BURESH GENEALOGY

Laudie J. Buresh (buresh AT (@) aol DOT (.) com) is currently researching the descendants of Vincent Buresh and Ann Beran. The following is a compiled story of Vincent and Ann:

Little is known about Vincent Buresh. He was born somewhere in Czechoslovakia and migrated to Russia during a time frame when a lot of European people were migrating to Russia at the invitation of Russian rulers who were trying to settle their country. The Czar of Russia (Alexander the II) invited the Moravian and Bohemian people to settle the Crimean Peninsula area around 1861. It is around this time frame that it is believed Vincent migrated to Russia.

Vincent married an Anne Beran. It is not known for certain whether he married her in Czechoslovakia or in Russia. Little is known about Anne. She supposedly had one brother who left for the United States while she was still living in Czechoslovakia. The brother did not maintain contact and no information is available about him or his descendants.

As far as we know Vincent and Anne had four sons and one daughter. Two of the sons (Frank and John) with their families and the daughter (Barbara) with her family immigrated to the United States to the Dickinson, ND area. Barbara and her husband later left and settled in Canada.

Some contact has been established with the descendants of Vincent and Casmus. Some are still living in the town of Bohemka (now called Lobonova).

The following is a story of John Buresh one of the sons of Vincent and Ann Buresh:

John and Mary Karsky Buresh were both born in Russia. John was born in a town called Bohemka(now called Lobanova) in Russia. Mary daughter of Joseph Karsky and Frances Jasan Karsky was born in a town called Cerekvice which is also the name of a town in the Czech Republic where her ancestors originated from.

John and Mary were married in Russia. Mary was first promised to a Russian nobleman by her father. She objected, but the wedding went on as planned until Mary was asked at the altar "Do thou take this man of your own free will"? She answered "no". The wedding was called off and after that Mary had to live with her grandmother Jasan. She later married John who had finished serving in the Russian army. Part of John's service was along the Czech border. When he was discharged he had to walk back home obtaining food as best he could. He was 6 ft 6 inches tall and a gentle and kind man. He was a farmer and a wagon wheel maker while in Russia. He also spoke several languages which included Czech, German and Russian. John owned some land in Russia which he left behind asking his brothers who stayed behind to sell for him.

They immigrated to the United States from the village of Zadra on the Crimea Peninsula in 1902 along with his sister Barbara, her husband Joe Ploc and their children . At that time John and Mary had 4 children. The route of their trip from the Crimean peninsula to Hamburg Germany is not known, but it is assumed they went by rail. Many of the people who left Russia traveled via the railroad in boxcars. In Hamburg, Germany they boarded the ship "Armenia" of the Hansa lines on Sept 13, 1902. They arrived in Halifax, Canada on Sept 26, 1902. From there they boarded a Canadian Pacific railroad train and proceeded on to Detroit, Michigan where they immigrated to the United States. There it is presumed they boarded a train to Dickinson, North Dakota. They lived with Mary's parents, who had immigrated some years before, until they filed for their own homestead. Another son(Steve) was born not too long after their arrival (Dec 8, 1902). Mary had made the trip while she was expecting.

When John and Mary obtained their homestead they used sod to build their home. The house was long. It consisted of four rooms; kitchen, middle room, living room and a coal shed, A small room was added later on and used as a summer kitchen. After several years of living in the sod home they constructed a frame home which consisted of a entry kitchen, two bedrooms, and a living room. Other buildings were eventually constructed using rock and lumber.

John and Mary retired in the village of New Hradec (New Castle), North Dakota where the Czech people who had settled around that area had built a church. They lived on a plot of land (approximately two acres) and had several buildings. They had a house, pig sty for raising pigs, out house, chicken coop, garage barn and a tool shed. The buildings with the exception of the house, pig sty, and outhouse were attached to each other as one continuous building but had different shapes and had outside entries. John prior to retirement was a farmer and a carpenter. They also had a vegetable garden. John and Mary helped out their children during the depression years by giving room and board to their school age children who were attending the parochial school at St. Peter and Paul parish in exchange for foodstuffs. There were up to a dozen children living with grandmother and grandfather at one time in the small house.

John and Mary had 12 children 3 of which died either at birth or at a real young age. John died in June of 1945. Mary continued living in the house until due to failing health she moved in with her oldest daughter Mary who lived in Dickinson, North Dakota. She died in 1950.

