Slovak Americans
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 797,7640.27% of the US population | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|
Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania |
|
| Languages | |
| English, Slovak | |
| Religion | |
|
Roman Catholicism, Greek Catholicism Lutheranism, Judaism |
|
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Czech Americans, Polish Americans, Other Slavic Americans |
Slovak Americans are Americans of Slovak descent. In the 1990 Census Slovak Americans made up the third-largest portion of Slavic ethnic groups. There are currently about 790,000 people of Slovak descent living in the United States.
Isaacus Ferdinand Sharoshi was the first known immigrant from the territory of present-day Slovakia, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Sharoshi arrived in the religious colony of Germantown, Pennsylvania, founded by Mennonite preacher Francis Daniel Pastorius, to serve as a teacher and a preacher. Sharoshi apparently returned to Europe after two years. In 1754, Andreas Jelik, an ethnic German from the village of Baja, left the Kingdom of Hungary to train as a tailor. After some travel in Europe, he eventually reached South American shores, via the West Indies, on a Dutch trading ship.
After being proclaimed emperor in Madagascar, and bearing letters of recommendation from Benjamin Franklin and funds from a descendant of Ferdinand Magellan, Maurice Benyovszky whose origin is regarded as a mix of Slovakian, Hungarian and Polish came to America and fought with American troops in the War for Independence. He joined a cavalry corps led by General Pulaski and fought in the siege of Savannah. He died in Madagascar in 1786, but his wife, Zuzana Honsch, stayed in the United States fro, 1784 until her death in 1815.
Another Slovak fought in the American Revolution; Major Jan Polerecky, who trained at the French Royal Military Academy of St. Cyr, came to America from France to fight with George Washington's army in the War for Independence. He was in the company of the 300 "Blue Hussars" to whom the British formally surrendered their weapons after the defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown. When the war was over, Polerecky settled in Dresden, Maine, where he served in a number of public positions.
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Wikipedia