ANNA SOPHIA TATAR

Anna Tatar Simonik, about 1918.¹

31 Days of Writing Family History Challenge

January 15, 2022:   Maternal Great Grandmother #2  - Anna Sophia Tatar (1883-1950)

by Nancy Gilbride Casey

This last entry on my great grandparents focuses on the wife of John Simonik, Anna Sophia Tatar (pronounced "tuh-TAR"; click here for pronunciation). Anna was the mother of our grandmother Margaret.

Like John, Anna was born in the tiny town of Forbász, in the Austria-Hungarian empire, now Slovakia. She was about ten years younger than John, born on 24 April 1883 to Michael Tatar and Maria Haneczak (HAN-i-check), and was baptized two days later on 26 April 1883.²

Anna married John Simonik on 13 November 1901, before they immigrated to the United States, where they made their home first in Westmoreland County, then in West Leisenring in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.³

It is Anna who my mother remembered spending the most time with as a child, and who was her most cherished grandmother. This photograph of Anna and baby Anna Margaret Kozlina shows that the feeling no doubt was mutual. Perhaps Anna felt blessed by every grandchild, since she had lost so many of her own children, though five lived to adulthood.

Anna Tatar Simonik and Anna Margaret Kozlina, my Mom. Taken "on the hill" in West Leisenring, Pennsylvania, about 1938. Note the beehive coke ovens in the valley below.⁴

I have few other photos of Anna with husband John. Little details like how he loops his arm in hers in this photo suggests to me that they shared a loving relationship (even if the bright sun kept them squinting and not smiling!).

Anna and John Simonik, West Leisenring, about 1946.⁵

Knowing how much Anna meant to my Mom makes me wish I could have known her. Sadly she died over a decade before I was born. Yet I saw the influence of her kind and gentle nature on her daughter—my grandmother—and then on through my own mother. And I feel a maternal connection somehow, which perhaps they passed on to me as well.

 

BONUS: Were John Simonik and Anna Tatar Gorals?

While researching John Simonik and Anna Tatar, it was suggested to me their heritage was actually Goral, or Tatra Highlanders. The Gorals originated in the Tatra Mountains, whose peaks which form a natural geographic barrier between southern Poland and northern Slovakia, where John and Anna were both born. 

The High Tatras form a natural border between Poland and Slovakia.⁶

Over centuries Gorals made a life in the rugged and remote country and created a unique highland culture which encompassed distinctive dialect, dress, cuisine, architecture and music, as well as unique farming practices.⁷

In time, Gorals settled all around the Tatras, both in Poland and Slovakia. The map below shows the areas where the Goral culture was found; notably, the area right around Stará Ľubovňa; in particular, the town of Forbasy (then Forbász) was known to be Goral. 

Map of Goral influence and population, shown in gray and mottled gray.⁸

Detail of map, showing the Goral influence around Stará Ľubovňa.⁹

The map clearly shows that the area around Stará Ľubovňa had Goral influence and population, which would include Forbász. This would be convincing enough evidence for me, but allow me to add one more piece of the puzzle: DNA.

My 23andMe DNA ethnicity results partly place my genetic heritage within this region as well, showing that I carry DNA from this area, handed down through generations. 

Compared to 23andMe's reference population, I am 47.9% Eastern European. Of this, the strongest evidence of my Eastern European ancestry is in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.¹⁰ Granted I do not have ancestors of which I am aware from Poland...

My DNA shows strongest evidence for my Eastern European ancestry in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.

...however, in this detail, Stará Ľubovňa is clearly visible...the closest large town to my ancestral home of Forbász. As they say, the DNA doesn't lie. Compelling evidence indeed.

Location of Stará, Ľubovňa in relation to the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.

NOTES

¹ Photo of Anna Tatar Simonik, detail from larger family portrait, about 1918, unknown photographer, location; private collection of N. Casey [address for private use], 2022.

² Kostol sv. Bartolomeja (Church of St. Bartholomew), Gňazdá, Stará, Ľubovňa, Slovakia, Baptisms, marriages, deaths, index (Krsty, manželstvá, úmrtia, zoznam) 1801-1888, p. 63, baptism of Anna Tatar , 26 April 1883; image, "Slovakia Church and Synagogue Books, 1592-1935," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9R79-9Q5M : accessed 15 January 2022); citing Odbor Archivnictva (The Archives of the Republic), Slovakia; FHL microfilm 1,739,196, image 672.

³ For marriage: Kostol sv. Bartolomeja, Gňazdá, Stará, Ľubovňa, Slovakia, Marriages 1880-1945, #3230, no page, marriage of Joannes Szimonik and Anna Tatar, 13 November 1901; FHL film 1739197-2, image retrieved by L. Klein [address for private use]. For 1910 residence: 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Westmoreland County, Pa., population schedule, enumeration district 118, sheet 29A, East Huntingdon Township, Morewood Rd., dwelling 379, family 499, Annie Semallak (27); image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/4449972_00618: accessed 14 January 2022); NARA microfilm publication T624; Washington, D.C. For 1920 residence: 

⁴ Photo of Anna Tatar Simonik and Anna Margaret Kozlina, about 1938, West Leisenring Pa., unknown photographer; private collection of M. Graff [address for private use], 2022.

⁵ Photo of Anna and John Simonik, about 1946, West Leisenring Pa., unknown photographer; private collection of M. Graff [address for private use], 2022.

⁶ Wikimedia Commons, "High Tatras Slovakia," photo contributed by Kosice25, 6 April 2010, used under Creative Commons license CC0 1.0.

⁷ Tatra Area Research Group (http://e-targ.org/Gorals.html : accessed 15 January 2022), "History of the Gorals," 2012. 

⁸ Ibid, (http://e-targ.org/Maps/Highlander_Map%202007.html : accessed 15 January 2022), "Area History," map created by Paul Bingham, used with permission.

⁹ Ibid, detail.

¹⁰ "Ancestral Composition report for Nancy Casey," database report, 23andMe (https://you.23andme.com/reports/ancestry_composition_hd/ : accessed 15 January 2022). 51.1% British and Irish; 47.9% Eastern European, .7% Broadly European, .3% Trace Ancestry.