William & Aly Zakrajshek
Brother and sister
Confirmed by William
Slovenia · Minnesota · California
ZAKRAJŠEK
One uncommon name.
Nearly 370 years in the record trail.
Ograda, Bloke, Slovenia · Doremo / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
The question
It started with a last name that never fit on a coffee cup.
I wanted to know where Zakrajshek came from. That question led to Slovenian villages, Minnesota’s Iron Range, centuries-old records, relatives we never knew existed—and one increasingly complicated family tree.
This archive separates what the records prove from what we suspect and what remains completely unresolved. The gaps aren’t hidden. They are part of the story.
01 · The name
ZAKRAJŠEKSlovenia
→ZAKRAJSEKDiacritic removed
→ZAKRAJSHEKAmericanized spelling
A name connected to place.
Zakrajšek is an old Slovenian surname whose origins appear connected to place. The Dictionary of American Family Names describes it as a habitational name for someone from Zakraj in Inner Carniola, or a topographic name from zakraj, “the farthest part of a place or village.” [1]
What that does not prove: surname origin alone cannot establish that William’s documented ancestors came from a particular village named Zakraj. That connection requires records.
02 · Our documented family
Start with what
we can prove.
Proven Probable Unresolved
Joseph “Joe” Zakrajshek
William and Aly’s father
Carrie Lauermann Zakrajshek
William and Aly’s mother · Lauermann is her maiden name
Confirmed by WilliamAnamae Lezer Lauermann
Carrie’s mother
Ed Lauermann
Carrie’s father
Confirmed by WilliamAnthony, Frank & Matilda
Their records remain in this archive, but their precise relationship to William is being rechecked after the family correction.
Connection under reviewHow do the documented branches connect?
The archive will not publish a connecting relationship until the records and family knowledge agree.
UnresolvedOnly proven relationships appear as solid connections. Possible people and shared surnames never become ancestors without documentary evidence.
Ograda, Municipality of Bloke · Doremo / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
03 · Slovenia
The land behind the name.
A public Slovenian genealogy index contains numerous Zakrajšek entries in the Bloke area, including a Gregor Zakrajšek at Strmca dated March 5, 1658. [4]
- RegionInner Carniola / Notranjska
- Places in the indexBloke · Zakraj · Strmca · Nova Vas
- Earliest dated index entry found1658
Important: this is an index lead, not yet a page-level reading of the original register—and these historical Zakrajšeks are not automatically William’s ancestors. Bloke baptism books surviving from 1666 onward can be inspected through Matricula.
The honest gap
Centuries of a surname.
One missing connection.
Indexed Zakrajšek entry at Strmca in the Bloke area
Multiple indexed entries in Bloke, Strmca and Zakraj
Indexed Zakrajšek households continue across the region
?
The connection is still being researched
Frank Zakrajshek
Family record · photographs pending
- Joseph ZakrajshekBorn to Frank and Matilda
- Anthony “Tony” ZakrajshekBorn in Eveleth, Minnesota
- Sartell paper millTony’s career as an electrician
- Mayor of SartellTony’s documented public service
No person is pictured here until we can confirm who they are.
04 · Minnesota
From Eveleth to Sartell.
A new country. The same name. The documented American story takes shape in northern Minnesota.
Frank and Matilda became part of the Minnesota Zakrajshek story. Their son Anthony “Tony” was born in Eveleth on October 10, 1919. Minnesota Historical Society research identifies Slovenes among the Iron Range’s earliest immigrant groups and documents a Slovene wedding in Eveleth in 1908. [5]
Tony worked as an electrician at the Sartell paper mill under St. Regis for 45 years, then served Sartell on its city council, as mayor from 1974–1978, and as a volunteer fire chief. Sartell’s own historical archive identifies him in surviving council photographs. [6]
Public records also preserve Frank and Matilda’s son Joseph: born March 16, 1918, a technician fifth grade in the 8th Engineer Squadron, killed in action on Luzon on March 8, 1945. [7]
SloveniaEvelethSartell millPublic service
A visual journey
The places, passage and work around the story.
These original, period-inspired images were created for the Zakrajshek family archive to bring atmosphere to the journey. They illustrate the story without pretending to be photographs of specific relatives or documentary evidence.
Slovenia & the crossing
The landscape left behind and the uncertain road to America.
Iron Range & arrival
The industries and transportation landscape surrounding Minnesota immigration.
Sartell: work & community
The mill town, working life and public place that frame Tony’s documented story.
Visual storytelling, clearly labeled: these images help set the scene. Verified records, sourced archival photographs and identified family portraits remain the evidence layer.
05 · The archive
The paper trail
behind the people.
Every claim should lead back to a source. As documents are verified, this archive will hold the images, citations, transcriptions and interpretation together.
Birth & Baptism
Parish registers and civil records
Census
Households across time
Immigration
Manifests and naturalization
Military
Service files, memorials and casualty records
Death & Cemetery
Obituaries and memorial records
Church Records
Sacraments, parishes and burial registers
Newspapers
Community reporting and family notices
Photographs
Family and place-based images
Maps & Documents
The geography of the search
06 · Current research
Unsolved
Who were Frank Zakrajshek’s parents?
We know where Frank’s American story went. We’re still searching for the record that tells us exactly where his Slovenian story began.
Case file 001
- Target record
- Slovenian birth or baptism record, approximately October 27, 1893
- Could establish
- Village · Parish · House number · Father · Mother · Earlier generations
- Current status
- Active research—no parent relationship published as fact
The corrected maternal line
Family knowledge sets the order straight.
William confirms from direct family knowledge that Anamae and Ed Lauermann are Carrie’s parents—his maternal grandparents. Carrie Lauermann married Joseph “Joe” Zakrajshek; William and Aly are their children. Anamae and Ed are not Joseph’s parents.
Anamae + Ed
LauermannCarrie +
JosephWilliam +
Aly
Read the correction note →LauermannCarrie +
JosephWilliam +
Aly
07 · The latest chapter
Then the story reaches William.
California. Family. Businesses. Books. Out at the Fair. YasReady. Daniel and Caleb. A house, a life, and yes—the ridiculous chickens.
Nothing from the original Zakrajshek.com is gone. William’s story now lives where it belongs: as the newest chapter in a much older one.
Meet William todayThe chapter still ahead
The return 🇸🇮
I’ve carried the name Zakrajshek my entire life. Now I’m discovering that its history reaches into a tiny part of Slovenia I’ve never seen.
Eventually, I’m going.