Roots of the Family Tree
The earliest "Smorey's" I have located so far are (1) Andreas Csmorejak and (2) Joannes Csmorej born between 1675 and 1685. They lived in Harakovce, Slovakia. Their names were spelled variously as Csmorejak, Csmorej, Czmorey, Czmorej, and Csmorecik. The Catholic Church records from that period are very difficult to read and quite confusing. In the birth records, sometimes the wife's last name was used and sometimes not. Because of the way children were named, confusion sets in when there are several "Andreas", "Joannes", "Maria" and others in the many family groups. These early records show that:
(1) Andreas was married to Catherina Hofzinska and they had at least 3 children: Catherina (1701), Jacobus (1703), Joannes (1706) . Another child, listed only as an "infant" was born to an Andreas Czmorej in 1723 but in place of the wife's name it says in latin - "et ejus legitum consortis" which simply means his legitimate spouse. In Latin the church record entry reads as follows:
"22 June, 1701 Baptis e in Har infans ne Catharina, Andreas Csmorejak et Cathar: ejus lgme conjugus fili. Patrini Albertus Voztko et Anna Brelonicka ex Kor." Har is abbreviation for Harakovce, Slovakia. Patrini refers to the godparents. Kor is abbreviation for the town of Korotnok, Slovakia.
(2) Joannes was married to someone named Marina or perhaps the more commonly seen Maria. An "infant" was born to this couple in 1702. No name was given. Perhaps the child died at birth or shortly thereafter. A daughter, Anna, was born in 1704 and then in 1706 Catherina was born but no parents names were given. However, the godparents are listed as Andreas Czmorej and Catherina Hofszinska.
There are several groups of Czmorej's easily identified in the church records between 1700 and approximately 1760 but it is very difficult to establish the relationships of these groups. It is not until 1770 that family relationships start to emerge in birth, marriage and death records. Please refer to the Cmorej Data Base for a complete list of research results. I believe my particular "branch" of the Smorey family tree is traceable to Joannes Czmorej and Dorothea Brotvana but I have not yet been able to prove the parents of Joannes (John). Understanding the custom and sequence of naming children at the time, it is possible that this Joannes is the son of Joannes Czmorej circa early 1700's above, but I have not yet found the proof. Beginning with Joannes, the lineage to my grandparents is:
1765 Joannes Czmorej and Dorothea Brotvana. Place-Harakovce, Slovakia. Children: 1765-Anna, 1768-Joannes, 1770-Georgius, 1772-Maria, 1777-Michael, 1779-Martinus, 1792-Mathias.
1791 Georgius Czmorej and Anna Luther. Place-Polanovce (ex Harakovce). Children: 1791-Mathias.
Note: Everything from here forward is supported by copies of birth, marriage and death records from church archives and from immigration, naturalization and census records. What I refer to as the 1st Generation may well be the 2nd, 3rd or even 4th Generation. While my assumptions of the relationships above going back to the 1760's-1770's may well be correct, I have not found enough evidence to prove those relationships beyond doubt therefore I begin my "1st Generation" as follows:
1ST Generation:
1810 Mathias Czmorej and Maria Janossy. Place: Grancs, and/or Grancs-Petrovce. Children: 1810-Anna, 1812-Maria, 1816-Helena, 1818-Elizabetha, 1819-Andreas, 1821-Joannes, (GGGF), 1823-Andreas, 1825, Georgius, 1827-Stephanus, 1828, Maria, 1831-Susanna.
2nd Generation:
1843 Joannes Czmorej and Maria Kotlar. Place: Petrovce and Polanovce. Children: 1843-Maria, 1844-Erszebet, 1847-Anna, 1849-Joannes, 1852-Stephanus, 1854-Michael, 1863-Andreas (GGF).
3rd Generation:
1887 Andreas Czmorej and Maria Dzurnyak married January 17, 1887. Place: Pavlany, Slovakia. Children: 1887-Stephanus, born in Pavlany; 1890-Andreas (GF) born in Almas (now Jablonov); 1893-Maria born in Lucska but died that same year. 1908-Michael born in Braddock, Pa. USA (this needs to be verified but see 1920 Census). Note: In the 1920 U.S. Census, Stephanus is listed as "Irtzwan" which is the Slavic equivalent of Stephan, (in Latin - Stephanus).
4th Generation:
1913 Andreas Czmorej and Anna Pastircak. (Became Andrew Smorey.) Place -Braddock, Pa. USA. Children: 1914 -Margaret, 1915 -Albert, 1917-Julius, 1920 Florence, 1921-Martha, 1922-Valeria, 1925-Dorothy, 1927-Alice.
5th Generation:
1941 Julius Smorey and Dorothy Clark. Place: Punxsutawney, Pa. Children: 1942-William, 1952-Ann Louise, 1953-Donald J.
6th Generation:
1962 William Smorey and Mary Ann Serian. Place: Punxsutawney, Pa. Children: None.
Related Surnames
Astary/Babik/Bancsuch/Banyas/Baszista/Brotvana/Clark/Csurilla/Dolny/Dzurnyak/Fabry/Fedak/Filip/Francak/
Gleviszky/Gomolscak/Hofzsinska/Hocik/Hurdich/Hvizdos/Janossy/Kalyavsky/Kotlar/Kristofsco/Lefcsik/Legarth/Lenard(o)
/Linkes/Luther/Palchak/Pastircak/Pasztircsak/Petrushka/Petruska/Serian/Smihula/Spivak/Turek/Turik/Vilk/Zahurancik