My Genealogical Goals for 2014

With the new year quickly approaching, I decided to make a list of genealogy goals I am going to strive to achieve in the coming year. With having begun researching my family tree well over thirteen years ago, I still have a lot to research. I've intentionally left different branches of my family un-researched, so that I'd continue to have research to do as the years went on. With how much research I have completed on my Hungarian ancestry (the majority of my research), I am far from done. A vast majority of that consists of nobility resources; there's a wealth of information to be found, and I'll likely need to conduct that research on-site in Hungarian archives. With all that being said, here is my list of goals for the new year:


1. Write more. I need to write more. A lot more. I've sorely neglected my several blogs during the year due to medical issues within the family. Things have gotten much better, and I'm regaining the time I'll be able to devote to writing. Apart from my blogs, I'm going to be dedicating a very large majority of my time to writing two books. They're going to be related to Hungarian genealogy, my area of expertise, and completely unrelated to one another. I can't go into much detail about what the books will be about yet, but know that both will be extremely helpful to any research being conducted within the former Hungarian empire.

2. The most important family for me to research this year, is the family of my 3rd-great-grandmother, Martha Ann Miller. She was the wife of James Andrew J. Costilow and died fairly young; 45 years before her husband passed. I was fortunate enough to have found a record that was a crucial breakthrough in Martha's family, which then lead me to her parents and half of her grandparents. I plan to focus a lot of attention on researching these new families.

3. I plan on indexing far more records relating to Győr city and county. It's the sixth largest city in Hungary, and the largest and most important city in northwest Hungary. It's very close to the borders of both Austria and Slovakia and is situated on one of the most important roads in Central Europe. Because of this, it was a large hub for migrants and immigration. There were six Roman Catholic parishes in Győr, comprised of 27 microfilms of data. So indexing marriage records for this city would be extremely beneficial for those researching in this area.

4. There are a handful of military organizations I would like to join. The main ones including the SAR (Sons of the American Revolution), General Society of the War of 1812, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and Sons of Confederate Veterans. My goal is to obtain all the documentation required to apply for membership within these organizations. I could easily piggy-back other applicants with their membership numbers and previous documentation, but I want to do it on my own.

5. My Polish roots are aching to be discovered. I'm more Polish than anything else, yet the majority of the records aren't readily available for research. My lines from Barycz and Osobnica will be extremely difficult, as I'll have to physically write to the church and request information. It's a hit or a miss and I won't make much progress. Hence why I haven't touched at all in all the years I've been researching. Two sides that I do need to focus on, are my Adas and Domagalski families. The Adas' came from the Putzig parish and I've been able to research the family back to the 1750's so far, but the records began in 1593.. so there's LOTS to be discovered! I also need to figure out the collateral line to the Adas family, the Pletzke's. They're from a neighboring parish and there's also lots to be found.

6. I need to research my Stümpges line. Previous researchers had traced the family line back to the 1540's, but I'm not content. I need to research the family in the church records myself, and verify that the direct Stümpges line is correct. Almost all of the maternal lines are completely blank, also. Those need to be researched and known. There's so much information to be found here!

FamilySearch Find Of The Day: Naturalization Card of Amelia (Stec) Bogusz

The other day, I was pretty excited to see the addition/update of the FamilySearch database "Ohio, County Naturalization Records, 1800-1977"! I was able to locate the index card for my 2nd-great-grandmother's naturalization papers. I'll be heading to the National Archives sometime next week, after the holidays are over, to retrieve copies of her naturalization papers. I'm kind of excited to see what's listed on them, even though I know everything that they'll state. But you never know!


Date Recorded: 17 November 1953
Office Number: 187417
Name: (Mrs.) Amilia Bogusz
Address: 9003 Leisy Ave.
City: Cleveland
County: Cuyahoga
State: Ohio
Subject of: Poland
Date Naturalized: 21 November 1952
Court: U.S. District
Remarks: Naturalized Herself
Born: 05 June 1887
Age When Naturalized: 66
Age When Recorded: 66
Certificate Number: 7080201
Vol. ~
Number: 114648
Official Attestor: C. B. Watkins, Clerk
Wife's Name: ~
Minor Children: ~
Signature or Holder: Amilia Bogusz (her signature)
In State: 32 years
In County: 32 years
In City: 32 years

Surname Saturday #10: Stec

Amelia Stec is my 2nd-great-grandmother. She immigrated to America via Ellis Island with her daughter, Katarzyna (Catherine) Grządziel on 27 Nov 1908. This is the little I know on her family:

1. Amelia Stec
b. 29 Jun 1887, Barycz, Brzozów, Lwów, Poland
d. 12 Apr 1968, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
m1. Franciszek Grządziel; 23 Nov 1904, Barycz, Brzozów, Lwów, Poland
m2. Franciszek Bogusz; 20 Feb 1922, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
*Catherine Anna Grządziel, b. 05 Nov 1906, Barycz, Brzozów, Lwów, Poland
*Thomas Grządziel, b. abt 1909, Joliet, Will County, Illinois
*Joseph Grządziel, b. 01 Mar 1910, Joliet, Will County, Illinois
*John Grządziel, b. 12 Jun 1912, Joliet, Will County, Illinois
*Mary A. Grządziel, b. 24 Jun 1914, Joliet, Will County, Illinois
*Walter Grządziel, b. abt 1917, Joliet, Will County, Illinois
*Walter Kenneth Grządziel, b. 31 Mar 1919, Joliet, Will County, Illinois

*Frank L. Bogusz, b. 23 Nov 1922, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio

*Stanley R. Bogusz, b. 23 Nov 1922, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio

*Anna Virginia Bogusz, (information omitted for privacy reasons)

2. Jan Stec

b. unknown

d. unknown

m. Sophie Swiczek? (indexed as Kostancya Snirzek on daughter Mary Stec Karnas death record)

*Amelia Stec, (above)

*Katarzyna Stec, b. 11 Oct 1892, Barycz, Brzozów, Lwów, Poland; m. Franciszek Wojewoda

*Mary Stec, b. 10 Apr 1893, Barycz, Brzozów, Lwów, Poland; m. George Karnas

*Tekla "Tillie" Stec, b. unknown; m. ____ Domaradzki

*Jan Stec, b. unknown

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Ancestral Name Roulette

It's that time again! Here are the rules via Randy Seaver's blog:

1)  What year was your paternal grandfather born?  Divide this number by 100 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."


2)  Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person?


3)  Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."


4)  Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook status or a Google Stream post, or as a comment on this blog post.


5)  If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick a grandmother, or yourself, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, or even your children!



1)  My paternal grandfather, John E. Gombash, Sr.,  was born in 1935.  Divided by 100, that makes 19.35, rounded to 19.

2)  Number 19 on my ancestral name list is Amelia Stec (1887-1968), daughter of Jan Stec and Sophie Swiczek, who married Franciszek Grządziel in 1904.

3)  Three facts about Amelia Stec:

*  She was born in Barycz, Brzozów, Lwów, Poland and had four siblings: Katarzyna (married Franciszek Wojewoda), Mary (married George Karnas), Tekla "Tillie" (married a man surnamed Domaradzki) and Jan.

*  She immigrated on 27 Nov 1908 through Ellis Island, with her daughter Katarzyna (Catherine) Grządziel. They were going to Franciszek Grządziel in Joliet, Illinois. One of my grandfather's brother told me that Franciszek actually didn't know of their oncoming arrival, and Amelia received a horrible beating for it. What a horrible man.

*  Amelia left her husband Franciszek Grządziel sometime after 1919 and was married to a man named Franciszek Bogusz, in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1922. Amelia never divorced her first husband, Frank Grządziel. Frank what I've been told of this man, I don't blame her for getting away.

My Christmas Genealogy Wish-List

Dear Santa & his Elves at FamilySearch,

I've been a good boy this year, giving aid to researchers left-and-right; from strangers to fellow geneabloggers. I know this to only be a wish-list, but please consider my list and hopefully some will come true and appear on your website, in the year-to-come! For each request, I will describe one good genealogy deed I have done in the past year. I will only request three specific things... because i'm not greedy, of course! :-p

1. Hungarian Church Records
I have helped countless fellow Hungarians who contacted me by email, find out more about their Hungarian heritage. I helped them to determine where in Hungary their family was from and the next proper steps to successful research.

2. German Church Records
I had stumbled upon a blog post by fellow geneablogger, Randy Seaver, and was able to quickly find out information to aid him in his search. He even made a post about it here, and a subsequent post here.


3. Polish Church Records for Barycz and Osobnica; even on microfilm!
I helped a member of the Society of Genealogists (SOG) based in the UK, to create a course on Eastern European research. The course will begin in January.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - List Your Matrilineal Line(s)

Here are the rules, as posted on Randy Seaver's blog, for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun!!:

1) List your matrilineal line - your mother, her mother, etc. back to the first identifiable mother. Note: this line is how your mitochondrial DNA was passed to you!

2) Tell us if you have had your mitochondrial DNA tested, and if so, which Haplogroup you are in.

3) Post your responses on your own blog post, in Comments to this blog post, or in a Status line on Facebook or in your Stream at Google Plus.

