Thursday, May 06, 2010

Bogát-Radván Genus - Bogát-Radván Nemzetség

The Bogát-Radván genus dates itself back to the 13th century. The genus begins with a man named Bogát who according to Simon Kézai, a famous Hungarian chronicler from the 13th centuery, came from Bohemia (Csehország). Bogát had two known sons and they were named István and Fülke (sometimes written as Fülöpke). Fülke was murdered sometime before 1252 by a relative of the same genus named Csiz (sometimes written as Chyz). Csiz was the son of Csépán, who may have been a brother or first cousin to Bogát.

The original home of the Bogát-Radván genus was the late Zemplén county. Although the Bogát-Radván genus may have held early noble titles, documentation is lost in those areas on the family. The only information that is known on the early crest of the family is a bird. That bird can be found on many of the coat of arms of the direct-line descendants of the Bogát-Radván genus. [Note the several coat of arms included in this blog post.]



Here are the families who can trace their origins to the Bogát-Radván genus:
Cseley de Csele (cseley Cseley)
Doby de Dob (dobi Doby)
Gyapoly de Morva (morvai Gyapoly)
Hosszúmezey de Kólcs-Hosszúmezõ (kólcs-hosszúmezõi Hosszúmezey)
Körtvélyessy de Kólcs-Hosszúmezõ (kólcs-hosszúmezõi Körtvélyessy)
Isépy de Magyar-Isép (magyar-isépi Isépy)
Luczy de Lucz (luczi Luczy)
Monoky de Monok (monoki Monoky)
Morvay de Magyar-Isép (magyar-isépi Morvay)
Possay de Possa és Legenye (possai és legenyei Possay)
Rákóczy de Rákócz és Felsõ-Vadász (rákóczi és felsõ-vadászi Rákóczy)
Szaday de Szada (szadai Szaday)



There were many Bogát-Radván descendants who were prominent members in Hungarian history. In 1558, Balázs Hosszúmezey was the alispán of Zemplén county. In 1560 the same Balázs was then commissioned by the Hungarian king to calm down the disturbances in Upper-Hungary. György Hosszúmezey became the Parliamentary ambassador for Zemplén county in 1578. A László Körtvélyessy was alispán of Zemplén county in 1597. In 1835 a László Isépy was a juror and later in 1843 he was a magistrate, both for Zemplén county. In the late 14th century, an István Monoky was a canon-guard of Székesfehérvár. Mihály Monoky was captured at Monoki castle and held captive by the Turks in 1566. He later paid his own ransom for his release. Miklós Monoky repeatedly held of the Turks as captain of Ónodi in 1607, and in 1625 was created a Baron by king Ferdinand II. György Morvay was present at the Battle of Mohács in 1526, it's not stated whether he lived or died in battle. Sándor Rákóczy was a magistrate of Bars and Zólyom counties in the late 18th century. Sándor's brother Ádám was a laywer in Pest (prior to the city's merging to create Budapest). There was a line of Transylvanian Princes from the Rákóczy family. It began with Zsigmond (1544-1608) and passed from father to son: György (died 1648), György (1621-1660), Ferencz (1645-1676) and finally Ferencz (1676-1735).

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

The Baksa Genus - Baksa Nemzetség

The Baksa genus (also sometimes written as Boksa, Boxa and Baxa), is a Hungarian clan dating itself back to the era of the Árpád dynasty. The Baksa genus held large amounts of land possessions primarily in Heves, Szabolcs and Zemplén counties. Their largest possesions were Bodrog-Szerdahely, Dorogháza, Gyüre, Homoki, Kövesd, Lagmócz, Nagy-Halász, Szöllőske and Zemplén.

It wasn't until the 13th century that the Baksa genus reached significant political roles in Hungary. Important figures of the Baksa genus at that time were the Ispán named György and also Tamás and László. György was a general in the Hungarian army during the Battle on the Marchfield allied with Habsburgs, which involved the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian lands and the Kingdom of Hungary. The opponent of the Habsburgs and Hungarians of the battle were the Bohemian army led by King Ottokar II of Bohemia. Oddly enough, King Ottokar II's paternal grandmother was of the Árpád family.. the ruling dynasty of Hungary.

