52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Janos or Ivan Sedor (b. 1818)

I knew nothing about my baba's grandparents when I started researching my father's family. Not even their names. Baba, my grandmother, was born in Prislop a small mountain village in what is now Slovakia. Her mother, Olena Sedor, was born a few miles away in Starina. Both were then part of Hungary. Not easy to research. I hit pay dirt in 2010 when FamilySearch put old Hungarian Empire church records online. 

I found my great-grandmother's 1860 baptism recorded. Naming her parents. My great-great grandparents. Szidor Joan and Komiszar Maria. Or Romisszar. Her name is negotiable. In fact, much about these names is negotiable. Baba's family were ethnic Rusyns. They did not speak Hungarian. So while the records are in Hungarian or Latin or Church Slavonic, the names they used amongst themselves were different. Her mother was Olena, rather than Helena. Her father was Ivan, not Janos or Joannes. I suspect her grandfathers were also Ivan. And, of course, their descendants changed names all over the place when they settled in America.

I digress. Ultimately I found my great-great grandparents marriage record and baptismal registries for six children.

From FamilySearch.org

Janos or Ivan Sedor  was born in 1818 in Sztarina, Zemplén, Hungary. At this point I have no idea who his parents were. Sedor is a common name. There is one clue. His granddaughter referred to her mother as Olena Sedor Hocko. Hocko is probably an alias name used to help distinguish one Sedor line from another. Further research is needed here.

On 1 February 1848 Ivan married Maria Komisar, who was born in 1825, also in Sztarina. According to the marriage record he was a widower. They had at least six children, though one son died as a child.

Their son, Mihaly Sedor was baptized on 20 Aug 1849 in Sztarina.

Basilus or Wasyl Sedor was born and baptized in 1853 in Sztarina. His record is in Cyrillic script. I could not make out the month.

Joannes or Ivan Sedor was born on 26 Jan 1859 in Sztarina and died before 1866 when a second son with the same name was born.

Helena or Olena Sedor was born on 27 Sep 1860 in Sztarina, Zemplén, Hungary and was baptized on 6 Oct 1860. She died on 3 Jan 1936 in Príslop, Czechoslovakia at age 75. She is buried in Príslop, which now in Slovakia. Olena is my great-grandmother.

Anna Sedor was born on 2 Jan 1863 and was baptized on 18 Jan 1963 in Sztarina, Zemplén, Hungary.

A second Joannes or Ivan Sedor was born on 28 Aug 1866 in Sztarina and baptized on 4 Sep 1866.

His name appears frequently as a sponsor or witness in the church records, but with such a common name I don't know which, if any, of these men were my great great-grandfather. At least not without much more work examining the records. Komissar is a much less common name and worth investigation.

That is all I know about Ivan Sedor. He was most likely an illiterate peasant farmer. The land he lived and died on is now beneath the Starina Resevoir. 




Written for Amy Johnson Crow's blogger challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Sources

• Stefan Popp, "Popp-Pereksta Family Record" (Private, recorded in diary c. 1940).
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, Szidor-Komiszar marriage, record 3, image 163 of 192; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 15 Mar 2010).
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, "Image 14/189," Mihaly Szidor record; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 Mar 2010).
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, "Image 24/189, Record 13," Basilus Szidor Baptismal Record; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 17 Mar 2010); Record is in Cyrillac alphabet.
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, Joannes Szidor Birth 1859, image 33 of 189; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 15 Mar 2010).
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, Olena Szidor birth record, image 59 of 189; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 15 Mar 2010); Names her parents as Joannes Szidor and Maria Komiszar of Sztarina.
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, "Image 36/189, Record 24," Janos Perekszta Baptismal record; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 Mar 2010); The record is in Cyrillac letters. It lists his parents and their residence, Prisxlop Household #2.
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, Anna Szidor Birth, 1863. Image 68 of 189; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 15 Mar 2010).
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, Joannes Szidor birth 1866, record 30, image 153 of 192; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 26 Jan 2014).