Saturday, November 19, 2011

Krbec of Bohemia - Surname Saturday

In 1877 Jan Krbec and Barbora Sunka were married in Drazicicih Tabor Bohemia. Jan and Barbora immigrated to the United States in 1887, arriving in New York on the Elbe on May 21. Traveling with Jan and Barbora were their children, Frank age 5 and Marie age 10 months. They had traveled from Bohemia to Austria and boarded the ship in Bremen, Germany. Their plan was to remain in Chicago, Illinois. Their journey completed, Barbora and Ian spent their lives in Cicero, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Krbec is a relatively uncommon name and there were only about a half a dozen families with that surname in Cook County, Illinois at the time of the 1900 census.

Researching the Cook County birth and death records, provided the original village of birth for Ian Krbec. The church records are digitized online at http://digi.ceskearchivy.cz. Using the records I was able to find the christening record for Ian Krbec in Chrastany, Bohemia in 1852.

Using a combination of Czech and Illinois records, I should be able to construct a timeline for the Krbec family and determine if Ian was connected to any of the other Krbec families. The search should prove interesting and fruitful since I have also discovered which parish the Krbecs belonged to in Cicero. Thanks to familysearch.org those records are also digitized online.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Happy Birthday Gus - Veteran's Day 2011

Gus Gulyban was born 11 Nove 1921 in Martin's Ferry, Ohio.  His parents were both immigrants from Hungary.  His father, August, was a coal miner who had immigrated in 1905 as a laborer, coming to the United States to seek his fortune.  His mother, Mary, traveled to the United States with her sisters, Elizabeth and Julia, to join their mother who had immigrated earlier.  Mary found work as a domestic servant, which helped her learn English.

Gus grew up on the banks of the Ohio River, but never learned to swim.  That was probably due to his mother's fear of water.  Nevertheless. he joined the U S Navy during WWII and served on the USS Zebra and on the Lindenwald from which he was discharged.  His brother John followed him into the Navy and remained in the Navy for 20 + years.

After leaving the Navy, Gus went to work for AT&T and settled in the Chicago, Illinois area where he married and raised a family.  After retiring from AT&T, Gus and his wife, Wanda, moved to FL where he lives today.

Happy Birthday Veteran Gus Gulyban!  One of many heros who served or are serving our country.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

N2A - Nook to Android Tech Tuesday

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was thinking of turning my Nook Color into an android tablet computer.  I was originally inspired by articles by Dick Eastman about the possibilities.  After doing some research, I decided to order a N2A card that could be inserted into the Nook and do the work for me.

The cards are available in 8, 16, and 32 gb sizes.  I ordered the 16GB size and prepared to wait patiently.  The card arrived in about 3 days and I followed the instructions and very soon I was holding a tablet computer in my hand.  I did have a few issues with downloading apps but they were quickly resolved by checking the N2A website tutorials.

The best thing about using this card it that when the card is removed, the Nook returns to its original state.  My new tablet does not have a camera but my phone does.  It cost me about $50.00 to turn my Nook Color into a tablet computer.  Today, I got an e-mail from Barnes & Nobel that the "new" Nook Color is a tablet already and sells for $249.00.  Go figure!  I got a tablet for about $300.00 and I'm happy with it.

I am currently beta testing Family Tree Maker for android and also have Families (android version of Legacy Family Tree) on my tablet and I love having my genealogy files with me anywhere.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Boarding School - a tradition? 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History Week 45

Week 45. High School. Describe your middle and/or high school. Was it a large or small student body? Is the school still in existence today? How has it changed since you went there? Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog (http://wetree.blogspot.com/) has yet another successful series on her hands: 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History 



I went to a small private school for high school. The average class size was about 50 girls and was fairly evenly split between day students and boarders. I was a boarding student as were all the cousins that also attended the school.

It seems to have been a family tradition in my mother's family that boarding schools were the schools of choice. In the 1900 census, my mother's oldest sister appears in Michigan living at St Joseph's Academy in Adrian. Her family lived in Chicago and she was 6 years old. Her uncle was the school's chaplain which may explain why she was there at such a young age. The other girls in the family, along with their cousins, attended the same school until my mother made a break with tradition in 1928. My mother attended a more local version on the same school. At least it was in Illinois! Mom went to the school from 6th grade forward.  By the time my cousins and I went to high school, the school was a 4 year high school only.

Sadly, the school closed in the 1972. In 2005 an all school reunion was held in the Chicago area. I was lucky enough to attend the reunion and in addition to seeing former teachers and classmates even saw some of my mother's classmates. (class of 1935) They not only knew her, they remembered her.

After the reunion, my class had a class party on our own. It is amazing that we seem to pick up where we left off. We may lose touch with each other, but we are still close.