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Piwetz Family Homepage

Welcome to the Piwetz family Web page! We hope you will contact us with new and revised information, so that this page can be both a resource and excite further research.

The family of Josef and Agnes (Skalitsky) Piwetz has grown into a large and well dispersed group of people. Ten generations, documented from the birth of Jiri Pivec in 1640 to the generation born around the turn of the last century, are summarized. A great deal of additional information (Word doc, 680kb) is available about these early Bohemian ancestors. There may even be a family crest, although the direct connection is not yet proven. Descendants of the immigrant families are now scattered throughout the south central Texas area.

Certain official documents, issued by the Austrian government in 1860, found in the possession of William E. Piwetz, and translated in 1989, provided documentation of the Old World roots of the Piwetz family and spurred later research. These documents are certified copies, prepared specifically as required documentation for emigration from the Slavic states of Bohemia (Cechy), Moravia and Slovakia, which were at that time under the domination of Austria. They include a Reiss-Pass (or passport), Marriage Certificate for Josef Piwetz and Theresia Kulhawy, parents of the above Josef Piwetz, Baptismal Certificates for four of their children, including Franziska, Jacob, the younger Josef, Maria Piwetz, and a Certificate of Release, which cleared the elder Josef Piwetz, his wife and his children ( Johann, Jacob, Josef, Laurenz, Franziska and Maria), for emigration from the Austrian Empire to the United States of America. The emigration law of 24 March 1832, referred to in the Certificate of Release, allowed the chalupnici (cottagers), among others, to sell their homes, land, and whatever possessions they had, in order to pay for passage for emigration. The second page of the Reiss-Pass has two additional names for whom baptismal certificates are not available to us. These are Johann and Laurenz.

The Reiss-Pass describes the patriarch, Josef Pivec, as a 'day loborer' born in 1819: he was Catholic, 'small' of stature, with a 'long' face, 'brown' hair, and 'black' eyes. The last entry in the middle column, under "Eigenhandige Unterschrift", shows his signature.

The Marriage Certificate shows that our great-grandfather Josef married Theresia Kulhawy in Platz (now Str� nad Ne��rkou), according to the Catholic ritual, on 6 February 1844. His father was named Johann and his mother's name was Theresia Hayna. The bride of great-grandfather Josef, Theresia Kulhawy, was the daughter of Franz and Theresia (Bulant) Kulhawy, a farmer in Widdern. She was 22 years old at the time of her marriage.

The Baptismal Certificates provide information on the birthdates of the following children of great-grandfather Josef Piwetz and great-grandmother Theresia Kulhawy: