Place:Usztye, Árva, Hungary

source: Family History Library Catalog

Usztye (common name in Hungarian, Ústie nad Oravou in Slovak) is a defunct village at the former estuary of the Black and White Orava rivers in the historic Orava region of Slovakia. It ceased to exist in 1953 when the settlement was abandoned and the site flooded upon the completion of the Orava dam. The site is now underneath the Orava reservoir. Ústie nad Priehradou, Trstená, Slovakia, slightly due south of the former settlement, and Nove Ustie, to the west, were settlements created in the 1940s and 50s and inhabited by some of the former residents of Ústie nad Oravou as well as those working at the new dam.

The name means "estuary" in Hungarian, Slovak, and Czech, and therefore, this place is not to be confused with several other places also found near estuaries in the former Austria-Hungary.

Timeline of Key Events

• 1370 - Orava Castle, 20 kilometers south-west of the convergence of the Black and White Orava rivers becomes the center of Árva county in the Kingdom of Hungary. A tower was built, probably on an earlier foundation.
• 1400- -The area of the estuary, Usztye, was covered in dense forest, and was a frontier zone providing protection from attack from the Polish side. The closest established settlements were Trstena and Tvrdosina.
• 1474 - King Matthias Corvinus confirms the benefits and privileges of existing communities of priests at an estuary thought to be Usztye.
• 1474 - King Matthias Corvinus "gave orders to build a square and and a residence wing" at Orava Castle.
• 1526 King Louis reconfirms the privileges of the priestly communities established at the estuary.
• 1534 - John of Dubovec obtained Orava Castle, becoming head of the county. He rebuilt and fortified Orava Castle between 1539 and 1543 in response to the Turkish threat (the reach of the Ottoman empire extended almost to the borders of Orava).
• After the death of John of Dubovec, his heirs quarreled and Orava Castle was reduced to use as a store-house. It was bought by mine owner Ferenc Thurzó.
• 1554- - Thurzó founded 42 villages in the county before 1616.
• 1556 - A declaration is issued to encourage free settlement at the estuary. Settlers are obliged to have rifles, rather than outdated weapons such as bows and slingshots.
• 1556- - Settlers came from Tvrdosina. Families from adjacent towns (Trstena or Tvrdosina) included Matliak, Žiak and Mešťan, who became landowning tax collectors.
• 1556- - Shepherding/farming families included those surnamed: Dluhoš, Stančo, Turaz, Kohút, Merdul/Havran.
• 1564 - Names mentioned at this time include: Debnár, Kovaľ, Šefran, Cudra (later Kubaň), Čakan, Stančík, Kučera, Pilat, Trabalka, Buček, Bulla, Bomba, Vaganek.
• 1575 - There were 2 groups consisting of immigrant Northern Carpathians, including the Balko family.
• 1606 - Two buildings burned in Usztye during the revolt led by Stephen Bocskai.
• 1608 - The settlement (recorded as Wsstya) was ravaged by mercenaries and hunger. Two houses were burned leaving only 3 peasant houses. The landowners are Matej Matlák, Juro Žiak, Ondrej Jaldon and Juro Ondrašov. The oldest village leading families were: Bulls (Bullovci), Kohúts (Kohútovci) and Kavuljaks (Kavuljakovci).
• 1618- - The landowners of Orava Castle and religious writings recorded the following families before 1624:
  • Soltys: Matej Matlák, Juzek Pupil, Ondrej Jaldon, Juzek Ondrášov
  • Jakub Debnár, Simek Koval, Michael Šefraný, Vojtech Seliga (4 families),
  • Matej Dluhoš, Juzek Dluhoš, Adam Dluhoš Cuba Dluhoš (5 families),
  • Jaros Stančo, Stano Stančo, Juro younger Stance (4 families),
  • Simek Turaz, Jano Turaz, Nicholas Turaz Baltazar Turaz, Jano Blizniak (5 families),
  • Adam Balko, Michael Balko, Jurko Balko, Balko Kovaľ (4 families),
  • Andrew Kohut, Jano Kohut, Kohut Matej, mothers older Kohut (4 families),
  • Matuš Merdul, Matej Merdul, Kubo Merdul, Michal Čuba, Juzek Čuba, Bulla Havran, Janik Čuba, Andrej Merdul (9 families)
• 1618 - First church built (wooden).
• 1622 - Great flood.
• 1683 - Polish King Jan Sobieski III defeated the Turks at Vienna in September 1683 and then returned home. Part of his army was composed of Lithuanian and Kozacki-Tatar troops (reportedly led by "Prince Sapieha, but this is unlikely as he was only 13 at the time) and as they returned to Poland they passed through and devastated 27 municipalities in Orava, including Usztye and nearby Osada and Hamry. As this occurred in October, during the harvest, the troops took what they could carry and burned the rest. Many people were killed and others were left in significant misery. Without food, many people left in a mass emigration to the southern counties depopulated by the Turks. The population of Usztye decreased significantly.
