| This is scan of a postcard sent from Mary Lizzie Jana to her cousin Mary Filipek from Chicago in March 1909. A transcription is as follows:
Chicago, Ill Miss Mary Filipek Dear Mary and all the other 3 girls. I have been all 3 day in the Tribune Bldg. and am going to the R. Tailors Thursday and wish you could meet me Friday. I will wait for you downstairs in the C. AC. at about 25 to 6. Mary. Lizzie. People mentioned in this postcard are:
The purpose of the note is that Mary and Lizzie were trying to arrange a time to get together with their cousin Mary. It is unclear whether Mary and Elizabeth were visiting from out of town or whether they lived in Chicago and were staying temporarily at the Tribune Building. The other 3 girls is somewhat of a mystery. Given that Kate Jana was in Massachusetts, that leaves only Anna Jana, possibly an Emily Jana and the daughters of Frank Jana and his 2nd wife. These daughters may be a bit young though to be part of getting together with girls in their twenties. Barbara is continuing to research this line so more information may come forth in the years to come. |
Mary (Marie) Jana, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Jana and Mary Filipek were first cousins as Antonin and Katerina Filipek were their common grandparent. At the time of this postcard Mary (Marie) Jana was about 24 and Elizabeth (Lizzie) was almost 20 and Mary Filipek almost 20. The Tribune Building was the Chicago Tribune Building which was the headquarters for the newpaper, the Chicago Tribune. It is believed that R. Tailors is a family they would be visiting. The location C. AC. is not known. The first C. is probably Chicago. Marie (Mary) and Elizabeth (Lizzie) were sisters. However, there is some possibility that the Mary referred to is the daughter of Frank and his second wife, Marie. This daughter was also named Marie and in Bohemian Marie and Mary are used interchangeable. If so, then this Mary would be a half sister to Katie and Elizabeth. However, this daughter was born around 1900 so would only be about 10 years old so it is unlikely that she is the one referred to. Barbara noted that the 1910 census refers to Elizabeth as Lizzie in the enumeration of names. Thus our confidence is high that Elizabeth and Lizzie are the same person. While the postcard is written by a single author in the first person and that person's name could be Mary Lizzie (perhaps to differentiate all the Mary's in the Jana family), there are periods separating the names suggesting that Mary wrote the postcard and Lizzie was with her and signed it. It also seems unlikely that Mary would also use the name Lizzie as her middle name. Nowadays we would use a comma between Mary and Lizzie to indicate two people signed the card. This postcard was discovered in Rose Filipek's home in Sarasota, Florida in the year 2002. Terry Nelson a g-granddaughter of Vaclav and Katerina Filipek has the original. If you would like to add information about this picture, please contact Dave Jordan, a g-grandson of Vaclav and Katerina Filipek. The Letter Reference Number is TNN30. |