FamilySearch Find Of The Day: The 1908 Marriage of József Majoros & Anna Tóth in Ó-Fehértó

While doing some work on my Gombash line today, I was looking at the spouses of my great-grandfather's siblings; one of them being Michael Mayors. I know he was married to my great-grandfather's sister, Julia, on 09 Sep 1939 in Guernsey county, Ohio. Thanks to their marriage record, I knew Michael's exact birth date and the name of his parents: 18 Jun 1912 and Joseph Mayors (Majoros) & Anna Toth. Using that information, I tracked down their passenger manifest records via Ellis Island and located where they originally came from in Hungary: Ó-Fehértó, Szabolcs, Hungary. Below is the marriage record for Michael's parents:

Entry Number: 22
Place of Marriage: Ó-Fehértó
Date of Marriage: 05 Dec 1908

Groom: Majoros József
Occupation: carter/teamster
Religion: Greek Catholic
Born: 03 Apr 1885
Residence: Ó-Fehértó
Father: Majoros János
Mother: Kocsán Anna

Bride: Tóth Anna
Religion: Greek Catholic
Born: 12 Dec 1890
Residence: Ó-Fehértó
Father: n/a
Mother: Tóth Mária

Witness: Gebri Mihály
Witness: Gerzten Dániel, Ó-Fehértó

Food & Genealogy: What Did Your Ancestors Eat?

On my way home from the grocery store today, I began to wonder what foods some of my ancestors would have eaten. In our present day and age, we have such an enormous  amount of options to pick from at our grocery stores, some that we didn't have even just a few years ago (like the interesting Ugli fruit that I discovered last year, a native citrus from Jamaica). I started thinking of each ethnic culture of my diverse mutt-like ancestry, and what some of their well-known dishes were of their cuisine. And then I began to think.. which of these dishes existed prior to the discovery of the Americas?

Hungary:

Naturally, I'm going to begin with Hungary. How could I not? :) Whether you're Hungarian or not, you must know of their national dish known all around the world: goulash (gulyás in Hungarian); you can find my recipe here. Two of the main ingredients in gulyás, paprika and potatoes, didn't reach Hungary until well after the discovery of the Americas. Paprika, or peppers, were originally cultivated and found in tropical areas of the Americas, whereas the potato is known to have its origins in Peru.

Italy:
It's extremely hard to think of Italy and not think of pasta with homemade tomato sauce, or pizza with that bright red tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. But neither existed prior to the discovery of the Americas; tomatoes are originally from the Andes mountain region. And then there's also polenta. That smooth, rich and creamy corn-meal dish made famous in Italy. Prior to the Old-World's discovery of corn/maize, they used various grains to make polenta; it sometimes included different kinds of flour, millet and spelt.

Poland:
Our dear, dear pierogies. I don't know anyone that doesn't like a good potato and onion pierogi; it's making me drool just thinking about it! As I mentioned above, the potato originated from Peru and was first cultivated by the Incas. So we must thank the ancient Incas for being the first to cultivate and hybridize the ancestors of our common potato. Did you know there's almost 4,000 varieties of potatoes?  Yum!

Ireland:
And the Irish! A genealogist hears potato, and they think of the Great Famine in Ireland, which spanned from 1845-1852. Many of you reading this article may be descendants of Famine emigrants; I know my uncle is!

If it weren't for the Incas, my uncle never would have been born.. and my grandmother may have never met my grandfather. Interesting to think about, huh?

FamilySearch Find Of The Day: Zsa Zsa Gabor's Maternal Aunt

Today while browsing through the Budapest marriage records in district VIII, I stumbled upon the marriage record for one of Zsa Zsa Gabor's maternal aunts: Rozália Tillemann.

Zsa Zsa Gabor was the daughter of Vilmos Gábor and Jancsi Tillemann, a family of Jewish origin who are from Budapest, Hungary. Below you'll find the document and extract of Jancsi Tillemann's sister's marriage in 1923. You'll notice that Zsa Zsa's father was actually a witness to the marriage!



Entry: 1334
Place of Marriage: Budapest, District VIII
Date of Marriage: 07 October 1923

Groom: Rein Manó
Occupation: nagykereskedő (wholesaler)
Religion: Izr. (Izraelita; Jewish)
Place of Birth: Budapest
Date of Birth: 26 October 1895
Residence: Budapest District VIII, Ér street 2
Father: Rein Schnierl
Mother: Marcusson Breine

Bride: Tillemann Rozália, elvált (divorced)
Religion: Izr. (Izraelita; Jewish)
Place of Birth: Budapest
Date of Birth: 05 October 1898
Father: deceased Tillemann Jóna (Jósza) Hersch
Mother: Reinharcz Chave Feige

Witness: Heltai Simon, Budapest District VI, Rózsa street 71
Witness: Gábor Vilmos, Budapest District IV, Muzeum boulevard 31

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Heritage Pie Chart

Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings has come up with the following challenge this week:

Your mission tonight, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) List your 16 great-great-grandparents with their birth, death and marriage data (dates and places).
2) Determine the countries (or states) that these ancestors lived in at their birth and at their death.
3) For extra credit, go make a “Heritage Pie” chart for the country of origin (birth place) for these 16 ancestors. [Hint: you could use the chart generator from Kid Zone for this.] [Note: Thank you to Sheri Fenley for the "Heritage Pie" chart idea.]
4) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a post on Facebook or google+.

