My Birthday - May 30th

Today is my birthday and I'm now 24! I thought it'd be neat to search my database and see who all was also born on May 30th. Here is what I found:

Acker, Mary Jane:
She was born 30 May 1864 in Pickens County, Alabama to Baylis Grace Acker and Elizabeth Frances Clardy. She was married to my 1st cousin 4 times removed Lewis Banks Rodgers, Sr., on 04 Jan 1883 in Cherokee County, Texas. They had eleven children from 1883 to 1908!

Berzeviczy de Berzevicze, Mária:
She was born on 30 May 1895 in Eperjes, Sáros megye, Hungary. Her father was Elek Berzeviczy de Berzevicze and her mother was Anna Hrabéczy de Vágujhely. Mária is a very distant cousin of mine, and to date I'm related to her three times:
*9th cousin, 3 times removed
*11th cousin, 2 times removed
*12th cousin, 2 times removed

Blum, Georg
Georg was born 30 May 1786 in Sulzbach, a tiny community in Gutach, Ortenau district, Baden, Germany. He was the son of Conrad Blum and Anna Maria Lauble. Georg's paternal 3rd-great-grandparents Christian and Magdalena Blum (born in 1590's) are my 10th-great-grandparents. Georg is my 4th cousin, 7 times removed.

Bodogh, Eugene John
Eugene was born 30 May 1912 in Alpha, Warren County, New Jersey. He was born to Kálmán Bódogh and Paulina Szankó. Kálmán was born in Nemesszalók, Veszprém megye, Hungary. This line of Bódogh's were a branch of my cousins who left Miskolc in Borsod megye and resettled in Veszprém megye. The earliest members of this branch that I know of are the two brothers János and István. János was the progenitor of the Veszprém megye branch and he was a reverend. He was born about 1809 and died 05 Dec 1880 in Mihályháza, Veszprém megye, Hungary. István was a land-owner in Felsõ-Iregh, Tolna megye, Hungary. I'm not sure if he had any children or descendants. I believe the two brothers may have been born in Miskolc.

Cielewich, Edmund Edward
Edmund was born 30 May 1899 in Medina, Orleans County, New York. His parents are William P. Cielewich and Anna C. Gottovi. I also descend from the Gottovi family, and Anna is my 2nd cousin, 5 times removed.

Savoy-Carignano, King Amadeus I of Spain
He was born 30 May 1845 to King Victor Emanuele II of Italy and his wife Maria Adelaide Habsburg-Lotharingen. I'm related to King Amadeus I of Spain through countless connections, but our closest link is 15th cousins, 9 times removed through our ancestor Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmoreland. Amadeus's wife was Maria Laetitia Bonaparte, the great-niece of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Erwin, William Armstrong
He was born 30 May 1840 in McMinn County, Tennessee. He was the son of James William Erwin, Jr. and Sarah Elizabeth Rodgers. Elizabeth is the daughter of Joseph Rodgers and Elizabeth Donaldson. My 5th-great-grandfather James Rodgers, is the brother of Joseph.

Habsburg, Claudia Felicitas
She was born 30 May 1653 to Ferdinand Charles Habsburg and Anna Medici. She was the wife of Leopold I, King of Hungry and Holy Roman Emperor. Claudia is a prime example of the extent of inbreeding with the royalty of Europe. Her paternal grandfather is the brother of her maternal grandmother. Her paternal grandmother is the sister of her maternal grandfather. Her paternal great-grandparents are the exact same as her maternal great-grandparents. It doesn't help her case that her ancestors married into more Habsburg and Medici lines. Our closest line of connection makes us 11th cousins, 10 times removed.

Kolpack, Herman Gustav
He was born 30 May 1860 in Western Prussia, Germany. He was the son of Christoph Kolpack and Karolina Majewska. Herman Gustav is the grandfather of Milton, the husband of my grandmother's step-sister, Gloria Flemming.

Porkoláb, Erzsébet
She was born 30 May 1835 in Tiszadob, to Lajos Porkoláb and Borbála Szabados. Erzsébet is my 4th cousin, 4 times removed.

Porkoláb, László
He was born 30 May 1855 in Tiszadob, to György Porkoláb and Erzsébet Tamási. I'm related to László through both the Porkoláb and Bódogh families. His paternal grandmother is my 5th great-aunt.

Rodgers, Kenneth Orman
He was born 30 May 1919 in Montgomery County, Mississippi to Norman Lester Rodgers and Myrtle Pearl Bennett. Norman is the brother of my great-grandfather Fred Lamar Rodgers. Myrtle is my 2nd cousin, 4 times removed (twice, as her mother and father were first cousins).

