Novel Notes of Local Lore

Marie Bosko was born on July 4, 1912 in Chicago to Dusan Cizek and Alena Holub.  Both Dusan and Alena were immigrants from Czechoslovakia, but they met and married in Chicago.  Dusan worked as a [...]

Jadwiga Sokal was born on February 26, 1914 in Poland to Wladek and Kasia Majewski.  Jadwiga went to grammar school and then found a job in a pastry shop, where she often waited on a young man, [...]

Herman Neumacher was born on February 2, 1903 in Chicago.  The names of his parents are unknown, but he is thought to be of Irish and German descent.  He was the youngest of ten children, and his [...]

Mafalda Jedynak was born in Chicago on March 15, 1909 to Mario and Luisa Scarsi, both of whom were Italian immigrants.  Mafalda says that there were five children in the family, though she thinks [...]

Agnes Faraldo was born on April 11, 1917 in Chicago to Feodor Ciesielski and Vera Bergmann.  Both Feodor and Vera were born in Chicago, though Feodor’s family came from Poland and Vera’s from [...]

Imogene Ferris was born on April 12, 1903 in Chicago to Xaver and Elena Bergmann, both of whom emigrated from Germany as children.  Their families were neighbors in Chicago, and Xaver and Elena [...]

Marta Sirko was born on October 12, 1935 to Yaroslav and Kateryna Sirko, who were Ukrainian immigrants to Brazil.  They fled Europe in the early 1930’s to avoid the war they felt sure would soon [...]

Leona Wilson was born in Oklahoma on December 16, 1906 to Nigel Wilson and Elizabeth D’Evers.  Nigel was born in England and had a passion for the American Wild West since the time he was a [...]

Faye Pesek was born on June 28, 1909 to Archibald Pesek and Rita Vesely, both of whom were born in Chicago and were of Czech descent.  Archibald was a type of woodworker, Faye reports, and her [...]

Liberty Adelaide Appleby was born in Chicago to Alice Myers and Maurice Von Pfersfeld on July 4, 1914.  Because she was born on Independence Day, Maurice insisted they name their new daughter [...]