A village history contributed by Joy Kovalycsik

Ujak — renamed Udol in 1948 — is a village in the former Šariš county of
Slovakia, now the Stará Ľubovňa district, first recorded under the name
Wyak in 1427. This history, contributed to the Carpatho-Rusyn Knowledge
Base by Joy Kovalycsik, a descendant of one of the village's emigrant
families, traces Ujak/Udol from its geography and population figures
through the wave of emigration that carried its people, beginning around
1880, to Passaic, New Jersey — where they founded St. Michael's Greek
Catholic Church and, later, St. Peter's Greek Catholic Cemetery in
neighboring Garfield. It closes with the surname list recorded in Ujak's
Greek Catholic parish register and the author's own family line, offered
to any reader who can trace a connection.

Ujak / Udol

Former Šariš county, now Stará Ľubovňa district. Initially founded in
1427 under the name Wyak; in 1786 the name changed to Ujak; in 1948 the
name changed to Udol.

Udol: the village lies on the left bank of the Poprad river. East of the
village are some cliffs known as Skalky (the Rocks). Ammonites have been
found here. Skalky near Udol is a protected natural reserve of 0.75
hectares, proclaimed on August 28, 1989. These are part of the Pieniny
section of the Carpathian chain. The reserve is made up of eight rocky
formations, three of which are almost bare rocky outcrops and five of
which are overgrown with rich, warmth-loving vegetation. The rocky cliffs
are also interesting from a paleontological point of view.

Population figures: 1869 — 718; 1880 — 680; 1890 — 685; 1900 — 666; 1910 —
490; 1921 — 524; 1930 — 524; 1940 — 591; 1948 — 529; 1961 — 526; 1970 —
574; 1991 — 600+. These figures show that the village is somewhat smaller
(average 900) than others of this region in Slovakia.

Surnames found in the Greek Catholic Church of St. Dimitry

For the villages of Udol (Ujak) and Hajtovka (which had no church):

Arendáš, Havran, Leszkopetra, Stegena, Bacsuf, Hnat, Liscinszki, Szadloch,
Bernatyak, Hriczenyak, Malsjaczka, Szedlak, Bircsak, Hrinya, Miklus,
Szokol, Bisz, Huszár, Miklusuf, Szokola, Buk, Jaczkuf, Mucha, Szoroka,
Csanda, Jureščko, Muchanin, Szova, Čížik, Kaščin, Mudrik, Szovik, Dávid,
Knapik, Murczko, Szurgent, Dávidčin, Kollár, Osif, Timko, Dornics,
Kokinda, Olejár, Tidik, Drabišin, Krafčák, Patoraj, Vansco, Fabian,
Kravecz, Petrissin, Varholyák, Fecišin, Ksenyák, Priştaš, Veľykovaňa,
Fedorko, Kundrat, Pruzinszki, Vesselenyi, Fedus, Lazor, Remčo, Wohlmat,
Gengya, Lescišin, Ščerbak, Xenyák, Georgii, Leszko, Szedlyar, Zavaczky.

Photos courtesy of Julia Biss: a young girl from Udol in authentic Rusyn
dress.

Immigration from the Village of Ujak/Udol to Passaic, New Jersey

The people who immigrated from the village of Ujak/Udol and surrounding
village areas (Hajtovka, Malý Lipník, Orlov, Circ) were forced to do so
for various reasons. Being financially poor individuals with limited
education, the chances for anything better than what they had were slim to
none. In a monarchy environment, the station you were born into was the
station you died at, and therefore many made the decision to immigrate to
America. It is interesting to note that, from statistics drawn off
immigration records (which are in no way conclusive), the total
immigration from 1880 to 1908 from the former Austro-Hungarian Kingdom
amounted to 2,780,000, and of all the regions in the Hungarian Kingdom, the
counties of Spiš, Šariš, Zemplín, Už, and Bereg had the highest emigration
rate of Carpatho-Rusyns.

From December of 1879, Slavs first appeared in Passaic and would continue
to arrive in this city for the next decade. Beginning in 1880 — with the
Kovalycsik surname being one of the first Rusyn families to settle in
Passaic, NJ — members of the village started to leave. The City of
Passaic had always been an industrial city, and with the building of the
first railroad on First Street in 1886 it offered the expansion of the
city's mills, shops, and factories, which needed a constant influx of
manual laborers so that these businesses could grow. The close proximity
of Jersey City to Passaic, New Jersey, via train after the immigrant had
passed through Ellis Island made Passaic a "first stop" for so many
Carpatho-Rusyn families.

