52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 1 - I'd Like To Meet

 t’s a new year—2023! That means it’s time to try the 52 Ancestors challenge once again. Last year I made it farther than I ever have made it before—to week 22! I’m not feeling good about getting any further, but as they say: “nothing ventured, nothing gained”. So start I will!

This week the cue is “I’d like to meet”. The person I would mot like to meet is my great-grandmother, Mara Miller Janco. The Janco line is one of my brick walls, and there are so many questions I hope that Mara could answer for me. One question I have is about the correct spelling of ‘Janco’. Is it ‘Jancso’? Or is it ‘Jansgo’? I’ve written about this dilemma before, here. Logic says that I would be better off to as that question of my great-grandfather, Paul Janco. But I’ve been told many times that Paul was a curmudgeonly old man. It is unlikely that I would get my answers from him!

 

I would also ask Mara about is her birth surname, Miller. Was it really Miller? My grandmother assumed Mara’s father was English because ‘Miller is an English name’. But they lived in a region that was part of Austria-Hungary at the time. It later was part of Yugoslavia. I have to wonder if Mara’s father was German or Austrian, with a spelling of ‘Müller’. I’ve written about that here. I’d also like for Mara to tell me her family history as far back as she knows it.

 

Beyond the names, there are other things I’d like to hear from Mara. She had a daughter who died as a young child. Her foot became infected after stepping on the thorn of a locust tree. There were no antibiotics at the time. I’d like Mara to share her memories of the child.I’d also like to hear stories of my grandmother when she was a young girl. Mara died within a few years of her arrival in the United States. I wonder what was it felt like to come over on a ship with three children? Did she have any second thoughts once she got here? Mara had a hard life. Based on stories I’ve heard about her husband. I suspect that he was abusive at some level, though possibly no more than other men of that time. It must have been very difficult for Mara in a place where she did not know the language or people. I'd like to hear her story.