of parents this time, but there are birthdates.
+10 votes
My dad was 100 percent Slovak, with both parents born in Zdiar near the border with Poland. Sorry I am probably spelling the town wrong. My paternal grandfather Michael Daniel Krisak (or Krissak) and my paternal grandmother Victoria Olfky (Olsavsky) were born just miles away from each other, and immigrated to the U.S. with their parents. Weirdly, my grandfather's folks moved back to Europe. Can't find burial records for them, either.
by Vicki Krisak G2G6 (6.0k points)
Vicki, have you checked to see if their town has a facebook page?  If so, someone there might know of cemetery records.
Hi, Nan. I did check, and all they have is a website. I'll see if I can reach out for this information through it. Thank you!
+9 votes
Hello! I am tracing my paternal grand-father in Senne and Inacovce (Kosice). This project is very exciting for me!
by Kevin Duska G2G Crew (470 points)
+9 votes
I would like to join. My mother's family (Basala surname) lived in Verbocz, Michalovce, Kosiče, Slovakia, which was called Czechoslovakia when they departed in the late 1800s. Other surnames include Billy/Bilej, Baszala/Basala, Csismar, Danyko, Kristof, Lebeda, Lesho/Lesio/Lesko, Mihalyov, Slimak. We have located church records for some, all in the Košice area, back to the 1820s.
by Sharon LaVallee G2G Crew (470 points)
edited by Sharon LaVallee
+9 votes
I would like to join. My grandparents were from the Vinne, Michalovce, Slovakia area.
by Bonnie U G2G6 (8.5k points)
BU, thank you for joining
+5 votes
A branch of my father's side had listed Kosice on immigration records (which was a great surprise to many of us who had no idea there was Slovakian heritage in the family). And on my mother's side, a branch kept changing her nationality from Austrian to Hungarian to Czechoslovakian on census records so not sure where she actually came from yet. But anyway, I would like to join!
by Nicole Kelly G2G6 (7.8k points)
+5 votes
Hi Maggie!  Sure, I'll join.  My paternal ancestors are from all over the former Austro-Hungarian empire.

:-)  Jaki
by Jaki Erdoes G2G6 Mach 6 (69.1k points)

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