It's A New Year!

Well, the new year is finally here. 2009 definitely was a great year for genealogy resources & records, but with 2010 it'll just keep getting better and better.

Organizations, counties and societies all across the country are digitizing and putting online their records. FamilySearch's project entitled RecordSearch has come a long way since it began. To date, it's currently at 165 different databases ranging from all around the world. And hopefully that list will grow vastly during this upcoming year. I consider RecordSearch the most vital new research tool to any and all genealogists. It's continually updating and uploading new records and it won't stop, for years to come. And the best part.. it's free! Here's a little wish list of records I'd like to see appear on RecordSearch:

• Completion of the Brandenburg records
• Completion of the Posen records
• Prussian Parish Registers
• Hungarian Parish Registers
• Baden & Württemburg Parish Registers
• Southern Poland Parish Registers
• Land Deed records for USA (grantor/grantee)

2009 was a grim year for my family. I had 4 aunt and uncles (Ray Heffner, Gloria Flemming Kolpack, Leonard Martin and Kathy Felton Larmon Johnson), 1 close cousin (Brian Loney) and 4 distant cousins (James E. Blaylock, James E. Howard, Leslie Scott Rodgers and Patrick Swayze.. yes, the actor) pass away this year. This definitely wasn't a good year. In hopes that 2010 would bring more happiness, it was quickly taken down by the passing of another 3rd cousin on January 2nd, Henry A. Jablon. Rest In Peace, my family, and let's all hope for a much brighter year.

Now on a happier note, I thought I would discuss the best genealogical find of the year for me. It was the marriage record for my 7th-great-grandparents, Mihály Tóth and Mária Izdenczy de Komlós.

Marriage of Mihály Tóth & Mária Izdenczy de Komlós - 29 Sep 1715

They were married on 29 Sep 1715 in Bőcs, Borsod county, Hungary. You can see the image of their marriage record above. You can see in the beginning it names "Mich. Tótt" and the second line begins the bride's name "Relicta Martini Isdentzi ?? Maria Komlosiensis". This states Mária, daughter of the widow of Márton Izdenczy. The date begins on the third line "29 7bris 1715". This is September 29th, 1715. The witnesses to the marriage consist of the remaining marriage information: (in Hungarian) György Kohányi, László Kohányi, András Balog.

Now for the good stuff! The Izdenczy family is a very old noble Hungarian family, who can trace their roots back to a man named Márk who lived during the reign of King Sámuel Aba of Hungary (1041-1044). Now, Mária's father Márton Izdenczy was a militaryman. In 1685 he was in top command of the Tokaj fortress under Prince Imre Thökölyi. Later on in the 1709, he served under Prince Ferencz Rakóczy II. Márton held land possessions in Komlós in Sáros county and Bodrog-Keresztur in Zemplén county.

Land Deed - 1696
Not long after I found the marriage record, I found a land deed record dating from 1696. It contained vital information needed to connect me back to two more ancestral families: Berzeviczy de Berzevicze and Horváth de Perlak.
The main important part of the document is highlighted and underlined in red. Click on the image for a larger view. Here is the excerpt of the key information: "Barbaram, Martini Izdenczy consortem filiamuero praenarrati Stephani quondem Horvath de Perlak, ex praedicta Nobili condem prae Margaretha Berzeviczy". This means Borbála (Barbara), wife of Márton Izdenczy, daughter of István (Stephen) Horváth de Perlak and Margit (Margaretha) Berzeviczy. You can find information on the Berzeviczy family on a previous post of mine entited "My Aristocratic Cousins!".
It's amazing to know that one single marriage record unlocked a treasure trove of information, all freely available on the internet. My next task now, is to track down information on the nobility and family tree of the Izdenczy's. And secondly to connect my Margit Berzeviczy into the MASSIVE Berzeviczy family tree, which is heavily documented and dates back to the 1200's.