This household, most recently known as the Dolnji Stegneti, was only named as such because Jurij Čadonič (Dolnji Stegneč) from Zilje 47 married into the family. Prior to this, the household was recorded in the status animarum as Čemasi. This house at Zilje 5 and their neighbours, the Peričini, are the two oldest households in Zilje with surname Čemas. Today, the house is abandoned.
The oldest record we have found to date for a person from this house is for Jurij Čemas. He married Helena Starešinič. Together, they had at least 9 children, including:
1A. Nikolaj Čemas b. 1770, m. 1792 to Barbara Jaketič (Perušičeva) — they remained at this house.
1B. Helena Čemas b. 1774, m. 1794 to Nikolaj Jaketič (Perušičev).
1C. Barbara Čemas b. 1783, m. ca. 1814 to Nikolaj Malešič (Bračkov from Podklanec).
1D. Katarina Čemas b. ca. 1785, m. 1803 to Jurij Žalec (Žalčev).
Nikolaj Čemas [1A] and his wife Barbara Jaketič had at least 4 children, including:
2A. Nikolaj Čemas b. 1805, m. 1827 to Katarina Jaketič (Gornja Stegnečka) — they remained at this house.
Nikolaj Čemas [1A] m. 1814 to his second wife Helena Jaketič. Together they had 3 children.
Nikolaj Čemas [2A] and his wife Katarina Jaketič had at least 4 children, including:
3A. Nikolaj Čemas b. 1830, m. 1849 to Katarina Dejan (Dejanska from Dejani) — they remained at this house.
3B. Jurij Čemas b. 1834. At this time, it is unknown what happened to him afterwards.
3C. Miha Čemas b. 1843, m. 1870 to Marija Benec (Markičeva from Podklanec) — they remained at this house.
3D. Marko Čemas b. 1845. At this time, it is unknown what happened to him afterwards.
Nikolaj Čemas [3A] and his wife Katarina Dejan had 5 children, including:
4A. Marija Čemas b. 1854, m. 1876 to Jože Žalec (Brdarov) — they lived at Zilje 51.
4B. Helena Čemas b. 1860, m. 1882 to Jurij Čemas (Mali Majiščar).
4C. Nikolaj Čemas b. 1863, m. 1888 to Ana Žalec (Grabrijanska from Grduni) — they remained at this house.
Miha Čemas [3C] and his wife Marija Benec had 6 children, including:
4D. Barbara Čemas b. 1870, m. 1887 to Marko Balkovec (Vukov).
4E. Miha Čemas b. 1877, m. 1901 in Montana to Ana Čemas (Šoštarova) — they lived in Montana and Arizona.
4F. Marija Čemas b. 1880. At this time, it is unknown what happened to her afterwards.
4G. Katarina Čemas b. 1883, m. 1901 to Jurij Čadonič (Dolnji Stegneč) — they returned to live at this house.
4H. Jelka Čemas b. 1886, m. 1907 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Franc Cvetaš (Dolnji Cvetašev).
Miha Čemas [3C] and Marija built a new house, Zilje 46, on the Majišče, today known as the Klemeni, sometime after 1887, and their family moved there.
Nikolaj Čemas [4C] and his wife Ana Žalec had 2 children, including:
5A. Nikolaj Čemas b. 1889. At this time, it is unknown what happened to him afterwards.
Nikolaj Čemas [4C] died in 1892, and Ana remarried at the Osnovci in Stara Lipa in 1894, bringing this Čemas lineage to an end.
Katarina Čemas [4G] and her husband Jurij Čadonič (Dolnji Stegneč) returned from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ca. 1910. It is not clear why they did not move back to Jurij’s birth house, but instead they moved into Katarina’s. It is from this point that the household name changed from Čemasi to Dolnji Stegneti (and the original house of the Dolnji Stegneti remained abandoned).
Jurij Čadonič and his wife Katarina Čemas [4G] already had one living daughter as well as had one later:
5B. Barbara Čemas b. 1901 in Zilje 47, m. 1923 to Franc Čemas (Dolnji Brožičev).
5B. Katarina Čadonič b. 1910, m. 1931 to Franc Brozovič (Mišičev from Sečje Selo).
I am a descendant of this family! My 3rd Great-Grandfather was Marko (Marcus) Čemas (3D). Him and his brother Jurij (George) Ćemas came to America together. They changed their names and never spoke of their history. It has taken me many months to track them. I know of other desendabts of their sisters. If someone would please email me I would love to talk further.