Summ, Conrad
Conrad was born 30 May 1850 in Gutach, Ortenau district, Baden, Germany. He was the son of Johann Georg Summ and Anna Maria Schondelmaier. They were the owners at one point in time of the house called Vogtsbauernhof in Gutach. The house was passed onto Conrad's brother Jakob and then onto Jakob's daughter Christina. She was the last owner of the house until it became a museum. Conrad is the brother of my 3rd-great-grandfather Johann Georg Summ, who married Maria Blum.

Wöhrle, Georg
Georg was born 30 May 1722 in Gutach, Ortenau district, Baden, Germany. He was the son of Johannes Wöhrle, a bauer in the community Herrenbach, and Maria Breithaupt, my 1st cousin, 10 times removed. Georg was married to Barbara Schüssele, on 25 May 1745 in Gutach. Barbara is my 2nd cousin, 9 times removed.

My Berzeviczy Lineage

On Monday, I posted several blogs about the lineages of my four grandparents. Now I'm deciding on posting my lineages to my specific noble families that I descend from.. the ones that I'm constantly posting information about in my blog. Today I'm going to focus on my noble Berzeviczy family.

1) Nick M. Gombash

2) John E. Gombash, Jr.

3) John E. Gombash, Sr.
Born 03 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 Grządziel, abt 1920-1922

5) Eszter Tóth
Born 22 Sep 1874, Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary
Died 04 Apr 1950, Richland Twp, Guernsey County, Ohio
Married Sándor Gombás, 13 Mar 1895, Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary

6) Károly Tóth
Born 09 Dec 1835, Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary
Died after 1895, Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary
Married Mária Tóth, 09 Jan 1856, Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary

7) László Tóth, biró and gondnok
Born 09 Feb 1814, Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary
Died 23 Nov 1870, Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary
Married Zsuzsánna Bódogh, 15 Jan 1834, Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary

8) Mária Tóth
Born 23 Mar 1783, Kesznyéten, Zemplén, Hungary
Died 22 Jun 1823, Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary
Married Mihály Tóth, boros, 06 Feb 1805, Tiszadob, Szabolcs, Hungary

9) István Tóth
Born 14 Jan 1742, Bőcs, Borsod, Hungary
Died unknown
Married Erzsébet Nagy, 10 Feb 1768, at both Bőcs and Kesznyéten

10) Mária Izdenczy de Izdencz és Komlós
Born unknown, probably in Komlós, Sáros, Hungary
Died unknown, probably in Bőcs, Borsod, Hungary
Married Mihály Tóth, 29 Sep 1715, Bőcs, Borsod, Hungary

11) Borbála Horváth de Perlak
Born unknown
Died after 29 Sep 1715, probably Komlós, Sáros, Hungary
Married Márton Izdenczy de Izdencz és Komlós, military captain

12) Margit Berzeviczy de Berzevicze
Died after 14 Oct 1694, Cselfalva, Sáros, Hungary
Married 1st Miklós Héderváry
Married 2nd István Horváth de Perlak

13) János Berzeviczy de Berzevicze
Died 1604
Married Ilona Berzeviczy de Berzevicze (See below for her line)

14) György Berzeviczy de Berzevicze
Died aft 1562
Married Ilona Kapy de Kapivár

15) Kristóf Berzeviczy de Berzevicze
Died after 1555
Married Katalin Berthóthy de Berthót

16) Miklós Berzeviczy de Berzevicze
Died after 1488
Married Potentiana Merse de Szinye

17) Jakab Lomniczky de Berzevicze
Died after 1477

18) Henrik de Berzevicze
Died after 1425

19) Miklós de Berzevicze
Died after 1405

20) János de Berzevicze
Died after 1357

21) János de Berzevicze et Lomnicza
Born before 1296
Died after 1343

22) Rikolf de Scepus
Born before 1246
Died after 1270

23) Rutkér of Mátray, Tirol, Austria
Married to the sister of Adolf, prépost of Szepes county, lady-in-waiting to Queen Gertrude von Meran wife of King András II of Hungary.



