September 21, 2026

This is where it gets super fun and interesting. My Aunt Francis told a story repeatedly about the Plesnik relative, and a grandmother whose Plesnik husband died in a hunting accident and remarried as a Pisernik. To find the records, although a lot of work, was amazing for me, I am so grateful for this process of self-discovery. I can't say why I want to know my roots, but this has been a trait since a small child, hearing stories about the ancestors both on my mother's Slovene immigrant side (it was then known as Styria Austria, then became Yugoslavia, then the Slovene region of what was Yugoslavia) and the Hawaiian creole side of my father's. It seems strange to me, in that we are on this planet so briefly, in the architecture of these ancestors, why are some of us driven to quest understanding where we came from after our family worked so hard to have their children assimilate. Why do we seek to unravel and dismantle and decolonize. Why are we so hungry for authenticity? A part of earth's learning adventure perhaps.

FIRST MARRIAGE

1834 — Birth of Maria Ugovšek

Matricula link: https://data.matricula-online.eu/sl/slovenia/maribor/solcava/

Date: Born and baptized June 27, 1834

Place: Gemeinde Sulzbach, house no. 23, Solčava parish

Parents: Georg Ugovšek, p.d. "Mlinar," and Ursula née Debevec

Source: Solčava Krstna knjiga (baptismal register), archival ID 02677, page 36

1839 - Birth of Johann (Janez) Piskernik

1839 Birth Record CONFIRMED

Eisenkappel/Železna Kapla Parish (Diocese of Gurk, Carinthia) — Index zu Geburtsbüchern

Index Entry Found

Name: Piskernig Johann

Year: 1839

Month/Day: Mai (May) 27

Register (Tom.): VI — i.e. Geburtsbuch VI

Folio: 53

Source: Index zu Geburtsbüchern, Kopie, archival ID E07_016-1 (Eisenkappel/Železna Kapla), folio 82 of the index

Index page link: https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/oesterreich/gurk/eisenkappel-zelezna-kapla/E07_016-1/

This is a strong candidate for Johann (Janez) Piskernik, great-great-grandfather via Maria Ugovšek's second marriage. Born May 27, 1839, he would have turned 24 in late May 1863 — matching his stated age of 24 at his November 23, 1863 marriage to Maria (widow Plessnig) almost exactly. This entry was found roughly where a prior page-by-page search of Geburtsbuch VI (folios 47-52, Jan-May 1839) left off — folio 53 is the very next page.

UPDATE: CONFIRMED. The actual birth/baptismal record was located and matches on the father's and mother's given names — see below.

Confirmed record link: https://data.matricula-online.eu/de/oesterreich/gurk/eisenkappel-zelezna-kapla/E07_007-1/?pg=55

Also visible nearby in the index (possible sibling lead, not yet investigated): "Piskernig Jo[se]f," 1839, März (March) 2, Tom. VI, Fol. 49.

1852 — First Marriage: Maria Ugovšek × Gregor Plessnig

Matricula link: https://data.matricula-online.eu/sl/slovenia/maribor/solcava/5594/?pg=33

Date: February 16, 1852

Place: hl. Geist, house no. 47

Groom: Gregor Plessnig, age 29, bachelor — son of the late Johann Plessnig (farmer) and Ursula née Stergar

Bride: Maria Ugovšek, age 17, single — daughter of Georg Ugovšek vulgo "Mlinar" (Sulzbach h.23) and Ursula née Debevec

Consent: Father's consent recorded (bride a minor) — Gemeinde-Amt Pulzberg, Feb 1, 1852, Fasc. No. 93

Officiant: Johann Janz, Pfarrer

Source: Solčava Poročna knjiga (marriage register), archival ID 5594, page 33

Who were the Plesnik children with them?

1863 — Second Marriage: Maria (widow Plessnig) × Johann Piskernik

Matricula link: https://data.matricula-online.eu/sl/slovenia/maribor/solcava/5594/?pg=48

Date: November 23, 1863

Place: hl. Geist, house no. 47

Groom: Johann Piskernik, age 24, bachelor — legitimate son of Mathias Piskernik, house-owner in Kappel (Eisenkappel), house no. 189, Carinthia, and Rosalia née Kappel

Bride: Maria, née Ugovšek, widow of Plessnig, age 29 — daughter of Georg Ugovšek vulgo "Mlinar" and Ursula née Debevec

Officiant: Johann Janz, Pfarrer

Source: Solčava Poročna knjiga, archival ID 5594, pages 48, 51, 54