I am researching my father's family (TOSSICK). I've run across information that indicates that the family name was originally DVORAK, but my direct line apparently split from the family taking the TOSSICK name. It's also possible that TOSSICK was the original name and was changed to DVORAK, and my part of the family reverted to TOSSICK. Does any DVORAK family have any information concerning a split of family in the late 1800's to early 1900's? My great-grandfather used the name JOHN M. TOSSICK in 1900, but his son, my grandfather was baptized EDWARDUM FRANCIS DVORAK, b. 27 Jan 1886, and great-grandfather was called JOHNANNE DVORAK (and married to BARBARA SEDLAK (or SILACK).
I am not clever from it. Your great-grandfahter had used two names? JOHN M. TOSSICK and JOHNANNE DVORAK? I can't transform name Tossik to any Czech names, I am affraid it is not Czech name. Did your g-g-father bring it from Bohemia? At Bohemia sometimes a man got or gained name by farm, if he had married into richer family and lived with family of his wife at same farm. It was pretty common. We say sometimes also the second name "přídomek" = při domě = by house. Unfortunately from your message I can't make a sharper picture. Karel :roll:
All of my TOSSICK's claimed "Bohemia" as their country on the US Census. My earliest census is 1900. On it, my g-g-father was JOHN M. TOSSICK. I also have found a baptism record for his first-born son (my g-father), and on it g-g-father used the name DVORAK (Johanne instead of John), and my g-father was baptized Edwardum Francis Dvorak. This was in 1886. By 1900 (the census) they were all using the last name TOSSICK. I also have an obituary for a WILLIAM DVORAK that states "also known as WILLIAM TOSSICK". So for some reason part of this DVORAK family (my part) changed their name to TOSSICK. Does this help with the understanding?
