The Galvaneks figure into my family tree on my mother’s side, the Slovak side, as my maternal grandmother’s ancestors. My grandmother was born Irene Galvanek or, in the Slovak feminine form, Irene Galvankova or perhaps Irene Galvanekova, or Irena Galvanekova. I am told by a Slovak relative related to me through the Galvanek line that Galvanek means “Gaul from the edge”.
Irene was born on December 20, 1908 in Kysucke Nove Mesto, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary, and later Czechoslovakia, now Slovakia. She was one of the children of father Frantisek Galvanek (born September 6, 1871) and Maria Lackova (born January 6, 1866).
Slovakia does not make birth records from after 1896 available to the general public, so I’m not able to get a copy of her birth record easily: I would as a relative be allowed to get it but it would involve some complications.
Thus I begin the documentation with the records of her father, Frantisek. (Upon her immigration to the US, her father’s name is given on her immigration document)
Frantisek is the Slovak form of the Latin name “Franciscus” or “Francisco”, and so Frantisek’s birth record shows his name as Francisco. The Hungarian form of this name is Ferencz — and these are all essentially the same name, I am told by my Slovak relative.
This is a photograph of my great-grandfather and great-grandmother’s graves — Frantisek Galvanek and Maria Galvankova.
Here is Frantisek’s birth record, showing his birth on Sept 6 1871 to Stephanus Galvanek and Veronica Kollarik.
Frantisek had four siblings: Ignatius or Ignacs, Paulus, Maria and Johannes.
This shows the birth record for Ignatius on May 30 1881, who apparently died either at birth as the term “Posthumous” is written by his name. –or, his father died before his birth. It seems that the latter is the case, as it turns out that a relative currently living in Slovakia is descended from this Ignatius! Ignatius is the Latin form of the name. The Slovak or Czech form of this name would be Ignac or Ignacs, as stated in this article: https://www.behindthename.com/name/ignatius
Frantisek’s brother Jozef was born in 1867:
Paulus was born October 14 1878:
Paul actually immigrated to the United States, and a passenger list from 1910 shows him arriving in the USA on August 16 that year: — on the Kronprinz Wilhelm.
Kronprinz Wilhelm:
What happened to Paul in the USA?
A Find-A-Grave listing shows him buried in Saint Cyril Slovak Catholic Cemetery in Binghamton, Broome County, New York State. His death date shows as 1947.
The Find-A-Grave listing for him is here .
This is a photo of his gravestone:
A census record for New York state from the US Census for 1920 shows Paul Galvanek living at 31 Grace Street in Binghamton City, on January 10 1920, as a boarder in a household with the Tomecek family. He is shown as married, and as a Mary Galvanek also lives in that household we can assume she is his wife. He is shown as 39 years old at this time, and she as 36 years old. Actually my great uncle Paul would have been 42 at this time as he was born in 1878 but there may have been some mistake.
The census record shows him as having immigrated in 1901, so he’s actually the first of my wider family to come to the US — though the first of my immediate family was my grandfather Andrew Durana, who came to the US first in 1912. Paul is also shown as being an employee of a shoe factory at this time in 1920. 
The Census record for this area shows a great many Slovak people living in this area…they were designated somewhat offensively by the official doing this record, as being from “Slovakland”. In fact the nation they were from was at the time the Kingdom of Hungary, which it was between year 1000 and year 1918. Between 1918 and 1989 it was Czechoslovakia and is now Slovakia.
This Social Security Claims record shows this Paul Galvanek with the same birthdate (one day off) as the Paulus Galvanek shown as son of Stephanus Galvanek and Veronica Kollarik:
A Paul B. Galvanek served in the US military during World War II, and is shown here as “Tec 4” in a list of service men traveling back to New York on the SS Aquitania, arriving Nov 9 1944.
However, I think this is another Paul Galvanek — not my great uncle, but another relative…since the registration card for a Paul Galvanek for the military in 1942 shows a birth date of March 29 1888. 
Another 1920 census shows this Paul Galvanek, a butcher not a shoe factory employee,
born about 1889 and living in Allegheny PA:
An 1930 Census shows this same Paul in Pennsylvania married to Olga and with several children as listed: (1) Paul age 6 (born 1924), (2) Edward age 5 (born 1925), (3) Joseph age 2 (born 1928) and Edward Kruh, age 18 — not clear if this is their child or someone from another family. 
The child Paul was actually born May 4 1923, and this is a photo of him in his Penn State yearbook:
This page from the yearbook shows he studied chemistry:
This shows the father Pauls’ petition for Naturalization as a US Citizen on Oct 6 1937 which states he has been in the US since June 4 1913:
This link takes you to the Find a Grave listing for this Paul Galvanek’s grave in Mount Airy Cemetery in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania.
