Wednesday, December 27, 2006

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.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful blog, very well written. Takes a lot of hard facts and makes it easy to relate to them. Helps us descendants understand on a more personal level. Well done.

Bill Tarkulich

Anonymous said...

My Paternal GF Michael Kammer and his parents Jan Kammer and Anna Kalanin(which I have not been able to find any info on) lived in Valaskovce according to my GF's birth certificate(08-20-1891). Thank you so very much for sharing your info and thoughts.

Kathi Higgison
Michigan

Suzanne Bubnash said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Suzanne Bubnash said...

Kathi, thanks for looking at the Valaskovce site.

If you can fill me in on nformation about your Kalyanin family in Valaskovce, I can look in the
parish records for more (have a copy here). Haven't seen Kammer in the records but Kalyanin is plentiful. In fact, my gr-gr grandmother was Anna Kalyanin, but
it is a common name.

Anonymous said...

I am an Englishman who fell in love with the area six years ago and have properties in Zemplinske Hahre and Snina.When driving along the road from Humenne to Snina at night one can sometimes see the light from fires lit by soldiers high up on the hillside above Modra. I was most interested to read about this "lost" village which I did not know about.
John Holland

Anonymous said...

I have just noticed I did not spell Zemplinske Hamre properly in my last blog. This part of Slovakia in the extreme east has a magical charm for me.
John Holland

Suzanne Bubnash said...

John, I have never seen that scene at night; it sounds so enchanting in a way. If you look at an old map you'll see the shepherd village of Valaskovce marked. Because it is now a military base access is restricted. Thanks for your thoughts.

Unknown said...

Hi my name is Tim and Suzanne Csornej-Maczko is my Great grandmother that married Mike Oleyar in Stockett,Cascade,Montana which I'm still trying to find out what his real name was.My grandfather their son was George O'Leyar.If you know how I might find out more I'd appreciate it thanks.I've found from the rabbinical book of the Talmud that Michael Csornej who was married to Maria Csornej born 1836 baptized Ann Csornej in what would have been Pasztorhegy,Zemplen,Hungary.I'm assuming that's where she was born?

Unknown said...

Hello Suzanne,really like this blog!! I'm Matthew Ferda Jr my G Grandparents Came From Valaskovce as well arriving in the U.S.on October 25th 1904. Working mines and ending up in Adina, Ohio.. I would be happy to share any info if needed,i also would like to hear more about your experience there..

Also i Have some Questions About this comment by James Kalonick,

"I just read your article"Visiting Valaskovce, My Ancestral Village....." I learned this evening my Grandparents lived in Valaskovce before emigrating to America. Their names were John and Anna (Vasilko)Kalonick. I am new(about a month) to ancestry research and thrilled find and your account. Would love to know more. Can I please know more.
Jim Kalonick"

Hello Jim Kalonick, would you like to share some information about the Kalonick Family with me? My G Grandparents were John Ferda and Mary Kalonick im hoping we could go a little deeper in our searches if the families are connected, the odds are looking good to me from this point of view, thank you