• 1686 - Great fire.
• 1710 - An outlaw named Juraja Janošíka attacked aristocratic residences (he was executed in 1713).
• 1711 - Wars with the Turks end, peace restored.
• 1713 - Second great fire burns the whole village, including the wooden church.
• 1715 - Summer frosts cause crop failure (it snowed in July).
• 1715 - Numerous floods and fires in the Orava region lead to mass emigration, with 1,365 families reported to have left in 1720. Usztye becomes somewhat desolate. The families Turazova, Balkova, Matliakova, and Merdulova became extinct. Kohútovej and Stančovej (now called Stančik)and Žiak (now called Žiačik) families remain.
• 1719- - The Thurzo estates were well managed and offered benefits to settlers to encourage immigration from Poland. Evidence of this was found in the evolution of the Goral dialect in the area. The Lipkovcovs, a family of Polish Sydžiny, are found after this time.
• 1754- - Brick church built on the church hill in the middle of the village by 1756.
• 1767 - The hereditary mayorship (Soltys) was abolished and landowners introduced choice to the selection of mayor.
• 1769 - A fire, started by lightning, burned Usztye to the ground on 4 June, leaving only one wall of the church intact. After this fire an entirely new street plan for the village was created.
• 1770 - The streeplan housed families as follows:
  • Šoltýstvo - which was the oldest part of the village, was the seat Šoltýska families - Kohútovcov and Bullovcov.
  • Breh - also one of the oldest streets in Usztye: Valaska/Balko, Havranovci, Merdulovci
  • Dluhoš End (Dluhošov koniec), the houses of the valaska family Dluhoš
  • Laz, originally settled by the Turazovcov family
  • Stáncová raľa that housed the old Wallachian Stančovcov family
  • Žabinec (a street only established about 1770, for several families after the fire) Kohútovcov and Kavuljakovcov were the most numerous families. Žabinec grew with immigrants from other villages: Kovalikovci of Stefanov, Trabalkovci of Tvrdosina, Mereššovci of Trsenej Záhora, Jašica, Penksa, Binasa from Poland etc.
• 1776 - Introduction of potato cultivation. Linen and canvas production flourished.
• 1800- - There were terrible infant mortality rates, with half of all deaths falling to children under 10 years of age. The primary cause was smallpox (variola), then plague, cholera, and other diseases which actually had a greater impact on mortality than the numerous disasters.
• 1805 - Snow fell in August.
• 1806 - A fire destroyed Žabinec street on August 4th.
• 1813 - The Great Flood destroyed Žabinec street and part of Dluhošová End and the school was destroyed on August 26th.
• 1826 - A big fire destroyed whole village.
• 1831 - Cholera epidemic.
• 1873 - Cholera epidemic.
• 1913 - Influenza epidemic.
• 1919 - Spanish flu epidemic.

Births, Marriages, and Deaths

Research Tips

Jurisdiction note: Usztye was, at various times in its history and particularly during the period 1920-1945, located very close to the Polish border and very close to several disputed territories. The historic region of which it was part, Orava, extends into Poland (where it is called Orawa). Therefore, those working from records created in other countries such as America should be aware that the country of origin indicated may be Poland.

Name variation: Variation in name spelling is fairly common and combined with transcription errors or interpretations requires care when searching indexes. If a name is expected but not found in search a registry, it is strongly recommended that all the entries for potential years be reviewed and any potentially mistranscribed/spelled matches be viewed in the original.

Records

Roman Catholic Church

On dissolution of the town in 1953, the records of the local Roman Catholic Church were transferred to nearby Trstena and eventually became part of the state archives of the Slovak Republic at Bytca. In 1996 the registers were microfilmed and baptisms are indexed and available online (scan of microfilm) via familysearch.org (as of February 2014). An index, presumably prepared by the State Archives was also microfilmed and may be the same as the index provided on familysearch.org. Note that the place is indexed in the familysearch system under the name of the succeeding settlement, Ústie nad Priehradou.