Thomas Palkovic

• Thomas Palkovic  was born  on January 22, 1886  in Kuty, Slovakia.
  • Thomas was the first child of  Michal (Michalin) Palkovic and  Julia Rosivac Palkovic.  He was born in Kuty in house #229.  He was baptized on January 23, 1886 and his godparents were Tomas Kovanic and Maria Dobias. [Bratislava Archives]
• Thomas immigrated to Schenectady, New York. in March, 1907.  The story we always heard was that he immigrated to avoid being drafted into the army.  At that time, Slovakia was part of the Austria Hungarian Empire and they were fighting the Russians. 
  • Recently, we heard that Thomas left secretly in the middle of the night.  He didn't tell his family he was leaving. [Anka told Aunt Rose when she visited Slovakia]  
• At some point in time,  Thomas found a job at the General Electric Company, where he worked until he retired. 
• Thomas Palkovic was naturalized in 1917, as were his son, Joseph (born 1916) and his daughter, Rose (born 1917) according to a list prepared by the City Clerk's Office for the Schenectady Historical Society.
• He died on February 17, 1959 and is buried in Sts. Cyril and Methodius Cemetery in Schenectady, NY

Public Records

I don't remember hearing much about Grandpa Tommy's story.  But as we begin to search public records, we are putting the story together [2006].  

According to the ship manifest available at www.ellisisland.org, Tomas Palkovics  sailed from Rotterdam on the Nieuw Amsterdam on March 2, 1907.  He was 19, a Slovak whose last residence was in Kuty.  It was difficult to read the handwriting on the manifest, but my best guess is that it says he was to be met by his uncle, Michael Rosivac, who lived at 308 Zoller Avenue, Schenectady, NY. 

According to the Ellis Island records, Milhaly Rosivacs arrived in New York in 1903 at age 26.  He went to the Schenectady home of his brother-in-law, Josef Sefcovic.  Milhaly is the Hungarian name for Michael.  According to the Bratislava Archives, Julia Rosivac had a brother, Michal Rosivac.

[According to a search list, 3 Rosivacs arrived in 1903 from Kutti--Maria (age 32), Mihaly (age 26), Sidonia (age 23).  I did not investigate these entries further.  That should be done.]

On the 1910 Census, I found that Thomas  was living in the Ninth Ward in Schenectady, NY as a boarder in the household of  Tom Madairix, age 40, who came to the U.S. in 1901 and his family.

The household included:   Annie Madairix, his wife age 36, and children:  Cyril Madairix age 12,   Tay Madairix age 6 and  Matt Madairix age 1.  The three boarders in his home were Paul Kovacic age 40, Sand Dopyerd age 23, and Thomas Palkiewic age 23.   More...

The Schenectady Public Library has city directories that date way back in history.  I started looking in 1911.  I did not find a listing until 1914.  It read:  Palkovicz Thomas, emp. G.E. Co   b   106 Sunset 

Josephine Vavra

• Josephine Vavra was  born in 1893, also in Kuty, Slovakia. 
• Josefina and her mother, Helena Vavra immigrated in 1911 to Roxbury, MA, where they had other family. 
• I often wondered how Josephine ended up in Schenectady, when all her other sisters stayed in MA.
• Josephine died in 1981 and is buried in Sts. Cyril and Methodius Cemetery in Schenectady, NY .

Wedding Picture

Mont Pleasant

Thomas and Josephine were married in St. Thomas' Church (the German church) in Mont Pleasant, a growing immigrant neighborhood in Schenectady, New York.  Before long, the Slovak community built St. Cyril and Methodius Church and hall, which was the center of their social life.  They had seven children and their home on Webster Street was the center of family life for two generations.

American Slovak Community

The American Slovak Community, like other ethnic communities, had organizations which supported Slovaks in preserving their ethnic heritage and supporting each other and their homeland.  Our family belonged to the First Catholic Slovak Union, FCSU, also called Jednota.  Visit their website at  www.fcsu.com

FCSU founded in 1890.  On September 4-6, 1890, twelve men under the leadership of Father Stephen Furdek of Cleveland, Ohio, gathered at the home of Jacob Gruss on Corwin Avenue in Cleveland and formed the First Catholic Slovak Union. This organization, the second oldest fraternal society in the United States, goes by the shortened name Jednota, which in Slovak means union or fraternity. The First Catholic Slovak Union is a "union" of hundreds of branches throughout the United States and Canada. It grew from its 320-member beginning in 1890 to a peak in 1965 of approximately 105,000 members, making it then the largest Slovak fraternal organization in the world.                                                               (From www.fcsu.com)  

Natick, Massachusetts

Josephine had several sisters in Natick.  Helena, their mother, lived in Schenectady with Josephine and her family.  They traveled to Natick often.  The cousins were very close and traveled between the two towns over their whole lifetime.  When I was a young girl, I sometimes went to Natick with my Grandma Josephine.  I always had a good time there with her sisters and their families.  There are second cousins in Natick who are working on a family tree and history. 

Our Family back in Slovakia

During the late forties and fifties, when I was growing up, we were deep in the Cold War and the homeland of our grandparents, Czechoslovakia, was a Communist country, very distant and out of reach behind the Iron Curtain.  Grandpa Tommy's brother and his family were there.  Grandma did write to them, but subject matter was guarded, since mail might be opened and read by the authorities.  When I was in high school, I remember Grandma giving me wallet size pictures of two young people (a little older than I).  They were a niece and nephew of Grandpa.

A Journey to Reconnect

In the early Eighties, we reconnected with that family.  Some of our family members visited them and some of them visited us.

Once again, we are reconnected--and what a great thing that is!

A Reunion in Cyberspace

I'm very anxious to have input on this website from other family members both in the United States and the Slovak  Republic.  

Create your own web page and we'll link to it, or sent me the information and I will create the page. 
Do it in Slovak or English. 

Let's get together and write our family history, share stories, and get to know each other.  Email me

A Colleague in Cyberspace

Meet Beverly  www.valcovic.blogspot.com 

Beverly found our site when searching "Kuty", where her husband's family comes from.  They recently made a trip to Slovakia, including Kuty and she has some wonderful information on her blog which we will all enjoy--pictures, information, and links to other peoples sites that are very good.

I wish to thank Beverly for sharing her trip experience, and also her research to find some very good links about Slovakia (Slovak Republic).  Chances are these great links did not come up among the first 10 when she did a search.  It takes great patience to go through page after page of links to find those with good information to share.

I love Beverly's blogspot.  She and I are enjoying the Internet in much the same ways.  When you visit her site, be sure to also visit these links:  The Bratislava Slide Show  and The Foreigners Guide Living in Slovakia.

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