Jacob Method Pivonka and his family settled in Rush County, Kansas, and his descendants now live throughout the US. This website is intended as a place to gather and share information about the family among his descendants, as well as with other Pivonka families in the US, the Czech Republic, and worldwide.

The Pivonka family web site - Click on the links here to access the pages described.

Jacob Method and Antonia Dvorak Pivonka Family Memories:   

These pages include information about the JM Pivonka family in Moravia, their emigration to the United States, and their pioneer lives in the US.

This website is based on the book "A Record of the Jacob Method Pivonka Family and their Descendants, 1832 - 1977, Rush County, Kansas" by Sr. Simeon Pivonka, CSJ, 1979.  The Introduction to that work is posted HERE.  (The work will usually be cited here as the "Pivonka Family Record")

The JM Pivonka descendant families:

Although the site is now "live," and has  been populated with information, we still need materials from the Pivonka family.

If any Pivonka descendants have or can develop materials which are useable on web sites (usually as an HTML file), and wishes to make them available for posting on the site, please email the file to pivonka571 (at) earthlink.net.

Plain text and photo files are welcome, so please submit materials in that form if you wish. (Please try to identify family members by their Pcode as well as name in your submissions. It will save a lot of confusion and work if you can help in that way.)

Information for the families of each of the children of Jacob Method and Antonia Dvorak Pivonka is at the following links:

HERE is a copy of the Pivonka Family Record page for the first generation. 

About the "P code":

Sr. Simeon, in the Pivonka Family Record, has used a code to uniquely identify each member descendant of the family based on their birth order and family of origin.  In this coding system, our Pcode represents us according to our birth order and our generation.  The first generation of the JM Pivonka family in the United States had six members, and their Pcode is shown above.   For other examples see the "Contacts" list here.

The writer is a member of the third generation, so his  "Pcode" has three digits - P571 - indicating that he is the 1st child of the 7th child of the 5th child of JM and Antonia D. Pivonka.  Family members who know their family history in some detail will have little trouble determining their own Pcode. Those wjp would like help in determining their Pcode may email pivonka571 (at) earthlink.net, or call or "IM" me at [ skype name = jimpivonka ].   (Skype is a free internet telephone (VOIP) service.)

A genealogical data (GEDCOM/.ged) file for Descendants of Jacob M. and Antonia D. Pivonka

The Pivonka Family Record includes as complete a listing of the the descendants of the family through 1977 as Sr. Simeon was able to obtain over several years of correspondence with members of each family.  The listing has been transcribed into a computer database in PAF (.paf - Personal Ancestral File) format. It can be exported into "GEDCOM" (.ged) file format, which can be imported into most software packages used to record and read genealogical data. 

This file is currently being revised to include information about Pivonka family members which has become available over the last 4 years. If  you have information you would like included please email it.  Remember to provide your "P code", as described above.

Descendants of JM and AD Pivonka who would like to have a copy of this database can request it by email.  Please include your name and P code in your mail, or identify yourself as a family member by giving sufficient information about your Pivonka ancestry to do that.

Click [HERE] or more information about this database.

New at the Pivonka family web site - Click here to see recent additions to the site.

Index to Photographs     We can include only what the families have provided to us!  Please, if you have photographs, especially of the first two generations and the early years, send copies to Jim Pivonka at pivonka571 at earthlink.net

Other Pivonka Families and Web Sites:   Information about other Pivonka families, not descendants of JM and AD Pivonka

Contact Information:  This page includes email contact information for descendants of the JM Pivonka family who wish to have that information posted.  Also included is  information about Pivonka family reunions, particularly the biannual reunion of the JM Pivonka family, held in July of odd numbered years.   

The Contact Information page also lists the web sites of members of the Pivonka family who have established a web presence of some kind. Send mail to pivonka571 at earthlink.net if you know of such a site which should be listed.

A Visit to Moravia - 1978 - A description of a visit, in 1978, to the the cities and villages of the region from which the Jacob M. and Antonia Dvorak Pivonka family had emigrated 100 years earlier.

In common with virtually all families this family experiences two kinds of tragedy which it is possible to respond to in a humane and positive way - the tragedy of fatal accidents, and that of needing organ transplantation to live. We are committed to encouraging those who are willing to offer organ donation to assure that their generous intentions are carried out effectively, and to supporting those who need transplantation in their efforts to obtain needed organs.

We will create a special page to recognize members of the family who have experienced these things, when members of the affected families provide materials which they regard as suitable to that purpose. In the meantime, please visit the Childrens Organ Transplant Associantion (COTA) website (www.cota.org) as well as the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) and the Coalition on Donation (www.shareyourlife.org).

rev. 05/30/2013