János Cserpák, Part 2

Three months ago, I found a headstone for a fellow Hungarian. His name was János Cserpák, and I explained my find in this entry here. I've been able to find more information on this young man, and his family. I hope that one of his very distant nieces or nephews finds these blog entries one day and finds them useful. :)

As I already know from János's headstone and immigration manifest, he was born on 22 Jul 1903 in Vencsellő. I do know that he was the son of Jakab and Mária Cserpák. Well, thankfully for FamilySearch and their wonderful uploading of digitized records, I was able to find his birth record! FamilySearch has a database for Hungarian civil registration records for various counties. I love these records! I just wish they had them available for my towns of Tiszadob and Büdszentmihály/Tiszavasvári. But anyway, back to my story!

I was able to find János's birth record and here is the wonderful information I was able to find out:


János was born on 22 Jul 1903 at 284 Kápolna street in Vencsellő, to parents Jakab Cserpák and Mária Türk. His parents are both listed as being born and residing in Vencsellő, and both of the Roman Catholic faith. His father's occupation is listed as "igás kocsis" which translates out to be draft-carter or draft-teamster. Not sure what kind of occupation is. Any ideas? It lists his father is 24 years old and his mother is 22 years old.

Well noting that both parents, Jakab and Mária, were born in Vencsellő, I figured their marriage record would be here too. And I was right!


They were married on 12 Jan 1902 in Vencsellő, and this document lists their parents names, birth dates and places.

Jakab Cserpák was born on 22 Dec 1878 in Vencsellő. His parents are the late János Cserpák, a day laborer and Mária Bereznai, both were residents of Vencsellő. Mária Türk was born on 28 Jan 1882 in Vencsellő. Her parents are the late Ignácz Türk, a day laborer as well, and Anna Héri, both were also residents of Vencsellő.

Noticing the Héri surname, I can make the assumption that the "Jacob Iheri" living with the Jakab and Mária Cserpák family in Chicago, in the 1920 census.. is a relative to Mária somehow.

Interestingly enough, I have a friend who's trying to research his surname of Bereznai, the same surname as Jakab Cserpák's mother. I may have found a new lead for him!

The Gombash's Very Distant Spanish Ancestry

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you know very well that my family, the Gombash's, are of Hungarian descent. Through-out my research I find new documents and records that shed light on the diversity of my Hungarian heritage. Through our Hungarian ancestry we're also Slavic, Swedish and Transylvanian. Now with some new research on our noble origins, I'm discovering that we're very distantly Spanish.

Through Eszter Tóth, we descend from the old and now extinct Nagy-Martoni family. The Nagy-Martoni began in Hungary with three brothers Bertram, Simon, Michael and their sister Tota. In 1198, the four siblings left their home of Aragón in Spain to accompany Constance, who was bethrothed to King Imre of Hungary. Much was recorded about the Nagy-Martoni family as several members of the family became quite powerful and well-to-do.




Modern location of Aragón in Spain

I was able to find an English source that wrote about the family: [At the court there were people who understood Provençal, because Constance had brought some families from Iberia with her. The most famous were the three brothers, Bertram, Simon and Michael, who freed Mallorca and Minorca from the Saracens, and had to leave Southern Spain because of the Almohadian invasions. They fought against the heathen in Hungary too. In 1241 "Simon Hispanus" and Bertram played a decisive role in the successful defence of the Hungarian capital city of Esztergom against the Tartars. In 1204 the Hungarian King gave a village to the sister of the three knights, a "beautiful" Tota and the Spanish family received its Hungarian name from that village. Later they were known as the counts Nagy-Martoni/or the Fraknói or the Bajóti family.] (1).




Seal of Simon Nagy-Martoni's son Pál

There was another additional English source that described in more detail the sister Tota: [Constance brought with her a girl called Tota, the sister of Count Simon and Count Bertram. She was exceedingly beautiful, so fair, indeed, that scarcely any woman in the world in those days was considered her like. This girl was given in marriage to Duke Benedict, son of Conrad, and her dowry was the town of Martinsdorf, a gift from King Emeric and Queen Constance.] (2).

