Getting Started

Thanks for visiting my blog dedicated to the Kristufek surname and South Bohemian ancestry.

The Kristufek surname is a Czech variation of the name Christopher. As such, the surname is likely to have spontaneously come into use in different parts of Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary and therefore not everyone with the surname Kristufek is related.

This blog is primarily dedicated to the Kristufek surname and its origins in South Bohemia. In particular the towns of Talin, Smrkovice and Maletice. However, there were other locations where the surname Kristufek was common including Humpolec in Central Bohemia and Jablonica/Osuske in Western Slovakia.

If you are currently in the US and you have Kristufek in your family history, the part of the US you live in will help you in your genealogy search as different Kristufek families settled in different parts of the US.

If your Kristufek family can be traced to Illinois (especially Chicago), Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Nebraska, you are likely descended from Kristufeks of South Bohemia.

If your Kristufek family can be traced to New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, you are likely descended from Kristufeks of Western Slovakia, especially Jablonica and Osuske.

For more information, please join our Kristufek Genealogy Group on Facebook or email me and I will be happy to share whatever information I have. This blog also includes many pages with detailed information on many of the Kristufek family lines. Use the search box in the upper left hand corner to find additional information about your ancestors.

Kystufek Families of South Bohemia

Gottfried (Bohumil) Kristof and his wife Eva are the earliest known beginning to what we now know as the Kristufek surname of South Bohemia.

The earliest found record in the area is a death record for an Anna Kristofkova on Jan 20, 1672 in the town of Selibov, South Bohemia. Her relationship to Gottfried and Eva Kristof is unknown as the earliest census record for Selibov which records members of this family is in 1687. That 1687 census record lists members of the "House of Gottfried Kristof" which include wife Eva, daughters Alzbeta (24), Marianna (19), Catharina (16), Anna (12) and son Vit (11). It also lists earlier in the same census a likely son for Gottfried and Eva Kristof: Mattes Kristof, his wife Eva and their daughter Veronika (7). 

The Kristof family members continue to appear in the Selibov census records through the 1702 record. Then, in the 1708 record, Mattes and Eva Kristof appear as Mattes and Eva Krystufek in the 1708 Census in Talin and in the 1713 Census, Mattes' brother Vit appears as Vit Krystufek with his wife Katarina Kahovec in her hometown of Maletice, where he had been listed as working in previous Selibov census entries.

Maletice Krystufek Surname
There is some surname confusion for the first forty years of the Krystufek family in Maletice. However this seems to have started with the arrival of Vit Krystufek in the 1713 Protivin Census, Vit on the occasion of his marriage to Catherine/Katarina Kahovec of Maletice. This Vit Krystufek would seem to Vit Christoff, born around 1676 to Gottfried and Eva Christoff in Selibov.

Vit Krystufek and Katarina Kahovec and their offspring are listed as Kahovec in subsequent census records for decades even though the birth index of the period record Krystufek births, starting with a Tomas Krystufek as early as 1714, which corresponds with their marriage. Then in the 1752 Protivin Census, the last name is crossed out and replaced with Krystufek, and it remains that way through the end of the Protivin Census in the 1828-1830 Census. In earlier records, the address is listed as the "House of Kahovec" which may be why they continued to be listed as Kahovec during this period until house numbering became common in the mid to late 1700s.

Talin Krystufek Surname
The appearance of Mattes and Eva Krystufek in 1708 is the first appearance of the surname in Talin, however, the arrival of Vit and Katarina Krystufek in 1717 is the true beginning of the Krystufek surname in Talin. That a different Vit and Katarina Krystufek was living in Maletice just three miles away is a bit confusing. It is most likely that the Vit Krystufek of Maletice is the younger brother of Mattes Krystufek and Vit Krystufek of Talin is Mattes' son.

Vit Krystufek of Talin was born around 1685 and had five children with his wife Katarina: Marianna (1718-1772), Vojtech (1725), Pavel (1728-1763), Georg (1729-1776) and Veronika (1732-1839). His son Vojtech continued the family line in Talin Bohemia. Vojtech's son Tomas Krystufek (1751-1809) wed Veronika Koza and had six children including Matej Krystufek in 1788 who is the father of four sons (Matej, Jan, Jakub and Frank) who came to Chicago in the mid 1800s. After Matej Krystufek Sr.'s death in 1837, and the remarriage of his second wife, Talin 18 became the primary residence of the descendants of Matej's sister Anna Krystufek Koza (1785).

