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A
Brief Biography of Peter and Rose
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Peter was born July 24, 1880 in the
village of Turzovka in the Trencin area of what is now
Slovakia. It has been established that he had four
sisters and four brothers. Their names in order of birth
are: Katharina (3/24/1882), Stefan (12/25/1883), Jan
(3/30/1885), Anna (6/6/1887), Paulus (1/26/1890), Simon
(12/10/1891), Joanna (5/24/1893), and Eva (12/28/94).
Paulus and Simon were killed on the Russian front during
World War I. Peter married Rose (Rozalia) Chudej,
daughter of Joannes Chudej and Anna Vrablik, who was
born on March 15, 1887 in Turzovka. Records indicate
that Rozalia was the youngest of 8 children. The others
were: Apolonia, Joannes, Simeon, Jacobus, Veronika,
Antonius, and Anna. Rose and Peter were married on July
27, 1907.
Peter earned a living as a drotár
(tinker or tinsmith), traveling from house to house
fixing pots and pans and doing other kinds of metal
work. At the turn of the the century, there was much
poverty, political instability and oppression in the
region encompassing Slovakia, which was then part of the
Austro-Hungary Empire. In search of a better life, Peter
emigrated to the U.S. in 1907. He and 16 others from
Turzovka (Turzofalva in Hungarian) departed from Bremen,
Germany on October 22 nd on the Kronprinz Wilhelm and
arrived at Ellis Island through the Port of New York on
October 30th. Included among the Turzovkans were Rose's
brothers, Jan and Anton, and Josef Polka, husband of
Rose's sister Veronika. The records indicate that Peter
had $30 when he arrived in the U.S. Rose arrived in the
U.S. on the Barbarossa on August 3, 1910, apparently
waiting until Peter was settled. She brought with her
their daughter "Verona" (Veronika), who was
approximately 2 years old.
Peter originally settled near Cheswick,
Pennsylvania, where he found employment as a coal miner.
His employment in the mines was brief, according to his
son Peter. His dislike of the mines resulted in a quick
change to a job in a glass factory in nearby
Blairsville. This is understandable in light of the
Hartwick Mine disaster near Cheswick in 1904, in which
179 miners perished. Through friends, he and others
learned that the economy in northwestern Pennsylvania
was very strong. There was an abundance of jobs in the
forest and wood products industries, glass
manufacturing, and tanning industries because of the
extensive hemlock tree growth and natural gas.. Records
indicate that when Rose arrived in 1910, Peter was
living in James City, a small town in northwestern
Pennsylvania, where he found employment in the American
Plate Glass Company factory. In November, 1919, he
bought a small farm located at
Lamont (a few miles from James City), where he and
Rose lived out the remainder of their lives.
Coincidentally, this final residence was across the road
from the farm of Anton and Susie Virecz (later changed
to Weritz and Veritz), who were from Divina, Slovakia
which is near Turzovka. Anton had also been a drotar,
working in the same area of Slovakia as Peter. Their
paths frequently crossed and they became good friends.
Their close friendship continued when they became
neighbors in Lamont.
The mortgage shows that Peter
purchased the farm for $5,000 and a bill of sale
indicates that he paid an additional $1,500 for the
grain and hay, 1 horse, 2 cows, 5 pigs, 24 sheep, 50
chickens, 15 rabbits, 2 buggies, a cart, machines and
assorted farm tools. He made a down payment of $2,500
and paid off the balance at a rate of $200 per year plus
6 percent interest on the principal. That is a
remarkable accomplishment considering how little he had
when he arrived in the United States and the fact that
the typical wage in the glass factory was $2.00 for a
12-hour day. Peter and others from the Lamont area who
worked in the glass factory usually walked the 3-4 miles
to save the 20 cent round-trip train fare. Peter farmed
part-time with the help of his children and continued
working at the glass factory until it closed in the
depression years. He was then left to earning a living
entirely from farming. The farm was only 58 acres in
size, and less than half was tillable, severely limiting
his earnings. As mentioned, he farmed with horses and
little machinery; in fact, Peter never owned or drove an
automobile.
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A supplemental source of income for
many of the Lamont-area farmers was the sale of
moonshine during the Prohibition era. It has been
reported that a Croation neighbor, Mike Novosel, showed
them how to make the beverage. Anton Vericz was the only
producer known to have been caught and arrested. Peter's
son Anthony recalled that his father also played the
bass fiddle.
Despite the hardships they endured, Peter and Rose
were known for their generosity. Families from James
City have passed down stories of how Peter gave them
potatoes and other vegetables during the depression
years.
Not much is known about Rose because of her early
death and the fact that she never became a naturalized
citizen. The naturalization procedure ordinarily was not
pursued by married women immigrants during the early
part of the century. They were considered legal citizens
because of their husband's naturalization. Consequently,
there are few records that provide a glimpse of her
past. It has been established, however, that she served
as the midwife for Susie Weritz during the birth of her
daughter Elizabeth (Betty Weritz-Johnson) and attended
to several other births in the Lamont-James City area.
Additionally, the maiden name of Rose's mother is given
on her death certificate as "Annie Rublick." In the
Slovak church records, the spelling is "Vrablik." This
provides a link between her and the "Wroblick" family
residing in the West Point, VA area, who Peter, Jr. and
Anthony are known to have visited from time-to-time. The
Social Security records indicate the following deceased
relatives: Steve Wroblick (1910-1977), Anna Wroblick
(1911-1979), and Helen Wroblick (1912-1979). There
currently are West Point, VA phone listings for Helen
and Joseph Wroblick.
Peter and Rose understood very little English,
speaking mostly in their native tongue at home. This
limited their socialization primarily to relatives and
the few other Slovak families residing in the Lamont and
James City areas. These included the Weritz, Trulik,
Gabriel, Prokop, Undrovic, Gaston, Mishic, and Romanick
families, most of whom still have descendants living in
the area.
Peter and Rose had two daughters and
seven sons. In order of birth, they were Veronika
(Slovak spelling), Mary, Peter, Anthony, Joseph, John,
Paul, Frank, and Vincent. It has been reported and
confirmed that Veronika died at age 5 when she fell into
a cauldron of hot water being used to boil clothes.
Anthony recalled hearing that she stumbled backward and
literally sat in the cauldron while she was carrying her
sister, Mary. Mary was only a few months old at the time
and apparently was not harmed. Rose died on October 28,
1930, in the Community Hospital in nearby Kane. The
cause of death on her official death certificate is
given as "gangrene of the lungs" caused by bronciectasis,
an inflammation of the lungs that sometimes results from
the flu or pneumonia. Peter died on January 10, 1942.
The cause listed on his death certificate was bronchial
asthma and acute pulmonary edema. It may be attributable
to his love of cigars. Betty Trulik-Rossman , a Lamont
neighbor, reported that she and her mother, Barbara,
visited Peter shortly before his death. He was being
cared for at home by daughter Mary Chubon-Piersa. It was
apparent that he was near death, and Betty's mother sent
her home for a bottle of holy water, some of which she
sprinkled on him. Betty, who was 11 years old at the
time, explained that she was petrified, but managed to
get through the scary ordeal. The bodies of Rose and
Peter were interred in the St. Callistus Cemetery, near
Kane, a few miles from Lamont. No information regarding
the burial of daughter Veronika has been found |
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