Earliest Krystufek Records: Talin 1708 - 1755

The earliest Chicago Kristufek family lines and the South Dakota Martinec family lines both trace their roots to the early 18th Century in a small town in Pisek district of South Bohemia called Talin. According to Wikipedia, Talin had a population of 165 in 2011 although in 1869, the population was as high as 349, with a modern peak of 366 in 1900.

An Area Near Talin in the Pisek District of South Bohemia

The village of Talin was part of the Protivin Estate in the 18th century, which conducted an annual census. It is through these records, currently available in the Czech Digital Archives, that we find the earliest mention of this Krystufek family tree. Address numbers were not listed routinely in records until later in the 18th century, but it seems likely they were consistently living at Talin 18, the stated address the family occupied for decades there.

Before 1708, there are no mentions of the surname Krystufek in Talin or any of the other towns in the immediate area. Another Krystufek family line has a nearly simultaneous beginning in Maletice, a town about three miles away. This would seem to indicate that they might be related and also that they came from some other location, yet to be determined. The closest other contemporary Krystufek surname appearance is in Humpolec, south of Prague about 70 miles away. That is close by modern standards, but a lifetime away in the early 1700s, and outside the Protivin estates. And while numerous birth and marriage records have been found in Humpolec, none is a match for early Krystufek settlers in Talin.

1708 - Mattes Krystufek and family
This is the first record in Talin of a Krystufek family. Mattes, wife Eva and teenaged daughters Lidmilla (19) and Katarina (14) are listed as living together, while a Veronika Krystufek is also listed as living in Talin, although she is on a separate page ("Sirren") of the record. It is possible that The Krystufek family came to Talin specifically because they had a pregnant, unmarried daughter, but without more information, it is difficult to say.

1710 - Veronika Krystufek has a son, Jakub
In this annual census, Veronika is listed as having a son Jakub (3), no doubt out of wedlock, since no husband is listed at any point. Although she may be a widowed daughter-in-law who gave birth posthumously, it is more likely given the numerous other out of wedlock births in this family line that this is not the case. Mattes Krystufek is listed again separately with wife Eva and daughters Lidmilla and Katarina.

1717 - Vit Krystufek with wife Katarina and infant daughter Anna
Mattes Krystufek and his family are listed in other census records in between including the 1713 Census, the 1715 Census, and the 1716 Census. However in 1717, Mattes Krystufek and his family are crossed out and Vit Krystufek and his family are listed immediately below. This would seem to indicate Vit has taken over the farm. Age-wise, Vit would seem to be the son of Mattes Krystufek, but as yet no direct connection has been made and he hasn't been seen in other census data of the period before 1717. One assumes the Krystufeks came from somewhere else in Bohemia before this point, but as of now, there is no way to figure out the details. Vit Krystufek is the father of Vojtech Krystufek (the direct ancestor of the Chicago Kristufeks) and Georg/Jiri Krystufek (the direct ancestor of the South Dakota Martinecs) and this census record is the earliest known record directly linking to modern desendants.

1726 - Veronika's son Jakub dies at 19
Vit Krystufek (41) and his wife Katarina (35) are listed along with their growing family: Maryanna (8) and son Vojtech 1 1/12 who made his first appearance in the 1725 Census are still listed in Talin, along with Mattes Krystufek (64) who is further down on the next page. Veronika Krystufek's son, who, in the 1725 record is listed with a note about the neighboring town Zdar where he might have been working, is listed as dead at the age of 19.

1728 - Final Record of Mattes Krystufek
Mattes Krystufek (66) makes his final appearance in the 1728 Census. Presumably he died around this time period. Vit Krystufek (43) and his wife Katarina (37) are listed with their children: Marianna (10), Vojtech (3 1/2), and Pavel (1 1/2)

1730 Jiri/Georg Krystufek makes first appearance
In a 1729 Index Record, Jiri Krystufek's birth is noted and he makes his first census record appearance in the 1730 Protivin Census along with the rest of his family. Georg Krystufek married Dorota Keclik of Smrkovice on Oct 23, 1763 and lived there in Smrkovice until his death in 1776. Descendants of Georg and Dorota Krystufek later came to America as the South Dakota Martinec families.

