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The HAJDUK family History as told by MARY (WOLK) HAJDUK on February 24, 1992

John HAJDUK was born in 1879 in Austria which is now Chechoslovakia. He was a Slovak born to Slovak parents. They lived strictly off the land they owned raising enough food in the summer to last during the winter and spring. When his parents heard about life in America, they chose John, the oldest of the three brothers and one sister, to make his fortune in the New World. They made provisions to send him to America so he could live and enjoy a better life.

John HAJDUK, at the age of about 20, came to America to the hard coal region, a mining town in Landsford, PA. He worked 8 to 10 hours a day for a daily earning of 90 cents. When the Frick Coal and Coke Co. opened up coal mines in Westmoreland County, he moved from Landsford to Hostetter, where he earned $1.00 per day. He married Mary Merichko, daughter of Mike and Elizabeth Merichko. Their first child Mary Merichko, died at infancy. They had two more children. Mary and Annie, shortly after. In 1909, John and Mary took the two girls to Petrovce in North Eastern Chechoslovakia, a small town, where John’s parents, John and Eleanora Nohaj Hajduk lived. They had considered this visit with a possible intention to spend the rest of their lives there. John stayed with his family in Petrovce for about 2 years. He realized that he liked American life better than the country where he was born and raised so he decided to return to America. Mary stayed with her two young daughters in Petrovce until John made enough money in America to send for his small family. John had two brothers, Andy and Mike, and one sister, Susan, living in Petrovce.

After John left Petrovce, he lost an infant daughter, Pauline, to dyptheria. A sister, Susan, age 16, also died of the same disease during that period. When John returned to America, he began to save and send money to Mary for passage across the Atlantic, however, as time went on, he began to realize that his father, John Sr., having an influential position in the village, would intercept the money to buy cattle and farm equipment. This went on for about one year until Mary found out and had arranged for her husband to address his letters to a neighbor she trusted. Thus, John, Sr. could no longer help himself to the money.

While awaiting her return to America, Mary got a Polish agent to prepare for a pilgrimage to Poland to a holy shrine. She gathered up Mary and Annie and started her journey. Once in Poland, Mary thought it wasn’t necessary to go through all the paperwork and passport procedures that were required. Apparently, John HAJDUK, Sr. tipped off the Polish Officials and Mary’s plan failed. She was arrested and as a penalty, she had to spend one week in a detention center performing kitchen work in “Mihalovce.” The children were taken to relatives in “Nacinovse” who cared for the girls until their mother’s release.

When her detention was completed, Mary and the two girls returned to Petrovce and awaited for the completion of their passports and visas to return to America. Alas, John, Jr., had sent enough money so they could return home. In early 1912, Mary took her two daughters and left for America on a 17 day voyage on the ship Carpathia. It is of note that they were crossing the Atlantic at the time of the sinking of the Titanic. Mary recollects standing on the deck of the Carpathia with her doll wrapped in a shawl, watching as the boat left the shore, when her sister Annie, grabbed the doll and threw it overboard into the Atlantic. The captain saw Mary crying and was able to rescue the shawl as it landed on the lower level. The doll was lost at sea.

On April 15, 1913, Mary and her two daughters arrived in Latrobe, PA. Greeted by her husband, John, they boarded a street car as far as Baggeley and then walked about a mile to Hostetter, where John lived. They got the most welcome greeting from Mary’s parents, Mike and Elizabeth Merichko, who also, lived in the town of Hostetter. Soon, two more children were born, Elizabeth and John. After a few years, they moved to Whitney, PA where 6 children were born including, John, Steve, Helen, Margaret, Josephine and Sophia. John HAJDUK continued to work as a coal miner and died in Whitney on 25 Oct 1925 of pneumonia at the age of 46. He is buried at St. Vincent Cemetary.

In 1953, Mary HAJDUK moved to Norveit, PA where daughters Mary, Anne and Elizabeth where already residing with their nearly grown families. She died on 24 Aug 1968 and was buried at ST. Vincent Cemetary along side her husband John. Of the 9 daughters and 3 sons born to John, Jr. and Mary HAJDUK, there are 5 daughters living at this writing of January 15, 1992. They include Anna, Mary, Elizabeth, Margarte and Josephine. Pauline is buried in Petrovce where she died in infancy. Mary, John, Steve and John all died in infancy and were buried at St. Vincent Cemetary. Helen died in England where she lived her entire adult life and Sophia, the youngest, died in Latrobe, PA and is buried at Unity Cemetary.

John HAJDUK, Jr.’s brothers were killed in World War I while fighting for Austria. John later learned after World War 1 that his parents died of “old age”.

Note: These three pages received on 25 May 2006 from the Heinz History Center in Pittsburg, PA and have been transcribed by John J. Rynkiewicz on 26 May 2006.

Of interest are the dates of entry into the US as there appears to be a lapse in memory of the story teller of the facts. These Hajduk's emigrated in 1913. Keep in mind that these are purely a individuals recollection of times and dates and must be futher researched as to their accuracy.

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