For more details on the Krystufek family in Talin, see Earliest Krystufek Records: Talin 1708-1755.

Smrkovice Krystufek Family
Vit Krystufek of Talin's younger son Jiri/Georg Krystufek (1729-1776) moved to nearby Smrkovice at the time of his marriage to Dorota Keczlikova of Smrkovice. It was there that Georg spawned generations of Krystufek and Kristufek descendants through his son Jan Krystufek (1767-1833). His daughter Jana Krystufek also married Jacob Kadlecz there in a double wedding with her brother Jan on January 28, 1787.

There is a line of Georg Krystufek descendants in the US through Georg Krystufek's granddaughter Anna Krystufek (b. Aug 24, 1800) and the town of Hradiste, South Bohemia. Anna Krystufek and Josef Martinec of Hradiste, South Bohemia were married on January 11, 1825. Their grandsons through their son Tomas Martinec, Frank Joseph Martinec (Apr 1, 1876-1954) and John Joseph Martinec (1873-1945) settled in Charles Mix South Dakota in the late 1800s.

A second Hradiste Krystufek connection is with Josef Krystufek's 1845 marriage to Anna Martinec and the five children they had there. Josef Krystufek of Smrkovice is the son of Vaclav Krystufek and a great grandson of Georg Krytufek of Smrkovice. Anna Martinec is the niece of Josef Martinec, the husband of Anna Krystufek and Josef Krystufek is Anna Krystufek's nephew.

19th Century Kristufek Families Of Chicago

The start of my research into the history of the Kristufek family began with attempts to sort out the different Kristufek families in Chicago. When I started looking at existing family trees on Ancestry.com, I noticed a lot of confusion. So many families had similar names, it was easy to get it all confused. What I discovered was that there were six distinct lines in Chicago, four clearly related and two mysteries still to be determined. Here are the six family lines in Chicago:

Jakub Kristufek (1826-1895)

Jakub Kristufek's 1895 Headstone at
the Bohemian National Cemetery

Jakub Kristufek was born August 15, 1826 at Talin 18, in Talin, South Bohemia to Matej Krystufek (1788) and Lidmilla Krejci (1794). On August 3, 1847, Jakub married Anna Slepicka of Chvaletice 3 in Chvaletice, South Bohemia, a town about a mile from Talin. Anna was born on June 18, 1827, the daughter of Jakub Slepicka and Lidmilla Budjin.  

On April 6, 1848, they had a son Mattias  in Talin, Bohemia. On April 7, 1852, Jakub and Anna had a daughter Mary Anna Krystufek at Talin 18. Around September 1854, Jakub, his wife Anna and son Mattias traveled from Bohemia to America and settled in Chicago's 7th Ward.

Jan Kristufek (1824-1913)

This is a fully sourced timeline for Jan Kristufek, son of Matej Krystufek and Lidmilla Krejci of Talin, South Bohemia, from the time of the birth of his wife in 1823 to the time of his death in 1913. I have included hyperlinks to sources where possible. If you are on Ancestry.com, you can see most of this information as well as other relevant material in the Jan Kristufek entry in my family tree. There is also a Jan Kristufek entry on FamilySearch.org.

Section M, Block 3, Lot 17. Bohemian National Cemetery in Chicago

Click READ MORE to see the Jan Kristufek Timeline....

Anna Kristufek Donat (1855-1931)

Anna Kristufek Donat, circa 1884

Anna Kristufek Donat is one of four daughters of Jan Kristufek and Anna Jelinek, born Dec 31, 1855 in Chicago, Illinois. Anna was the first of her siblings born in the US after her parents came from South Bohemia in the fall of 1854.

Matej Kristufek (1816-1891)

Matej Kristufek is the oldest son of Matej Kristufek Sr. (1788) and Lidmilla Krejci (1794) to survive to adulthood. Matej was born on Dec 30, 1816 at Talin 18 in Talin, South Bohemia, after his parents' first two children died as infants. Matej didn't marry until he was almost 40 years old, wedding Anna Kolar of nearby Smrkovice on Jan 29, 1856.

