I was recently alerted to the interesting intro pages to the Banska Bystricka death records. About 12 years ago I was visiting a fairly large Catholic Church in Kempenich, Rhenish Prussia (Rhineland Pfalz). In the old cemetery, there were quite a number of very old gravemarkers that had the skull and crossbones engraved on them along with the usual name and date information. I have never seen a satisfactory explanation for such a "morbid custom". Any ideas??

On to a different genealogical puzzle. My great-grandmother, Jozefa (ina?) Morawetz (Moravec) b. 1863 supposedly in Bohemia, immigrated to Milwaukee, WI in the mid 1880s, married Jozef Mazourek and died there in 1914. Villages of origins unknown; records mostly indicate Bohemia and Bohemian was spoken in my grandmother's home. She belonged to a Slovak fraternal organization called Zivena . I am unable to find any Zivena records for this time. Any thoughts?

Thank you,
Carol Leonard