I've been overjoyed (and overwhelmed) by the Slovak church registers appearing on FamilySearch. Decoding the images is slow, but I have made some progress on my grandmother's Pereksta and Sidor families. My grandfather Stefan Popp's family however is far more difficult. His home now lies in the Ukraine. There is not even a hint that any of those records will be available outside the country in my lifetime. I am ever grateful for the notebooks, letters and the records he kept. I cannot read all of them. But slowly I am working out a strategy for analyzing and preserving them.
Stefan wrote a family record of his, his wife's and their own family in a pocket calendar that I have. It's written in what I have been told is a Rusyn/Ukrainian dialect. My translations are not exact, but I believe they communicate the basic information. This first part is record of his parents' family.
Family Record for Ivan Papp and Maria Tegza
My Daddy and Mama
Ivan Papp was born in Drahov on December 9 in the year 1846. He died in 1909 on December 7. He lived 64 years minus 2 days.
Mama Marya Tegza was born in Berezov in the year 1857. She died July 6 in the year 1920. She lived 63 years.
Their children
Vasily, Ivan, Elana, Anca, Stefan, Marika, (second page begins) Mikula, Marika, Hafya, Luka, Mikula and Petra.
Marika, Mikula and Petra died as children.
Marika Papp Hricak died February 21 in the year 1942.
Luka Popp died September 25 in the year 1944.
Stefan Popp died 9-8-48.
Notes -
My family's name is most often spelled Papp or Pap in European records. It was not changed at Ellis Island. It was changed when my my grandfather, his brother and cousins grew tired of hearing it pronounced as "pap". All the family in America opted to spell the name as close to the phonetic pronunciation as possible. Thus in the United States we are Popps.
My great-grandparents reused the names Marika and Mikula after the older children bearing those names died. I have been told both by my aunt and by cousins in the Ukraine that the record accurately gives the children's birth order.
Three of the Popp children, Marika Popp Hricak, Luka and Stefan settled in America.
The last entry recording Stefan's own death was obviously written by someone else. I believe his daughter made the entry.
"Popp-Pereksta Family Record." (MS. Binghamton, NY, 1930-1982), p. 1-2; Digital Images. Privately held by Susan Popp Clark, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,]. 2008.
