Kmetz - Bretcko & Eastern Slovakia - Family History Research Links

There is not a great deal of information available about ancestors from eastern Slovakia. In fact, formal message boards for many Slovak surnames are only now becoming common.

Most of the emigrants from this area appear to have left it at the end of the 19th century or early in the 20th century, when it was a remote corner of the kingdom of Hungary (part of the empire of Austria - Hungary).

My personal searches are for the surnames Bretcko, Kmetz, Kuzma, Lucas, and Pretushka. Send me an e-mail and let me know if we share an interest in these surnames. I would be happy to exchange information with you.

Slovakia

• Slovak GenWeb
• Slovak Surname Location Reference Project
• Ancestry Message Board: Slovakia
• Slovak Genealogy Forum

Eastern Slovakia

• Eastern Slovakia, Slovak and Carpatho - Rusyn genealogy research pages
• The Carpathian Connection
• Carpatho - Rusyn Genealogy Web Site
• Carpatho - Rusyn Knowledge Base
• Ancestry Message Board: Vychodoslovensky (12 eastern districts of country)

Kmetz - Bretcko Ancestors

My personal searches in this area relate to 4 individuals who were all born in 1886 in Zemplin county, part of eastern Slovakia. If you know anything at all about them, please send me an e-mail. I would love to hear from you.

• George Kmetz (1886 - 1951) emigrated to America as a teenager, settling in Clairton, Pennsylvania.
• Susan Pretushka (1886 - 1945) also emigrated to Clairton. Prior to marrying George Kmetz, she had been married to Joseph Kotcko.
• John Brecko (1886 - 1958) was born in Zalabina (northwest of Humenne), the son of John Brecko, Sr. and his wife Susan. After settling in McKeesport, PA and then later in Clairton, the surname spelling was changed to Bretcko.
• Mary Kuzma (1886 - 1964) was born in Zubne (northeast of Humenne), the daughter of Charles Kuzma and Mary Lucas. She and John Brecko were married in 1906.

Queries

Message boards are beginning to appear for these surnames and for potential variations of them. Known boards are shown below: