Myslív
Myslív is a village and municipality in the Klatovy District of the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. The municipality covers an area of, and has a population of 426. Myslív lies approximately east of Klatovy, south of Plzeň, and south-west of Prague. From the mid 1800s to early 1900s, more than 100 of its inhabitants have been documented as immigrating to America.
Subvillages : Loužná, Milčice, :cs:Nový Dvůr |Nový Dvůr, Draha
Other villages that historically attended its parish: Nehodiv, Kovčín, :cs:Pohoří |Pohoří, Polánka, :cs:Štipoklasy |Štipoklasy, :cs:Strážovice |Strážovice, Chlumy, :cs:Bližanovy|Bližanovy, :cs:Klikařov|Klikařov, Neurazy, :cs:Vojovice|Vojovice, and various hamlets/mills. Strážovice changed to the :cs:Těchonice|Těchonice parish, Chlumy changed to the Kvášňovice parish, and the latter 4 villages later attended Neurazy's parish. Kovčín temporarily attended the Nepomuk parish for part of the 18th century.
History
The first known mentioning of Myslív is from 1352, calling it "Myslewa", essentially a localized diminutive of a word referring to the acquiring of game or fish and related to its legacy of fish ponds. The modern name is closer to the German version which removes the characteristic Czech southwest ending vowel. For much of its history, locals referred to it as "Myslivo". The village is believed to have been created sometime after 1144 by Catholic Cistercian monks of a monastery about 6 miles north in efforts of local colonization. The monastery's central village was Pomuk. Near Myslív, the monks opened the "Vráž" gold mines which drove some of its early economy.By 1384, Myslív had its own Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. For several hundred years, it would serve as the parish seat for many of its surrounding villages. In 1393, a priest and vicar-general for St. Giles' Church in Prague named Jan was killed and tortured by order of King Václav IV for confirming a Roman-papacy candidate as Abbot of Kladruby instead of one for Avignon. As a result, Jan became recognized as a local legendary religious-figure "Jan Nepomucký" or "John of Nepomuk," leading to pilgrimage and his later sainthood.
On the hill between Pomuk and the monastery, Hussite forces created a fort in 1419 which became Zelená Hora Castle in 1424. They destroyed the monastery in 1420 which in-turn made Myslív into property of the castle and estate and probably converted it to Protestantism. The monastery's ruins became the village of Klášter.
The area's economy centralized around pond-development and fish-farming, represented by the meaning of its name and the carp in its flag. The nearby village Milčice was rebuilt in another location in 1608 to connect two smaller ponds for this purpose. During the Thirty Years' War, Myslív was owned by :cs:Adam_ze_Šternberka|Adam II. ze Šternberka as part of the town of Plánice within the Zelená Hora estate, later owned by :cs:Maxmilián_Valentin_z_Martinic|Maxmilián Valentin z Martinic. In 1630, Myslív was districted to Plánice, possibly on order of the Habsburgs because of the Hussite control of Nepomuk. Because of the war, the Monarchy led efforts of re-Catholization and Germanisation of the Czech lands. Since at least 1643, Myslív's church has kept vital records of its member villages, used to document and verify baptisms and marriages as Catholic rather than Protestant though some pages of the 17th century are torn or lost. In the 1654 tax list, nine senior farmers are named though many families lived in the village at that time. From parish and school records of the 1600s to early 1800s, it's apparent that recorded surnames often changed depending on which household a person lived at, causing genealogical confusion. For example, Martin Noháček married Mariana Pavelcová in 1733. After moving into her household, his name was changed to Martin Pavelec and records of his descendants use both names.
Cemetery
Myslív has had 2 cemeteries: Podvrškojc and Pod Jandečkojc]Population
According to available census information, Myslív was historically overwhelmingly Catholic with some temporary Jewish residents.As of 2019, the population is currently 426.
