TRACING MY ANCESTRY
Before he passed on, my father, Frank Joseph
Nohavec, a lifetime resident of Crete, Nebraska, had engaged in fairly
extensive genealogical research in the 1980s on the Nohavec families
in and about Crete. He had documented this research on family group
sheets (paper) and other handwritten documents. As a result of his
work, I became interested in pursuing my ancestry, and his data
provided me with a good starting point.
My father had found that his grandfather. Matej, (my great
grandfather) had immigrated to Crete, Nebraska at the age of 18 from
Trebycinka, a small village in Bohemia. He also had Matej's birth,
death, and marriage dates. From marriage documents, I was able to
learn the name of Matej's parents (my great great grandparents), Josef
Nohavec and Marie Bosackova, but little else. And all my attempts to
locate the village of Trebycinka proved fruitless.
In 1991, my wife Jean Ann, my son Bob, and I went to Germany to visit
my daughter Beth and her husband Chuck, an air force captain who was
stationed at an air force base near Frankfurt. While we were there, we
decided to drive into Czechoslovakia to see if we could locate my
great grandfather's birth village. Before departing, I visited a
library in Frankfurt and found a book which placed Trebycinka in the
province of Klatovy. Thus armed, Bob, Beth, and I headed by car for
Czechoslovakia. (Jean Ann remained behind at Beth's home to take care
of our grandson, Michael).
After several hours of driving, we entered Czechoslovakia at the
northwest part of the country and stayed at a bed-and-breakfast near
Karlovy Vary. Regrettably, I'm unable to speak Czech, but the
proprietor could speak English, and the next morning he showed us how
to get to Klatovy province, which was located about 100 km to the
southeast.
When we reached the edge of the Klatovy province, I told Bob and Beth
to keep their eyes open for a Trebycinka road sign. Lo and behold,
about 15 minutes later, my son shouted "There it is!" And,
sure enough, he'd spotted a sign which indicated that Trebycinka was 2
km to the left off the main highway. We traveled down a narrow,
asphalted road and soon reached the village of about 20 homes. Small
wonder that it wasn't on any map!
On the first floor of one of the homes was as a small shop tended by
the owner-a short, stout, woman between 60 and 70 years of age and
typically Czech in her appearance. She presumed we were German, so I
dredged up my college German and asked, "Wo ist Nohavec,"
hoping to be directed to a Nohavec relative in the village. She
replied, "Nohavec ist kaput." My son then drew a picture of
a tombstone with the name "Nohavec" on it, and
inquired, by gesturing, if a Nohavec grave might be found nearby.
Immediately, the woman sprang to the challenge. She spoke briefly to a
lady friend in the shop (I presume she asked her to mind the store),
and then, with very animated gestures, asked us to accompany her out
of the shop. Once outside, she immediately climbed into the passenger
side of my automobile. So I got into the driver's seat, and Bob and
Beth jumped into the rear seat. Our new guide motioned for me to drive
this way and that, and after about 5 minutes, we arrived at a rural
church surrounded by a very large cemetery.
She quickly climbed out of the car and headed up the path into the
cemetery, all the while motioning vigorously for us to follow. She
turned right, then left, and pointed. There, in front of us, was a
tombstone with the name "Vaclav Nohavec" inscribed on it,
together with another name "Barbora Nohavcova." (How she
knew exactly where that tombstone was is still a mystery to me; it was
the only Nohavec tombstone in the cemetery!) So, we took many pictures
and then drove the woman back to her store.
We then traveled to Svihov, a slightly larger town near the church,
and inquired about the Nohavec name from a gentleman running a small
kiosk there who could speak a little English. He asked an older man
standing nearby about the name. The older man said that a woman with
the maiden name of Nohavcova had lived in Svihov perhaps 25 years
earlier but had moved away. He knew not where, but he knew that her
married name was Marie Vyskocilova.
They suggested we go to the Svihov police station to find her new
address. Keep in mind that Czechoslovakia, in 1991, had just emerged from behind the Iron Curtain. I was a bit fearful of going
into any police station, but I screwed up my courage, ventured into
the station, and asked if they knew where Marie Vyskocilova had moved
to.
They asked me to wait, and after about 30 minutes, they were able to
produce her current address in the town of Beroun, about 30 miles
north. (How they were able to do that, considering Marie had departed
Svihov 25 years earlier, was amazing to me; they obviously kept very good track of where
everybody was under the Communist reign!)
So, we went to Beroun, a fairly large town between Prague and Plsen.
Because the street address was going to be difficult to find, I
decided to again go to the police station for assistance. The officer
first attempted to direct me; then, when I was obviously confused, he
indicated that he would drive there and we could follow. After about a
15-minute drive, we arrived at an apartment complex.
