FIVE DAYS after our 31st wedding anniversary, my husband and I found ourselves in the parish cemetery of the Church of St. Nicholas and Linhart in Slovenice, Czechia, looking at gravestones, hoping to find one labeled Mlsna.
The town of Horni Slovenice, or Upper Slovenice, has 117 inhabitants. Besides the church, there is an inn/pub and little else. Daily announcements are made via loudspeaker, attached to a pole on the side of the road. We discovered this on a walk through town and after we heard a loud voice shouting at us in Czech. In the past several hundred years, little has changed here.
We were hoping this was the case when we started out, but it was hard to know last fall in Marquette as we were planning our trip to Central Europe. We were interested in tracing Mike’s paternal roots and had some genealogical information from a distant relative, and from 23 and Me. The results of both pointed geographically to the Central Bohemian Region of Czechia. However, it wasn’t until we delved into ancestry.com that specific details began to emerge.
In my life, I’ve met numerous Juniors and Seniors and even IIs and IIIs, but my husband was the first IV I ever met. I remember being intrigued by the title, eager for Mike’s stories and for those of Michael Matthew Mlsna the I, II, and III. I quickly learned that longevity was not a trait of the Mlsna lineage. Mike’s dad was killed in the American Airlines Flight 119 disaster out of Chicago O’Hare airport when my husband was 19. His grandfather, whom he never knew, died when his dad was a boy. And his great-grandfather, the original Michael Matthew Mlsna, or Matej in Czech, was shrouded in mystery having “dropped out” of the family at some point in time. The stories would be limited.
With virtually no information handed down through the generations, we were thrilled to obtain census records from 1890 and 1900 on the ancestry.com website. The records were hand-written in old-fashioned script. We put Czech words, whose spelling we could decipher, through Google Translate. This tool allowed us to pinpoint the villages of Horni (upper) Slovenice, Dolni (lower) Slovenice, the county of Budejovicky, and the numbers 18, 21, 22, 24, 27. In 1890, we learned the family possessed 5 prasata (pigs), 9 dobytek (cattle), and no kone (horses). We saw Matej had moved from the family farm to Ceske Budejovice (the city of Budejovice) sometime in the 10-year period between the censuses of 1890 and 1900. He moved to become a butcher.
We knew the numbers were important, but their placement on the page, out of context to what they were denoting, baffled us. We were uncertain how to proceed until Mike had the great idea of procuring a guide/translator to aid us in our exploration of Slovenice during our visit.
We found a woman, Karolina Kortusova, who owns Krumlov Tours – a company specializing in guided tours of Cesky Krumlov, a World Heritage Site close to our destination. She agreed to meet with us and set up an appointment with the Records Office in Lisov, a village 6 km from Slovenice.
Several months later, Lisov is where we found ourselves with Karolina in the records office watching as the administrator there donned white gloves. She unlocked a cabinet which opened to display a number of large, old ledgers. She was extremely efficient and knew exactly where to look for information on Matej Mlsna. The ledgers told us he was born on February 15, 1882. We learned about his mother and father, who baptized him, who his midwife was, that he was born into a Catholic household, and that the reappearing numbers we saw on ancestry.com were indicators of households – addresses.
When it became clear the number 22, Horni Slovenice was our destination, we invited Karolina to come with us to see if the farm still existed. We had to hunt around, but after walking up what appeared to be a driveway, we found it. Karolina explained we were looking at a typical South Bohemian farm – square in shape – that included a courtyard, a house on the left that would have 2 bedrooms and a common area, a corridor that connected the home to the central stables where the cows, pigs, chickens, rabbits, etc. would be kept, a barn where hay would be stored, and on the right-hand side, an additional smaller home for the retired farmers – grandma and grandpa, with the orchard and gardens out back.
I asked, “Can we knock on the door?” The dog barking inside of the courtyard enclosure did not seem to be drawing anyone out of the house. Just as we shooed the chickens out of the way and made to open the gate, a gentleman pulled into the driveway. Karolina spent a few minutes explaining who we were and what we were looking for.
We learned his name was Francis (Frantisek) Havel. The farm belonged to his father, also named Francis, who had died in March. Francis comes every day to take care of his father’s animals. Upon further questioning, he explained the farm came into the family through his grandfather, Thomas (Tomas). When we arrived, we noticed a plaque on the face of the farmhouse that said, 1891.