1732 Veronika Krystufkova Begins Her Long Life
Vit and Katarina's daughter Veronika is born in 1732 according to an Index Record of her birth. Veronika never married and apparently lived an astonishing 107 years, with consistent appearances over the years in the annual census records and a record of her death on Mar 11, 1839 that lists her age then as 100.

1740 Daughter Marianna Krystufek is married
In the 1740 Protivin Census, daughter Marianna is listed as married to Ondrej Soucek. They are listed for many years in the census but never have any children.

May 29, 1747: Birth of Vojtech's son Vit Krystufek
While other births are noted in Index records, the earliest full records of births, deaths and marriages in Talin that are available online is a book covering the Protivin area from 1745-1757. The first record of a Krystufek ancestor there is the birth of Vit Krystufek to Vojtech Krystufek and his wife Alzbeta. The godparents are Vit Mar(?) of Selibov and Catharina Blaha of Talin. The Blaha family seems to be the primary farm family of the village, residing at Talin 1 during the same time period of the Krystufek family. Blaha family members are frequently listed as godparents (and vice versa) and at least one Krystufek was born at Talin 1 in the 1800s, all indicating that there is a long (but yet to be established) relationship between these two families.

1750 Vojtech Krystufek has taken over Talin 18
In the 1750 Protivin Census, Vojtech Krystufek (29) and his wife Alzbeta (32) are living with their three children: Vaclav (6), Vit (3), and Matej (1). Also listed in the census that year, Ondrej Soucek (39) and wife Marianna Krystufek Soucek (31) and near the end of the record, Vit and Katarina's other children: Pavel (22), Jiri/Georg (19) and Veronlika (17).

1751 Tomas Krystufek is born
Tomas Krystufek is born to Vojtech and Alzbeta Krystufek on Dec 10, 1751 in Talin. Tomas would eventually take over the family farm at Talin 18 and live there the rest of his life. His son Matej Krystufek, born in 1788, took over after his death in 1809 and four of Matej's sons emigrated to Chicago in the mid-1800s as the earliest Kristufek settlers there.

1755: Krystufek Death and Remarriage
On Feb 1, 1755, Vojtech Krystufek's wife Alzbeta died. Several months later, he remarried on May 11, 1755 to Anna Lesskovcz of Budějovická.

Czech Digital Archives

If you are descended from ancestors from South Bohemia, the Czech Digital Archives will be an amazing resource for you. However, if you are not fluent in Czech, German or Latin and don't enjoy reading very old handwriting, it may also be a source of frustration. So here are some of the kinds of records you will find and a bit of what to look for in each record.

Tomas Krystufek (1751-1809)

Tomas Krystufek was a farmer who lived at #18 in the village of Talin in the Pisek District of South Bohemia from the mid 18th century to the early 19th centuiry. Born on Dec 10,1751, he was one of five sons of Vojtcech Krystufek and his first wife Alzbeta.

Tomas is significant to Talin 18 because his descendants, first through his son Matej and later through his older daughter Anna, lived at this house for most of the 19th Century. And he is the grandfather of at least four of the original Kristufek settlers in Chicago in the mid 1800s.

Tomas was married to Veronica Koza of Milenovice, South Bohemia (born 31 Dec 1758) and had at least six children of his own. Tomas Krystufek died on June 9, 1809. His known children were:

Alzbeta Krystufek (born about 1781 - 19 Mar 1843). Lived and died in Talin, never married. Had one known son Frantisek Krystufek (born 9 Oct 1813) with unknown man.

Anna Krystufek (22 Jul 1785 - 4 Jan 1847) Born in Talin. Married Matej Koza of Talin (Abt 1788 - 17 Feb 1847) on Feb 14, 1820. Anna and Matej had two known children Alzbeta Koza (22 Jul 1824) and Matej Koza. (21 Feb 1827). They lived at Talin 1 after marriage and both died there in the winter of 1847.

