Looking for help with Galik, Letasi, Bohock, Kusenda families.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John E. Bartos on October 18, 2009 at 10:10am

Hi Julie: I have done a fair amount of research on my Slovak ancestors and use a Slovak surname site which enables researchers to post names of families they are searching. I looked at it for your family name "Galik" but did not find an exact match. But I did find a listing for "Gallik" (GALLIK (Lendak) - Mgr. Slavomír Gallik, Bernolákova 2, 028 01 Trstená, e-mail, e-mail ). If you go to the following website it will enable you to click on the email address for Mr. Gallik and allow you to send him an email query to see if you have the same family. Here's the address:

http://www.genealogy-heraldry.sk/slo/g.html

I hope this might give you a lead.

Best Regards,
John E. Bartos

Permalink Reply by Julie Grinnell on October 18, 2009 at 2:18pm

Thank you, John :)

I had started my last reply this morning, and left the window open to finish it when I got home this afternoon, so I did not see your reply until after my reply was posted.

Still a chance that this is a related person, though, and I will pursue it. Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out :).

Julie

Permalink Reply by John E. Bartos on October 18, 2009 at 3:01pm

Hi again Julie. Thank you for your reply.

One thing I wanted to pass along to you was that you need to keep a very open mind when searching records for many of the Slovak given and surnames. Spellings are often phonetic and may have been flavored by the recorder's own ethnic background. Additionally, the Slovak language employs certain diacritical markings which alter the sounds of certain names when pronounced. As an example, I suspect your Suzana Bohock was most likely ZUZANA BOHACOVA in Slovakia. Zuzana is the most common spelling for Susan/Suzanna/Susannah; The extension "OVA" is added to to the end of the surname to identify the person as female. When the "OVA" is used in the maiden name it means the woman is from that family. e.g. BOHAC would become BOHACOVA . Your Paul Galik's first name is probably spelled "Pavel" or "Pavol".

(BTW. I found two researchers at the Slovak surname site looking for persons with similar surnames: They are:

BOHAČ (Myjava) - Ancestors of Daniel Sadak: Adamek, Bohač, Kavicky, Mockovciak, Sadak. Anabeth Dollins, 1409 Terrace Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15228-1608, USA, www, e-mail (2002-05-28)
BOHAČIAK (Lysica) - Skúmam rody Bohačiak (Lysica) a Jurík (Nováky). Martina Bohačiaková, P. V. Rovnianka 11, 036 01 Martin, e-mail (2005-10-24)

John B.

Permalink Reply by Julie Grinnell on October 18, 2009 at 9:40pm

I understand what you mean. Unfortunately, I have no knowledge of the Slovak language, except for a few words that my Mom remembers from her childhood (plus, of course, names of some of the foods we have on Christmas Eve, like Kapusta, Kolach and Kifli :) ).
I am running into the same issue on my Dad's Scottish side.

I will look for the variations that you mentioned. I also saw the listings on the surname site that you shared, and will be contacting them as well.

Again, thank you so much for your help :)

Julie

Permalink Reply by Kristina Sullivan on March 4, 2010 at 9:25pm

Julie
I have surname Amadec , Klc-mickuviack, My GGrandfather was samuel KLC-Mickuviack who came to ellis island and was a mason and butcher in guttenberg NJ. He married a Pakan daughter one of two sisters. all from myjava. How did you find history so far back? We have traced ours to when a MR KLC-mickuviach came to myjava and announced he wanted to marry Alzbeta Galik. We don't know where he came from. Do you have any records further back then early 1800's?

Permalink Reply by Julie Grinnell on October 18, 2009 at 1:23pm

I was able to find some additional information (I'm so excited!):

Paul's parents, Samuel and Suzanna, did in fact use the GALIK spelling. Suzanna's maiden name was BOHOCK. However, no additional information has been found for them.

Ethel's father was Jozsef LETASI. So, I did have that spelling wrong. Jozsef was born about 1879, in Bošáca, Trenčín, Slovakia. He immigrated to America from Bremen, and arrived in New York on December 26, 1908.

Ethel's mother was Katarina KUSENDA. She was born about 1887, also in Bošáca, Trenčín, Slovakia. She immigrated to America from Rotterdam, and arrived in New York on September 8, 1913, along with their two oldest children, Janos and Jozsef. Katarina dies in Michigan, about 1929.

Katarina and Jozsef had 5, possibly 6 children total: Janos, Jozsef, Katarina, Paul and Ethel, and possibly a Steve. I am not sure yet if Steve was a sixth child, or an americanized name for Janos. I do not have a birth date for 'Steve', he is just remembered by family members.

I have been told that Jozsef remarried 'a few times' after Katarina's death, but have no names for his other wives.

Katarina's mother's name was also Katarina. The only info I have for her is that she lived in Bošáca, Trenčín, Slovakia at the time of her daughter's immigration. I do not know her husband's first name.

I am very excited to have found this new information! However, now I am stuck again. Does anyone have any good sources for Slovakian records? Do any of these names sound familiar to anyone?

In the end, despite questioning my Mom for years about her parents' families and her being adamant about not knowing any more info, I found that my parents had an old cabinet full of family photos and documents. When I reminded my parents that these items may have been useful, I got an 'oh, that's right...we forgot about that stuff.' And there, in all that info, was my Mom's baby book, where her mother had written in the names of my Mom's grandparents! Of course, seeing those names sparked some memories for Mom, and she was able to remember some of the names of Gramma's siblings.