His wife Olga is also buried there:
Paul’s son Edward was cremated and this is his listing on Find a Grave.
Paul’s son Paul born in 1923 apparently lived in Massachusetts and died there in 1981. 
There is a Paul Galvanek shown as living at 42 Holland Street in Binghamton NY in 1933 in the City Directory. I believe this is the son of the Paul Galvanek born in 1878 who is my grandfather’s brother. There is also a Stephen Galvanek living at the same house at this time, and I believe this could be Pauls’ other son. 
Stephen Galvanek is shown as born in 1907 , which is close to Veronica’s birth in April 1906, so it makes sense he would be her sibling, and he served in the military in WWII.
This is his grave at Calvary Cemetery in Johnson City, Broome County NY. 
He was in the army from march 23 1942 to October 4 1945. 
A 1944 city directory shows Paul and Mary Galvanek living at 5 Jarvia Drive in Binghamton NY. 
In Pennsylvania, there is a birth record which shows Paul Galvanek, age 28, (this would be my great uncle) and Rosie Vrabek age 25 as the parents of Veronica Galvanek born in 1906. This is the same Paul Galvanek who later lived in NY state. So perhaps they were first living in Uniontown Pennsylvania before later living in Binghamton New York. It’s possible that Rosie was his first wife and Mary his second wife.
A marriage certificate for Veronica Galvanek to Milo Zemberi, also a Slovak Immigrant:
Milo Zemberi’s father Joe was an immigrant from Czechoslovakia as well:
However Veronica Galvanek Zemberi later married a different man, Joseph Krasaji, on July 2 1932:
A 1958 City directory for the same area shows a Paul Galvanek Jr living at 235 Park Drive…it’s not clear which Paul Galvanek this Paul Jr is descended from…. 
There is a Paul Galvanek also living in Broome County New York and also buried in the same St Cyril Slovak Catholic Cemetery as my great uncle …this Paul was born in 1903 and died in 1989. Was he my great uncle’s son? This is his find a grave listing and here is his gravestone:
There is a baby Paul Galvanek, born 1946, who is also buried in this same cemetery...it’s likely he is the child of Paul P and Mary R 
Back to the children of Stephanus Galvanek…
Frantiseks’ sister Maria was born SEptember 22 1875:
And finally Johannes was born on July 6 1869:
I don’t find marriage records for my great grandfather Frantisek and his wife Maria Lackova, as they were married after 1895 and marriage records can’t easily be found for that date.
However I do find marriage record for his sister Maria Galvanek to Pal or Peter Majdak on January 6 1895:
Paulus or Paul Galvanek married a Rosa Vrabek, according to Peter Fedor who is a relative of mine in Slovakia. This marriage would likely have been after 1895, so that records would be hard to find for anyone not in Slovakia.
He apparently immigrated to the USA, as a Paul Galvanek born 1878 with wife Rosa immigrated there in 1910, aboard the Kronprinz Wilhelm ship:
Frantisek and his siblings are all the children of Stephanus Galvanek (born August 16, 1828) and Veronica Kollarick (born May 5, 1843). Stephanus was one of 12 children of my great-great-great grandparents Joannes Galvanek and Anna Hohoss.
This record shows the birth of my great-great-grandfather Stephanus Galvanek on Aug 16 1828:
(Another of my relatives, Franciscus or Ferencz Kollarik, may be shown on this same page born on July 18 1828 — but it’s not clear if this is the correct Franciscus Kollarik…another was born on March 12 1825)
Stephanus and Veronica were married on May 17, 1864, and this record is shown here: 
This record shows the birth of Stephanus’ sister Veronica Galvanek on Jan 16 1827:
This record shows the birth of Stephanus’ brother Andreas on Jan 28 1825
Stephanus’ brother Petrus married Maria Bohuny. Two of their children were also named Petrus — one was born on Nov 2 1853 as seen in this record:
Their other son Petrus was born March 8 1852 as seen in this record:
My grandmother’s half sister Anna Tarabek married Frantisek Kunsch, son of Paul Kunsch, and this is their grave site, Kysucke Nove Mesto Slovakia:
This is the grave of my grandmother’s sister Stefania, who married Justin Zajacek.
This is a photo of Ivana Dragunova, daughter of my grandmother’s sister Adela Galvankova, who married Josef Kralik. Ivana married Vojtech Dragun.
