Family Nibbles

Let’s meet Josepha Petráš Teply’s parents, Anton Petráš and Terezie Zahradnik.

Interestingly, Anton Petráš and Terezie Zahradnik each has a Teply parent or grandparent.

Anton Petráš

Anton Petráš was born May 17, 1807, at Březiny 61. He was baptized at Telecí on the 19th.

Anton’s father was František Petráš.  His mother was Anna Teply!

Březiny is a scattered village about one mile southwest of Pustá Rybná. Many Teplys lived there.

Terezie Zahradnik

Terezie Zahradnik was born June 3, 1811, at Pustá Rybná 8. She was baptized at Telecí the same day.

Her parents were Frantisek Zahradnik and Terezie Bohac.  The Zahradniks had resided since the 1700s at Pusta Rybna 8, and had a large farm. 

Terezie’s maternal grandmother was Veronica Teply!

Marriage

Anton Petras, 23, married Terezie Zahradnik, 19, on February 24, 1830 at Telecí.

Children

• Frantisek Petras  29 Nov 1832  m. Anna Honzalka 1854
• Anna Petras       5 Dec 1834  m. Jan Pavlik    1858
• Josepha Petras (3G) 8 Aug 1837  m. Joseph Teply 1864
• Anton Petras 9 Mar 1840  m. Frantiska
• Terezie Petras      17 Aug 1842

Residence and Occupation

Anton was in the right place at the right time. He was of humble origins.

The Zahradniks, on the other hand, had a large farm and farmhouse in Pustá Rybná. They were established there since the 1700s.

The day Anton and Terezie married, his fortunes changed.

• 1829 – Terezie’s mom dies of a brain hemorrhage. Her father had died earlier. As the only child, control of the farm goes to Terezie.
• 1830 – Anton marries Terezie. He moves in at Pustá Rybná 8. He does the farming. Effectively, he has control over the farm.

And by 1839, the imperial maps list Anton Petras as the farm holder for Pustá Rybná 8.

Terezie’s death

Terezie, 40, died March 7, 1852, and was buried on the 9th at Pustá Rybná. Cause of death was pneumonia.

Anton’s later years

In 1854, Anton, 46, married Anna Homolka, 27. Anna was daughter of Joseph Homolka and Josepha Svandova Homolka from Telecí 137.

In 1858, Anton and Anna had a son, Joseph Petráš. They continued to live at house no. 8, at least until the late 1860s.

I don’t yet know the date of Anton’s death.

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Nibbles Extra Credit

The parish registers are hard to read. They might be in Czech or German or Latin. They use abbreviations and obsolete words and occupations that don’t exist today.

But sometimes the most difficult thing is to decipher “Kurrent” script.

Kurrent is an old form of German-language handwriting based on late medieval cursive writing, also known as Kurrentschrift, deutsche Schrift (“German script”) and German cursive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurrent

Here’s one of the most-used tools in the toolbox. A chart showing Kurrent script letters.

For example, look at the c, d, e, h, s, v.

And imagine the priest also has difficult handwriting.

Here’s an example of Kurrent script in a citation of Terezie Zahradnik, mother of Josepha Petras.

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Sources

• Anton Petras birth – 1807 – Zamrsk Archives, Czech Republic – s. 18-2 – p. 173 – i. 179
• Terezie Zahradnik birth – 1811 – Zamrsk Archives, Czech Republic – s. R18-2 – p. 183 – i. 207
• Anton Petras and Terezie Zahradnik marriage – 1830 – Zamrsk Archives, Czech Republic – s. 18-9 – p. 47 – i. 48
• Terezie Zahradnik Petras death – 1852 – Zamrsk Archives, Czech Republic – s. 18-13 – p. 72 – i. 38 – r. 3
• Map – Czech – Stable Cadastre Map – Indicative Sketch – 548018390 – 1839 – Pusta Rybna – Anton Petras Farm 5
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurrent
• Photos – Mark Jarvis – October 2019