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The Andrs family came to Zelov from Masov which lies several km north of Opol, Poland. It is not known how long they farmed in Masov, nor is it known from whence they came. It is possible that they were the descendants of Vaclav Andrs and his wife Katerina – exiles from Bohemia who lived in Myjava, Slovakia, who were in the year 1762, imprisoned in the town of Nitra. Although it is also possible that they were the descendants of Martin Andrs and his wife Veruna – also exiles from Bohemia, who in 1742 emigrated from Stenkov (a village by Trebechovic pod Orebem) together with their son Jakub. The last mention we have of them is 2.1.1746, when Martin Andrs signed the papers requesting that pastor Blanicky be pastor of their church in Munsterberg. The outside possibility is they could have been Exiles that have no connection to the above mentioned families.
There was a strong connection between the Andrs family who lived in Masov and the Gasiorowsky families as their children grew up together. In Masov it was the custom for the Evangelicals to baptize their children in the nearby Opol Evangelical Church. Unfortunately none of the records from Opol were preserved from the 18th Century, therefore this part of the exiles‘ history continues to be totally unknown to us. Those who died were buried in a section of the woods somewhere near the village of Swierkle. The cemetery is totally ruined by now and the markers and headstones are unreadable.
The first of the Andrs family in Zelov is Vaclav Andrs, born around the year 1751. With his family, he moved to Zelov no later than 1807, the same as all the others of the Andrs family from Masov. We can only assume that all three – Vaclav *cca1751, Ondrej *cca1764 and Jiri were related. It is therefore also very possible that Jiri was the son of Vaclav, who had five sons, four of whom we are certain and it stands to reason that the fifth is likely this Jiri. Ondrej could have been the brother, cousin or even son of Vaclav. The Andrs family certainly belonged among the most well-to-do families in Zelov village. There Vaclav, with his son Ignace became landowners of lot number 45, his next son Jan obtained lot number 41, youngest son Wilhelm *cca1790 lot number 83, and Jan, son of Ondrej, lot number 9. Their high standing is underscored by their friendship with Alexandr Petrozelin, who was the organizer of the purchase of Zelov (often named as godfather of their children) as well as the close connections with the Gasiorowsky family. Vaclav Andrs was a landowner until 1818. After 51 years of marriage, 1.3.1824 at age 77, his wife Alzbeta died. Vaclav lived for another half year and died 14.9.1824 having left behind five sons - Jan, Josef *cca1779, Ignac, Wilhelm *cca1790 and likely Jiri as well as two daughters - Marie *cca1776 and Frantiska *cca1793.
The Andrs family had many children and thus in time together with the Pospisil and Jersak families, belonged to the most extensive families in Zelov. Let us make note of some of these individuals:
The first known mayor of Zelov was Jan Andrs, son of Ondrej. He became mayor in 1807 and this position he maintained at least until 1822. Little is known of him or his family. He farmed on the land lot number 9, along with Tomas Kulhavy. Jan married Marie Miller 5.11.1809. In Zelov there were five children born to Jan and Marie – the first two daughters, Marie and Anna survived less than a month. The next daughter, Marie Anna *19.1.1815 was the only one who remained in Zelov, on her own. She did not have an easy time of it remaining on her own – she gave birth to two children out of wedlock, a son and daughter, and unfortunately, just like her sisters, neither child survived a month. Jan’s remaining two children were daughter Marie *16.1.1818 and son Karel *30.6.1820. After 1824 Jan left his land in Zelov and together with his wife and two children moved to Zdunska Wola. No information about this Andrs branch is known.
Because the population of Zelov doubled in the first 50 years, the land could not continue to sustain everyone. Thus, in 1864, 170 Czech families from Zelov and surrounding area prepared to move further east – to Russia. In the end not everyone came to this decision, but among those who did leave were the family of Wilhelm Andrs.
