Vojtěch Vachuška, born in 1853, went to live almost across the entire Kingdom of Bohemia from Střelské Hoštice (today's Strakonice district) to Spálov (part of the municipality of Semily)! He was 21 years old when his first son Josef was born to Anežka Koubleová in Spálov, and in the same year 1875 Vojtěch married Anežka.
14 years later, Vojtěch's nephew Josef Vachuška, also from Střelské Hoštice, married Terezie Lagnerová not far from Spálov, where his uncle Vojtěch had lived for 14 years. A year after the wedding, Josef and Terezie had a daughter.
The journey of Vojtěch and Josef Vachuška on a map of the Kingdom of Bohemia from 1855, two years after Vojtěch's journey. Josef returned in the opposite direction 15 years later with his wife Terezie born Lagnerová
Source of the map: Map of the Kingdom of Bohemia. In: Virtual map collection Chartae-Antiquae.cz [online]. Walls: Research Institute of Geodesy, Topography and Cartography, v.v.i. [cited. 2025-09-18]. Available from: https://www.chartae-antiquae.cz/cs/maps/49267
Unfortunately, there is not enough information about Josef's entire life, but it can be assumed that either he came to this region far from home with his uncle as a ten-year-old boy, or he came here as an adult to get married. If this second story is correct, then it was probably uncle Vojtěch who arranged the marriage for him with his new wife.
However, the second child of Josef and Terezie was born in Střelské Hoštice, Josef's homeland. The same was true for their other children. The registry thus reveals the fact that Josef returned to his homeland. It is quite possible that he did not plan to live on the other side of the Kingdom, but when his new wife Terezie became pregnant for the first time, the return home had to wait.
The registry reveals yet another story, this time about the first daughter of Josef and Terezie, Anna. Anna was born, as already mentioned, in the region where her father came far from home to marry his wife there, and then returned home with her across a considerable part of the kingdom. And Anna got married in this region at the age of 21. However, where she lived for those 20 years remains a mystery. The first possible story says that she went with her parents to Střelské Hoštice and, as an adult, returned and married where she was born. The second, less likely story says that the parents left without the newborn Anna, who grew up in the family of uncle Vojtěch until the day she got married.
Which of the stories it was, we will never know. But we have a pretty good idea of what our ancestors experienced.
Incidentally, there is another interesting piece of information about Vojtěch Vachuška from this story. It was he who expanded the descendants of the Vachuška family to northeastern Bohemia. At least three sons were born to him in Spálov, who could have passed on the surname.
And what did your ancestors experience? Did your great-great-grandfather travel across the entire kingdom to get married? Did his uncle find him a bride?