It was all right there, all that time! Just goes to show that not only does perseverance (aka bugging relatives over and over LOL) pay off, but also rechecking places that you have searched before.

Permalink Reply by András Gálik on December 4, 2009 at 2:04pm

Hi Julie,

I am new here, I have been surfing on the net, when I saw your post here about the Galik families and surnames. I am a Gálik too, and I live in Hungary and I am searching mainly for the Gálik family in Hungary and maybe in Slovakia. In Hungary there are more families with that surname, and I have some info about them, but they don't relate to my family. But you wrote some names (János, József) that are Hungarian names. I have a Samuel Gálik in Hungary but it is not sure, that you search him.

Gálik Sámuel (Samuel Galik) lived in Hungary (Tiszaföldvár). He died in 20/10/1948 in Tiszaföldvár. He was butcher. His father was Sámuel (Samuel in English) too. His mother was Zsuzsanna Marovcsik (Suzanna in other languages!!! - but not Bohock).

I do not know if there is any link to your family, I just wrote because I am a Gálik too. Sorry for my English, I am writing fast, because I must go now!

Best wishes,
András

Permalink Reply by Lubomir Peter Kusenda on February 15, 2010 at 5:10pm

Hi Julie,

Only three people with the name Kusenda came to America through Ellis Island. One of them was, Jan Kusenda my uncle who was was born in 1887 in Zemianske Podhradie near Bosaca Trencin Slovakia. He emigrated to New York City on March 28, 1912. He then moved to Scalp Level a coal mine in Pennsylvania, near Winsdor. These dates are very close to the dates you have given for Katarina KUSENDA. Do you know if Katarina had a brother, or familiy member named Jan? Jan Kusenda's name is displayed on the wall at Ellis Island, as John Kusenda.

The next Kusenda which came to America was Adam Kusenda, from Bocsacz Hungary Bosaca. He arrived at age 34, on March 29, 1912, on a ship called Konigin Luise, from Bremen Germany. He emigrated into New Jersey. The final Kusenda was Janos Kusenda, from Bosatz Hungary Bosaca Trencin, at age 26. He met a woman named Katarina Apolen after he came to the US and they soon got married. Katarina Apolen was born in Ivanovce near Trencin Slovakia. She was also not married when she came to the US, at the age of 19, when she came to visit her sister Anna. Anna was living in Bethlehem Pennsylvania at the time. Katarina also had one brother named Stephan, who came to America in 1914, and again in 1923 to Newpport Indiana. Janos and Katarina had 4 children John, Helena, Frank, and Anna. Helena married a man with the last name of Yochum who was of German heritage.

Janos Kusenda, died on november 7, 1945 in bethlehem Pennsylvania. He was a Blacksmith for the Bethlehem Steel corporation. Katherina Apolen died young before 1930.

I was born in Bosaca Trencin Slovakia. If you have any information about any other Kusenda's which came from that area, please let me know. The Kusenda family has been living in Bosaca Vally since 1514. We came from Kutna Hora Bohemia to the Czech Republic about 50 miles east of Prague. We are the most common family name in Bosaca Vally. We live in three villages, Bosaca, Zemanske Podhradie, and Nova Bosaca. In total there are about 100 families with this name.

Peter Kusenda

Permalink Reply by Julie Grinnell on February 15, 2010 at 7:29pm

Peter,
Unfortunately, I don't know the first names of Katarina's parents, or whether she had any siblings. The dates are pretty close to Jan's. She came over on a ship called the Rotterdam. Her port of departure was also listed as Rotterdam. Her surname at the time of immigration, however, was Letasi, as she was already married and come over with he two oldest children. Her husband had already come over, ahead of her. I am very curious about Jan, and will look into him. Thank you :).


András,
Your Sámuel Gálik, sounds similar to mine in age, but my great-grandfather immigrated to America and died here. But thank you for the information :).


I am a little confused about the relationship between Hungary and Slovakia. With some of my Slovakian ancestors, some records list them as being born in Slovakia, but some list them as being born in Hungary. Is there an overlap of some sort? What is the relationship, and how does it affect our family trees and genealogy searches?

Permalink Reply by András Gálik on February 16, 2010 at 12:29am

Julie,
The connection between Hungary and Slovakia is clear. The Treaty of Trianon was the peace treaty concluded in 1920 at the end of World War I. This treaty changed the borders of Hungary. For example Myjava was located in Upper Hungary before the treaty, but after that Slovakia got those areas. So many settlements in Slovakia have both Slovakian and Hungarian inhabitants. It can cause the differences in birth places on your family tree.
Best regards,
András

Permalink Reply by Julie Grinnell on February 16, 2010 at 2:13pm

Ah...thank you András! :)

Permalink Reply by Kristina Sullivan on December 4, 2009 at 7:17pm

I am just starting my family tree and have been blessed with a good number of names from a cousin. I am still looking for more information and decendents of :Galik, Pakan, Amadec, Klc-Mickucviak from Myjava Slovakia. I know as far back as my great grandparents were Samuel Klc-Mickucviak and Dorothy Pakan. Samuel's parents were an unknown first name but surname Klc-Mckucviak and his wife was Alzbeta Galik. When my Great Grandparents immigrated to the states NJ- their name was changed to Klotch. If anyone has name that cross my family I would love to compare.