4)  If you have done this before, please do your father's matrilineal line, or your grandfather's matrilineal line, or your spouse's matriliuneal line.

5)  Does this list spur you to find distant cousins that might share one of your matrilineal lines?  

Here's mine:

My matrilineal line is:

a) Nick M. Gombash
b) Réne Rodgers
c) Elaine Florella Stuempges (1926, Polar, WI -1987, Chicago, IL) married Thomas Thurman Rodgers
d) Sylvia Maria Bertha Hedwig Martin (1909, Polar, WI - 2008, Antigo, WI) married Walter John Stuempges
e) Maria Summ (1883, Antigo, WI - 1972, Antigo, WI) married Herman Wilhelm Gustav "Gust" Martin
f) Maria Blum (1860, Gutach, Germany - 1951, Norwood, WI) married Johann Georg Summ
g) Barbara Schneider (1824, Gutach, Germany - 1864, Gutach, Germany) married Georg Blum
h) Barbara Brohammer (1788, Gutach, Germany - 1856, Gutach, Germany) married Jacob Friedrich Schneider
i) Catharina Beilharz (1761, Hohenweg, Germany - 1818, Gutach, Germany) married Christian Brohammer
j) Barbara Winkler (? - ?) married Johann Jacob Beilharz
Similar to Randy, I also had my DNA tested and I came up as mtDNA Haplogroup K. We're cousins, Randy! :)

On my Gombash side, the matrilineal line of my father is:

a) John E. Gombash, Jr.
b) Mary Louise Adas (1940, Chicago, IL - 1986, Chicago, IL) married John E. Gombash, Sr.
c) Martha Violet Czarny (1911, Chicago, IL - 1989, Chicago, IL) married Edward Robert Adas, Sr.
d) Rozalia Sophia Wozniak (1887, Osobnica, Poland - 1959, Chicago, IL) married Wojciech Czarny
e) Agatha Turek (? - ?) married Wawrzyniec Wozniak

My Rodgers grandfather's matrilineal line is:

a)  Thomas Thurman Rodgers (1928, Duck Hill, MS - 1983, Paducah, KY) married Elaine Florella Stuempges
b)  Ellen Inez Martin (1902, Carrollton, MS - 1991, Jackson, MS) married Fred Lamar Rodgers
c)  Samatha Aylene Costilow (1869, Holmes Co, MS - 1908, Carroll Co, MS) married Samuel Christopher Columbus Martin
d)  Martha A. Miller (1836, AL? - 1877, Holmes/Yazoo Co, MS) married James Andrew J. Costilow

My Gombash grandfather's matrilineal line is:

a)  John E. Gombash, Sr. (1935, Caretta, WV - 2005, Joliet, IL)
b)  Catherine Anna Grządziel (1906, Barycz, Poland - 1970, Chicago, IL) married Alex Gombash
c)  Amelia Stec (1887/1888, Barycz, Poland - 1968, Cleveland, OH) married Frank Grządziel
d)  Sophia Zwiszek/Swiszek (? - ?) married Jan Stec

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Genea-Wish List

1)  Think of the genealogy related wishes you have - what education, database, or information would make your genealogy research dreams come true?  Be specific - as many wishes as you want to list!

2)  Tell us about some of your genea-wishes in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a status or comment on Facebook.


Here's mine:

1)  I wish (a VERY large wish) that all land deeds from all of the United States were digitized and put online. I'd have no problem browsing through the images, if there were digitized index books A-Z. I enjoy browsing through the images.


2)  I wish that all the Hungarian parish registers were digitized and available online. Again, no indexes needed.


3)  I wish that the records for my German ancestors from Brandenburg and Pommern were readily available.. even on microfilm.


4)  I wish that the records for my Polish ancestors from Barycz (Brzozów County) and Osobnica (Jasło County) were readily available.. even on microfilm.


5)  I wish I could find some kind of clue on my 3rd-great-grandmother, Martha A. Miller, the first wife and mother of the children to James A. J. Costilow.


6)  I wish I could break down the brick-wall for my 5th-great-grandfather, Hiram Howell. He was murdered in Tippah County, Mississippi in 1853. Unfortunately, there was a court house fire and not much exists from that time period that is of use.


7)  I wish I knew the maiden name of Hiram Howell's wife, Rachel.


8)  I wish I could find the baptism record for my 3rd-great-grandfather of Martin Domagalski.


9) I wish I could find the original patent of nobility for each of my noble families.


10)  Finally, I wish all Hungarian land records/deeds of any kind could be digitized and available online. Like above, no index needed as long as they're organized by towns. This is a BIG wish!!

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.