Wilhelm Andrs, born 20.2.1820 in Zelov (#83), was the eldest son of Wilhema Andrs (cca1790-1869) and his wife Alzbeta Stehlikova (1800-1866). 15.11.1842, in Zelov, he married Karolina Fibichova (*1.8.1824). First he farmed on the family estate, land plot number 83 in Zelov, but in 1851 he is referred to as a miller in nearby Sromotka and a year later, in Kuznica Kociszowska. Certainly by the year 1857 he is back in Zelov. From there, along with his wife and children Ignac (*9.2.1844), Amalie (*31.8.1845), Alzbeta (*23.10.1849), Karel (*7.2.1854), Fridrich (*2.1.1859) and Luiza (*19.2.1861) they set out on a long journey. We can only imagine where this journey led them as very little written information remains except what was passed on by word of mouth from generation to generation. From those spoken accounts we know that their first point of settling was in Zyrardow which lies not far from Warsaw, where to Ignac Andrs was born a daughter Karolina, who in 1897 she married Pavel Zounar, who had been born there in Zyrardow. 28.11.1907 the Zounar family sailed to New York on Reilm, the North German Lloyd Line from Brem, Germany and with their daughter Liba born in Hofmonspal, apparently in Ukraine. Another place they lived was in Marienberg. Of course the soil was not particularity rich so the two eldest sons of Ignace Andrs – Fridrich (*cca1870) and Bohumil (*10.10.1872) set out for America. 12.10.1889 they sailed from Ukraine to America (New York) on the ship Augusta Victoria from Hamburg. For a brief period they both worked in Texas. Then for four years they worked on a farm owned by a German family in South Dakota. By 1895 they settled on their own farm (donated by the government) – on a Yankton Sioux Indian reservation - East of Wagner, South Dakota. Each was allotted 160 acres of land. In order to become owners of this land, they had to farm the land for at least five years. 29.12.1900 Bohumil became an American citizen and 31.12.1900 he became owner of his land and changed his name to Andersh. Fridrich did not marry and remained so until his death. Yet, the descendants of Bohumil (died 3.3.1952 in South Dakota, buried in Z.C.B.J Cemetery in Wagner, South Dakota - Z.C.B.J = Západní Česká Bratrská Jednota. This cemetery is co-located with St. John's Cemetery. ZCBJ occupies the four southern sections of the entire cemetery with the north two sections designated as St. John's. The ZCBJ Cemetery was founded in 1901. It is located 1 mile south of Wagner SD on 395th Avenue. Latitude 43.063N Longitude 98.286W) are many, the youngest of these, Gage Austin Andersh, is three years old.
Ignac, with his younger sons Josef and Wilhelm, stayed in Ukraine. There with his brothers, Karel and Josef (*cca1864) and along with other Exiles‘ families, established the village of Alexandrovka in 1899. Karel and Josef stayed in Alexandrovka village, while Ignac in.1905 established Bohemka village, along with four other Exiles‘ families. Not one of them had an inkling what difficult times awaited them during Stalin’s tyrannical regime.
In the nineteen thirties, under Stalin’s regime, Josef Andrs in Alexandrovka was sentenced to hard labour to Sibiria. Because of Josef‘s greater age, his son Josef (*1898) journeyed after him to take his place. They sentenced him as well. They both died in Siberia. His other three sons - Fridrich (*1888), Wilhelm (*1891) a Jaroslav (*1906) also perished by Stalin’s edicts.
The family of Ignac in Bohemka did not fair much better. His grandson Fridrich Andrs (*1898) wrote letters in 1929 to his uncle Bohumil Andrs in America, in which he begged for enough money to afford the passage to the USA, so that his whole family could move away. Unfortunately Bohumil could not send money, because the money would have been seized by the soviet regime and the addressee (Bohumil) sent to Siberia.
In spite of this tyranny, the Andrs family in Bohemka and also in Alexandrovka multiplied and some of the family members later returned to the „land of our forefathers“. Some, like Bohuslav Andrs, came to Czechoslovakia as a soldier with the army led by Ludvik Svoboda in 1944 and others, like Josef Andrs, came many years later, to the Czech Rebulic in1992. However, the majority of the Andrs family remained in Ukraine.
Yet another Andrs, who decided to leave his birth city was Jan Andrs. He was born in Zelov 23.6.1853 to the farming family Josef Andrs (1824-1858) and his wife Zofie Jelinkova (1826-1874). 17.5.1869 he was confirmed in Zelov and 20.8.1874 there, a weaver by profession, married Marie Veselovska (*24.12.1850). Their first son Jan was born 25.9.1875 still in Zelov. Then the family journeyed to faraway Michalovka village, where another six children were born ─ Emilie (*1876), Josef (*1877), Wilhelm (*1881), Karel (*1889), Ludvik (*1892) and Alzbeta.
The eldest son Jan became a farmer in Michalovka, and both of his sons Karel (*1908) and Jaroslav (*1913) returned to Czechoslovakia. The second son ─ Josef became a farmer in Michalovka as well. His eldest son Josef (*1900) volunteered to serve in the army - 1. foot soldier brigade. He was killed by a stray bomb still in Rovno during the train trip to Dukla ghaut (Tatras Mountains). All of his sons moved to Czechoslovakia after the war, where to this day their descendants live. His third son Wilhelm also became a landowner, and of the other three children we do not as yet know any details. The fourth son Karel emigrated before WWI to America, where he married, had eight children and to this day, where many of his descendants live on. During WWI, in November of 1913, the youngest son Ludvik was enlisted into the Polish army. 1.3.1914 he served in the 23rd Artillery of the Eighth Regiment. 10.4.1915 he was operated on in Novosamburg after being wounded in battle in the Carpathian Mountains and in June of 1915 he was released from the army to convalesce in Kazachstan. In 1926 he is mentioned among the families belonging to the Evangelical Reformed Church in Michalovka in Volyn. 16.6.1929 he sailed with his family to Canada where to this day his descendants live.
