The Mystery Of James Kristufek

DNA matches on 23andMe.com and Ancestry DNA confirm that descendants of Matej Krystufek (1788-1837) of Talin, South Bohemia are related to the descendants of James Kristufek, however no direct record of the existence of James Kristufek can be found. Given how close the DNA connection is, James Kristufek is likely the son of a Matej Krystufek sibling, perhaps younger brother Vaclav Krystufek (born 1793).

According to the records that exist, it is indicated that James Kristufek Sr. married Anna Votana in Bohemia and had two children: Kate Kristufek (June 20, 1848) and James Kristufek Jr. (Sep 1851). Around the Great Bohemian Migration of 1868-70, they came to the US, settling eventually in the Chicago area. Manual searches of towns in South Bohemia around those birth dates haven't yielded any records and James Jr.'s death record indicated he was born in Prague. So it is more likely that they were born in or around Prague.

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.

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.