Surname Saturday #17: Gulyás

Gulyás is the surname of my 3rd-great-grandmother on my direct paternal Gombash line. This is the information on her line:

1. Zsuzsánna Gulyás

b. 27 Jul 1850, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary

d. after 1909, Büdszentmihály

m. József Gombás; 15 Dec 1869, Büdszentmihály

*Sándor Gombás, b. 21 Feb 1872, Büdszentmihály

*Balázs Gombás, b. 23 Aug 1877, Büdszentmihály; d. 07 Mar 1878, Büdszentmihály

2. István Gulyás

b. 12 Apr 1817, Büdszentmihály

d. 21 Mar 1895, Büdszentmihály

m. Zsuzsánna Pethe de Kis-Szántó; 05 Dec 1838, Büdszentmihály

*Gábor Gulyás, b. 19 Jul 1841, Büdszentmihály

*Zsuzsánna Gulyás, (above)

*Gábor Gulyás, b. 11 Aug 1853, Büdszentmihály

*Károly Gulyás, b. 10 Oct 1856, Büdszentmihály

3. Márton Gulyás

b. 18 Apr 1773, Büdszentmihály

d. 10 May 1860, Büdszentmihály

m. Erzsébet Kottán; 08 Dec 1802, Büdszentmihály

*István Gulyás, b. 01 May 1804, Büdszentmihály

*Mária Gulyás, b. 07 Sep 1805, Büdszentmihály

*Márton Gulyás, b. 11 Nov 1807, Büdszentmihály

*Zsuzsánna Gulyás, b. 04 Aug 1811, Büdszentmihály

*Sára Gulyás, b. 24 Mar 1814, Büdszentmihály

*István Gulyás, (above)

*Sára Gulyás, b. 18 Oct 1820, Büdszentmihály

4. György Gulyás

b. bef. 1737, Büdszentmihály

d. unknown

m. Erzsébet Pethe de Kis-Szántó; 30 Jan 1754, Büdszentmihály

*Sámuel Gulyás, b. 09 Aug 1755, Büdszentmihály

*Judit Gulyás, b. 16 Oct 1756, Büdszentmihály

*Erzsébet Gulyás, b. 16 Sep 1757, Büdszentmihály

*Judit Gulyás, b. 10 Aug 1759, Büdszentmihály

*Márton Gulyás, (above)

*Sára Gulyás, b. 18 Jun 1780, Büdszentmihály

*Katalin Gulyás, b. abt 1781, Büdszentmihály

5. Sámuel Gulyás

b. abt 1676, Hungary

d. 07 Jul 1743, 

m. Sámuelné; unknown date

*Sámuel Gulyás, b. bef. 1719, 

*Mária Gulyás, b. bef. 1722, 

*Ilona Gulyás, b. bef. 1722, 

*Márton Gulyás, b. bef. 1725,

*Zsuzsánna Gulyás, b. bef. 1728, 

*György Gulyás, (above)

*István Gulyás, b. unknown

The Hajdu-Pethe Marriage

Back about 5 years ago, I discovered a newspaper article from the late 1910's that stated an Emma Gombash was divorcing an Alex Gombash. This Alex Gombash was my great-grandfather. Not many in my family knew about a first wife, but those who did knew nothing about children from this marriage. They had a daughter, who died in infancy, and a son who I later found out lived to be 79 years old. My grandfather had an older brother!