The following is a story of Frank Buresh another son of Vincent and Ann Buresh:

Frank Buresh son of Vincent Buresh and Anne Beran Buresh was born June 10, 1861 in Bohemka, Russia on the Crimea peninsula. His wife Frances Kolar daughter of Frank Kolar and Rosalia Jirousek Kolar was born in Bohemia, Czechoslovakia on June 15, 1861. They were married in Bohemka, Russia where their two children were born. Emelia was born on May 21, 1886 and Frank on May 13, 1890.

On December 17, 1905 these four family members plus Alexander, Emelia's two year old son arrived in New York City via Rotterdam, Holland on the vessel SS Rotterdam. From New York City the family traveled by train to Dickinson, North Dakota where they were met by Emelia's husband Wincenty Zalesky who had traveled to the area a year previously to scout for a home. Wincenty escorted them to a site which he had selected for his homestead, which was located Northeast of Belfield, North Dakota. Emelia came to be known as Emma and Wincenty as Vincent.

The names of Franc and Frantiska Bures were also Americanized and they became known as Frank and Frances Buresh They and their son Frank, then 15 years old selected a homestead in Stark County, one half mile west of the Zalesky homestead. Additional acreage was added to the farm over the years and it was eventually inherited by their son Frank. Frances died on September 26, 1926 and her husband Frank died on December 5, 1940. Both are buried in the St. Peter and Paul Cemetery in New Hradec, North Dakota.(1989)

The following is a story of Barbara the only daughter of Vinvent and Ann Buresh:

Barbara Buresh is the daughter of Vincent Buresh and Anne Beran Buresh. She was the only daughter in a family of five children, brown hair with brown eyes and was about 5 feet 8 inches tall. Barbara Buresh was born in 1872 presumably as her brothers in the village of Bohemka on the Crimea peninsula in Russia.

Barbara married Joseph Ploc in 1896 in Simferopol, Russia. (The Canadian immigration documents list Joseph's occupation as a farmer). Barbara and her husband left Russia along with one child Albert, Barbara's brother John and John's wife Mary and their five children in 1902. Barbara and Joseph had two other children who had been born and died in infancy in Russia. The route of their trip from Russia to Hamburg Germany is not known, but it is assumed they went by rail. In Hamburg they boarded the ship "Armenia" of the Hansa Lines on September 13, 1902. They arrived in Halifax, Canada on September 26, 1902. From there they boarded a Canadian Pacific railroad train and proceeded on to Detroit, Michigan where they immigrated to the United States. There it is presumed they boarded a train to Dickinson, North Dakota.

Barbara and Joe homesteaded northeast of Belfield, North Dakota close to her brother's (Frank) and her niece's (Emilia Zalesky's farms. They however immigrated to Canada approximately in the 1913/1914 time frame. Joseph left first and his wife Barbara and their children followed him later with the assistance of her nephew Frank Buresh. They, according to their son Vincent went by rail to Winnipeg, Canada and from there to a small French community north of Edmonton called Tawatina. Joe worked at a lumber mill while there. Their sons Albert and Frank left soon after they arrived in Tawatina and traveled to Viking where they got jobs on a farm for room and board and went to school. Joe and Barbara, with the rest of their family soon moved to a new home in a Czech settlement (Prague) south of Viking. They were happier there as they were able to make friends more readily being with their own people. Some of their close friends were the Frank Merta family and his younger brother. Another friend was Josef Mezera who owned a farm that Joe and Barbara rented. Josef Mezera had three sisters one named Mary who married Frank Ploc. They lived on various farms near Viking, Alberta, Canada. They grew wheat, oats and raised cattle. They plowed their land with oxen until later they had four horses which they used for farming. Barbara died on 29 April 1926 and is buried in the Prague Cemetery in Viking, Alberta, Canada.

Joseph after Barbara's death returned to Czechoslovakia taking his two youngest sons (Laudie and George) and the eldest son Albert with him with the intent of immigrating back to Russia from there. He was informed by the Immigration Consulate in Edmonton that it was not only not advisable but impossible to return to Russia due to the unrest over there. They advised him he could probably go through Czechoslovakia. They went to Czechoslovakia aboard a ship called the "Pennland" and upon arrival found they could not get to Russia from there. He stayed in Czechoslovakia about a year and while there bought a parcel of land near a town called Hrdlorez. This was spring and the land was already seeded with rye. The land was approximately half a mile long and one hundred yards wide with a dwelling on the property where Joe and his boys lived. While there he married Alzbeta Mikl. He returned to Viking and with the help of friends and his older sons reestablished himself so he could resume farming.

Barbara and Joseph had eight children, three died in infancy. Joseph and Alzbeta had three children. Alzbeta died on 29 April 1956. Joseph died on 13 July, 1953.(1992)