Mystery Solved: Mary Amelia Kristofek

On Aug 26, 2004, former Ancestry.com user Dianne Haselmann (1937-2007) posted in an Ancestry.com message board: 

"My great grand father is Francis Anton Krch. He was born June 3, 1841 at "Pacov in Eastern Czech Bohemia". His mother's last name was "Janove". He went to school at "Naceradec" until about September 1852 and at "Proavonin" about one year. He left Bohemia and came to America around 1860, joined the Union Army during the Civil War. Returned to Bohemia after the war and may have married at that time. 

He married Mary Amelia Kristofek. She was born July 2, 1850 at "Vodanany eastern Czech", Bohemia. Her father was John Kristofek and her mother was Mary Paval. They had one son, John, born in Bohemia before emigrating to the U.S. There they lived in St. Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota and raised a family.

The in information regarding their birthplace and school is in my grandfather's writing and the spelling may be wrong. I have put quotes around those words."

Additional detail was in Dianne's post in the Gen Forum on Genealogy.com on Aug 7, 2004: 

"I am searching orgins of my great grandfather Francis (Frank) Anton Krch. He was born June 3, 1841 at Pacov in Eastern Czech Bohemia. His mother's name was Janove. He married Mary Amelia Kristofek. She was born July 2, 1850 at Vodnany, Eastern Czech, Bohemia. He was here in the U.S. during the Civil War. He was in General Wm. T.S. Sherman's group, the 1st Battalion, 13th Infantry. He must have returned after the war to Bohemia, because the LSD has his first born son, John, born in Bohemia. The rest of the children were born in St. Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota. I would appreciate any information that someone can give re: Francis Krch and my great grandmother, Mary."

My research leads me to believe that Frank Anton Krch's parents settled in Iowa at some point between 1853 (birth of his sister Annetta) and 1859 (birth of his brother Albert). After the war ended, the Krch family relocated to Chicago, where Frank Krch's parents (Stepan and Anna Krch) lived on Desplaines, between Bunker and DeKoven, according to the 1865 Chicago City Directory. While the 1880 Census does list Frank and Mary Amelia's son John Huss Krch as having been born in Bohemia, it would seem this was an anomaly, since all other Census and additional records list his birth as being in Minnesota. Frank Krch's mother's maiden name is likely Janakova, since Jana is a common Bohemian last name as -kova was regularly added to the last names of daughters in Bohemia.

Additional research leads me to believe that Mary Amelia Kristofek is the eldest daughter of John Kristufek and Anna Jelinek, formerly of 171 DeKoven and later 487 S. Canal St., Chicago, IL. I have attached all corresponding documentation in my tree on Ancestry.com. But the key pieces of evidence are contemporary records in Chicago between 1860 and 1870.  John Kristufek owned a grocery store and then later a Saloon at 173 DeKoven, the corner of Desplaines and DeKoven and resided at 171 DeKoven. Frank Krch is listed as a resident of 171 DeKoven in 1867, according to the 1867 Chicago City Directory, the year of his marriage to Mary Amelia Kristofek.

Frank and Mary Amelia's son Frank Kirk married Sylvia Kristufek, the granddaughter of John and Anna Kristufek on November 26, 1908. In a Denver Rocky Mountain News article from Aug 7, 1913, Frank and Mary Amelia's daughter, Alice Kirk is reported to be visiting her aunt, Mrs. A. R. Davies. And the 1920 Census, Frank and Mary Amelia's daughters Bessie Mabel Krch Cordner and Mary Alice Krch lived at 523 25th Street, Denver, CO, two houses away from John and Anna's youngest daughter Antoinette "Jennie" Kristufek (aka Mrs. A. R. Davies) of 2510 Welton. Jennie's first marriage was to Frank Lepsa and took place in 1877 in St. Paul, Minnesota, during the time that Frank and Mary Amelia were residents.

A birth record in the Czech Digital Archives seems to be the birth record for Mary Amelia Kristofek. This birth record lists her birth date as July 7, 1851 in Vodnany, South Bohemia. This compares to her birth certificate that lists her birth as July 1, 1851. Her parents are John Kristufek, a podruh (a farm hand/laborer), and Anna Jelinek. Her godparents are Barbora and Peter Pival, who are listed in the 1880 Census as being residents of 171 DeKoven and the death record for Barbora Pival (under the name Barbara Kristufek) lists that as her address in 1882 as well.

On Mary Amelia Kristofek's death certificate Paval is her mother's maiden name, but from looking at the Czech record Pival would seem to be her step- grandfather's name. Anna Jelinek's mother, Barbara was unwed at the time of her birth. Barbara Jelinek married Petr Pival in 1840, when Mary Amelia's mother was about 17.

The original Kristufek settlers in the US came to Chicago, IL around 1854-55, including John and Anna Kristufek, who lived in the 1870 and 1880 Census records with their son John, born in Bohemia, which corresponds with Dianne Haselmann's family notes. The earliest Kristufek families in Chicago came in two waves (1854-55 and 1868-1870) and all came from roughly the same area of Southern Bohemia in and around the Pisek region. Vodnany is 14 kilometers from Talin, the origin town of brothers Jan Kristufek (1824-1913) and Jacob Kristufek (1826-1895) who arrived in 1854-55, as well as Frank Kristufek (1835-1915) and Mattias Kristufek (1816-1891) who came later in the 1860s. Other contemporary Czech church records of the early to mid 1800s list additional Kristufek families in Smrkovice, 20 kilometers from Vodnany. 

Children Of Francis Krch and Mary Amelia Kristofek
John Huss Krch (spouse: Cora Bausman) 1871 - 1958

George Paul Kirk (spouse: Anna Marie Shilling) 1874 - 1955

Frank Kirk (spouse: Sylvia Kristufek) 1876 - 1935

Bessie Mabel Krch (spouse Clyde Cordner) 1886 - 1951

William Tecumseh Sherman Krch (spouse Stella Johnson) 1888 - Unknown

Mary Alice Krch 1890 - 1970 (spouse Ernst Freivogel)