Matej Krystufek (20 Jan 1788 - 15 Dec 1837) Eldest son of Tomas and Veronica. Took over Talin 18 after death of father in 1809. Married Lidmilla Krjeci (16 Sep 1794 - 27 May 1829) of Chvaletice, South Bohemia on Feb 16, 1813, after the birth of their first child Jiri Krystufek (1812-1813). They had at least seven childrem, including Matej, Jakub and Jan, who came to Chicago. After Lidmilla's death in 1929 soon after the birth of their last child Alzbeta (6 May 1829- 13 Jun 1829), Matej remarried to Katarina Zofkova (14 Nov 1797 - Death date unknown) of Smrkovice on Jul 26, 1829. Matej and Katarina had at least two other children together: Rozina Krystufkova (1831-1872) who lived her whole life in Talin and Frantisek Krystyufek (17 May 1835 - 14 Feb 1915), who joined his half-brothers in Chicago.

Magdalena Krystufek (19 Jun 1790 - before 1843) never married but had two daughters with unknown men: Maria Krystufkova (19 Jan 1813) who married Vojtech Rines of Radcice on Feb 6, 1837 and Dorota Krystufkova (about 1818) who married Jan Hornik of Paseky on Sep 12, 1843 and had three children: Vaclav, Jan and Alzbeta. Hornik, all born in Paseky.

Ondrej Krystufek died on the day he was born at Talin 18: Nov 30, 1792.

Eva Krystyfek was born around 1796 and died, unmarried, at the age of 30 at Talin 18 on 2 Mar 1826.

Son Matej Krystufek became the primary resident of Talin 18 after the death of Tomas in 1809. After the death of Matej in 1837 and the subsequent remarriage of Matej's second wife, Tomas' daughter Anna Krystufek Koza's family and their Salek descendants, through daughter Alzbeta Koza Tsalek/Salek) became the primary residents of Talin 18 for at least the next two decades.

U.S. Coustins: The South Dakota Martinec Families

        Frank Joseph Martinec (1876-1954), wife Mary and daughters Hattie Martinec Blaha
and Agnes MarrinecCarda around 1906 in Bon Homme, South Dakota. 

The earliest Krystufek families to come to the US arrived in Chicago starting in 1854. However, they were not the only descendants of the South Bohemian Krystufek lines to come to the United States. Two grandsons of Anna Marie Krystufek of Smrkovice came to the US in 1893 and settled in South Dakota.

Marianna "Anna" Jelinek (1823-1881)

Marianna "Anna" Jelinek is the wife of Jan Kristufek (1824-1913) and daughter of Barbara Jelinek Pival (1800-1882). She was born in Kloub, South Bohemia on June 7, 1823 to an unwed mother, at the home of her grandparents: Simon Jelinek (1763-1832) and Dorothea Zamecnik (1764-1843). She had seven known children, three born in Bohemia and four born in Chicago after her immigration in 1854. She primarily resided at 171 DeKoven (near the corner of Desplaines) and later at 487 S. Canal Street, where her husband and, later her son, ran saloons. She died July 8, 1881 at the age of 58 and is buried at the Bohemian National Cemetery in Chicago.

Charles Peter Kristufek (1890 - 1950)

Another US Kristufek family line started when Charles Peter Kristufek came to the US in 1911 from Prague. It is unclear if he was related to the other South Bohemian Kristufek families and unfortunately the records from the area he was born in are not yet available online. However, this is what is known about him and his family.

Charles was born May 7, 1890 in Horovice, Central Bohemia, just south of Prague. The birth date comes from his 1917 WWI Draft Record and his birth town comes from a 1923 Passenger List when he sailed with his wife and son on the SS Rotterdam. His wife's mother was also named Anna Vlkova and resided at Plzenkastr 19, Smichov, Prague. Anna is listed on the passenger list as having been born in Prague, so this is likely her family home.

Charles Kristufek arrived in New York on Feb 3, 1911 and is listed on the sailing record for the SS Floride as single. His original destination was Pennsylvania but he ended up in Kansas. He married Anna Vlkova and they had one son Carl on Aug 27, 1915 in Lucas, Kansas. Carl married Celeste Lowery and they had four children: Carl "Kris" Kristufek, Carol (Nesbitt), Connie (Fox), and Kay (Hazlett).

Anna died in 1948, while Charles Sr. died in 1950. Charles and Anna are both buried in the Larned Cemetery in Kansas. Carl died on Feb 26, 1988 in Yuma, Arizona.

The Kristufeks who came to Chicago in the mid-19th Century came from South Bohemia and lived in the towns of Vodnany, Smrkovice and as early as 1708, Talin, about 83 km/50 miles to the south of Horovice.

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)