This marriage record is for the parents of Emma Gombash, who was born Irma Hajdu on 21 Oct 1899 in Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs county, Hungary. Ironically, the Hajdu family and my own Gombash family were from the same town in Hungary. And even more, they immigrated together on the same ship and were listed next to one another on the passenger manifest. Quite an astonishing find, when I finally realized who this family was! Irma Hajdu's parents are András Hajdu and Zsófia Pethe, and this is the extract of their marriage:

Entry Number: 4
Date of Marriage: 14 Jan 1891

Groom: Hajdu András, farmer
Residence: 1051
Religion: Evangelical Reformed
Age: 23; born 21 Nov 1867
Marital Status: Single
Father: Hajdu Bálint, farmer
Mother: Balogh Zsuzsánna

Bride: Pethe Zsófia
Residence: 842
Religion: Evangelical Reformed
Age: 16; born 01 July 1874
Marital Status: Single
Father: Pethe József, farmer
Mother: Dancs Juliánna

Witness: Gombás Miklós, farmer (coincidentally, my great-grandfather's great-uncle)
Witness: D. Gál Balázs, farmer
Priest: Nyakas Balázs, Reformed parish priest
Marriage Banns: Jan 01, 04, 11
Notes: The groom was a soldier in the 15th Huszár Regiment, Company 3 and was discharged 31 Dec 1890.

FamilySearch Find of the Day: My Long-Lost Aunt

A few weeks ago, I was doing some indexing and arbitrating for the Hungarian civil registration records on FamilySearch Indexing. To my surprise, it was my great-grandfather's town of Büdszentmihály, in Szabolcs county! Within the first few batches, I came upon a birth record for a Gombás child. I immediately saw the father's name was Gombás Sándor (the name of my 2nd-great-grandfather), but kind of pushed it off the burner thinking I had all the children for my 2nd-great-grandparents. But then I saw the house number Sándor was living in; it was the house number MY Sándor had grew up and lived in! I went down and looked at the mother's name, and there she was.. my 2nd-great-grandmother, Tóth Eszter. I was blown away that I had found a sibling to my great-grandfather that I hadn't known about. I stopped indexing and analyzed the whole record, extracted the information and went and saved the actual image off FamilySearch. To my delight, the record gave mention of the child's date of death and the record number! The two records below are the child's birth record and death record, respectively.

Entry Number: 73
Place: Szentmihályon (in Szentmihály)
Date of Registration: 30 November 1895
Name of Informant: Schwart Fáni
Occupation: Midwife
Residence: Szentmihály
Father: Gombás Sándor
Religion: Evangelical Reformed
Occupation: Farmer
Residence: Szentmihály, House Number 1041
Place of Birth: Szentmihály
Age: 23
Mother: Tóth Eszter
Religion: Evangelical Reformed
Occupation: Homemaker
Residence: Szentmihály
Place of Birth: Tiszadob, Szabolcs county
Age: 21
Place of Birth: Szentmihály, House Number 1041
Date of Birth: 26 November 1895, 9am
Gender: Female
Religion: Evangelical Reformed
Name: Eszter
Notes (bottom):
Schwartz Fáni was the midwife.
Notes (top left):
The child died on 14 December 1895, entry number 47.


Entry Number: 47
Place: Szentmihályon (in Szentmihály)
Date of Registration: 15 December 1895
Name of Informant: S. Nagy Sándor (who is this man??)
Occupation: Farmer
Residence: Szentmihály, House Number 352
Name of Deceased: Gombás Eszter
Religion: Evangelical Reformed
Residence: Szentmihály, House Number 1041
Place of Birth: Szentmihály
Age: 19 days
Father: Gombás Sándor, farmer in Szentmihály
Mother: Tóth Eszter, homemaker in Szentmihály
Place of Death: Szentmihály, House Number 1041
Date of Death: 14 December 1895, 8pm
Cause of Death: Congenital disease
Notes: S. Nagy Sándor was the informant of the death.

Surname Saturday #1: Gombash

Long have I put off beginning this weekly genealogical meme, but it's about time I started! Before I begin with the actual data, I wanted to talk a bit about the history of my surname and some DNA information.

My surname Gombash was originally Gombás, in Hungary. After coming to America, my 2nd-great-grandparents changed the spelling to aid in the pronunciation of the name. Gombás is a form of the Hungarian word "gomba", which means "fungus" or "mushroom". The term "gombás" implies the original fore-bearer of the surname was associated with mushrooms; either foraging for, growing and/or selling them.