| Date | Population |
| 1880 | 491 |
| 1890 | 496 |
| 1900 | 453 |
| 1910 | 497 |
| 1921 | 467 |
| 28 August 2006 | 434 |
| 2019 | 426 |
Genealogy and immigration to America
Because of increased immigration due to the end of the Mexican-American War and start of the California Gold Rush, since the mid-1800s, about 135 people born in Myslív have been identified as moving to America along with many others from the general vicinity. The very first, possibly from the whole parish, might have been Jan "John" Duban and his family who moved to Illinois side of the St. Louis area around 1851. Given that American Czechs were a significant minority, most of his children married people of German descent. Afterwards, immigration increased with the foundation of Norddeutscher Lloyd in 1857 through which a majority of Myslív's immigrants traveled by ship from Bremen to Baltimore.Duban was followed by the Tichacek family several years later. The Tichacek's temporarily lived in Myslív where one of their sons Alois was born in 1857. Shortly afterwards, they also moved to St. Louis. Immigration slowed for a time in the 1860s because of the American Civil War in which Duban served in the Union Army. Within a couple years after the war ended, people from Myslív poured in waves through the port of Baltimore. Many of those who settled in Baltimore nested in Little Bohemia and were early participants of the St. Wenceslaus Church. The Brozik and Zeman families moved to Iowa. Josefa Silovska, who married in Baltimore, was brought to Oklahoma City by her husband during the Land Rush of 1889. Frantiska Protivova's family and the Sevcik's moved to Minnesota. The Zoubkova sisters moved to Cook County, Illinois and Ohio. Some of the Nocar's moved to Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Washington. The immigrants are listed as follows :
| Embarkation | Arrival | Immigrants | Photos |
| c. 1851 probably New Orleans | Duban - Jan Marie, Frantiska Kroupa - Marie Jan served in the 1st Missouri, US Reserve Corps Infantry for the Union Army in the America Civil War. | ||
| 1 November 1857 probably New Orleans | Tichacek - Alois Alois was elected into the Missouri House of Representatives of the Missouri General Assembly as a Democrat for St Louis' 2nd district in 1902. | ||
| c. 1867 | Brozik - Marie Zeman - Marie ], | ||
| Str. Berlin Bremen | 18 June 1868 Baltimore | Brozik - Matej , Marie, | |
| Str. Hermann Bremen | 3 May 1869 New York | Liska - Frantiska | |
| SS Baltimore Bremen | 14 August 1869 Baltimore | Rada - Jan , Marie, Vaclav, Anna, Blazej | |
| SS Ohio Bremen | 22 April 1870 Baltimore | ||
| Str. Baltimore Bremen | 7 May 1870 Baltimore | Solar - Josef Josef changed his name to "Soler" and married Frantiska Liskova in Baltimore. | |
| SS Hermine Bremen | 11 June 1870 Baltimore | Silovsky - Josef, , Josefa, Josef | |
| SS Berlin Bremen | 16 November 1870 Baltimore | Arrived in 1870, left in 1872, and returned in 1881. | |
| SS Donau Bremen | 9 September 1871 New York | Fleischmann - Anna | |
| c. 1880 | |||
| SS Hermann Bremen | 7 May 1880 Baltimore | | |
| SS Ohio | 16 July 1880 Baltimore | ||
| SS Leipzig Bremen | 12 June 1881 Baltimore | ||
| SS Hohenzollern Bremen | 17 June 1881 Baltimore | ||
| c. 1881 | , | ||
| c. 1882 | |||
| SS Köln Bremen | 13 November 1882 Baltimore | , , Karel Duban was possibly Jan Sevcik's illegitimate son. | |
| SS Hohenstaufen Bremen | 27 April 1883 Baltimore | , , , , , , | |
| SS Weser Bremen | 6 July 1883 Baltimore | Josef was the nephew of Frantiska Liskova. | |
| SS Hermann Bremen | 21 December 1883 Baltimore | ||
| SS America Bremen | 20 December 1884 Baltimore | ||
| SS Rhein Bremen | 13 September 1886 Baltimore | ||
| SS Köln Bremen | 20 April 1887 Baltimore | Half brothers | |
| SS Main | 25 October 1887 Baltimore | | |
| SS America Bremen | 10 March 1888 Baltimore | , | |
| SS Braunschweig Bremen | 1 May 1888 Baltimore | ||
