Old Valaskovce

Old Valaskovce is located in the Carpathian Mountains of northeastern Slovakia, on the northern slope of the extinct volcanic peak called Vihorlat. The nearest city is Humenne, located in the valley below to the north. According to an early 20th century German topographic map [Uzgorod quadrangle], the village was reached via a side-road from Humenne to Kamienka, and from there via a windy cart-path up the mountain. There were similar paths from Modra and Bela, and from Nemet Poruba and Felso Remete on the south. Valaskovce was at the end of the road in all cases. It appears to be a place one would not pass through or stumble upon by accident, being high and remote in the Carpathian forest at 646 meters, about 500 meters higher and nine miles as the crow flies, from Humenne.

Over the past two centuries Valaskovce has been known by a handful of names, all but one of are variations on the word 'valaske', which was a peculiar type of ax used by shepherds. The Hungarian name, Pasztorhegy, translates as 'shepherd mountain.' Following is a list of the village names and the dates they were used*:

1786 Walaszka, Walaszkocz
1808 Valaskocz, Walasskowce
1863, 1888-1902 Valaskoc
1873-1882 Valyaskoc
1907-1913 Pasztorhegy
1920-1937, 1953--[current] Valaskovce

*Source:

Nazvy Obci na Slovensku za Ostatnych Duesto Rokov, by Milan Majtan

Bratislava: 1972, Vydavatelstvo Slovenskej Akademie Vied.

Held in the Family History Library of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

My Valaskovce Roots

Valaskovce, in Zemplen County in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, was the birthplace of my grandfather, Janos Bubnas, Americanized as John Bubnash. He was born to Paul Bubnas and Mary Szorokacs in 1891. In 1910 he arrived at Ellis Island and settled in the bituminous coal country of Western Pennsylvania. He married my Baba, Suzanna Csornej-Maczko, in Clairton in 1912. Seven of their eight children survived childhood, and four of the five boys are veterans of World War Two or Korea. In 1951 my grandfather was crushed in a slatefall and survived, though largely paralyzed from the chest down. This was the grandfather I knew--a man who figured out how to hoe the garden with one free hand while leaning on a crutch with the other, and who strived to do whatever job or work was within his power. More about him in a future post.

In this blog will be posted information about the village and its families from sources such as the 1869 Zemplen County Census, Greek Catholic Parish Records, my relatives still residing in the Old Country, and my own personal observations. I welcome your input, information, and comments and would hope that this blog could become sort of a gathering place for descendants of the shepherds and farmers of Valaskovce.