looking for relatives in my father's home village

[Mike_inPA_USA]

My father was born in 1896 in a village called Dunkovica, about 5-10 miles southeast of Mukachevo. His name was Vasil Kenez, his father's name was Michail Kenez and his mother was Maria Simkanic. His Godparents were Michail Svirida and Maria Grabova Turjanica. I would like to communicate with anyone that may know of the family or is familiar with the village, thank you.

[Hannia]

Happy Thanksgiving, Mike!

Your ancestral selo/village Dunkovica/today DUNKOVYTSIA>Irshavskij Raion/District>Zakarpatska Oblast/Region>UA, most current zip 90121.

MapQuest: Maps: print
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/print.a...f5YAzerDzHI%3d
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Mike, how is your Ukrainian?

It is a fairly simple matter to write the village mayor/holova sela and make an inquiry re any surviving relatives still residing in the village. The tricky part is getting the right address, which you now have.

Address:

Zakarpatska Oblast
Irshavskij Raion
selo Dunkovytsia
Holova Sela
UA 90121
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If you need a translator, use the skills of one of our Ukrainian scholars in the States. I have gotten some exc feedback re Vitalij and his wife in Boston.

vivandr@brandeis.edu
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In the interim, I will take a look as to what we can dig up on the village itself. Have you done any archival research or is that secondary to finding surviving relatives?

Tom Peters - Researching Carpatho-Rusins
http://feefhs.org/fij/peters1.html


[Edited by Hannia on 30th November 2002 at 09:42]

[Mike_inPA_USA]

Thank you for your response, this is very exciting. I've looked in a lot of places that were very confusing to me before. My father spoke Rusyn and as a child we were encouraged to speak English here, and since my father died in 1967 I can only remember certain words like different foods and traditions. Our Byzantine church still follows with the church Slavonic, so we try to maintain as much of our heritage as possible.

I have a copy of my father's babtism, thats how I have those names. He was the 3rd of 3 brothers that came to America. My father came to Ellis Island in 1921, his older brothers Peter and John came before the first world war, but I don't know the actual dates.

Thanks so much again, keep in touch

Mike

[Hannia]

Mike,

There is a reason that professional archivists call this NO MAN'S LAND. This is a TOUGH area to research. The surnames you provided indicate a mix and match, Rusyn & Slovak, in your bloodline. You ancestors are a very unique micro ethnic group. They are considered an anthropological pearl, so much so, that every country in the general area would like to lay claim to them.

Carpatho-Rusyn Background
http://www.tccweb.org/rusynback.htm

The Carpatho-Rusyn Knowledge Base
http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/
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PS> Peter Kenez (17 yrs old) arrived in 1909 & John >anglicized from Janos KENES (18 yrs old) arrived in 1907. There are also two kids Janos ( 8 yrs old) & Laszlo (7 yrs old) KENESZ coming from Dunkovice. The surname is the same in all four cases, just transliterated differently. When looking at the documentation, ALSO bare in mind that while Dunkovycja was the Rusyn name, NYIRESLUFALU was the Hungarian name for the SAME village. At the turn of the century the village was in Bereg District>Upper Hungary>Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Examine the ORIGINAL SHIP MANIFEST to see all the details.
Passenger Search
http://ellisisland.org/search/index....6740052753504&

[Hannia]

I was curious who these children were. There were actually four children Anna (age 9), Janos (age 8), Laszlo (age 7) & Maria (age 4) traveling with their mother Anna Kenesz (age 27) from your ancestral village. She was meeting up w/her husband Janos Konesz in Pa. She left mother, Maria Kenesz behind in village.

Then there is another Anna Kenesz (age 25) arriving in 1922. Joining her husband Peter Kunesz in Jefferson PA. She lists leaving her father Ivanjo Andrej behind in Drunkosica (badly transliterated) Czechoslovakia<this is your village, just under another domain. In 1922 this area belong to Czechoslovakia!

[Mike_inPA_USA]

Hannia, you are amazing!

John Kenes family is one that moved on toward Cleveland and Detroit. The children you asked about would be his and that would be his wife. the mother left behind would really be my grandmother (John's mother) and not his wife's mother.

The second Anna Kenesz would be my father's wife. She died in 1946. and I am the product of the second marriage. My mother's maiden name was Gresock, she was born here, but her father came from Kocice (I think)

thanks again

[Hannia]

The holidays are a great time to make that call!!!

John Kenes
5322 Van Dyke Rd
Brown City MI 48416
810-346-4603


George Kenes
28767 Revere Ave
Warren MI 48092
586-751-5103