I had my Y-DNA tested twice now; once a few years ago and a second time through a generous friend of mine. All results have come back to conclude that my direct Gombash line belongs to the haplogroup I2a2a, on the human family tree. It appears that our Gombash ancestors seems to have migrated to Hungary hundreds of years ago from the Bosnia-Croatia area.


1. John Edward Gombash, Sr.
b. 02 Oct 1935, Caretta, McDowell County, West Virginia
d. 02 Jun 2005, Joliet, Will County, Illinois
m. Mary Louise Adas; 30 Nov 1957, St. Mary Star of the Sea Church, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
*Children omitted for privacy.

2. Alex Gombash; born Gombás Sándor (surnames come first in Hungary)
b. 07 Nov 1896, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
d. 04 Jan 1968, Wheaton, DuPage County, Illinois
m1. Emma Hido (born Hajdú Irma); 19 Aug 1916, Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania
m2. Catharin Grządziel; 1920-1922, possibly Joliet, Will County, Illinois
*Children omitted for privacy.

3. Alex Gombash; born Gombás Sándor
b. 21 Feb 1872, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
d. 02 May 1931, Goff, Butler County, Pennsylvania
m. Tóth Eszter; 13 Mar 1895, Tiszadob, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
*Sándor; (above)
*Balázs (later Robert); b. 11 Mar 1898, d. Oct 1934
*József; b. 31 Oct 1900, d. unknown (adult)
*Susan; b. 19 Feb 1904, d. Nov 1967
*Gyula; b. 02 Feb 1906, d. unknown (infancy)
*Esther; b. 03 Sep 1910, d. 12 Feb 2000
*Sophie; b. 13 May 1912, d. unknown (infancy)
*Elizabeth; b. 15 May 1913, d. 12 Jan 1948
*Dallas; b. 11 May 1916, d. unknown (adult)
*Julia; b. 31 Jul 1920, d. 22 Jun 2008

4. Gombás József
b. 19 May 1845, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
d. 10 Nov 1886, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
m. Gulyás Zsuzsánna; 15 Dec 1869, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
*Sándor; (above)
*Balázs; b. 23 Aug 1877, d. 07 Mar 1878

5. Gombás Sándor
b. 27 Aug 1814, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
d. 04 Jan 1856, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
m. Sajti Erzsébet; 01 Dec 1835, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
*Miklós; b. 21 Sep 1838, d. 30 Nov 1840
*Miklós, b. 30 Jun 1842, d. unknown (adult)
*József; (above)

6. Gombás József
b. 30 Nov 1793, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
d. 12 Jan 1879, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
m. Mezei Katalin; 06 Jan 1813, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
*Sándor; (above)
*Zsuzsánna; b. 28 Sep 1816, d. unknown
*Juliánna; b. 11 Feb 1819, d. unknown
*Lidia; b. 21 Jun 1820, d. unknown
*Bálint; b. 01 Jun 1829, d. unknown

7. Gombás György
b. about 1762, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
d. 04 Mar 1832, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
m. Sára Fodor de Hajdúnánás; 21 Jan 1789, Hajdúnánás, Hajdú megye, Hungary
*Zsuzsánna, b. 21 Feb 1791, d. 01 Mar 1795
*József, (above)
*Miklós, b. 20 Jun 1796, d. unknown
*Sándor, b. 06 Sep 1798, d. unknown
*Zsuzsánna, b. 30 Aug 1801, d. 18 Feb 1858
*Erzsébet, b. 07 Jan 1804, unknown
*Bálint, b. 17 Jul 1806, d.  06 Aug 1806
*János, b. 17 Jul 1806, d. 26 Jul 1806
*Bálint, b. 02 May 1808, d. unknown
*Juliánna, b. 20 Mar 1812, d. unknown