Here are the 14 I know (plus the states for the two that I do not know based on the information given by their daughter in the census).


1. Sándor Gombás, born 21 Feb 1872 in Büdszentmihály (today Tiszavasvári), Hungary. Died 02 May 1931 in Goff, Butler County, Pennsylvania.

2. Eszter Tóth, born 22 Sep 1874 in Tiszadob, Hungary. Died 04 Apr 1950 in Lore City, Guernsey County, Ohio.

3. Franciszek Grządziel, born 1872 in Barycz, Brzozów, Poland. Died 10 Jun 1927 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.

4. Amelia Stec, born 29 Jun 1887/1888 in Barycz, Brzozów, Poland. Died April 1968 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

5. Joseph Adas, born 21 May 1882 in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. Died 20 Feb 1939 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.

6. Josephine Domagalski, born 04 Sep 1886 in Medina, Orleans County, New York. Died 14 Nov 1958 in Manteno, Kankakee County, Illinois.

7. Wojciech Czarny, born 24 Apr 1888 in Osobnica, Jaslo, Poland. Died Oct 1961 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.

8. Rozalia Sophia Wozniak, born 1887 in Osobnica, Jaslo, Poland. Died 22 Oct 1959 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.

9. Allen Parks Rodgers, born 29 Jun 1873 in Carroll County, Mississippi. Died 14 Apr 1945 in Duck Hill, Montgomery County, Mississippi.

10. Minnie Josephine Vance, born 03 Aug 1872 in Montgomery County, Mississippi. Died 16 Jun 1919 in Montgomery County, Mississippi.

11. Samuel Christopher Columbus Martin, born 02 Feb 1850 in Gaston County, North Carolina. Died 16 Feb 1922 in Grenada or Montgomery County, Mississippi.

12. Samantha Aylene Costilow, born 02 Dec 1869 in Holmes County, Mississippi. Died 13 Aug 1908 in Carroll County, Mississippi.

13. Johann Philip Julius Stuempges, born 30 Nov 1860 in Newton, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. Died 16 Feb 1951 in Antigo, Langlade County, Wisconsin.

14. Anna Weishaupt, born 06 May 1867 in Graber, Leitmeritz, Bohemia. Died 11 Jan 1951 in Antigo, Langlade County, Wisconsin.

15. Herman Wilhelm Gustav Martin, born 21 Jun 1882 in Gross Schönfeld, Kreis Greifenhagen, Pommern, Germany. Died 17 May 1968 in Antigo, Langlade County, Wisconsin.

16. Maria Summ, born 23 Jul 1883 in Antigo, Langlade County, Wisconsin. Died 06 Apr 1972 in Antigo, Langlade County, Wisconsin

Why You Should Re-Examine Your Documents

There are times when we find documents and we seem to miss a few specific clues. We may be excited about our new find, or rushed for time and don't fully analyze all the wording. Whatever the case, it really does pay off to look over your documents and records every now and then. I do this every-so-often and find things I happen to have over-looked. I know I'm probably not the only one out there! Here is a great example that happened to me only a few days ago.

I was reviewing a few documents I received from a cousin around April 2010, that pertained to my noble Porkoláb family from Tiszadob, Hungary. The document is called "kihallgatás", which translates literally to mean "interrogation". The document is more of a testimony than it is an interrogation. On the second page, it explains in full detail the fourth testimony for the Porkoláb family by a Mihály Rácz. With-in this testimony, Mihály Rácz talks about an aged Márton Porkoláb with the nickname "szakálas" (bearded) and an István Zákány, from another known noble family living in Tiszadob. On the last few lines it states the following in Hungarian: "az öreg szakálas Porkoláb Mártonnak - kinek felesége Zákány leány vólt". This means "the aged 'bearded' Porkoláb Márton, whose wife was the daughter of Zákány".

"Szakálas" Porkoláb Márton lived before the time of recorded church records, in Tiszadob. So other than this document that list's his wife's (partial) name, she would've been lost to history forever. She has never been mentioned in any known document that I have for the Porkoláb family.

It really does pay to look over your previously found documents!

Hungarian Parish Records Guide #2

In continuing with the Hungarian Reformed Church parish records, I decided on two marriage records for 1895. The first one will be from a village called Taktaszada and the second being from Tiszadob. I'm doing two villages because the style of the records are different.

Let's begin with the marriage from Taktaszada.


(Click the image for a larger view)

The title of the page says "Házassági életre öszveadattak anyakönyve." Keeping it simple, this means "Marriage Register", with "házsassági" meaning "marriage".

The first column states "Folyószám" and means "Current number".

The second column states "Éve és napja az öszvecsketésnek" and this means "Year and date of the marriage".

