According to family stories, the Susmilch's in the United States have long believed that our common tie has been four brothers, Ludwig, Karel, Alois and Hynek, who traveled to the United States in the late 1860's. However, recent research in the state archives at Trebon has shown however that the "four brothers" were not brothers.

The information that had come mostly from family stories. Genealogically, stories must always be considered suspect as memories fade, our's and our ancestors', and personalities find their way into interpretations of the verbal histories. The only documentation concerning the place of our relatives' birth comes from Ludwig's death certificate which lists his father as Anton and his place of birth as "Klisinec Kraj Taborsky" (Klisinec in the administrative district of Tabor). The other death certificates (Alois and Hynek) either have a vague or no reference to their place of birth.

According to Ludwig's death certificate (Nov. 8, 1935), Ludwig was living at 2533 Central Park at the time of his death and the information was provided by Anton Sekera. The 1920 census shows Ludwig living with his daughter and son-in-law, Frank and Louise Sekera at 2533 Central Park in Chicago. The 1920 Census shows two children of Frank and Louise also living in the house; Anton (age 16) and Irwin (age 11). We can therefore assume with a relatively high degree of probability that the information is fairly accurate in that there was a long relationship between Anton Sekera and Ludwig.

Hynek's death certificate gives no place of birth but lists Anton as his father. This information was provided by Hynek's son, Anton. This second Anton, the information provider, was my grandfather. This Anton's relationship with his wife and sons was strained and there was little family history of communication. It is also reported by Elmer and Frank Susmilch, both grandsons of Hynek, that Hynek was not the best "family man". Both men, in their eighties at the time of this writing, still refer to Hynek in uncomplementary terms which is the same manner in which their grandmother, Josefa, referred to him. So, it is again probably safe to assume that Hynek's and Anton's relationship were somewhat strained and that Anton had little or no real knowledge of the family's history. One could raise the question however, "Wouldn't it be safe to assume that Anton would know the history of his namesake?" thereby making this story more accurate. Because of one of the legends I heard in Klisinec, the relationship between Hynek and his family in the Czech Republic (Austria at that time) might have been strained to the point that he would intentionally give false information as a form of disrespect to his family (see another family legend below).

The information from original documents stored at the archives at Trebon and must be considered to have a much higher degree of reliability as the information was recorded at the time of the person's birth by a government official or church official.

The records showed that indeed Ludwig, Karel and Alois were brothers, but Hynek was the son of Jan Sismilch. Hynek's father, Jan, and Ludwig's father, Antonín, were brothers, making the "four brothers" actually first cousins, instead. Therefore, the common Susmilch ancestors are one more generation removed than previously thought. They are Josef Süssmilch and Barbora Haufová, the parents of Jan (4/23/1819) and Antonín (4/23/1817). The first child of Josef Süssmilch and Barbora Haufová was born 9/4/1803 indicating that they, Josef and Barbora, were likely born prior to 1785.

This existence of Antonín, Ludwig's father, is of particular interest because there is an Anton Susmilch in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1870 Census. Did Ludwig's father travel to the U.S. prior to the arrival of the later Susmilch's? Was this first Anton even from the Czech Republic or Germany? These are questions that still need to be investigated. At his point in my research, I have found the name Susmilch in census records as early as 1860 in Illinois. It is also likely that Sus' were probably here prior to 1860 in that at least one Sus' from New York fought in the Civil War and moved to Illinois at the end of the war.

Another Family Legend

According to Frank Susmilch (still living in Chicago as of 1998), Hynek, his grandfather, had an illegitimate child. This story was related to him by Josefa Susmilch (nee Sedlacek), the wife of Hynek. "Frankie" was raised by Grandma Susmilch (Josefa).

This story is of interest because according to the birth records from Klisinec, Hynek had two children, a son, Josef, born on Jan.13,1879, and a daughter, Marie, born November 11, 1886. This is somewhat curious that there should be such a length of time between births as most families produced a child every two years. It becomes more curious after recognizing that Hynek had a son, Anton, with Josefa in Chicago in May, 1885, directly between the two births in Klisinec. Did Hynek produce an offspring with Anna Povliska prior to coming to the U.S., a second with his American wife, Josefa, and then another in the Czech Republic with his Czech wife?

This scenario seemed somewhat far fetched until Vaclav Sismilich from Klisinec (about 65 years of age in 1998) recalled hearing a story about a relative from Klisinec who went to the U.S. and was sending money back to Klisinec. The story continues that this relative became upset upon his return to Klisinec to find that the money was not being spent in the manner for which it was intended. He allegedly left for the U.S. vowing never to return to Klisinec. Is this story true? Was that "relative" Hynek? Did Hynek return never knowing about the child born after his return to the U.S? Again, more questions.