8. Gombás Péter
b. unknown
d. unknown
m. unknown
*György, (above)

FamilySearch Find Of The Day: Death Certificate Of Eszter Tóth Gombash

Today I'm highlight the death certificate of my great-great-grandmother, Eszter Tóth Gombash. She was born in the village of Tiszadob, in Szabolcs county, Hungary. Her parents were Károly Tóth and Mária Tóth. Yes, that was also Mária's last name, they were actually 4th cousins. She was married to my 2nd-great-grandfather, Sándor Gombás, in both Tiszadob and Büdszentmihály (the village Sándor was from), in 1895. They had a few children in Hungary and eventually immigrated to America, settling in Butler County, Pennsylvania, until Sándor's death in 1931.

Here is an extract of the record:

Reg. Dist. No.: 475
Primary Reg. Dist. No.: 4719
State File No.: 23475
Registrar's No.: 3
1a. Place of Death, County: Guernsey
1b. Place of Death, City or Village: Richland Twp.
1c. Place of Death, Length of Stay: 2 yrs
2a. Usual Residence, State: Pa
2b. Usual Residence, County: Butler
2c. Usual Residence, City or Village: Emleton P.A.
3. Name of Deceased: Esther Gombash
4. Date of Death: 4-4-50 (04 Apr 1950)
5. Sex: Female
6. Color or Race: White
7. Married, Never Married, Widowed, Divorced: Widow
8. Date of Birth: Sept 22, 1874
9. Age: 76
10a. Usual Occupation: Housewife
10b. Kind of Business or Industry: Own Home
11. Birthplace: Austria Hungary
12. Citizen of What Country: USA
13. Father's Name: Charles Toth
14. Mother's Name: Mary Toth
17. Informant's Signature: Mrs. Michael Mayors (Julia Gombash)
18. Cause of Death, I. Disease or Condition Directly Leading to Death: (a) Aortic valvulitis, several years
18. Cause of Death, I. Disease or Condition Directly Leading to Death: Due To (b) Syphilis probably
20. Autopsy? No
22. I hereby certify that I attended the deceased from 3/7, 1950, to 4/2, 1950, and that death occured at 4:30pm, from the causes and on the date stated above.
23a. Signature: William W. Bryant MD
23b. Address: Senecaville, Ohio
23c. 4/14/50
24a. Burial, Cremation, Removal: Burial
24b. Date: April 7, 50
24c. Name of Cemetery or Crematory: Old Anadale
24d. Location: Anadale, PA
Name of Embalmer: Charles R. Corwin, (Lic. No.) 3164A
Date Rec'd By Local Reg.: Apr 19, 1950
Registrar's Signature: James Stevens
25. Funeral Director's Signature: Wayne D. Womer, Clintonville, PA, (Lic. No.) 3926

My 100th Post! It's my sister's birthday today!

It's my 100th blog post today! In honor of my sister's birthday, I thought I would search my family tree database to see who else was born on October 10th.. much like I did for my birthday, on May 30th. Here's what I found:

Bereczky, Klára
b. 10 Oct 1772, Taktaszada, Zemplén megye, Hungary
She was the wife of Demeter Szük, the son of my 6th great-grand uncle, András Szük of Taktaszada.

Blaylock, Adeline
b. 10 Oct 1884, Carroll County, Mississippi
d. 17 Feb 1959, Carroll County, Mississippi
She was the wife of Bradford Pierce Heath (1861-1946), also of Carroll County, Mississippi. Adeline is my 2nd cousin, 4 times removed.

Blum, Barbara
b. 10 Oct 1869, Gutach, Ortenau, Baden, Germany
d. 05 Jan 1947, Plover, Marathon County, Wisconsin
She was the wife of 1) Christoph Bauer and 2) Julius Meyer. Barbara is the younger sister of my 3rd-great-grandmother, Maria Blum Summ.