Tamás and László fought along-side king Károly I of Hungary against the rising oligarchs after the end of the Árpád dynasty. They then participated in King Lajos I of Hungary's Italian wars, for his claim on the throne of Naples.

There are numerous branches of the Baksa genus that took on their own independent names and are still thriving today. The known Hungarian families that can trace their origins to the Baksa genus are the following:

Agóczy de Agócz (agóczi Agóczy)
Bacskay de Bacska (bacskai Bacskay)
Bocskay de Bocskó és Kis-Maria (bocskói és kis-mariai Bocskay)
Csapy de Csap (csapi Csapy)
Eszenyi de Eszeny (eszenyi Eszeny)
Gálszéchy de Gálszéch (gálszéchi Gálszéchy)
Kellemessy
Kendy de Kende (kendei Kendy)
Kövesdy de Kövesd (kövesdi Kövesdy)
Pósváraljai de Pósváralja (pósváraljai Pósváraljai)
Soós de Sóvár (sóvári Soós)
Széchy de Gálszéch (gálszéchi Széchy)
Szerdahelyi de Szerdahely (szerdahelyi Szerdahelyi)
Szürtey de Szürte (szürtei Szürtey)
Zrittey de Zritte (zrittei Zrittey)

Monday, April 26, 2010

The Genus of Aba - Aba Nemzetség

The Genus Aba is an extremely old clan of Hungary dating itself back to about the 9th century. Their ancestors belonged to the Kabars, which consisted of three nomadic tribes that joined the federation of the Magyars around the same time period. The clan's origins are traced back to two brothers named Ed (also written as Ede) and Edumer (also written as Edemen) from the 5th or 6th century, who are the documented grandchildren of Attila the Hun.

The family connection is recorded in the Latin medieval manuscript
Gesta Hungarorum, known in English as The Deeds of the Hungarians. It was written sometime around 1200 by an anonymus author who referred to himself as "Anonymi Bele Regis Notarii", the anonymous notary of King Bela. In this manuscript, the ancestry of the Genus Aba is recorded:


Iste igitur Chaba filius Ethelæ est legitimus ex filia
Honorii imperatoris Græcorum genitus, cui Edemen
et Ed filii sui sunt vocati. Edemen autem, cum Hungari
in Pannoniam secundario sunt reversi, cum maxima
familia patris sui et matris introivit, nam mater eius de
Corosminis orta erat. Ed vero in Scitia remansit apud
patrem. Ex isto enim Chaba generation Abæ est egressa.


Csaba was Attila's legitimate son by the daughter of the
Greek emperor Honorius. Csaba in turn had two sons,
Edemen and Ed. Edemen entered Pannonia with his
father's and mother's great entourage (his mother being
a Chorasminian) when the Hungarians came back for
the second time, whereas Ed remained in Scythia with
his father. Csaba is the ancestor of the clan of Aba.


The manuscript documents the Genus Aba's ancestry back to Attila the Hun (406-453), Emperor Flavius Honorius (384-423) and a Chorasminian woman. Much is known about Attila the Hun and also Emperor Flavius Honorius, so I will not go into detail about them. I would like to explain more about this Chorasminian woman. Chorasminia is mainly known as Khwarezmia, and was an Empire in the current Greater Iran area in the High Middle Ages, from 1077 to 1231. Reading more closely into the Genus Aba's entry in
Gesta Hungarorum, we can properly assume that Csaba's unnamed Khwarezmian wife was of royalty. Khwarezmia was ruled by the herditary Shah's of Khwarezm, a Persianate Sunni Islam dynasty of Turkic origins.

The dynasty was founded by Anush Tigin Gharchai, a governor of Khwarezm who was formerly a slave of the Seljuq sultans. His son, Qutb ud-Din Muhammad I, was the first hereditary Shah of the dynasty. The founder of the dynasty, Anush Tigin Gharchai, was of either Khalaj or Qipchaq origin. What is troubling is the two major differences in the origins of Khalaj and Qipchaq. Khalaj was to the south, in present-day Iran and the language is still spoken today. It's primarily spoken in the Markazi Province of Iran. Qipchaq came slightly more from the north and their ancestors originally coming from Siberia. They're also known as Cumans (or Kumans), who eventually settled throughout the Great Hungarian Plain in the 13th century. They assimilated into the population with the Hungarians of the area.