The officer pointed to the door and departed. We went to the door,
knocked, and the door was opened by a woman of about 60 years of age.
My son whipped out his passport and pointed to his picture and his
name-Nohavec. I thought the woman was going to faint! She was amazed
to be looking at a relative from the US! She invited us in, and as we
moved into her living room, she busily picked up articles and engaged
in straightening up the apartment.
Marie could speak a bit of English, so we were able to explain the
nature of our quest. However, Marie was unable to remember much beyond
her own grandparents (which is quite the norm, when you think about
it). She knew nothing of the tombstone between Trebycinka and Svihov,
and nothing of my great grandfather, Matej. She told us of a nephew,
Vaclav Nohavec, living in Prichovice, a village about 25 km south of
Plsen, and she suggested we go there.
So, we set out for Prichovice, another very small village. Not being
able to locate it, we stopped at a huge Catholic church in Prestice, a
larger town in the area, to ask directions. The priest there was able
to speak some English, and he directed us to Prichovice, which was
only about 4 km away.
When we got to the village, I saw a gentleman and asked if he could
speak English. He said he could, so I asked him if he knew where
Vaclav Nohavec lived. He replied, "Oh yes, I know where Mr.
Nohavec lives." He showed us the house and also told us that
Vaclav's mother lived right across the street. Before he left, I asked
him if he would be willing to act as an interpreter, should the need
arise. He agreed and then departed. We knocked on Vaclav's door, but
no one was home.
So, we went across the street and knocked on his mother's door. She
answered; we did the passport thing again; once again, expressions of
wonder and surprise, and an invitation to come in. Vaclav's sister was
also there, but neither could speak English. So my son fetched the
gentleman we had talked to earlier, and we spent about 2 hours (with
translator madly translating both directions) in an attempt to find
out about my great grandfather, Matej. Again, we were stymied-neither
of the two women could go back beyond grandparents. So, I took lots of
notes, and we departed.
And that was the end of our visit in 1991. The next morning, we headed
back to Germany with lots of notes, a photograph of a Nohavec
tombstone, but no direct evidence of anyone who knew of my great
grandfather, Matej.
Six years later (1997), I again decided to pursue the origins of my
great grandfather, Matej. By this time, I had a genealogy program on
my computer and access to the Internet. On the Internet, I found a
website with a Czech phone directory, complete with addresses. I found
5 Nohavecs listed, and I sent each of them a letter in English, asking
if they would help me with information my great grandfather, Matej.
After about 2 months, I received responses from 4 of those to
whom I had written-I was amazed at my percentage of return! Each of
the respondents had laboriously translated my letter into their
language (Czech) so that they could read it; then they laboriously
constructed a response and translated it into English so that I could
read their reply. They provided me with bits and pieces of data but
nothing connecting them to me or to my great grandfather, Matej.
However, one of the respondents, whose name was Josef Nohavec,
indicated an interest in genealogy and said he would look further into
the matter. He said he thought that we might be directly related.
(Note: The Nohavec name is not a common name, so anyone with that
surname probably would be a relative!)
Nothing transpired after that initial exchange. So, two years later
(1999), I decided to make another attempt at contact. I wrote another
letter to Josef and asked him if he had email, enclosing my email
address and asking him to respond. About one month later, I received
an email message from Josef, which was written in Czech. I was
overjoyed!! I found a person here in Salt Lake City who could
translate the message. Josef said that he had made some progress in
tracing the Nohavec lineage, and he would be sending me more
information shortly.
I then set about trying to find a way to bridge the language barrier
between Josef and myself. I found a Czech chat room on the Internet,
and I sent a message which said, "Hello. Can anyone speak
English? Please email me." And I left my email address. The next
day, I received an email message from Zlatica Beca which said "I
speak English. What do you want?"
Thereafter began a short email exchange in which Zlatica, who was
Slovak rather than Czech, agreed to serve as a translator of
messages between Josef and myself. (I initially thought that Zlatica
lived in Slovakia or the Czech Republic; it turned out that she lived
in Cincinnati, having come to the US about 5 years before. That's the
nature of email!)
Over the next few months, Josef and I carried on a fairly active email
correspondence, with Zlatica acting as a translating intermediary.
Sometime later, Zlatica grew weary of the translating chore, so I hit
the Czech chat room once again and found Ilona, a Czech who was living
in Switzerland. She agreed to carry on the translating
responsibilities and continues in that role today.
In the two years since our first contact in 1997, Josef had been able
to trace his lineage back, via his mother's line, to his great great
great great grandfather, Ondrej Nohavec, whom he identified as the
brother of my great great grandfather, Josef Nohavec, father of Matej.