| SS Donau Bremen | 25 July 1888 Baltimore | ||
| SS Main Bremen | 21 February 1889 Baltimore | ||
| SS München Bremen | 18 June 1889 Baltimore | , Marie was the mother of Josef Solar. | |
| SS Dresden Bremen | 29 May 1890 Baltimore | ||
| SS Dresden Bremen | 10 June 1891 Baltimore | ||
| c. 1892 | |||
| 13 September 1894 SS Weser Bremen | 27 September 1894 Baltimore | ||
| 27 September 1894 SS Braunschweig Bremen | 14 October 1894 Baltimore | , | |
| c. 1895 | |||
| 28 November 1895 SS Aachen Bremen | 18 December 1895 Baltimore | Nocar - | |
| 9 April 1896 SS Willehad Bremen | 23 April 1896 Baltimore | ||
| 17 September 1896 SS Necker Bremen | 2 October 1896 Baltimore | ||
| 5 November 1896 SS Aachen Bremen | 25 November 1896 Baltimore | , , , , | |
| bef. 1897 Baltimore | |||
| 19 November 1897 SS Bonn Bremen | 2 December 1897 Baltimore | ||
| 19 September 1899 SS Lahn Bremen | 28 September 1899 New York | ||
| 24 October 1901 SS Frankfurt Bremen | 6 November 1901 Baltimore | ||
| c. 1902 | |||
| 11 October 1902 SS Cassel Bremen | 27 October 1902 Baltimore | ||
| 29 April 1903 SS Kronprinz Wilhelm Cherbourg | 6 May 1903 New York | ||
| c. 1905 | |||
| c. 1905 Baltimore | |||
| 25 May 1905 SS Main Bremen | 8 June 1905 Baltimore | , | |
| c. 1906 | Frantisek was the nephew of Josefa Pickova | ||
| 27 March 1906 SS Kronprinz Wilhelm Bremen | 4 April 1906 NewYork | ||
| 6 May 1906 SS Hannover Bremen | 21 May 1906 Baltimore | ||
| 30 August 1906 SS Rhein Bremen | 11 September 1906 Baltimore | ||
| 11 October 1906 Baltimore | |||
| c. 1907 | |||
| 14 February 1907 SS Breslau Bremen | 1 March 1907 Baltimore | ||
| 4 July 1907 SS Brandenburg Bremen | 20 July 1907 Baltimore | , Josefa was the younger sister of Frantisek. | |
| 24 August 1907 SS Bremen Bremen | 3 September 1907 New York | ||
| c. 1908 | |||
| 11 March 1909 SS Rhein Bremen | 27 March 1909 Baltimore | ||
| 25 November 1911 SS Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm Bremen | 4 December 1911 Ellis Island | ||
| 5 October 1921 SS Nieuw Amsterdam Rotterdam | 15 October 1921 New York | ||
| 8 October 1921 SS Mount Clay Hamburg | 18 October 1921 New York | ||
| 29 November 1922 SS Orbita Hamburg | 11 December 1922 Ellis Island | , Anna and Emilie were the younger sisters of Frantisek and Josefa. | |
| 28 September 1922 RMS Saxonia Cherbourg | 9 October 1922 New York | ||
| 30 September 1951 USNS General W. G. Haan Bremerhaven | 9 October 1951 New York |
Culture
Historically, social life commonly took place in pubs where men drank, narrated, and cheered with many staying until morning, coming home to "hear the endless lamentation of his wife." Myslív's grandmothers regularly went to church for rorates in the morning, and in the evening they drove feathers around the cottages. The washing of the feathers was then closed by doders, when they were singing, feasting and dancing. In the carnival time, villagers disguised in masquerade would run around, representing a traditional shaggy laufra, a masked figure walking at the head of the procession, a running Jew with a punch on his back, a photographer or a mare.God's punishment for wasting food and goods was widely believed and money would be spent carefully so as to not be condemned for scandalism. People in the village and in the city counted every issued tailor. So, for example, the bark for tannery was peeled from the trees that had been slaughtered during the sap, and the peeled peeling consisted of borders for paper mills. The woodcutters used the brush and the skins at home by cutting them into small pieces and tied them in haggles. These were then settled on the walls throughout the summer. Wads, dry lands and stumps have served as fuel throughout the winter.
Notable residents
- :cs:Ladislav Stehlík|Ladislav Stehlík, poet, writer
Landmarks
- Church of the Assumption
- Rectory
Districts
- Myslív
- Loužná
- Milčice
- Nový Dvůr
Gallery