Other US Kristufek Lines

While this site is primarily dedicated to the Kristufek/Krystufek lines of South Bohemia that came to Chicago, Illinois in the mid to late 19th Century, other Kristufek families arrived in the US, settling in other parts of the country. These Kristufek ancestors arrived mostly in the US later, between 1880 and the start of WWI in 1914 (which one notable exception).

So far, no direct links have been established between these families, but here is some of what information is known:

Inventor Frank J. Kristofek

Frank was born Jan 4, 1872, probably in New Jersey, although there is some question about his birth location. According to his NYC marriage record, he was the son of Clement Kristofek and Thekla Kolbe. It is unclear what part of Bohemia they came from and Frank spent his childhood with them in Argentina, with some records indicating he was actually born there, before settling more permanently in New York in the late 1880s/early 1890s.

I have long suspected there is a South Bohemia Kristufek connection to New York City since Joseph Kristufek, son Jan Kristufek (1824), spent the late 1880s there soon after his marriage in 1885 and his two eldest children were born there. It always struck me as an impulsive and unlikely move unless either he or his wife had some kind of family connections there. But as of now, there is no direct connection.

Frank J. Kristofek married Magdalena Ehehatt in 1894 and they had two daughters, Clementine in New York on Sep 27, 1895 and Alice in Ohio on Aug 19, 1906. Frank and Magdalena lived in Brooklyn in 1900 according to the Census and 1902 according to a city directory. A 1904 directory lists them as living in New Jersey and in a 1907 directory they are in Coshocton, Ohio and they are there again in the 1910 Census.

On September 11, 1911, the Coshocton Daily Age reported that Frank had recently resigned his position at as superintendent of the upper plant of the American Art Works and put his Sixth Street house up for sale. According to the paper, it was sold and then leased the same afternoon.

A 1913 directory puts them in St. Paul, MN and on June 27, 1917,  Frank J. Kristofek files a patent for an advertising pencil clip. The clip, which attaches to a pencil and can hold it in a pocket, has a small oval on the front that can hold an advertisement. Apparently, this clip invention makes Frank J. Kristofek quite rich because he, his wife and his daughters spend most of the 1920s making routine luxury excursions to Europe and Key West. After years in Minnesota, they joined the Bohemia exodus of the 1930s to California, living in Beverly Hills, CA at the time of the 1930 and 1940 Censuses. He died July 15, 1942 in Los Angeles.

Records also indicate that a Clementine Kristufek, a sister to Frank J., briefly lived in the US as well. The 1895 Argentine Census is faint, but lists Clemente Kristufek (born 1836) and wife Zelka Kolar (born 1849) and daughter Clementine (born 1879), all from Austria as living in Buenos Aires. The only two US records available list her as being born in 1880 in Austria. The 1910 Census lists her arrival in the US at 1907 and she was living in Columbus, OH then, about 75 miles away from Frank J. in Coshocton. The Coshocton Daily Age reported in their Personals column on Augu st 30, 1910 that a Miss Clara Athey went to Buckeye Lake where she was staying as Clementine's guest. On Feb 18, 1911, she sailed for Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A Carolina Kristufek, born 1868 in Austria, is listed also in the 1895 Argentine Census, with husband Jose Mike and son Carlos. This is also likely to be a sister to Clementine and Frank J. It is unclear how Julio Kristufek (born 1858 in Austria) is related but he is also listed in the 1895 Argentine Census. The others are all in Section 19, while he lives in Section 1.

I would question Zelka/Thekla's last name as Kolbe, a German surname, over the more likely (and common) Czech surname Kolar. A Kristufek/Kolar pairing would also make them more likely to be connected to the South Bohemian Kristufeks since there is another pairing there from the same period (Matej Kristufek and Anna Kolar) who came to the US in 1868.

Nebraska Kristufek Lines

According to the 1900 Census, Peter and Lena Kristufek, were married in Bohemia in 1878, arrived in Nebraska around 1884. Their son Roy Kristufek was born July 31, 1880, according to his WWI Draft Card. A family history on Ancestry.com indicates that Roy was born in Klatten, which is likely Klatovy (Klattau), South Bohemia. A manual search of the Czech Digital Archives covering Klatovy did not yield a birth record for Roy on that date. So he may have been born elsewhere, on a different date/year, or the birth wasn't recorded.