And, moreover, he was able to identify the father of both of those
brothers Tomas Nohavec, one generation further back than anything
I had been able to discover. Thus, Josef and I were, indeed, distant
cousins. What a great discovery! But Josef had another amazing
discovery to reveal. To explain the nature of this discovery, I must
retrace my steps a bit.
In Crete, Nebraska, were two lines of the Nohavec family. One (my
line) had descended from Matej Nohavec and Marie Bosackova. But
another line had descended from a Josef Nohavec and Magdelena Rubas.
(In the Nohavec families, there are many Josef's and Vaclav's; it
becomes very confusing to try to keep them all straight).
This Josef Nohavec of Crete, about 8 years older than Matej, had also
immigrated from Trebycinka. And both Matej and this Josef had a father
whose name was Josef. One would think they would have been brothers,
except for one problem: From marriage records, I found that Matej's
mother was named Marie/Anna Bosackova, while Josef's mother was named
Mary Hajsmanova.
Try as I might, I could not find any evidence of a direct
relationship between these two Nohavecs from Trebycinka--Matej and
Josef.
Well, my newly found cousin, Josef in the Czech Republic, had solved
the mystery! He found that Matej's father, Josef, had married
twice-his first wife was Mary Hajsmanova, and their only child, Josef,
came to America and settled in Crete; Josef the elder's second wife
was Marie/Anna Bosackova, and together they had several children,
among them Matej who immigrated to America and also settled in Crete.
So, the mystery was solved! Josef and Matej Nohavec of Crete were
half-brothers. Fantastic!! After all those years of searching for the
answer, it was now revealed!
But, even more answers were forthcoming. My cousin Josef also found
that Matej, son of Josef and Anna/Marie (Bosakova) Nohavec, was the
only son of that marriage to immigrate to America. Two other sons,
Vaclav and Jan, had remained in Bohemia. And one of these two brothers
of Matej (Vaclav) was married to Barbora (Hajkova) Nohavec. This was
the Vaclav and Barbora whose tombstone I had visited with Bob and Beth
in 1991. Another mystery solved!! Unbelievable!! I had stood at the
tombstone of my great grandfather's brother!! Fantastic!!
By now, I was so excited about the Nohavecs in the Czech Republic that
Jean Ann and I decided we had to go there on a visit. So, we made the
trip in June of 2001, having arranged to meet cousin Josef, his wife,
Jarka, and another cousin, Jaroslav Kren, at the airport. Jaroslav
(whose mother was a Nohavec) was fluent in English, and he had
arranged to take a week's vacation from work in order to act as our
translator. A tremendous assist!!
Our stay in the Czech Republic lasted 9 days, during which time Josef
had arranged for us to meet about 20 - 25 Nohavec relatives, most of
whom had descended from my great grandfather Matej's two brothers,
Vaclav and Jan. We visited those relatives at their homes in several
communities in the Czech republic, and thanks to Jaroslav's
translating skills, we had a great time learning about each other.
What an experience!!
We were also able to visit my great grandfather's (Matej) birth home
in Trebycinka (it's still owned by a member of the family). We also
saw the home of Matej's grandfather, Tomas Nohavec, my newly
discovered great great great grandfather. While the latter home, built
in the late 1700's, is no longer owned by the Nohavec family, it's
still occupied and in excellent repair. And, finally, I stopped again
at the huge church in Prestice. The priest whom I had asked directions
of 10 years earlier was still there. And he remembered me!
During our time together in the Czech Republic, cousin Josef and his
wife, Jarka, became our good friends. Today, we continue to correspond
with them via email. Sometimes, I send a message to Jaroslav, and he
translates it and forwards it to Josef and Jarka. And sometimes, I
send a message to Ilona, and she translates and sends it on. (One day,
I hope to be able to meet Ilona in person.) Josef has a very old
computer. It doesn't have a CD port. But, he plans on upgrading soon,
and when he does, I'm going to send him a copy of Family Tree Maker,
so that he can put all of his data on the computer. Then, we'll really
be cooking!
So that's how I was able to trace my ancestry in the Czech Republic.
My father, and Josef and Jarka have been invaluable resources, but
many others have been instrumental in their contributions-Zlatica,
Jaroslav, Ilona, etc. Without them, the task would have been nearly
impossible. The Nohavec lineage which follows is the product of all
their efforts, and I'm grateful to all of them for their assistance.
In another few years, we intend to revisit our newly discovered
"cousins" in the Czech Republic. My wife, Jean Ann, collects
nativities, and a world conference for collectors will be held in
Prague in 2004. We figure that would be a great time to go back. We
can hardly wait to see our "relatives" again. I only wish my
father could join us in these journeys and see what he started when he
began his research in the 1980s. He would love it!!
Robert Nohavec, former resident of Crete, Nebraska.
