Katerina Filipek
Katerina Filipek was born July 15, 1858 at the Filipek Family Farm. She was Anton and Katerina's fifth child. She married Frantisek Janu most likely in or around Kolence, Bohemia. Frantisek Janu was born about 1855 but it is not known where he was from.

It is unclear whether the original name was Jana or Janu. There is some information suggesting the original family name was Janu, but to date no genealogy record has been obtained to verify this. Most references to the family in the United States use Jana. For example, the 1880 Census, Elizabeth Jana's birth record, and Frantisek Jana's obituary. Since the record of use of Jana is so consistent within the USA, the name Jana will be used throughout these pages. References to Frantisek Janu, however, in Bohemia will continue to use Janu since that may be the name he used there and the original family name. It is very possible that the name changed due to phonetic spelling when in the United States. In other records Gunia and Yana have appeared. Clarification should be possible by obtaining Frantisek's birth or marriage record.

Minnesota
From the 1880 Census, it was found that on June 10, 1880, the Frantisek and Katerina Jana family were living in the same home as the Frank and Anna Sokolik family in Montgomery, Minnesota. The Sokoliks arrived in the USA in May 1879 on the Lessing and it is possible that the Janas and Sokoliks traveled together. At the time of the 1880 Census, Frantisek was shown as age 24 and Katerina as age 22. They had one child, Kate shown as 6 months old, presumably born in December 1879. The later 1885 Census confirms that Kate was born in Minnesota.

The Sokolik and the Jana families must have been not only close relatives but also close friends. Not only were they both listed in the same household in 1880, but also in May 1, 1885 they were listed next to each other in the census, probably adjacent farms or dwellings on the same farm. By 1885, Frantisek and Katerina had three additional children beyond Kate. These were Frank circa 1881, Anna circa 1883, and Mary circa 1885. Also living in the same household with the Janas were Frank Palecek age 42 and Anna Palecek age 13, probably Frank Palecek's daughter. It had been thought that this was the Frantisek Palecek that had married Mary Filipek and had purchased the Sokolik Family Farm, but it turns out that that Frantisek Palecek died on April 19, 1884, a year before the 1885 census. So there is now another mystery Palecek.

When the Sokoliks and Janas arrived in Minnesota, one of the towns they settled was Montgomery, Minnesota. Montgomery is in LeSuer County. Montgomery is the same Bohemian farming community that Katerina's brother Jan had settled in ten years earlier. The small farming village of Montgomery is about 10 miles south of New Prague and is about 60 miles south of St. Paul. By 1885, the Sokoliks and Janas (spelled Gunia in the 1885 Census) had moved to Rush City, while their brother, Jan Filipek, continued to stay in Montgomery area.

Rush City is in Chisago County and is about 50 miles north of St. Paul. What prompted the Sokolik and Jana moves north and one that was over 100 miles away is unclear. Perhaps there was a good deal on a farm, or perhaps they had other friends that were moving there. Unfortunately the decision to move had disastrous consequences for both families.

According to Theodore Sokolik's My Life as I Lived It, Theodore states that he went to live with his mother's sister after his mother died in the late 1880s. This sister would have been Katerina Jana. Theodore then goes on to say that "She too soon past away." Terry Nelson has tried to find the death records of both Katerina Jana and Anne Sokolik but was unable to find either. She did find though that there were a number of deaths from typhoid in the late 1880s in the area.

While we have been stuck on what happened to the Janas for some time, recently there has been a breakthrough. Through a message board, Terry found Barbara, a descendant of the Frantisek and Katerina Jana (nee Filipek) and they are in communication.

They have established that Frank and Katerina Jana had a fifth child, Elizabeth Jana on July 6, 1889. In addition, there is a Jana family recollection that Elizabeth grew up in a convent, which might be the consequence of Katerina's death. In support of this data, Terry verified the birth record in Chisago County and the parents are listed as Frank and Katerina Jana. Barbara also stated that on a birth record of one of Elizabeth's daughters the parent's of Elizabeth were shown as Frank Jana (Bohemia) and Katherine Filipek (Bohemia).

One of the conclusions we can draw from Elizabeth's birth in that Katerina Jana died after July 1889. This puts the move of the Sokolik boys to Chicago as after the arrival of the Filipeks. It also narrows the number of years to search for Katerina's death.

Further data is now being pursued on Frank Jana's death, which was about April 25th, 1929 and to review old pictures. What we are beginning to find is that the Janas and the Filipeks in Chicago continued to be connected even after Katerina died. For example, one exciting development is a picture of five children in New Prague in the Vaclav Filipek Picture Collection appears to be the Jana and Filipek children. We also hope to find other picture matches in the Mystery Photo Collection.

Author's Note
Some additional information about the Janas can also be found The Frantisek and Anna Sokolik Family Story and in My Life as I Lived It.