Searching for last name Fojtek.
My great grand mother was a Fojtek born in Czechoslovakia around 1852. I cannot find any information about her family. I have tried many resources to find info and have hit a brick wall.
Can anyone gives me some hints as to where I could look?
Her name was Johanna Fojtek. I have her immigration date (1883), and her death (1930) date.
ベストアンサー
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Have you tried the tips on the research Wiki on how to find a town of origin in what is now the Czech Republic? It has a lot of useful tips. https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Czech_Republic_Finding_Town_of_Origin
Another resource that sometimes helps if kdejsem.cz. https://www.kdejsme.cz/prijmeni/Fojtek/hustota/ You can type in a surname and see its current distribution. Fojtek is an unusual name, and it is concentrated in a small area. So that might be a clue as to when it was used in the 1850s. You should also be aware that the feminine form of Fojtek is Fojtková, so the records you find from Bohemia (or Moravia, if the kdejsme map is a good clue) will almost certainly be for Fojktová (although the masculine form of surnames is used sometimes in birth records for girls).
Good luck!
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@Andrea_in_Texas I tried to do some research on Johanna and I couldn't find much, but I did find something that may be a start. You probably already know this, but I found a marriage record that said that Johanna Fojtek married John Gurecky in September 1884 in Texas (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK8T-VTPY?from=lynx1UIV8&treeref=9J71-N81&cid=fs_copy). Is this the correct person? If so, I also found the 1900 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3PL-4Q4?from=lynx1UIV8&treeref=9J71-N81&cid=fs_copy) and 1910 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M23S-659?from=lynx1UIV8&treeref=9J71-N81&cid=fs_copy) US census records that specify that she was born in Bohemia. Although Bohemia is technically a particular region of Czechoslovakia, I read that the name Bohemia was sometimes used to refer to all the Czech regions (Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia). The census records also say that she immigrated in 1883 like you said.
Since the marriage record and the census records said her residence was in Texas I thought it was possible that when she immigrated from Czechslovakia to the US that she may have arrived in Texas. After doing some research I found that during that time period there was actually a port in Galveston, Texas where many Czech immigrants arrived and I found an online database where you can search for names (Galveston Immigration Database - Galveston Historical Foundation (galvestonhistory.org)). When I searched in the database I did find a record for someone named Johanna Fojtek who immigrated in 1883. It specified that her place of origin was Moravia. This could indicate that Johanna was from specifically the Moravia region of Czechoslovakia. (I will attach a screenshot of the record) Unfortunately, this does not narrow your search down a lot. What you really need is the name of the particular town or city that she was from because then you can look in the church or parish records for that area. I tried to see if any other records specified the town she was from, but I couldn't find any. Do you know if she has any family members who also immigrated to the US? If you have any other names of family members that also immigrated, you might be able to find records for them that specify the town that their family was from. However, based on that immigration record you at least know that the town is probably in the Moravia region of Czechoslovakia.
Here is a link to a video that has some information about finding ancestors from the Czech area and other eastern European areas that I found to be helpful (Polish? Austrian? Czech? Making Sense of the Austro-Hungarian Empire • RootsTech Connect 2021 • FamilySearch). If you are ever able to find the name of the particular town she is from, this video also talks about some of the next steps you can take to find records for them.
If I am ever able to find anything else I will let you know, but hopefully this will help you a little bit, or maybe someone else will be able to give you some more tips. I wish you the best of luck!
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@Andrea_in_Texas So I tried to do some research about Johanna Fojtek and I couldn't find a lot of information, but I found something that may be a start. Based on some sources that I found, they said that Johanna married John Gurecky in 1884 in Texas. Is this the correct person? If so, I also found census records that said she was from Bohemia, which is technically the name of a particular Czech region, but I read that it can also just be used to refer to all the historical Czech regions in general (Bohemia, Moravia, & Czech Silesia). I also figured that when Johanna immigrated to the US that she may have arrived in Texas since she was married in Texas and that's where the censuses said she resided. After doing some research I found that during the time she immigrated there was a port in Galveston, Texas where some Czech immigrants arrived. I found an online database that lets you search for names of people who immigrated to Galveston (Galveston Immigration Database - Galveston Historical Foundation (galvestonhistory.org)). When I searched, I did find a record for someone named Johanna Fojtek. It said that she immigrated in 1883 like the date that you have and it said that she came from Moravia. Czechoslovakia was historically divided into different regions with Moravia being one of them, so this immigration record at least narrows down the region that your ancestor was most likely from. (I will attach a screenshot of the record). However, to find more information you really need a specific name of the town or city that she was from. If you have that, you can search for information in the church of parish records for that particular area. Sometimes the name of the town or city can be included on death, naturalization, immigration, marriage, or other records like that, but I couldn't find any records for Johanna that included that information. Do you know if Johanna had any family that also immigrated to the US? If she did, you may be able to look at records for them and find the name of the particular town that their family was from.
Also, here is a link to a video that discusses how to track down ancestors from the Czech regions as well as other eastern European countries that I found to be helpful (Polish? Austrian? Czech? Making Sense of the Austro-Hungarian Empire • RootsTech Connect 2021 • FamilySearch).
I wish that I could have found more information, but if the immigration record is accurate, you probably at least know that the city or town that Johanna was from was in the Moravia region. Maybe someone else will be able to help you find more information. But if I ever find anything else, I will let you know!
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We are so glad you are part of our Czechia Community - it is a great source for sharing ideas, info and help! We have a lot of talented, experienced participants here.
Be sure to take note of the helpful links at the top of the page - we continue to add new ones as we find them. There are many great resources!
Sometimes we have to be patient as we wait for a person with the needed skill set to come along - we look forward to your comments and questions.
Enjoy today! Cindy Jarvis
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Thank you so much for the information. I have looked so many places. Hopefully your information will help.
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