In 1890, a group of Rusyns from the village of Ujak/Udol met and decided to
purchase the former Dundee Evangelical Mission Chapel on the corner of
First and Bergen Streets, and became St. Michael's Greek Catholic Church
(the church being started by over 50% Rusyns and former residents of
Ujak/Udol). The first priest of this church was Father Nicephor Chanath,
and the church continued to grow due to the large influx of more and more
immigrants to the area.

Most immigrants lived in cold-water flats in the areas of First, Second
(now Market), Third, Fourth, and Fifth Streets, known as the "Lower East
Side" to local residents. Life was very hard, and most took in boarders to
pay expenses. A typical rental price for a boarder at the time might be
about $3.00 a month for a place to sleep and for laundry and cooked meals.
Most times, families took in friends and relatives from their own
villages — you see this referenced again and again on census records. It
is also interesting to note that, as in Ujak, many families lived side by
side as they did in Ujak here in America.

As Passaic grew, so did the population of immigrants, which came to
include Russians, Ukrainians, Polish, and a large Jewish population.
Working in the factories was dangerous at best. Many workers lost arms,
fingers, or toes, and sometimes their very own lives. This was at a time
before any social programs or "safety net" disability payments, and many
were either severely injured or permanently disabled in industrial
accidents. To meet the need for death and disability payments, a fraternal
society, the Greek Catholic Union, was formed and held their first
convention in Scranton, PA in 1893. Representatives of the Passaic Lodge
#12 were Peter Kovalycsik (the author's great-uncle) and George Molchan.
The immigrants knew they had to take care of themselves, as there would be
no one else to do so for them here in their new country.

Problems presented themselves to the church built by the individuals from
Ujak, and during the 1920s, due to the celibacy issue for priests (which
was supposed to be guaranteed under the Union of Brest) and the forced
Latinization of the churches — in conjunction with the total disregard of
the Latin Rite Catholic hierarchy in the United States for the Rusyn
heritage and language (see the dialogue between Father Alexis Toth, Greek
Rite Priest, and Roman Rite Bishop John Ireland, when Father Toth presented
himself to ask permission to function in the United States as a priest and
the Bishop refused, as Father Toth had been married) — only fueled the
flames, and many of the members chose to leave St. Michael's altogether
and start St. John's Russian Orthodox Church on Lexington Avenue in
Passaic. This was not the end of the problems, and again, in the late
1940s, when the church was forced to change from its traditional Julian
calendar to the Gregorian one, this was the last straw for those who had
remained, and they too left to attend St. John's.

Today, Passaic is no longer the Rusyn area that it once was; most have
moved away or died, and new immigrants are taking their places on the same
streets and in the same tenement houses. As for St. Michael's Greek
Catholic Church, a church that was started with such pride and hope by so
many Rusyns from Ujak/Udol who were hard-working, pious, and wished to have
a place where they could worship in their own traditions and language, it
is sad to say that they would no longer recognize the church they started,
due to so many modern changes. Passaic, at one time, could have been
called a "second Ujak," due to how many of its residents left their homes
high in the Carpathian mountains with a prayer to God, in silence, that in
America, they — but surely their children — would have a better life in
this great country.

St. Michael's Greek Catholic Church, Passaic, circa 1910, from the
private collection of Joy Kovalycsik.

Garfield, New Jersey

In response to the constant influx of Rusyn and other Slavs to the areas
of Passaic and Garfield, the need was desperate to have a proper place of
burial for Rusyn Greek Catholics. The only cemetery in the area at the
time was St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Cemetery, and it refused to recognize
a Greek Rite priest, let alone permit any burial rite other than that of
the Roman Catholic church. In answer to this, a committee was formed in
1895 to purchase land for a cemetery so that Rusyns could be buried
according to their own rites and traditions. Wanting to make sure this
property would stay in Rusyn hands, on March 24, 1897, St. Peter's Greek
Catholic Cemetery Association was formed by the following Rusyns: officers
George Kmetz, J. Wilchovsky, and P. Gladis; directors of the association
A. Zoscsak, J. Timko, M. Dudascsik, A. Gyucyak, G. Pircis, and M. Mancyak
(taken from stone tablets at the entrance to the cemetery).