According to another Ancestry family tree, Peter and Lena's eldest son is Frank Martin Kristufek, born either on Nov 11, 1876 (grave) or Nov 11, 1879 (WWI Draft Record). The 1879 date seems suspect since Roy was born 8 1/2 months later however his birth year is listed in the US Census as 1881 (1910), 1881 (1920), 1879 (1930) and 1879 (1940). Peter and Lena also apparently had a daughter Anna around 1878, so no matter what the correct birth dates are, they likely married earlier than 1878 making a manual search for their marriage record difficult.

In any event, this seems to be a South Bohemia Kristufek line, which might be related to the rest of the South Bohemia Kristufek line. However, if they are related, no connection has currently been made. Until a Czech record of Peter, Lena or any of their three children born in Bohemia it will be hard to definitively connect them.

John J, Kristofek of New York

John J. Kristofek is another Slovak who arrived in the US in 1900 at the age of 18 and initially lived in Passiac, NJ at the time of the 1900 US Census. At the time of the 1915 NY Census, he was living on E. 118th Street and working as a mechanic. June 3, 1916, he married the former Pauline Lago. They had one daughter, Ethel on June 10, 1918. His WWI Draft Card lists him working as a mechanic for the Town Taxi Cab Co. on 64th Street and living on 66th Street. In 1920, he is still there, listed in the census as a garage mechanic. He was naturalized as a US citizen on June 3, 1921. In the 1925 NY Census, the family is listed as living on East 168th Street in the Bronx but my the 1930 census, they are living in Los Angeles, where John is working as a porter at a hotel. He died in Los Angeles on Sep 1, 1938.

His moves to New Jersey, New York and Los Angeles might make him seem like a likely relative of Frank J. Kristofek (above) but his Bronx connection in 1925 makes him a more likely relative (perhaps brother?) of Joseph J. Kristufek (next).

Joseph J. Kristufek

Joseph J. Kristufek was born Jan 25, 1881 in Osuske, Slovakia, according to his US veteran information. According to the 1920 and 1930 US Censuses, he arrived in the US in 1905. At the time of the 1915 NY Census, he was working as a farm hand upstate in Dutchess County, NY. Joseph enlisted at Fort Slocum in New York and served overseas in WWI as a private in the infantry from March 29, 1918 to August 18, 1919, according to his discharge card. After the war, he is listed as living in Arkansas in the 1920 US Census, an Army mechanic at Fort Pike. He apparently married in 1923 at the age of 42. The 1930 Census lists him as living in the Bronx with his wife Rosie and working as a building laborer. At the time of the start of WWII, he was living with his wife Rozi and working as the superintendent for the same apartment building at 1468 Bryant Avenue in the Bronx. He died on Feb 3, 1963.

Pennsylvania Kristufek Lines

In 1902, two young men with the last name of Kristufek came to Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Although I have no direct documentation linking them together, they are undoubtedly brothers. Joseph Frank Kristufek (born Feb 18, 1883) arrived the same year and to the same town as Paul Joseph Kristufek (born Jan 6, 1885). Ancestry.com has a Naturalization Petition for Paul Joseph that lists his birth town as Jablonecz. In the 1920 Census he is listed as being from Slovakia. His town of origin is most likely to be Jablonica, given the extremely close (less than two miles) proximity to Osuske, Slovakia, home of Joseph J. Kristufek (see above), Paul Joseph arrived Apr 21, 1902, through Bremen, Germany, by way of New York, a common sea route for Czechs coming to the US.

Joseph Frank's documentation doesn't list his birth location as specifically as Paul Joseph's but his death certificate does list his parents as John Kristufek and Mary Bartok. The 1930 Census lists his spoken language as Slovak, adding to the evidence that these two Kristufek men are brothers. Both Joseph Frank and Paul Joseph were married and had several children and lived out the rest of their lives in the Pittsburgh area.

There is also a 1906 sailing record for a 57 yo Stefan Kristufek of Jablonica traveling to Pittsburgh with his 47 yo wife Maria. with a son also named Stefan already residing in the US in Ambridge, PA. According to the record, they had already been in the US on a homestead from 1896-1900.

According to his death record, he was born in Hungary to Martin Kristufek and Maria Drahos on May 3, 1848 and died in Beaver, Pennsylvania on July 24, 1915. According to a WWI Draft Card, his son was born May 8, 1874 and a 1930 Census says he arrived in 1892. He died on Feb 20, 1934.