(From Above)
13) Ilona Berzeviczy de Berzevicze
Born abt 1582
Married János Berzeviczy de Berzevicze

14) István Berzeviczy de Berzevicze
Died after 1563
Married Zsófia Gombos de Gombosfalva

15) Frigyes Berzeviczy de Berzevicze
Died after 1546
Married Borbála Zombory de Zombor

16) János Berzeviczy de Berzevicze
Died after 1471
Married Ilona Sebessy

17) Szaniszló de Berzevicze
Died after 1479
Married Katalin Buchai

18) Henrik de Berzevicze
Died after 1425

19) Miklós de Berzevicze
Died after 1405

20) János de Berzevicze
Died after 1357

21) János de Berzevicze et Lomnicza
Born before 1296
Died after 1343

22) Rikolf de Scepus
Born before 1246
Died after 1270

23) Rutkér of Matray, Tirol, Austria
Rutkér arrived in Hungary in the 12th century with the arrival of Queen Gertrude von Meran as the future bride to King András II of Hungary. His ancient home was Matray, which was anciently known as Matreium (and also Matrei) and was destroyed by the Bavarians in the 9th century. Rutkér was married to the sister of Adolf, the prépost of Szepes county. She was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Gertrude von Meran, wife of King András II of Hungary. Adolf was at one time the teacher of Queen Gertrude. Rutkér, his wife and Adolf all received vast amounts of land from King András II.

What's Been Going On Lately

I've been neglecting my blog really bad lately.. I want to say sorry to my faithful readers out there. You know who you are. :)

I've been busy and preoccupied with a few things going on lately. First is my cousin's Bat Mitzvah, which is tomorrow. There's been months of set up and preparation and I'll be happy when it's over. The other reason I've been busy is I've been doing a lot of research lately.

Last week today, I went to the Newberry Library in Chicago with my friend Cathy. That place is amazing! I didn't even get through half the list of books I wanted to look at, but I found so much information and great leads on my brick-wall Howell family. My Howell's are dead-ended with a Hiram Howell and wife Rachel. They were born in the 1780's-1790's and lived in Western TN and finally Tippah County, Mississippi in the last years of their lives. Hiram was actually murdered in 1853! Hiram and Rachel were married sometime before 1810 in Tennessee and I believe they had somewhere around ten children, eight boys and two girls. One of the girls was Temperance, my 4th-great-grandmother. She was married to George W. Vance about 1844 (place and date unknown) and they had seven children, before George suddenly died in 1859-1860. He was only about 33 when he died... another possible murder? Hopefully further research will yield those answers.

I've also been pretty busy researching my Hungarian nobility. Through my 9th-great-grandmother, Margit Berzeviczy who married István Horváth de Perlak, I descend from many large and old noble families of Hungary.. some with very powerful connections. Here are some of the families I descend from through Margit's ancestry. If you descend from any of these please contact me, we're cousins!

*Bánffy de Gara (garai Bánffy) - genus Drusma

*Bárczay de Bárcza (bárczai Bárczay)

*Berthóthy de Berthót (berthóti Berthóthy) - genus Aba

*Berzeviczy de Berzevicze (berzeviczei Berzeviczy)

*Bocskay de Bocskó (bocskói Bocskay) - genus Boksa

*Buchai de Bucha (buchai Buchai)

*Cseley de Csele (cselei Cseley) - genus Bogáth-Radván

*Csúzy de Csúz és Puszta-Szent-Mihály (csúzi és puszta-szent-mihályi Csúzy)

*Garay de Gara (garai Garay) - genus Drusma

*Gombos de Gombosfalva (gombosfalvai Gombos) - genus Tekele

*Haraszthy de Haraszt (haraszti Haraszthy)

*Istvánffy baranyavár és Kis-Asszonyfalva (kis-asszonyfalvai és baranyavári Istvánffy)

*Izdenczy de Izdencz és Komlós (izdenczi és komlósi Izdenczy)

*Kapy de Kapivár (kapivári Kapy)

*Lipcsey de Nagy-Lucse (nagy-lucsei Lipcsey)

*Macedóniai de Macedónia (macedóniai Macedóniai)

*Merse de Szinye (szinyei Merse)

*Nekcsey de Nekcse (nekcsei Nekcsey) - genus Aba

*Ostffy de Asszonyfalva (asszonyfalvai Ostffy) - genus Osl

*Soós de Sóvár (sóvári Soós) - genus Boksa

*Szilágyi de Horogszeg (horogszegi Szilágyi)

*Szini de Teresztény (teresztényi Szini)

*Zombory de Zombor (zombori Zombory)

I've also been working on something for my website Hungary Exchange that I hope a lot of people will find useful. It's guides on how to read and decipher church parish records. It explains how to read baptism, marriage and burial records and I'm doing three records of each of those events for each of the religions in Hungary. There's the Civil Registration, Evangelical, Greek Catholic, Jewish, Reformed and Roman Catholic. So there would be a total of nine (9) guides for each religion, totaling 54 pages of guides when I'm completely finished. At the moment I have 100% of Reformed complete, 2/3 of Greek Catholic complete and 2/3 of Jewish complete. I hope to have it up soon.