This cemetery to this day is still in private hands, and was for the most
part exclusively Rusyn, but due to changes in the times and a wish to sell
off remaining graves, the cemetery has been "opened" to any denomination
wishing to purchase graves. It is the hope of the remaining owners to
finally "close" the cemetery to further burial once all the ground is
sold, and will only remain open for those who hold title to be buried.
The cemetery is still in use by Greek Catholic and Orthodox members, and is
one of the few cemeteries in New Jersey that cannot be accessed by car; one
must walk from the main road in front of the main gates. The cemetery is
still utilized every Memorial Day, when priests from the Greek Catholic
and Russian Orthodox churches hold a panykhida service for their members
buried there. It is the only time the chapel is functioning now, but years
ago it was used most often.

An interesting historical note for this cemetery: years ago, immigrants
who could not obtain loans from banks or did not have a lump sum in cash
to purchase cemetery plots could put a lien on their home properties until
the purchase price was paid in full. One must give credit to the owners of
this cemetery, as this was no money-making venture; some immigrants took
years to pay off the entire purchase price, and no Rusyn went without
burial according to his own beliefs. This cemetery cannot be overlooked
for its historical aspects; all Rusyns who came to Passaic have at least
one family member buried there, and since so many Rusyns' first stop was
Passaic after immigration, the chances of a great many people having a
family member buried there are high. The cemetery still will do a search
of surnames that you provide, for a modest fee, and will send photocopies
of all that they may have in their old burial records. St. Peter's is a
jewel not to be overlooked in anyone's search for their Rusyn heritage.

The Kovalycsik / Kovalcik / Kovalscik Family

Researching any and all information regarding the Kovalycsik / Kovalcik /
Kovalscik families, including the allied surnames Vansco, Biss, Kundrat,
Kravchak, and Stegena. The actual spelling of the name is Kovalcik, and the
heritage is Carpatho-Rusyn (Ruthenian); the name was changed due to
Hungarian spelling when immigration paperwork was issued. All the above
surnames, except Stegena, came from Ujak, Šariš, Eastern Slovakia (now
renamed Udol), and immigrated to Passaic, NJ, between 1880 and 1910. The
Stegena surname originated from Orlov, Šariš. The family were Greek
Catholic, but upon immigration some entered Orthodox parishes.

Main line: Father Michael Kovalycsik and mother Anna Belej had five
children — John, Michael, Peter, Anna, and the author's great-grandfather,
Andrew, who married Anna Vansco. Their children were John, Stefan, Anna,
Mary, Michael (the author's grandfather), and Nicholas. Father Andrew died
en route to the United States in 1909. All settled on Fourth Street in
Passaic, New Jersey, and attended St. Michael's Greek Catholic Church, then
moved circa 1916 to Garfield, NJ. Stefan left New Jersey circa 1916 and
relocated to Pittsburgh, PA — the author is still searching for descendants
of his first marriage to Helena, also known as Julia Kravchak, whose
children were Mary (who married William Wirostko) and John Kovalycsik (who
married Mary Miskiv). Also being sought are the children and descendants
of John Kovalycsik, born 1885, died 1925, whose wife was Anna Repko and
whose children's names were Helen, Anna, and Stefan.

The half-brothers and half-sisters of the author's great-grandfather
(Michael Kovalycsik's second wife's name was Suzanna Szurgent) were Mary,
Anna, Joseph, and Nicholas (four others died in infancy in Ujak). Family
members of this surname still reside in Udol, which the author visited in
1996.

Any information on these lines, these villages, or anyone who knew the
Kovalycsik families would be greatly appreciated.

Colophon

Village history and family record contributed by Joy Kovalycsik to the
Carpatho-Rusyn Knowledge Base's Rusyn Village Directory. Captured
2026-08-05 from http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/villages/udol.html. No
restrictive copyright notice accompanied the page; it reads as a
descendant's own research offered for genealogical community use, and the
contact information it closes with has been retained as part of the
historical record rather than solicited afresh. Surname transliterations
follow the source's own spellings from the parish register (a mix of
Hungarian-era and later orthography for the same Rusyn/Slovak names);
standard diacritics restored where the source's plain-ASCII rendering
otherwise obscured an unambiguous Slovak or Rusyn name (Šariš, Stará
Ľubovňa, Čížik, Malý Lipník, etc.). The village's own name changes — Wyak
(1427), Ujak (1786), Udol (1948) — are preserved as given in the source.

Prepared for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, with
AI-assisted research and preservation.

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