Fearless Females 27 March 2016: Immigration Story

The prompt for 27 March 2016 is to tell a female ancestor’s immigration story.

March 27 — Do you know the immigration story of one or more female ancestors? Do you have any passenger lists, passports, or other documentation? Interesting family stories?

[Note: This post originally ran during the Fearless Females series in March 2010]

The immigration story of my grandmother Verona was what prompted me to begin my genealogical research. She was the last of her siblings to immigrate to America, arriving at age 22 with her niece Mary, who was 16.

Verona Straka and Mary Straka



She was detained for several days at Ellis Island for medical reasons. I wrote about her experience in my March 19th “Fearless Females” post, “Have you discovered a surprising fact about one of your female ancestors? ” and posted an image of the ship’s manifest that documented she was detained.

Copyright 2016, Lisa A. Alzo
All Rights Reserved

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Fearless Females 9 March 2016: Family Document

The prompt for 9 March focuses on family documents for a female ancestor.

March 9 — Take a family document (baptismal certificate, passenger list, naturalization petition, etc.) and write a brief narrative using the information.


[Note: This post originally ran during the Fearless Females series in March 2010]


This is my grandmother’s baptismal certificate (1899, Lutina, Slovakia).


SOURCE: Greek Catholic Church, Lutina, Slovakia, Baptismal Record for Verona Straka, 11 November 1899; issued 1960.



and the passenger list showing her arrival at Ellis Island in New York in 1922.



    SOURCE: Manifest, S.S. Orduna, 26 July 1922, List 2021 for Verona Straka (age 22).


Verona Straka was born on November 11, 1899 in Milpos, (Hungrary, later Slovakia) to Maria Verbovsky and Andrej Straka.  On July 26, 1922, Verona, along with countless other immigrants, boarded the S.S. Orduna, which left the port of Hamburg, Germany for the United States. When she arrived at Ellis Island, NY on August 7, 1922, she was listed on the ship’s manifest as a “laborer” with $25 in pocket her pocket en route to her final destination—her sister’s house, in Duquesne, Pennsylvania.

Copyright, 2016, Lisa A. Alzo
All rights reserved

http://theaccidentalgenealogist.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Fearless Females Blog Post: March 9: Family Documents

March 9 — Take a family document (baptismal certificate, passenger list, naturalization petition, etc.) and write a brief narrative using the information.

[Note: This post originally ran during the Fearless Females series in March 2010]


This is my grandmother’s baptismal certificate (1899, Lutina, Slovakia).

SOURCE: Greek Catholic Church, Lutina, Slovakia, Baptismal Record for Verona Straka, 11 November 1899; issued 1960.



and the passenger list showing her arrival at Ellis Island in New York in 1922.


SOURCE: Manifest, S.S. Orduna, 26 July 1922, List 2021 for Verona Straka (age 22).




Verona Straka was born on November 11, 1899 in Milpos, (Hungrary, later Slovakia) to Maria Verbovsky and Andrej Straka.  On July 26, 1922, Verona, along with countless other immigrants, boarded the S.S. Orduna, which left the port of Hamburg, Germany for the United States. When she arrived at Ellis Island, NY on August 7, 1922, she was listed on the ship’s manifest as a “laborer” with $25 in pocket her pocket en route to her final destination—her sister’s house, in Duquesne, Pennsylvania.

Copyright, 2013, Lisa A. Alzo
All rights reserved

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My “Family History Three”: Focusing My Research

I can’t believe the first week of January is almost gone! How are you doing on your family history research resolutions? I’ve been thinking about mine a lot this week, and I decided I really need to have a focus for my 2011 genealogy quests.

There are always “too many ancestors and too little time.” And, while I’m always open to whatever discoveries I make during the research process, this year I will focus my attention specifically on three ancestors.

1. Janos Alzyso (my great-grandfather).


He intrigues me because of various family stories I heard during my trip to Slovakia this summer. In particular, I learned about his coming to America more than once (he was one of the so-called “birds of passage” who would spend some time here to earn enough money to then go back to the old country with the hopes of being able to purchase land. I hope to track him through immigration/emigration, census records, and whatever other documents I can locate.

3. Borbola Manovsky – my great-grandmother.

I know very little about her so hope to find out whatever I can. She died the same year (just a few months apart) as her son (my grandfather), and I thought this was an interesting coincidence.

3. Istvan (Stefan) Sztraka (Straka) – my grandmother’s brother.


He stayed in Slovakia and served in the army. I saw his gravestone during my visit, but want to learn more about his life.

I will call these my “Family History Three”. I’ll blog about the search process and results as I find them. And, by doing so, I hope to possibly connect with new cousins and/or hear from any fellow researchers who have any information about these individuals.


Copyright 2010, Lisa A. Alzo

All Rights Reserved

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