Cavendish, William, 3rd Earl of Devonshire
b. 10 Oct 1617
d. 23 Nov 1684
He was the husband of Elizabeth Cecil, my 6th cousin 12 times removed.

de Bourbon, Isabella II, Queen of Spain
b. 10 Oct 1830
d. 09 Apr 1904
She is the 2nd-great grandmother of the current King of Spain, Juan Carlos. She is my 15th cousin 7 times removed.

Gulyás, Károly
b. 10 Oct 1856, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs megye, Hungary
He was the brother of my 3rd great grandmother, Zsuzsánna Gulyás Gombás.

Habsburg, Catharina Michelle
b. 10 Oct 1567
d. 06 Nov 1597
She was the daughter of King Philip II of Spain and I of Portugal. Catharina is the ancestress of many kings and regents of Europe. She is my 8th cousin 13 times removed.

Péchy de Péchújfalu, Count Emánuel Gábor
b. 10 Oct 1813, Boldogkő-Váralja Castle, Boldogkő-Váralja, Abauj-Torna, Hungary
d. 24 Jul 1889, Boldogkő-Váralja Castle, Boldogkő-Váralja, Abauj-Torna, Hungary
He was the husband of Zenaide Octávia Juliánna Meskó. He is my 24th cousin 6 times removed.

Porkoláb, Károly
b. 10 Oct 1824, Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary
d. 17 Nov 1825, Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary
Károly is my cousin through several lines. We share blood connections on his paternal side through the Porkoláb family and Bódogh family. Oh his maternal side it's through the Tóth and Porkoláb families.

Rodgers, Caldonia Bell
b. 10 Oct 1890, Dialville, Texas
d. 18 Jul 1893, Dialville, Texas
Caldonia was the daughter of Lewis Banks Rodgers, Sr. and his wife Mary Jane Acker. She is my 2nd cousin 3 times removed.

Stümpges, Wilhelm
b. 10 Oct 1673, Rheydt, Rheinland, Prussia, Germany
He was the husband of Adriana Jensen (b. 1677). He is my 1st cousin 9 times removed. Our common ancestors are his paternal grandparents: Thönis am Bleeckkamp and Giertgen Stümpges. Interestingly enough, all of their children took on their mother's surname of Stümpges. Weird, huh?

von Schaumburg-Lippe, Charlotte
b. 10 Oct 1864
d. 16 Jul 1946
She was the second wife of King William II of Württemberg. She is my 16th cousin 5 times removed.

My Paternal Lineage

I liked the idea of doing my maternal line so much, I thought it'd be fun to do my paternal line. Here it is:

1) Nick M. Gombash

2) John E. Gombash, Jr.

3) John E. Gombash, Sr.
Born 02 Oct 1935, Caretta, McDowell County, West Virginia
Died 02 Jun 2005, Joliet, Will County, Illinois
Married Mary Louise Adas, 30 Nov 1957, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois

4) Alex Gombash
Born 07 Dec 1896, Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary
Died 04 Jan 1968, Wheaton, DuPage County, Illinois
Married 1st Emma Hido (Irma Hajdú), 19 Aug 1916, Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania
Married 2nd Catherine Anna Grządziel, abt 1920-1922

5) Sándor Gombás
Born 21 Feb 1872, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary
Died 02 May 1931, Goff, Butler County, Pennsylvania
Married Eszter Tóth, 13 Mar 1895, Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary

6) József Gombás
Born 19 May 1845, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary
Died 10 Nov 1886, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary
Married Zsuzsánna Gulyás, 15 Dec 1869, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary

7) Sándor Gombás
Born 27 Aug 1814, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary
Died 04 Jan 1856, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary
Married Erzsébet Sajti, 01 Dec 1835, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary

8) József Gombás
Born before 1793, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary
Died unknown
Married Katalin Mezei, 06 Jan 1813, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary

9) Péter Gombás
Born before 1737, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary
Died unknown
Married Erzsébet Balogh, before 1771, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary

10) György Gombás
Born abt 1696, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary
Died 19 Apr 1776, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary
Married Mrs. György Gombás, Born abt 1703 and Died 17 Feb 1771, Büdszentmihály, Szabolcs, Hungary

My First Hungarian Document

The first Hungarian document I ever found was the marriage of my paternal great-great-grandparents, Sándor Gombás and Eszter Tóth. I found this record in February or March of 2003, and it's what began all my research into my Hungarian ancestors. They were married on 13 Mar 1895 in Tiszadob, Szabolcs megye, Hungary. From this union they would have eleven children, eight of which surviving to become adults.



