SCHWABIK

The Family Tree

THE SCHWABIK Story

Introduction
This is the story of the Schwabik /Brodak and Schwabik /Murin family in the United States. The facts are stated as true, and anything that is conjecture is indicated in italics. We started much of this research ten years ago - countless hours have been spent learning and searching small facts to connect-the-dots and tell the tale. The bulk of the US based research was done by three people: the writer (Wendy Erickson) and my two cousins Kenneth and Robert Schwabik, with additional research and support from their children as well. Relatives have received countless e-mails asking for photos, information, recipes and more. THANK YOU for humoring us! Ken initially hired a Vladimir Flak, Slovak researcher of Spišská Nová Ves to search church records in Slovakia and his excellent work pointed us in the right direction to continue. Interesting though, we have found many other records here in the US not found by his research, using the LDS microfilms. Stefan Schwabik of Prague and Alexander Schwabik of Spišská Nová Ves also provided family information that allowed us to match up family records - we indeed have living relatives in the Slovak and Czech Republic and are now in contact with them. Cousin Michael Sivak of Bratislava has helped with translations and acted as a 'tour guide' on our trip to Slovakia. Other US family members also contributed information, stories and photographs. Other dedicated family researchers have contributed, such as Ernest Erenyi of Wisconsin USA who continues to track and write his own family history - we have not yet connected the dots between Ernest's Schwabik relatives and ours, however the sharing of information and photographs continues.

The bulk of the data came from the LDS Mormon church records - these were invaluable in finding actual birth, christening, wedding and death information from actual church ledgers. The Ellis Island database also helped unravel some of the puzzles and gave us valuable clues to family at home, destinations, and traveling companions. And finally, US Census data obtained through a subscription to Ancestry.com was useful and uncovered clues to family members, relatives, house boarders and neighbors. We even found some family members we knew little about using the internet - for example, we found the daughter of our Grandfather's sister, living two hours away! There will always be mysteries with every family, but sometimes those mysteries leave open doors for the future genealogy treasure hunter.

Kenneth Schwabik, his wife Maureen, me and my husband John Placko (Yes, Slovak!) visited Slovakia in 2003 - our trip was amazing - to see the places where our grandparents were born was an unforgettable experience. Meeting relatives in Slovakia and Prague was life changing.
Please click on the chapters on the left side of the page under "The Schwabik Story."