My grandmother, Anna Scšur (pronounced Shure), was born in 1868 to Josephi (Gregory) Scšur and Anna Lipka in the region now known as Slovakia.  At the time of her birth, the Scšur village was located in Saros (Saris) County within the political boundaries of Hungary which was under the control of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.  Anna's homeland remained under Hungarian control until after World War I, when the people of Saris County were united in a newly formed republic called Czechoslovakia.  Hence, when Anna died in 1935, her obituary referred to her homeland as Czechoslovakia. 

Anna's village was called Csarno or Csarne around the time of her birth, but it is now known as Sarišske Cierne and is also referred to, at times, as Saryske Cierne.  Sarišske Cierne is currently located within the Presov Region of Slovakia and is geographically located in the extreme northeastern corner of Slovakia.  Current Ruthenian historians define the Presov Region as the land area encompassing villages and towns in and around the town of Presov.

Anna Scšur, pregnant with her first child, emigrated to the United States in 1890 leaving her parents, two sisters, and one brother in Csarno, Hungary.  One sister, Mary Scšur, emigrated to America, shortly after Anna, married Andrew Michalek and took up residence in the town of Nanticoke, Pennsylvania.  Anna's second and youngest sister, Helen Scšur, emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1896, married John Kelhart and settled in the town of Hellertown.  Anna's brother remained with her parents in Europe and did not emigrate to America.

Pregnant Anna Scšur set foot in New York harbor in 1890 at Castle Garden, the predecessor to Ellis Island as the major United States port of entry for European immigrants.  The father of Anna's first child is unknown, but family information revealed that he was a priest from Anna's village or possibly a nearby village.  Anna's pregnancy was the chief reason for her emigration to America, i.e. to prevent embarrassment to Anna, her family, the priest and the local church.

Soon after my grandmother, Anna Scšur, reached the coal fields of Luzerne County in Pennsylvania, she gave birth to the child that she carried inside her across the Atlantic Ocean.  Four months later she was married to Janos Bartko in a newly emerging church in Freeland, Pennsylvania.  The church, named by its parish members, was St. Mary's  Ruthenian Catholic Church which later became St. Mary's Greek Catholic Church and finally St. Mary's Byzantine Catholic Church .  This church has served the immigrant community well over the years and currently (2000) is under the able direction of Rev. James Demko.