My grandmother Irene’s story begins in the article I’ve written about my grandfather Andrew: https://mikuteitfamilytree.wordpress.com/2017/07/13/andrew-durana/
Irene first arrived in the United States in 1928, after her marriage to Andrew in 1927 in Slovakia. She stayed here until 1932, with my mother Vera, in Detroit Michigan. After that she had returned with my mother to Slovakia. Then both returned on September 21 1949, arriving at Niagra Falls aboard the SS Aquitania, from Halifax, Nova Scotia — the same ship that my grandfather Andrew had traveled on to come to the US. This record of her arrival at the US border shows her former address in Kyscuke Nove Mesto Czechoslovakia as Partyzanska 2. Her father Frantisek (Franciscus) Galvanek is shown as residing at Partyzanska 237 in Kyscucke Nove Mesto. 
My mother Vera was with her at this time:
This ship manifest from the RMS Aquitania shows my grandmother Irena Duranova, then aged 40, and my mother Vera, then aged 19 years, arriving on Sept 19 1949. They were apparently headed to 2540 St Tikhon Avenue Cleveland Ohio.
this is 2540 St Tikhon Avenue in Cleveland OH:
St Tikhon Road attains its name I believe from the fact that it’s the locale of the Monastery of St Tikhon of Zadonsk, as shown on this website .
After arriving in the US, my mother Vera attended Fenn College in Ohio. A yearbook photo from Fenn College:
This page from the Elyria Ohio newspaper “The Chronicle Telegram” from 1952 shows my mother participating in a discussion about “How to attain International Understanding”
This marriage record from Ohio for 1957-1958 shows my mother becoming married during that year:
I did not see my grandmother Irene Durana (Galvankova) very much in my life. I visited her when I was young at her house in Cleveland Ohio at 4358 West 58th Street, where she lived until she was nearly 90, at which point some health problems required her to be transferred to live closer to my parents in San Diego, where she died on Feb 11 2002. I recall that when I was a child visiting her, I was delighted by a large doll she had at her house. I remember how the living room looked, with a sort of wraparound sofa. I recall that the street was made of bricks, and that she and I walked together to the ice cream store down the street, to buy “Smirzlina.”
Irene worked as a seamstress and made and repaired clothes for those in her community.
After my family moved to San Diego, I did not see her much, but I do recall that she would often write or talk about how she and I would visit Czechoslovakia together. In my imagination, I am visiting there with her and we are seeing the small lakes on the mountaintops together. This is a letter grandma Irene wrote to me in 1983:
This photo shows me with grandmother Irene on one of her few trips to San Diego:
This last photo shows Irene closer to the time of her death, when she was living in a care home in San Diego County.
Irene’s final resting place is in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Brook Park, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, as shown in this record from findagrave.com
THere are other branches of my Galvanek relatives for whom I find documents.
There was another Paul Galvanek who came to the United States. He was descended from my great-great grandfather Stephanus Galvanek’s brother Peter Galvanek. Paul married Alga and they had a son Edward Galvanek, born APril 18 1925, who married Clara Tempinski in Brackenridge PA on March 23 1948:
Going back to the start of the Galvaneks…
Is it possible to find birth or death records for Joannes Galvanek or Anna Hohoss?
They would have lived until at least 1828 (Joannes) and 1829(Anna) since Anna had a child Joseph born in 1829.
Looking through death records from 1832 backwards, I began to find much larger numbers of deaths, and many of the same surname dying on the same day. I realized there was some epidemic raging through the populace, and indeed found a note on pg 355 of the Death records for 1788 to , showing that there was a cholera epidemic going on at the time: 
While looking thru the death records, I found the death of Susanna Galvanek, sister of my great great grandfather Stephanus. Since she’d been born in 1806, she would have been 46 in 1852, which is the year of the death of the Susanna Galvanek recorded here. She died of cholera on July 23 1852. Her husband was Istvan Gyurana:
I was disappointed when I found no records for an Istvan Galvanek, but then did a google search and discovered that Istvan is the Hungarian version of the name Stephan. And there are records for children born to the couple Susanna Galvanek and Stephan Gyurana! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen
First child Georgius born April 23 1824
Child Justine born Feb 12 1841:
CHild Veronica born Jan 1 1827:
Child Theresia born Jan 30 1838:
Child Anna born Sept 14 1832:
Maria born July 9 1835:
Joannes born Nov 5 1829
Istvan born Jan 2 1848
Is this my Anna Hohoss — died at age 65 in 1841 — seems a little old to be the right one. She would have been 53 at the time of the birth of her last son. 
This one seems more likely, this Anna Hohoss who died Nov 1 1840 at age 60. She would have been 49 when giving birth to her last son. Still pretty old to be having children, but in these days I am thinking there would have probably been no birth control and so women would likely have continued to have children as long as they were capable. Also, this death record says “eta Joanis” which might refer to her being the wife of Joanis eg Joannes Galvanek. Actually this was confirmed by my relative Peter…he says it states “Rta Joanis” where Rta is an abbreviation for “relicta” referring to vidua or widow. So she is the widow of Joannes, meaning, Joannes died earlier. (And this was confirmed by a continued search, see below) 
If that is the right Anna Hohoss, then this would be her birth in June 22 1780: to parents Nico Hohoss and Elisabetha.