In the marriage record it gives their town of birth/residence as well as their birth dates in the "notes" column to the right. Sándor Gombás was born 02 Feb 1872 in Büdszentmihály and Eszter Tóth was born 22 Sep 1874 in Tiszadob. The witnesses to the marriage were an Mihályi Enyi from Büdszentmihály and a Sándor Porkoláb of Tiszadob, a brother-in-law to Eszter's sister Zsuzsánna. Zsuzsánna was married for a short time (until they divorced) to László Porkoláb, who was the brother to Sándor.

Black Sheep Sunday - Alex Gombash

Sunday is almost over.. I better hurry up! lol

My great-grandfather, Alex Gombash, was a character alright. Later on in his life, he was known to always have a bottle of whiskey in hand or a stogie in mouth.

(Note: Both whiskey AND stogie! haha)

He was born 7 Dec 1896 in Tiszadob, Szabolcs megye (county), Hungary, to Sándor (Alex) Gombás and Eszter Tóth (a noblewoman). His father Sándor immigrated to America on 09 Jul 1902 to his brother-in-law Daniel Szuhay. Daniel's wife was Zsuzsánna Tóth, Eszter's sister. Eszter immigrated eight months later on 05 Mar 1903 to her husband. Eszter remained in America until about 1906 and removed back to Hungary. She then immigrated a final time on 16 Nov 1909 with her children Alex (my g-grandfather), Robert and Susan (who was born in America in 1904).

Alex grew up mainly in Butler County, Pennsylvania. At the age of 19 years old, he married a fellow Hungarian named Emma Hido. Her Hungarian name was Irma Hajdú. Coincidentally enough, Emma and her family came from the same village as Sándor Gombás.. Büdszentmihály. And coincidentally again, Emma and her family were listed below the Gombash's on their immigration manifest in 1909. They were obviously family friends, and as research showed, relatives of Sándor through the Pethe family.

Anywho, Alex and Emma were married 19 Aug 1916 in Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. I don't know much about their marriage, other than what was in their divorce papers. Alex apparently left the home quite often and wouldn't return for periods at a time. In other words, he would abandon her for a while, then come back and then do it again.

They had a daughter and a son during all of this. As for the daughter, I don't know when she was born or died, but she died sometime after new year of 1919. Their son was named Joseph Anthony Gombash, later changed to Csordas when he was adopted by his step-father. He was born 23 Sep 1919 in Aultman, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. He abandoned her one final time, so Emma moved in with her parents, Andrew Hido and Sophia Pethe. Emma later went to court and petitioned for a divorce. The sherrifs of Indiana and Butler counties couldn't find Alex anywhere, so that he could appear at the divorce hearing. He never showed, nor saw his son ever again.

Alex then began to traveling in open railway cars around the midwest, primarily in the PA-OH-IL area. He finally settled in Joliet, Will County, Illinois where he met my great-grandmother, Catherine Grządziel. Catherine was the first born into an arranged marriage, 05 Nov 1906 in Barycz, Brzózow, Poland. Her parents were Franciszek Grządziel and Amelia Stec. I do not know the marriage date for Alex and Catherine, but I assume it to be sometime between 1920 and 1922. Alex and Catherine later relocated to McDowell County, West Virginia, where their children were born and raised.

Alex's mother who was previously mentioned, died on 04 Apr 1950 in her daughter Julia's home in Richland Township, Guernsey County, Ohio. Alex didn't attend her funeral. Because of this and other things, he became very unfavorable with his siblings and family. In 2004, I contacted my great-great-aunt Julia to ask questions for my research. She nicely replied to my questions, but later asked me to stop writing.

