The Slezak family lived in this house for twenty-two years, from 1869 to 1891.  According to public records, the first owner of the house was Joseph Slezak but a preceeding city record book that would likely indicate the earlier owner has been lost. 

It is believed the prior owner may have been the brother of Joseph Slezak.  According to burial records, John Slezak died in 1869 at the age of 49 years and was not buried in a lot with any other Slezak family member.  It is possible, as the sole surviving heir in America of John Slezak, Joseph inherited the house in 1869.

Joseph Slezak was born in 1819 and came to America from Bohemia, a region of Czechoslovakia, with his wife Catharine and sons Frank and Joseph.  The exact year the Slezak family arrived in America is not known.  Joseph was a tailor and his son, Joseph, Jr., was a saddler. 

Joseph Krivanec(k) immigrated from Bohemia in 1882 with his wife, Catherina and son, Joseph and bought the Slezak house in 1892.  The purchase price was $1,150.  The Krivanek family owned the house for eighty-three years.  Their daughter, Marie, was born in 1895 and her descendents (of Marie Michalek) owned the house until 1975.

Work by family members and tenants of the house, some from attached or adjacent buildings no longer standing, included homemaker, tailor, saddler, blacksmith, stonemason, carpenter and fireman.

Joseph Slezak died in 1890 and his wife Catharine, died in 1901. 
Both are buried at Sts. Peter and Paul Cemetery in St. Louis.

For the first time in many years, descendents of Marie Michalek (Krivanek) visited the house in June 2007.

Slezak is a Czech and Slovak ethnic or regional name for someone from Silesia, the Czech name of which is Slezsko.  Silesia is a historic region in central Europe most of which is now within the borders of Poland. 

Krivanek is also a well known Czech name.