I knew that 19th-mid 20th century Catholic cemeteries (and perhaps some modern ones too?) had stringent rules about who was allowed to be buried there. My friend from West, Texas (a predominately Czech community) pointed out something to me that was really interesting. In her own words: As I have traversed through many cemeteries over…
Category: Texas Czechs
Reasons why Czechs immigrated to the United States between 1850-1930
There are many reasons why Czechs decided to immigrate. The year of immigration could give you some important clues. Early immigration (1850-1900) is usually about the desire to farm and own one’s land. Serfdom and Manors existed in the Czech lands until 1848. Even after that, land ownership was restricted to certain classes. It was…
Czech out this house!
This is a picture of me with my daughter (then 2) and my son (then 1) at the Hluchanek House located in the Czech Village at the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center in La Grange, Texas. My husband took the picture and was holding our other son (then 0 years old). I really feel a…
Can Catholics be Odd Fellows?
Yeah, I know some Catholics who are odd fellows, but can they be Odd Fellows? 😉I tried to research this online, but was not coming up with very many conclusive answers, so I decided to post my question on the Transitional Genealogists Forum. This forum is a place where professional genealogists and those en route to becoming…
Long lost gold: “Centennial History of St. John the Baptist Parish, Ammansville, Texas 1890-1990”
I was recently hired to work on redesigning and enhancing Arabic 041 (the first year High School Arabic class) for BYU’s Independent Study. It has been a really fun project, and between that and our upcoming move to Iowa in two weeks, I have had very little time to work on family history. Because I…
Find-a-Grave and giving back
Hey! So, a lot to write about. Today I went to the 3S Genealogy Symposium hosted by the Friench Simpson Memorial Library in Hallettsville, TX. There were some excellent speakers, and I learned a lot. Enough for several blog posts. During the break, I went to the Hallettsville City Cemetery. I have some collateral lines…
Genealogy look-ups at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church of Fayetteville, TX
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church is one of the earliest Czech Catholic churches in Texas. It is a valuable repository of Czech genealogical records that I am excited to use. From to the Fayetteville County History site: Many Czech and German immigrants settled in this area in the mid-1800s. After many years without the services…
Texas Immigration Agent Records: Private agent “F. Russek”, the North German Lloyd line, and a new repository of records!
My hunch was that I might find some advertisements for immigration agents in old newspapers. That hunch was verified in about two seconds. I’m in the midst of researching several immigration agents I found this way. One was a man in New York who brought at least 120 people from the German and Czech lands to…
Texas Immigration Agents Records: Do they exist, and if so where to start?
The 30 September 1887 newspaper “the Galveston Daily News” contains the only known passenger list for a group of incoming Texas immigrants, the majority of whom were German and Czech. (located here, page 8). The arrival manifests were destroyed in the 1900 hurricane in Galveston. The Bremerhaven-Bremen departure lists only exist for the years 1920-1939 (accessible…