As noted on the back of the photo (thanks grandma!) Mary Podobnik was born in Kamnik, Austria in 1883 and John Pozun was born in 1873 in Sivnica, Austria. He came to the US in 1901 and married Mary in 1905. They had 5 boys and possibly one girl who passed away very young. Three of the boys got married, though only Vince and Jennie had surviving children. Because of this, grandma was highly interested in piecing together the Pozun lineage but hit quite a few stumbling blocks due to the small size of the family and the language barrier once the family immigrated.
Jennie's mother, however, was one of 11 and Jennie herself was one of 6 . . .5 of whom married and went on to have children. So, while gathering all the information for that side of the family is intriguing and complicated and there's a lot more to gather. However, generationally, I hit the same stumbling block regarding the point of immigration (which really doesn't go too far back). That said, I have a ton of organizing to do with regard to the Setina girls (paternal great grandmother's family) before I try digging further back.
So, I say this a lot, but the following photo ranks in my top 5 favorite finds and I think it'll take a lot to bump it from that list. It's my Papa Vince and 4 of his army buddies. According to the folder the picture was in, it's a souvenir from Port Arthur in Providence, RI the "famous Chinese-American restaurant of distinction". Though the photo is intriguing, it's the text around the photo that makes me weepy each time.
Inside are the following notes:
* Vincent is a good boy I will send him back to you
* Don't get any wrong ideas, just a friendly get together
It's then signed by Sgt. William Long, Sgt. Bill Keefer, Sgt. S Lavecchio, and Sgt. Bob Johnson, presumably the 4 guys on the left (Vince is on the far right).
And here's the part that makes me weepy every time, it's addressed to grandma on the front and signed by Papa on the back:
And on a less serious note, here's a cute one of the twins (my dad's on the right) washing a steer (presumably for fair).
Hi - I think your great -grandfather John may have been the brother of my great-great -grandfather Frank (Franc) Pozun, born in Sevnica in 1872. I don't see a way to email you privately from here, but my email is bpozun at Aol dot com. Best, Brian.
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