I know this post is long, but I’m kind of excited to share this news, so try to bear with me.
I’ve always been interested in learning what came of Anastasia Kovarik, the 17-year-old sister who immigrated to the US with my great-grandmother in 1893. I’ve done Ancestry.com searches on her name and never came up with any more than that 1893 passenger list.
My aunt recently told me that she remembers my grandfather going to Nebraska to visit his aunt and that her married name was Brokenicky. So, I sat down at my computer the other day to see what I could find out about Anastasia Brokenicky in Nebraska. The first thing I found was a 1910 census record for Dodge County, Nebraska.
The Brokenicky household included:
John Brokenicky, age 41
Anna S. Brokenicky, age 32
Otyllia Brokenicky, age 11
Frank Brokenicky, age 9
Charles Brokenicky, age 3
Anna could easily be short for Anastasia, and the birth places (Austria-Bohemia) are correct. This looks promising.
Then, I looked a little closer and realized there was one more person living with them: Františka Kovarik, a widow aged 63, listed as the head of household’s mother-in-law. I had never heard of Anastasia’s mother coming to America, and I never knew her name, but having a Kovarik in the same house makes me think I have the right Brokenicky family.
But, there are a couple other pieces of information on this census record that don’t match up to what I thought I knew. The immigration date listed next to John is 1904. There is no date listed for anyone else, which I assume means the 1904 is meant for all of them. I know that Anastasia came to America in 1893.
Also, John and Anna’s first two children were born in Austria-Bohemia. If Anastasia came in 1893, she couldn’t have had children in Bohemia in 1899 and 1901. Right? So, is this the right Brokenicky family or not?
Ancestry.com couldn’t come up with any other records based on my search terms, so I tried FamilySearch.org. This time, I got the 1910 census, but I also got census records for 1920 and 1930. The last name is spelled a little differently in the transcription, but it is clear that all three census records show the same family. Here is the 1920 record:
The names listed in 1920 are:
John Brokenicky, age 52
Anna Brokenicky, age 44
Frank Brokenicky, age 19
Charles Brokenicky, age 13
Františka is no longer listed with them, so I assume she passed away sometime between 1910 and 1920.
This time, the immigration date given is 1893. I’ll have to do some more research to see if John had been to the US before, as well. This record says that John was naturalized, so I will also have to look for his naturalization records for more information.
Here is the 1930 census:
The names listed in 1930 are:
John Brokenicky, age 63
Anna S. Brokenicky, age 55
Interestingly, this record says the family operated a chicken farm. Anna is listed as the proprietor and John was a carpenter.
Okay, so I’ve followed John and Anna Brokenicky through three census records, but I still can’t say for sure that this is my Anastasia Kovarik. There’s more to this story, but I’ll save it for tomorrow…
So interesting, Karen! You are a good sleuth…
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