John Liska and Julia Lhotka
John Liska is the verified, by Kralovice birth and marriage records. John
Liska is the brother
of Veronica Liska, who married Wenzel Wopat and Martin Pallan. John Liska is
the brother of Anton Liska who married Marie Himmer. John Liska is the
brother of Josepha or Josephine Liska. Only a birth record has been
found for her. Birth records also
verifty John, Veronica, Anton and Josepha are four of the known children of James
(Vaclav, Waclaw, Wenzel) Liska and his wife Elizabeth (Alzabetha)
Marek/Marik of Kralovice # 185.
After the death of father James (Vaclav, Waclaw, Wenzel) mother
Elizabeth (Alzabetha), John and brother
Anton, also came to the United States. While Brother Anton would
marry, live and have children in Iowa and Wisconsin, he would die in the
Chicago residence of his sister, Veronica Liska Wopat Pallan, 1415 South
41st Avenue on October 16, 1906.
I did find the birth record for John Liska - Birth Record Found - Kralovice Book 14 Folio Page 138 - 26 (January ?) 1854 - John Liska, Father Wenzel (James) Liska at Kralovice # 185, Father is son of Joseph Liska and Barbara Schmid (Barbara born in Zichlitz). Mother is Elizabeth, daughter of Bernard Marzik/Marik at Kralovice # 180 and Mother is Veronica born Kratochvile, from Weirow # 9
John and Veronica's father, James (Vaclav, Waclaw, Wenzel) died in 1866 (still having a tough time trying to read the date). He was still listed at Kralovice # 185. John Liska, his brother Anton Liska, and John's mother Elizabeth made it to the United States in 1868, arriving in New York on the Ship Deutschland on May 11, 1868. So far I have not found a verified 1870 census record for them, nor any other information on his mother, Elizabeth, here in the United States.
Julia Lhotka is the daughter of Vaclav (Wenzel) and Rose Lhotka. Their family arrived in the United States in 1854, after arriving in Quebec, Canada, and some how making it to Chicago in that same year. I found 1860 and 1870 census records for this family in Chicago. This may not be accurate though, as birth records from the census records indicate they may have come to the USA in 1858 or 1859.
John Liska and Julia Lhotka were married in Chicago in 1876 and would have at least 8 children. Birth Certificates list Julia having 8 children. That said there is also a 1900 Census record listing a son John, born 1884, for which no other verifying records have been found so far. Also both obituaries for John and Julia list a son Robert, and no Census record has been found with a son named Robert. I am guessing that one of their sons might have had this as a middle name or something, and they used Robert as his first.
John's records were pretty easy to trace as Cigar Maker appeared in most of them. I was also greatly helped by Frank, who sent me obituaries many family members of this family, and by a Slama cousin who had a narrative written by a grandson of one of the Wisteins (Westen), who wrote of his memories of John Liska.
There is a possible connection between two Liska families, which I hope some one can help me with. The obituaries of John and Julia, and one of their sons, Edward George Liska, all mention children of Anton Liska attending their wakes or funerals. Anton Liska is the son of Anton Liska. Anton Jr. was born in Iowa in 1874 and lived on a farm a few miles south of Hillsboro. While there are several different families of Liskas living close to Hillsboro, this family is the only one to attend their wakes and funerals. Could they be descendants of John Liska's brother, Anton, who came to the USA with John and their mother Elizabeth? Is this a reason why John and Julia, and three of their children all settled in Hillsboro, or nearby areas? Any one out there have some more information? Well, in 2012 we found our answer. Anton Liska is the brother of John Liska. You can read the Anton Liska pages and see the summary.