She had tons of pictures and information from Hungary that I would've been ecstatic to have copies of. Pictures from Hungary.. with Hungarian writing on the back! Need I say more?! Originals would've been great, but I don't need them. Just to see a decent clear picture of my great-great-grandparents Sándor and Eszter would've been... simply put, AMAZING! Julia passed away in 2008 at the age of 87 years old. Everthing of hers and her sister Esther's (who passed in 2000, before I started my research), has now been passed onto their niece Patricia. She has spoken with me on the phone several times, and I have asked for copies of things.. even said I would reimburse. But her son told her not to share anything with me, so alas.. I have received nothing. It's unnerving knowing the actions of my great-grandfather are having this effect on my interaction with family that I've never met, and have been nothing but nice and courtesy with.

The Gombash Centennial

As of November 8th, our Gombash family will have been in America for 100 years. On that day 100 years ago, our ancestor Eszter (nee Tóth) Gombás arrived at Ellis Island with her three children: Sándor (Alex), Balázs (Robert) and Zsuzsánna (Susan). Alex was listed as 11 years old, Robert as 9 years old and Susan as 5 years old.

The manifest states that they arrived at Ellis Island abroad the S.S. Ultonia. They had emigrated through the port of Fiume, on October 16th. It also stated they were going to their husband and father, Sándor (Alex) Gombás, at Keisters, PA.

Immigration Manifest, Page 1

Immigration Manifest, Page 2

Coincidentally enough, Emma Hido, the first wife of Alex Gombash Jr., is listed on the same manifest as the Gombash's. Her Hungarian name was Irma Hajdú and her and her family were from the same village as the Gombash's... Büdszentmihály. Her father was András Hajdú and her mother was Zsófia Pethe, a relative of the Gombash's. The grandmother of Alex Gombash Sr. was also a Pethe.

As I stated earlier, the family was going to their husband and father, Sándor (Alex) Gombás, in Keisters, PA. Alex Sr. had immigrated to America via Ellis Island on July 9th, 1902. He immediately settled in Butler, PA with his brother-in-law Dániel Szuhay. Dániel Szuhay was married to Zsuzsánna Tóth, Eszter's sister.

A year after Alex immigrated, Eszter went to her husband in Butler, PA on 05 Mar 1903. She stayed there for a period of at least three years, during which time she had two children born here in America. They were Susan, on 19 Feb 1904 and Gyula (Julius), on 02 Feb 1906. Eszter returned to Hungary with her daughter, Susan, sometime between 1906 and 1909. I'm not sure exactly when Gyula died, but I can only assume he died as an infant in Butler, PA, before Eszter returned to Hungary.

Alex and Eszter also had a son named József, in Hungary on October 31st, 1900. As told to me from family, when Eszter and her 3 children immigrated, József was left behind with his grandmother, Zsuzsánna (nee Gulyás) Gombás. She had been widowed 23 years previously, and Alex was her only living child. So naturally, they didn't want to simply abandon her. The family was hoping to save up enough money to bring them both over to America. As the years went on, the family continued to keep in contact with József through letters. He was told about his father Alex passing in 1931, and then his mother in 1950. I can only assume that Zsuzsánna passed away before Alex did, or she would've been 81 years old.

WWII then hit and the Hungarian borders closed. I was told that József married and had a family. I can only imagine how hard it would have been to try to escape Hungary at the time, especially with a family. József never made it to America. I would love to track down József's family one day and make contact. Imagine traveling to Europe and reuniting with them after 100 years of seperation!

My First Entry; February 13, 2008

This is the first entry in my new genealogy blog I've recently decided to write. In this blog I'll discuss things I come across during my research, like websites, databases, people connected to the family tree.. just things that I find useful in my daily scouring of the internet and of records.

