Shown here are my great grandparents: Phillip and Caroline (Tesluk) Salva, taken at their home on Daisy Run in Shadyside in 1943.

Phillip Salva (born Philippus Sylwa) was born 22 December 1881 in Piaski (now Pisky, Ukraine) a son of Basilius and Thecla (Jerzyk) Sylwa, and Caroline (Tesluk) Salva (born with the name Clara) was born 10 August 1881 in Leszniow, (now Leshniv, Ukraine), an illegitimate daughter of the widow Catharina (Bachlyj) Tesluk. Thus, Clara's biological father is unknown, and more than likely lost forever. She appears to have used the surname Bachlyj and Tesluk until she married. Bachlyj has at least a few different spellings. Other common spellings are "Bachryj" and "Bachlaj". Catharina Bachryj and Nicolaus Tesluk were married on 16 November 1862 in Leszniow. Nicolaus Tesluk was born 20 December 1835, a son of Zacharias and Annae (Sendyczek) Tesluk. Catharina was the daughter of Mathviy "Mathias" and Franciscae (Piezak) Bachryj. Nicolaus Tesluk died on 18 April 1877. Thus Nicolaus was dead over 4 years before Clara's birth (1881), so there is no way he could have been her father. Nicolaus and Catharina's apparent first child was Thecla Tesluk, who was born 22 October 1863. They also did have a son named Constantin Tesluk born 30 May 1868. He was still living in 1913, when Caroline "Clara" immigrated to the United States, as he was listed as her nearest relative she had left behind. His name was written as "Kosc Tesluk". There is some controversy on his metric of birth, involving his mother's maiden name not being listed as "Bachlyj" or it's variant spellings. Constantin was married at least twice, and married the second time in 1932. His death occurred sometime after 1932. Nicolaus and Catharina may have had other children, and this is still under investigation. Thecla Tesluk married Andreas Tesluk on 08 August 1881. Andreas was the son of Simeonis and Dorothae (Bednarczuk) Tesluk. Catharina (Bachryj) Tesluk died 18 April 1909 in Leszniow (now Leshniv), Brody, Lviv, Ukraine; 32 years to the day after her husband Nicolaus Tesluk died.

Philippus Sylwa and Clara Bachlaj [Tesluk] married in Leszniow (now Leshniv) on 01 August 1905. Caroline's name was shown as "Clara", just as it appeared on her birth record. Her 1913 immigration record was the first time she was seen as "Karolina" and used "Caroline" up until her death in 1958. On Phillip and Clara's second child Theodosia's 1908 birth record, she used the name Carolina. This is the only record from the old country that I have seen her name as Carolina. The surname "Salva" became the family's official spelling beginning sometime in the mid-1920s. The original spelling of the surname is Sylwa or Sylva. Possible older spelling was Sylwestruk.

Phillip's father, Basilius Sylwa, was born about 1817, a son of Joannes and Ahaphia (Michalczuk) Sylwa. He was first marrried to Catharina Mykytiuk, who died on 29 April 1869, and had at least six children with her: Nicethas (Nicolaus) (1841-1846), Joannes (1844-1846), Michael (1846-1846), Maria (1847-?), Barbara (1852-1854), and Mocrina (1855-Before 1899). Maria Sylwa married Joannes Wojtowicz on 06 November 1864. Mocrina Sylwa married Alexius Guz on 14 June 1870. Basilius married a second time to Phillip's mother, Thecla Jerzyk, daughter of Franciscus and Joanna "Anna" (Jakubiec) Jerzyk on 24 November 1879 in Piaski. Thecla was born 16 September 1861, and only 18 years of age at the time of her marriage to 62-year-old Basilius Sylwa. Their first child, Marianna Sylwa was born 22 December 1880 and died 24 January 1881. Their second and final child was Philippus Sylwa.

After Basilius Sylwa's death on 30 August 1883, Thecla remarried probably in 1884 in Piaski (this year metrics are lost) to Antonius Stemkowski, also a widower; widower of Maria (Kaczor) Stemkowski, and son of Carolus and Salomea (Niemcewicz) Stemkowski. Phillip's maternal half-siblings (children of Antonius and Thecla) were: Joannes (1885-about 1885), Peter (1886-1959), Maria (1889-1889) John (1891-1972), Andrew (1893-1965), Thomas (1896-1974), and Anna Stemkowski (1898-1946). Antonius Stemkowski died 15 June 1899, and Thecla illegitimately gave birth to Maria "Mary" Stemkowski on 09 April 1903 in Piaski. Maria's father is unknown forever. Her birth record listed her with her mother's maiden surname, Jerzyk, but she later used Stemkowski. Mary died 08 June 1963.

Phillip and Clara's first child, Anna Sylwa was born 09 July 1906 in Leszniow. She died young; her death date is still being sought. If she died in 1910 or 1912, the records are lost for those years. It is possible that her death record is lost. She was dead by 1913. It may never be known if she was a baby or a young child when she died. The second child's name was Theodosia Sylwa. She was born 30 October 1908. Theodosia died 04 February 1911 in Leshniv. The third child born to them was Andrew Edward Sylwa/Salva on 25 November 1911 also in Leshniv. He used 11 November 1911 as his birth date throughout his life.

Phillip had departed the port at Antwerp, Belgium -- 03 June 1911 on the "Lapland", with his half-brother, Andrew Stemkowski and his future half-brother-in-law, Lukasz Dombrowski, who would later marry his half-sister Anna Stemkowski in Belmont County on 17 October 1916. Phillip never met his son Andrew until 1913 when Caroline arrived to the United States, as he was born a few months after his departure. He arrived at the port at Ellis Island, New York -- 12 June 1911 and made his way to Bellaire. Their marriage certificate was issued on 16 November 1913 in the village of Leszniow (today Leshniv). Caroline and Andrew departed the port at Hamburg, Germany on the "Kaiserin Auguste Victoria", later known as the "Empress of Scotland" on 22 November 1913, just 6 days after obtaining this certificate. Her mother-in-law, Thecla Jerzyk Sylwa Stemkowski was still alive in 1914, as she appeared as living still on the manifest of her son, Thomas Stemkowski. Thecla died 08 November 1919 in Pisky, and it was in 1921 when her final child, Mary Stemkowski (later married Metro Martin) arrived to the United States. Caroline and Andrew arrived at the port at Ellis Island, New York -- 02 December 1913. They later came to Belmont County, and Andrew finally met his father Phillip, who was living in Bellaire, and worked his entire life as a coal miner. After Caroline's arrival in 1913, they settled in Bellaire, and later Avondale, and Shadyside; making their home at Daisy Run. The following 7 children were born to them in Bellaire and Shadyside: John Salva (1914-1915), Stella Dorothy Salva Kurko (1916-1986) (my maternal grandmother), Walter Lodge Salva (1917-1994), Mary Ann Salva Bertsch (1920-2005), Josephine "Peggy" Salva Johnson (1922-1996), Stanley "Stush" Salva (1924-1978), and Louis Walter Salva (1925-2010). Uncle Andrew Edward Salva, the only one who was born overseas, besides the infants Anna and Theodosia who died overseas, passed away in 1971.

Caroline died 01 February 1958, and Phillip followed her on 18 February 1962, both in their home at Daisy Run in Shadyside. They are buried at the Mount Calvary Cemetery in Bellaire.