All you Hungarian genealogists, please visit my website and submit the surnames you're researching in Hungary. The Surname Database already has 125 Hungarian surnames posted, so check it out!

My Connection To Queen Elizabeth II

Recently, I was able to connect my ancestor, Margit Berzeviczy, into the very well documented and very old noble Berzeviczy de Berzevicze family. Through the Berzeviczy's I also descend from several other very large and well-known noble families from Hungary. They're the Bárczay de Bárcza, Merse de Szinye, Soós de Sóvár and Sziny de Teresztén families.

Interestingly enough, the current reigning monarch of England, Queen Elizabeth II, is 1/16 Hungarian! Queen Elizabeth II's 2nd-great-grandmother was Countess Klaudina Zsuzsánna Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde. She was born on 21 Sep 1812 in Erdőszentgyörgy, Transylvania to Count László Rhédey de Rhéde (1773-1835) and Baroness Ágnes Inczédy de Nagy-Várad (1788-1856). On 2 May 1835 in Vienna, Austria, Klaudina was married to Duke Alexander Paul of Württemberg.

All of Klaudina's ancestors are of Hungarian nobility. She descends from many well-to-do and powerful Hungarian families, but the one that interests me the most is the Kapy de Kapivár family.. my family! My common ancestor with the Queen & Klaudina is György Kapy de Kapivár and his wife Klára Bárczay de Bárcza. That would make me 12th cousins, twice removed with Queen Elizabeth II! Not much is listed about György in Iván Nagy's book "Magyarország Családai", other than his father was living in the 1520's and his children were living in the 1530's.

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.

My Aristocratic Cousins!

I hit the major jackpot yesterday with my Hungarian research. I found access to the 'Libri Regii' otherwise known as 'Királyi Könyvek' online, at: http://nfo.arcanum.hu/moldigidat

With this resource I was able to find information on my Izdenczy de Komlós family. This family began with a Márton who was granted nobility on 21 Jan 1696 by King Leopold I. Márton was an upper-military man, this is how he gained his nobility and land holdings. In 1685 he was in command of the Tokaj fortress under Imre Thökölyi. In 1709 he was serving under Prince Ferenc Rakóczy II.

Here is the Izdenczy de Komlós Coat of Arms:

I found a record in this Libri Regii stating the wife of Márton, along with her parents. Here is what the record stated:

"Nobiles dominas Barbaram, Martini Izdenczy consortem

filiamuero praenarrati Stephani quondim Horvath de Perlak,

et praedicta Nobili condim dua Margaretha Berzeviczy"

It simply states that the "Noble lady Borbála, wife of Márton Izdenczy, is the daughter of the previously mentioned István Horváth de Perlak and the previously mentioned noblewoman Margit Berzeviczy".

The István Horváth de Perlak mentioned, was granted nobility on 13 Mar 1613. His wife was Margit Berzeviczy who comes from an extremely old and very large noble family. The Berzeviczy de Berzevicz easily traces it's roots back to a man named Rutkér. He was living in 1209 and he was an "ispán", which translates out to "steward". History states that Rutkér was originally from the mountainous areas of Tirol in Austria. He later moved to the Carpathian mountain area. He arrived in Hungary around the same time as Gertrude of Andechs, when she arrived in Hungary as the wife of King András Árpád II.

Rutkér had two sons: Herman and Rikolf. Herman was known to be living in 1246 and Rikolf was known to be living in 1270. Rikolf had two sons, János and Rikolf. It is through János that the Berzeviczy family descends. Through Rikolf descends the Tárczay family.

Here is the Berzeviczy de Berzevicz Coat of Arms:

Through the Izdenczy de Komlós family, I am kin with these aristocratic and royal families:

• Baron Izdenczy de Monostor és Komlós
• Baron Rukovina von Vidovgrad
• Baron Solymosy de Loós és Egervás
• Count Khuen-Belasi
• Count Khuen-Belasi-Héderváry
• Count Lodron-Laterno und Castelromano
• Count Matz von Spiegelfeld
• Count Nemes de Hidvég et Oltszem
• Count Vay de Vaja
• Count von Clary und Aldringen
• Count Woracziczky von Pabienitz
• Count Zichy de Zich et Vásonkeö

Through the Berzeviczy de Berzevicz family, I am kin with these aristocratic and royal families (not including the ones listed above):

• Baron Berzeviczy de Berzevicz
• Baron Szalay-Berzeviczy de Kéménd
• Count Aspremont-Lynden und Reckheim
• Count Dessewffy de Csernek et Tarkeö
• Count Zichy-Kürth de Zich et Vásonkeö
• Princely Rákóczy de Felsõ-Vadász

If you're related to or descend from any of these families, please contact me!