Could this be the death record of her husband, my great great great grandfather, Joannes Galvanek? He died at age 50 on Dec 26 1834. Which would mean he was born in 1784. He would have been 20 years old at the birth of his first child in 1806. This does seem to fit. The notation by his name in the record — I don’t know what that means. 
I do find a Joannes Galvanek born Sept 2 1784 in Kysucke Nove Mesto!
But there is also a Joannes Galvanek born in 1783 in Kysucke Nove Mesto. Which is the one who married Anna Hohoss? As well, there is a Joannes Galvanek born in 1786 and also one born 1787 in Kysucke Nove Mesto. Is it possible to find out which one was the husband of Anna Hohoss, and my 3x great-grandfather? As it turns out, it is possible to eliminate some of the options but I have not yet established which Joannes is the right one.
So let’s look at the 4 Joannes Galvaneks born in this time frame in Kysucke Nove Mesto.
(1) First was born Jan 8th 1783 to Nicolai and Cathar.
(2) Second was born Sept 2 1784 to Stephani and Anna.
(3) Third was born Sept 1 1786 (indexes incorrectly show his surname as “Galvanchy” which is a misreading of Galvanek) born to Andr and Susan.
(4) Fourth was born March 18 1787 born to Stephani and Anna. (same as the parents of the 1784 Joannes)
My guess/intuition is that parents would not have two children with the same name, unless the first one died. As it turns out this is what happened.
Looking at the death records starting in January 1783, I find a death listed on Sept 15 1786 for “Joan filius Andr Galvanek” with age listed as “sept 2”. the “sept” denotation means he was 2 weeks old, not 2 years old. 2 yrs old would read “anno 2.” The “filius” means son of, so this death was that of Joannes son of Andr Galvanek, 2 weeks old, which matches the 1786 Joannes born just 2 weeks earlier on SEpt 1 1786. Thus, this means the 1786 Joannes is not a possibility.
Further in the death records, I find a “Joannes filius Steph Galvanek” who died on Feb 3 1787 at “anno 2” or 2 years old. This points to the 1784 Joannes, who since he was born Sept 2 1784, would have been 2 yrs old on Feb 3 1787. This means the 1784 Joannes is not a possibility.
I could look further in the records to check and see if the 1787 Joannes died young, but because I found no Joannes Galvanek death between 1828 (when he fathered Joseph Galvanek born 1829) and 1840 when Anna Hohoss was indicated as being a widow at her death, then I believe the Joannes Galvanek who died in 1834 must be my 3x great grandfather. If he was listed as age 50 then, this would put his birth within a year of November 26 1834, or from Nov 1783 to Nov 1784. The 1783 Joannes birth in January 1783 is closer -he would have been 51 years old not 50 on death date of Nov 26 1834. The 1787 Joannes (born March 1787) would have actually been 47 years old rather than 50 on death date of Nov 26 1834.
This makes me believe the 1783 Joannes is the correct one, but I want to check death records from 1787 to see what happened to the 1787 Joannes.
What I’ve found from my research so far, is that the age given at death is often not correct. This was the case for Susana Galvanek, who died in 1831 in the cholera epidemic, who would have been 19 at the time but the death record shows her as 17. Also the age on the death record for Stephanus Galvanek does not match his age on his marriage record. The death record for Anna Hohoss’ father, Nicolai Hohoss, who died in the cholera epidemic on Sept 9 1831, shows him as 75 then, but he was born in 1753 so would have been 78 then.
Death of 1784 Joannes:
Birth of 1786 Joannes:
death of 1786 Joannes:
Birth of 1783 Joannes: 
Birth of 1787 Joannes:
The children of Anna Hohoss and Joannes Galvanek were
(1) Susanna born June 22 1806 died of cholera July 23 1852
(2) Maria born Sept 12 1807
(3) Susana born Sept 7 1812
(4) Joannes born Dec 28 1814
(5) Peter born July 15 1817
(6) Paul born June 25 1819
(7) Antonius born July 9 1821
(8) Ignatius born May 15 1823 died age 5 Jan 29 1828
(9) Andreas born Jan 28 1825
(1) Veronica born Jan 16 1827 died age 1 Jan 23 1828
(11) Stephanus born Aug 16 1828
(12) Josephus born Dec 29 1829
Death of Veronica and ignatius on same page: 
Mikuteit Family Tree 