In my first blog I wanted to discuss my family tree and the immense amount of information in my database. As of right now, writing this blog, I have 49,943 individuals in my database. I want to explain who all of these people are. In my database I of course have my direct lineage for all of my ancestors.. but I also like to research the families and descendants of the siblings of my ancestors. This is where a big portion of the individuals come from.

The major portion of my database comes from the extensive amount of information on noble and royal families. I am descended from nobility on my father's side (which you will read below) and royalty on my mother's side. I have a love and an obsession for all things to do with nobility (mostly Hungarian), royalty and monarchies in Europe, so I naturally have nearly every single King or Queen of every country of Europe in my database. As of my information right now, I currently descend from 234 Kings or Queens of Europe.. they're from Armenia, Bohemia, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Serbia, Spain and Sweden. So naturally, this makes me related to every single European monarch or royal family.

My Father's side:

The ethnicities of my father's side is comprised of Hungarian and Polish.

From the oldest-known progenitor of the Gombash line, a György Gombás who was born in the 1690's, I have a total of 294 descendants. I also have 197 individuals from Büdszentmihály, the village Alex Gombash came from.

The other branch is Eszter Tóth, Alex Gombash's wife. The oldest-known progenitor of the Tóth line, a Mihály Tóth who was alive during the early to mid-1700's, currently has a total of 355 descendants. I also have 1,255 individuals from Tiszadob, the village Eszter Tóth came from.

I have lacked on the research in Büdszentmihály, but I have done extensive research in Tiszadob. This is because Eszter Tóth comes from an extremely noble background; each of her four grandparents were of noble birth. There were two Tóth families, the Bódogh family and the Szük family.

There is a family story or legend that says one of our families was descended from a King from around 1500, and the earlier surname of the family as 'Matis'. We have a distant cousin of ours who lives in Ohio; we're related to her through the Bódogh and Tóth families. Her family also has a family story or legend, and it says that a prince had married a gypsy and he therefore lost all inheritance rights (what a love story, ya?!). If you know anything about either of these stories, or know who might, please contact me.

Tóth is the single most common surname in Hungary, and it means 'Slovak' (the ethnicity).

The Bódogh's were granted a patent of nobility and a coat of arms in 1611 by King Matthias II. The Bódogh name means 'happy'. I currently have 1,370 descendants of the Bódogh family and 374 individuals that carry the surname. This family is the main focus of all my research.

The Szük's were granted a patent of nobility and a coat of arms in 1636 by King Ferdinand II. The Szük name means 'narrow' or 'thin'.

My Mother's side:
As proud as I am of my heritage on my father's side, I am by far more proud of my heritage on my mother's side. The ethnicities of my mother's side is comprised of Bohemian, English, German, Irish, Native American, Scottish and Welsh. Her family consists of individuals involved in the Civil War, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, WWI and WWII. It has deeply rooted Native American ancestry connected to the beginning of the United States and Jamestown, royalty from all over Europe, and vast land owners in Germany.

The Rodgers family has been in America since the early 1700's. The oldest-known progenitor is a James Rodgers, who died around 1760 in Virginia. I currently have 1,953 descendants for him in my database, and 552 of them bearing the Rodgers surname.

The Stuempges have an interesting quirk from their early beginning. The oldest-known Stuempges progenitor is a Vit Stümpges, who lived from 1545 to 1592. It is through his granddaughter Giertgen Stümpges (1617-after 1693) that the Stuempges carry their surname. She was married to a Thönis am Bleeckkamp and they had 9 children. Their children carried the Stümpges surname.. their mother's name.. not their father's.

The one last main portion of my research is the Summ/Blum family, from Gutach, Germany. I have many lines dating back to the early, mid or late 1500's. I currently have 928 individuals from Gutach. Our ancestor John George Summ who married Maria Blum, came from a family that owned a house called 'Vogtsbauernhof' in Gutach. This house is currently the main focus point of a large museum in Gutach.