The third column states "A völegény" which means "The groom", and is followed by six subsequent columns. The first of which is "Neve és polgári állása". This means "Name and civil standing", as in the occupation. The second column is "Szüléinek neve" which means "Name of parents". The third column is "Származásának és lakásának helye, száma a háznak". This means "Place of origin and current location, and house number. The fourth column is religions, "Vallása". The fifth column is the age of the groom, "Életkora". The sixth column, "Állapota", is the groom's "Condition". His choices were either single, "Nötlen", or widowed "Özvegy".

The fourth column states "A menyasszony", which is simply "The bride". "Asszony" means "woman", as in a married woman. There are also six subsequent columns for the bride, just like for the groom. They all mean the exact same thing.

The fifth column states "Neveik és polgári állásuk a tanúknak". This means "Name and civil standing of the witnesses".

The sixth column states "Neve és hivatala az esketónek" which means "Name and office of the priest".

The seventh column states "Hirdettek-e vagy feloldeztattak a hirdetés alól, felsõségi rendelet utján vagy valamely akadály miatt." This may be confusing to some. It states whether the bride and groom have published their intent to marriage in their local area, as ordered by regulation. This was ordered incase a bride or a groom was not capable of being married, (ie. already married, an arranged marriage was proposed with one of the individual, or if someone objected to the marriage for some reason. Most usually it states their intent was published for three consecutive days prior to the marriage.

The last column is the "Comments" column, with "Comments" translating to be "Észrevételek".

Now let's begin on the marriage from Tiszadob.
(Check out my g-g-grandparents marriage at number 11!)

(Click the image for a larger view)

The heading is different in the Tiszadob marriage record. It states "Esketési Jegyzõkönyv", which means "Marriage Protocol".

As in the Taktaszada marriage record, the first two columns are the same. The second column bearing the dates is only worded slightly differently as "Év és napja az esketésnek".

The third column is "Võlegénynek és Menyasszonynak" which means "Grooms and Brides". This column have five subsequent columns. The first of which is the name and civil standing column, "Neve és állapota". The second column is "Születési és lakhelye a házszámával", which means "Place of birth and current location, and house number". The next three columns are the same as they appear in the Taktaszada document. They are the columns for Religion, Age and their Condition (whether single or widowed).

The fourth column, which begins on the second page, is "Tanuk neve, állapota". These are the "Witness names and status".

The fifth column is the same as the one in the Taktaszada document, as it pertains to the pastor who performed the ceremony.

The sixth column is again the same column, as it pertains to the dates of proclamating their marriage to any who may object.

The last column is the same as Taktaszada, being the "Comments" column.

As you can see, these two marriage records in the majority are similar. But you can see subtle differences that appear in the style and layout of the document. I think this is a great example of how records from the same point in time don't necessarily have to look exactly the same. Also as a side note, Taktaszada and Tiszadob are neighboring villages.

Hungarian Parish Records Guide #1

I thought it would be a great idea to create a few guides to help others with their research. These series of guides will be all about parish records and how to decipher them. I'll include image examples to help explain as well. I'll also do a range of records from different points in time. I'll do this because the records usually tended to change drastically from whenever they began to 1895.

The first few guides will pertain to the Hungarian Reformed Church (Magyarországi Református Egyház). It is the second-largest denomination in Hungary. The first is, of course, Roman Catholic. The Hungarian Reformed Church is in the Calvinist tradition, therefore it is sometimes refered to in English as the Calvinist Church.

Let's begin with a style of record you're most likely to encounter when you first begin your research. This is a baptism from 1895.

(Click the image for a larger view)


The top left and right of each page should give a page number, no matter which denomination church records you're viewing. Beginning on the left page are the typed words "Keresztségi anyakönyv a" , meaning "Baptism register the". This is followed by written words "taktaszadai ev. ref." This is simply the name of the town and which denomination church these records belong to. The following page begins with "egyházban 1895-ik esztendöben. This means "church in the year 1895". So the heading of the pages mean "Baptism registers of the Taktaszada Evangelical Reformed church in the year 1895".
The first column is "Sorszám" which means "Number".
The second column is "Napja a", meaning "Day of". This is followed by two subsequent columns below it: "születésnek" and "keresztelésnek". The first meaning birth and the second meaning baptism, so naturally "Day of birth" and "Day of baptism".
The third column is "A keresztelendõ", meaning "The christened's". Then this is followed by four subsequent columns. The first of which is "neve", which translates literally to mean "name". The next is "neme" which means "gender", and followed by two more subsequent columns. The first is "fi" meaning "male" and the second is "nõ" meaning "female". The last two subsequent columns are "törvényes" and "törvénytelen". They mean "legitimate" and "illegitimate".
The fourth column is "Nevük és polgári állásuk a szülléknek". This means "The names and occupations of the parents".
The fifth column, which begins on the second page, is "Lakhely, házszám". "Lakhely" means "location" and "házszám" means "house number".
The sixth column is "Nevük és polgári állásuk a keresztszülléknek". This means "The names and occupations of the baptismal parents". They are otherwise known as the god-parents or sponsors.
The seventh column is "Keresztelõ személy neve". This means "Name of the baptizer". This was usually the priest or pastor of the church.
The eigth and last column is "Észrevételek". This means "comments".