There are numerous branches of the Genus Aba that took on their own independent names and are still thriving today. There are no-doubt thousands upon thousands of descendants of the Genus Aba alive today. The known Hungarian families that can trace their origins to the Genus Aba are the following:

Athinay de Athina (athinai Athinay)
Amade de Várkony (várkonyi Amade)
Bakos de Gágy (gágyi Bakos)
Báthori de Gágy (gágyi Báthori)
Berthóthy de Berthót (berthóti Berthóthy)
Budaméry de Budamér (budaméri Budaméry)
Csehi de Pánczel-Csehi (pánczel-csehi de Csehi)
Csirke de Póly és Alattyán (pólyi és alattyáni Csirke)
Csobánkay de Csobánka (csobánkai Csobánkay)
Frichi de Frich (frichi Frichi)
Gágyi de Gágy (gágyi Gágyi)
Györkei
Hedry de Hedri (hedrii Hedry)
Keczer de Lipócz (lipóczi Keczer)
Keczer de Radvány (radványi Keczer)
Kompolthi de Nána és Visonta (nánai és visontai Kompolthi)
Kõszeghi/Keöszeghy
Laczkffy de Nádasd (nádasdi Laczkffy)
Lapispataky de Lapispatak (lapispataki Lapispataky)
Makranczy de Makrancz (makranczi Makranczy)
Nekcsey de Nekcse (nekcsei Nekcsey)
Rhédy de Kis-Rhéde (kis-rhédei Rhédy)
Segnyey de Lapispatak (lapispataki Segnyey)
Sirokay de Siroka (sirokai Sirokay)
Solymosy de Solymos (solymosi Solymosy)
Somosy de Somos (somosi Somosy)
Tornay de Torna (tornai Tornay)
Vendéghy de Vendég (vendégi Vendéghy)
Vitéz

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Record Search Pilot Is Coming To An End...

And with that end, comes the full release of Record Search! Recently, there was a "Record Search Beta" that I participated in, to test and send feedback on the final release of Record Search. As of today, this Beta version has ended. The final release of Record Search is planned to be released next week, including some new databases not previously published in the Pilot version. I've been waiting a long time for this, and I hope they continue to add German and Hungarian records. :)

Here is the full message I received today:

"The Record Search Beta has ended. Thank you so much for your help in testing this new release. We received some great feedback are now working to fix the issues you reported. The beta site might be available for a few more days if you want to continue to use it, however we will not be contacting you when it is no longer available.

What is our plan going forward:

Our plan (which always seems to change) is to release this new version of Record Search next week. Shortly after this release you will see some new collections published that were not part of the beta test and have not previously been available. This release expands our capacity to publish records and we hope to continue to publish new collection every week, so please keep checking the Record Search web site to see what is new.

Thank you again for all of your help.

Record Search Beta Team"

Friday, April 09, 2010

Follow Friday - 09 Apr 2010

This Friday, I want to share a new and promising blog to the genealogical community. It was created by my friend Nuccia, and it's purpose and goal is to be focused on Italian research and resources. She already has some interesting blog posts and some neat books in the "Books" section. If you have Italian ancestry, you should check it out. It can be found here: http://gentedimareitaliangenealogy.info/

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!

Saturday, April 03, 2010

The Search For My Howell's: Fayette County, Tennessee marriages, 1838-1871

Fayette County, Tennessee marriages, 1838-1871
By: Sistler, Byron

Carter, Stephen L.
Howell, Nancy
05 Feb 1851
no return

Garrison, M.
Howell, Marinda
24 Jun 1869
30 Jun 1869

Howell, Charles C.
Carpenter, Frances E.
21 Dec 1847
23 Dec 1847

Howell, George S.
Bankhead, Agnis M.
24 Apr 1841
30 Apr 1841

Howell, Joel C.
Carpenter, Ann J.
13 Sep 1851
no return

McKnight, Thomas R.
Howell, Margaret A.
12 Dec 1850
no return

Robertson, Joseph J.
Howell, Fatis C.
12 Apr 1845
15 Apr 1845