When we asked about a connection to the Mlsna family, he said there had been a Mlsna in the village, but that person had died last year. He reflected a bit and then said, in Czech, “You know, at one point, there may have been a Mlsna in the family. My father was, and my son is, very interested in genealogy. My father possessed birth and death records for much of the family. Let’s go see if my son is home. He would know more.”
Before heading off to do this, he graciously opened up the entire complex for us to see. The configuration was exactly as Karolina had described. The farm comes with three fields, one still contains an orchard, one a pasture, and the other a home, built by Francis’s son, Roman.
We walked down the lane to Roman’s house. He was there with his wife and three young children, all outside working by an above-ground pool. His father and Karolina explained who we were. Roman thought and chatted about his family’s genealogy and the Mlsna family and, fairly quickly, we could see him making a connection.
Apparently, there was a Katarina Mlsnova (feminine of Mlsna) who married Jan Havel, the father of Tomas, Francis’s grandfather and Roman’s great grandfather. Roman invited us inside to look at the genealogy flowchart he had on his computer.
Seriously? A genealogy flowchart on his computer? We felt like we were striking oil everywhere. Karolina, the office in Lisov, finding the farm at number 22 Horni Slovenice, having Francis appear, walking down the road to Roman’s house who is not only home, but has a genealogy flowchart on his computer? We were dumbstruck.
We followed him inside. We observed the Czech tradition of removing our shoes and putting on slippers provided by our host. He introduced us to his family and then opened his computer. Quickly, he found the link between his family (the Havels) and the Mlsnas, confirming that he and Francis were blood relatives of Mike! The room erupted. We were all so excited.
Katerina Mlsnova Havlova is my husband’s great-grandfather Matej’s (the original Michael Matthew Mlsna) sister, which makes her Mike’s great aunt. Katerina is Roman Havel’s great great grandmother. The two families were linked by the marriage of Katerina Mlsnova (feminine of Mlsna) to Jan Havel.
ROMAN HAVEL
FRANCIS (FRANTISEK) HAVEL 1956 (ROMAN’S FATHER)
FRANCIS (FRANTISEK) HAVEL 1934 (ROMAN’S GRANDFATHER)
TOMAS HAVEL 1910 (ROMAN’S GREAT GRANDFATHER)
KATERINA MLSNOVA HAVLOVA 1884 = TOMAS HAVEL’S MOTHER (ROMAN’S GREAT GREAT GRANDMOTHER)
ROMAN’S GREAT GREAT GRANDMOTHER WAS KATERINA MLSNOVA HAVLOVA
MIKE MLSNA V 1996 (OUR SON)
MIKE MLSNA IV 1959 (MY HUSBAND)
MIKE MLSNA III 1932 (MIKE’S DAD)
MIKE MLSNA II 1907 (MIKE’S GRANDFATHER)
MATEJ (MIKE) MLSNA 1882 (MIKE’S GREAT GRANDFATHER)
KATERINA MLSNOVA HAVLOVA 1884 = MATEJ MLSNA’S SISTER (MIKE’S GREAT AUNT)
MIKE’S GREAT AUNT WAS KATERINA MLSNOVA HAVLOVA
Lots of smiles, photos, and exchanging of information later, we parted.
We were so exhilarated! We decided to have a celebratory beer at the inn. Inside, there was a table full of local men sitting, chatting, and watching a soccer game on the television. We ordered drinks and sat briefly before Mike decided to buy the room a round. He types into Google Translate, “My great-grandfather was born here. I’d like to buy everyone a drink.” The barkeeper read the translation, smiled, nodded, and explained to the men who we were.
They all got big eyes, let out a cheer, and ushered us to their table, chatting away. One gentleman spoke some English and was able to translate for everyone. Meanwhile, the barkeeper lined up some shot glasses and filled them all with absinthe, a czech spirit that tastes like anise. We clinked and wished each other “Na zdravi,” or “To Your Health!” The local gentlemen thought this was such good fun, they ordered up another round (on them) and we toasted again.
We’ve recently landed back on earth, but many days passed where we walked on air. We still shake our heads at the good fortune we experienced. We are so grateful to be able to add another chapter to the Matej Mlsna story.