Approximately twenty years after Jan - his cousin – farmer Josef Andrs (born in Zelov 8.9.1858 to farmer Wilhelm Andrs 1839-1907 and his wife Anna Jersakova 1841-1914) moved to Michalovka in Volyn. Josef married Alzbeta Dedecius (15.1.1858-21.5.1945) in Zelov 8.5.1879. The children born to them in Zelov were ─ Marie (*1880), Alzbeta (*1882), Anna (*1884), Pavel (*1886), Wilhelm (*1890, died soon after birth) and Alzbeta (*1891). The last child, Josef, was born 24.7.1894 in Michalovka. The sons of Pavel – Josef (*1920), Pavel (*1923) and Ludvík (*1927) moved to Czechoslovakia in 1947. We have no information about what happened with one of Josef’s sons – Karel (*1935).
Although, not only to faraway Ukraine did the people of Zelov move. In his eighties, during the 19th Century, Karel Andrs left with his family and his sister Zofie (1859-1915) to Zyrardov. Karel Andrs (brother of the aforementioned Jan) was born in Zelov 31.1.1845, where he was also confirmed 27.9.1862. His parents Josef Andrs and Zofie Jelinkova – see above. 25.11.1866 Karel married Karolina Jelinkova (1844-1918) in Zelov. To them were born ─ Josefa (*1867), Jana (*1875), Anna (*1877), Karla (*1880) – all in Zelov, whereas the remaining children – Wilhelm (*1888) in Zyrardow. The families of Josef and Jana remained in Zyrardov, whereas Karel with Wilhelm moved away to Czenstochov before 1909.
Many Zelovites also moved away to Lodz, some permanently and others for only a time, while they were able to find sustainable work, and then in time returned to their birthplace of Zelov. Of the Andrs family for now we know of only one that went to Lodz – Karel Andrs (cousin to our well known Jan, Josef and Karel) born in Zelov 25.2.1864. His father’s genealogy is not known, because the husband of his mother Joanna Svejdarova (*1835) - Karel Bohumil Andrs (*1832) left to go to the army in 1854 never to return (of course each of Joanna’s four children – Anna *1860, Karel *1864, Marie *1867 and Karolina *1870 bore his name). While still single, Karel moved to Lodz, where with Valerie Hladikova (*1869) they had a minimum of 8 children, of whom we know of only seven (the others would have been baptized in the Lutheran church or the local Baptist church. Unfortunately neither the Lutheran or Baptist genealogies were preserved). These children were Rudolf (*1888), Josef (*1893, Amalie (*1896), Gustav (*1902), a little still-born son (*1905), Jan (*1907, who died around age two ) and Zofie (*1909). The mother, Valerie, was a member of the Lutheran church, and the others except for Rudolf and Zofie (as they were not born yet) were listed in 1904 in the records of the Reformed Protestant church. Of course, in the later records of the Reformed Protestant church we find only Zofia in 1947, the others would have converted to the Lutheran or to the Baptists. To date it has not been possible to find any genealogical or other type of records from these two denominations dating before 1945, therefore we practically nothing of these. We have some partial information, that brothers Benjamin a Rolin Andrs were young men in 1943 as members of the Baptist church in Lodz – both of course had to join the the German army and both perished in WWI.
Finally I would like to mention Teofil Andrs born in Pozdenic (near Zelov), and baptized in the church in Zelov 5.1.1906. Teofil came from a family of 15 children, born to Jan Andrs (1868-1923) and Luiz Rejchrtova (*1877). He was also a landowner in Zelov, and married Milena Capova (1906-1979). After the death of their only child – daughter Blazena (*1928, died at 2 months old) – Teofil with Milena moved from Zelov 27.5.1929 and 14.6.1929 safely sailed to Brazil. Two children were born there, Jana (*1930) and Lydie (*1934), and to this day their descendants live on in Brazil.
The Andrs family from Zelov is now spread throughout the world, but predominantly in the Czech Republic, Poland, USA, Canada, and Ukraine. Most of those descendants have some knowledge of the Exiles‘ traditions and enjoy sharing this history through photographs.
If you have not found yourself or people you know among these pages written about the Andrs family, and you know that you may belong to or know something of the Andrs family from Zelov, please send me an e-mail at:
tstodola(a)volny.cz