Anna Kolar was born on Jul 24, 1831 to Vincenc Kolar and Alzbeta Smola. Anna Kolar had two children before her marriage to Matej, which may have been his, although no father is listed on the local birth records. Josef Kolar (1850-1852) and Maria Kolar (1854-1854) both died before the marriage however. 

The following year after their marriage, their son Matej Kristufek was born on Aug 14, 1857. Anna Kolar Kristufek had three other children in Bohemia who died as children: Frantisek (1859), Anna (1863) and Alzbeta (1865). Soon after the death of their two year old daughter Alzbeta in 1867, Matej, Anna and their surviving son Matej  traveled from South Bohemia to Chicago. Upon arrival, Matej stayed with his younger brother Jakub Kristufek (1826) before settling with his family at 759 Allport.

Once settled in the US, Anna Kolar Kristufek gave birth to a son George on June 16, 1870 and another daughter named Anna in July of 1874. Matej and his son spent this period working as laborers, most likely in lumber yards.

Son George Kristufek (1870-1944) in undated photo.

Dorothea Zamecnik Jelinek (1764 - 1843)

Dorothea Zamecnik Jelinek

Kristufek Connection:   Dorothea Zamecnik Jelinek, wife of Simon Jelinek, is the maternal grandmother (through Barbara Jelinek) of Anna Jelinek Kristufek (1823-1881), the wife of Jan Kristufek (1824-1913)

Humpolec Kristufek Genealogy

Not all Kristufek families of South Bohemia came from the Pisek District. There were quite a few Kristufek families in Humpolec, South Bohemia in the 19th Century. The search in the area began with Frantisek Xaver Kristufek, a notable theology professor in Prague, born in Humpolec in 1842.

I decided to look up his birth record to see if I might be able to establish a connection to the other South Bohemian Kristufek lines and what I discovered in 1842 was a baby boom of Kristufeks. I also discovered that Frantisek Xaver appears to have been born on Nov 29, 1842, not Oct 28 as his wikipedia page says.

Here are some of the other Kristufek births that year in Humpolec. If you are a Kristufek from Humpolec, these may be your ancestors, or at least you have a good place to start your search:

Karel Kristufek, 25 Jan 1842
Parents: Jan Kristufek and Petronilla Matek

Maria Julia Kristufek, 9 Feb 1842
Parents: Augustin Kristufek and Maria Plata

Vojtech Kristufek, born 23 Apr 1842
Parents: Jan Kristufek and Josefa Kaspar

Johanna Kristufek, born 17 May 1842
Parents: Franz Kristufek and Katarina Stradal

Dominik Fiala, born 15 Jun 1842
Parents: Dominik Fiala and Frantiska Kristufek

Moneka Augustina Kristufek, born 4 Aug 1842
Parents: Arnost Kristufek and Karolina Babier

Marie Kristufek, born 8 Aug 1842
Parents: Mynek Kristufek and Anna Kristufek

Anastazie Kristufek, born 22 Aug 1842
Parents: Alexander Kristufek and Marie Slegla

Marie Kristufek, born 1 Sep 1842
Parents: Jozef Kristufek and Anna Hajek

Ferdinand Kristufek. born 23 Oct 1842
Parents: Ferdinand Kristufek and Karolina Kominka

Frantisek Carel Kristufek, born 29 Oct 1842
Parents: Jan Nepomuk Kristufek and Barbora Komrs

Catharina Kristufek, born 26 Nov 1842
Parents: Frantisek Kristufek and Josefa Komrs

Frantisek Xaver Kristufek, born 29 Nov 1842
Parents: Vaclav Kristufek and Marie Ambroz

Since Krystufek families seemed to spontaneously arrive in Talin and Maletice (3 miles apart) around the early 1700s, it starts to reason that they came from somewhere. Humplec is quite a distance away and it is more likely since both of those towns are within the Protivin Estates that it stands to reach they came from some other location within the same distruct. However, there are Krystufek people in Humpolec at least as early as 1675, when a Jan Krystufek was born there to Jiri and Suzana Krystufek on May 29, 1675. That is the earliest known record of anyone named Krystufek in the South Bohemian region.