A 1901 Naturalization Card for a Karl Kristufek in Pennsylvania is probably also Stefan Sr.'s son. He was born Feb 1, 1878 in Hungary and was residing in the town of Marshall in Allegheny County in 1901. His arrival date is listed as Aug 5, 1895, which would match with Stefan's original arrival date. Karl married Mary Stapik and had two daughters: Bertha Kristufek and Matilda Kristufek, living in Ambridge at the time of the 1920 Census.

It is most likely since all of these Kristufek lines in Pennsylvania are originally from Jablonica, Slovakia and are related to each other, with perhaps Stefan Kristufek and John Kristufek being brothers, and more distantly related to Joseph J. Kristufek of Osuske. Unfortunately, the archives for this region have not been made available online yet. But there are enough concrete dates here that when it does get digitized, it should be easy to search and confirm.

Other Kristofek families of Chicago

There are some Kristofek family members that can trace their history to Chicago who are not directly related to the earliest Chicago Kristufek settlers of the 19th Century. John Kristufek arrived in New York on Apr 10, 1902 and made his way to Chicago. John Kristofek born on Apr 6th in either 1884, 1885 or 1886, depending on the record, came to the US in 1902. His 1911 Naturalization Card lists his birth year as 1884. His WWI Draft Card says 1885, and his WWII Draft Card says 1886. But they all agree on the month and date.

George Kristofek was born on Apr 23, 1874 in Krempachy, Poland to Albert Kristofek and Catherine Vanicek, He arrived in New York on May 23, 1888 with his parents (listed as Vojtech and Katarina Kristofek) and brother Jan and subsequently made their way to Chicago where he lived until his death on Oct 9, 1945. While in Chicago he was married to Anna Nemec from neighboring Nowa Biala, Poland.


Ladislav Frederick Kristufek

According to his passport application, Ladislav was born on June 6, 1882 in Prerov, Moravia to a John Kristufek, although John is listed there as having been born in Bohemia and currently residing in Tabor, South Bohemia. Ladislav left through Hamburg on Apr 13, 1905 and settled in Chicago.

Not long after arriving in Chicago, he married the former Frieda Jirout on Sep 2, 1905. Frieda was born on Dec 4, 1885 in Iglau (Jihlava) Moravia. Ladislav became a naturalized citizen in Chicago on Feb 24, 1912.

Ladislav and Frieda lived in Chicago together until she left for Prague on Apr 16, 1914. Her timing it appears couldn't have been worse. On June 28, 1914, Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, setting in motion the launch of WWI. On Feb 19, 1915, Frieda made an emergency passport application to the US Embassy in Prague, but it seems that application was unsuccessful and she was stuck in Bohemia for the duration of the war, residing in Mnichovice.

At the time of WWI, Ladislav was living in Cincinnati, Ohio and working as mechanical engineer. His nearest relative was listed as a Frieda Kristufek in Austria on his WWI Draft Card. After the war ended, Frieda again made an emergency passport application in Vienna on Oct 7, 1919, with the plan of returning immediately to her husband in Chicago. That is the last documentation of Frieda.

In 1920, Ladislav was working as the treasurer for the General Briquetting Company of Illinois, with a plant in Cincinnati. On Sep 21, the President of the company sent a letter to the state department that was attached to his passport application stating that Ladislav wanted to return temporarily to Bohemia to visit his parents and investigate possible foreign markets for their equipment.

From Sep 10, 1920 to Feb 10, 1921, he resided in Tabor, South Bohemia working as a mechanical engineer for Skoda and Company. While in Tabor, he married a woman named Ladislava on Nov 18, 1920 and they had a son upon returning to Chicago. On May 20, 1924, he filed another passport application explaining his situation and return residence in Bohemia since July 1922:

"I came to Czechoslovakia because of the poor health of my wife whom the physicians adviced to go to this country. My wife's health has improved during our stay in this country.  In July 1923, I entered the service of the Skoda Company, steel works of Plzen, where I have since been employed. Being an employee of this company I was assigned an apartment which I now must vacate because of my leaving the service. First to make arrangements for her return to the United States, I have to secure for her another lodging what under the present conditions will take a considerable length of time."

On Sep 9, 1934, he expatriated himself back to Bohemia. Given that his father John Kristufek was living in South Bohemia in the 1920s, it is possible that Ladislav's family origin is really in South Bohemia and by other circumstances he was born in Moravia. However tangential, this is the most substantial link there is between the Kristufek lines of South Bohemia and the Kristufek lines of Moravia and Slovakia. Travel within Bohemia of that distance in the 19th Century was extremely rare so a genetic link seemed remote. However, this connection deserves additional scrutiny.