Novel Notes of Local Lore

Vera Kadlec was born on August 10, 1909 in the village of Orlov, which is situated between Pilsen and Prague in what is now the Czech Republic.  Vera’s father, Andel Blaha, was the mayor of [...]

Emilia Mundt was born on October 26, 1913 in Chicago to Jan Jelen and Zofia Nedved, both of whom were immigrants from Slovakia.  Jan came to America with a relative when he was nineteen, and [...]

Edith Wojewodika was born on February 7, 1915 in Chicago.  Her parents were Eluf Akselsem and Britta Dam, both immigrants from Denmark who met in New York shortly after arriving in America.  They [...]

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 [...]

Arthur Kowalski was born on February 14, 1911 in Chicago to Jacek and Elsie Kowalski, both immigrants from Poland.  Neither Jacek or Elsie had had much education in Poland, but upon arriving in [...]