In the late 19th century, the Hartoš Brothers emigrated from Slovakia (Zemplen County), which was part of the Austria – Hungarian Empire at the time.   John (Janos) P Harto, the oldest of the three and the first to immigrate to the United States circa 1884, is the father of Julia Harto Dugan, my grandmother.   Joseph (Jozef), his brother, the youngest, immigrated circa 1890.   Michael (Mihaly), the second born, immigrated circa 1908.   All three brothers lived near each other in Fayette County, Pennsylvania for most of their lives in the United States.   They all also married women who were born in Slovakia.   Interestingly enough, each of the brothers passed down different spellings of their last name.   John americanized the name to “Harto”; Joseph changed the spelling to “Hartosh” which when pronounced in American English is similar to the pronunciation of “Hartoš” in the Slovak Language (the "s" with the caron at the end of Hartoš  signifies that it is to be pronounced as a "sh" sound).   Michael kept what, I believe, is the original spelling of the name, “Hartos” , but without the caron (since the caron doesn't exist in the English language).   The three brothers worked in the Coal Mines of southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. The impression of my great grandfather, John Harto, was that he was an easy-going man who loved to tease and joke around with his grandchildren.    

Written by annie bremer, great granddaughter of John Harto.