Interestingly enough, I descend from King Imre's sister Margit through my mother's family.

Sources:
(1) Actes du Deuxiem̀e congres international d'étude des cultures de la mediterranée occidentale, Volume 2
Author: International Association of Studies on Mediterranean Civilizations
Publisher: Société nationale d'édition et de diffusion, 1978
Page 403

(2) Deeds of the Hungarians
Author: Simon Kézai
Editors: László Veszprémy, Frank Schaer, Jenő Szűcs
Central European University Press, 1999
Pae 173

Queen Elizabeth II related to Vlad Dracula?

Yesterday I wrote an article explaining the connection between the current reigning English monarchy and Vlad Dracula, otherwise known as Vlad "the Impaler". It showed their connection, not a relation. A new line of descent was brought to my attention last night that I need to analyze, and I thought I would do it here. Here is the alleged line of descent of Queen Elizabeth II to Vlad Dracula's father, Vlad II Dracul:

*Elizabeth II
*George VI
*Mary of Teck
*Francis, Duke of Teck
*Klaudia Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde
*Countess Ágnes Inczédy de Nagy-Várad
*Baron Gergely Inczédy de Nagy-Várad
*Baroness Ágnes Kendeffy de Malmoviz
*Katalin Kun de Osdola
*Kristina (Christiana) Racz de Galgo
*Peter (Petru) Racz de Galgo
*Adam Racz de Galgo
*Zamphira Logofat de Szazsebes (Female)
*Stanka (Stanca) Basarab of Wallachia (Female)
*Mircea "The Shepherd" (Voivode) of Wallachia (Male)
*Radu cel Mare Radu IV `the Great' (Voivode) of Wallachia
*Vlad Călugărul (half-brother to Vlad Dracula)
*Vlad II Dracul (father to Vlad Dracula)

My previous article focuses on Klaudia Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde's paternal lineage, this alleged descent focuses on Klaudia's maternal lineage. We do know that Klaudia's parents are Count László Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde and his wife Baroness Ágnes Inczédy de Nagy-Várad. Ágnes is the known granddaughter of Baron Gergely Inczédy de Nagy-Várad and his wife Countess Ágnes Kendeffy de Malmoviz.




According to pedigree charts published by Iván Nagy in Magyarország családai, Ágnes Kendeffy de Malmoviz is most definitely the daughter of Gáspár Kendeffy de Malmoviz and his wife Katalin Kún. No other information is given on Katalin Kún in the Kendeffy family's pedigrees and information.




No additional information is given on Katalin Kún in Béla Kempelen's word Magyar Nemes Családok, and neither in any of these other following publications: Magyar nemzetségi zsebkönyv by the Magyar Heraldikai és Genealogiai Társaság (Hungarian Heraldry and Genealogy Society), A Magyar Nemzetségek A XIV. Század Közepéig by János Karácsonyi and finally Középkori Magyar Genealógia by Pál Engel.

Assuming that the alleged family tree is correct, Ágnes Kendeffy's mother is possibly Katalin Kun de Osdola. Considering I cannot find any additional information on Katalin Kún under the Kendeffy's, I must look under the Kún's and hope for the best. I do locate a countly Kún de Osdola family, but I do not locate any Katalin being married to a Gáspár Kendeffy.




There are, although, some interesting marriages and connections to known family names of Gáspár Kendeffy de Malmoviz and his wife Katalin Kún's descendants. Note the two (2) Rhédey's, the Kendeffy and also the Inczedy. The alleged ancestry above states that Katalin Kun's mother was a Kristina Racz de Galgo. There is indeed a Krisztina Rácz married to Miklós Kún do Osdola, right smack-dab in the middle of all the name connections. But that doesn't mean anything, we need proof that they are our Katalin Kún's parents.

Let's assume that Katalin Kún's parents are indeed Miklós Kún do Osdola and Krisztina Rácz shown on the pedigree chart. Continuing analyzing the alleged line of descent stated above, we need to look into the "Rácz de Galgo" family.





I locate a Rácz de Galgó family and indeed there is a Krisztina, who's second husband was a Miklós Kún. The pedigree chart fits perfectly with what was given on the alleged pedigree above. It does show the line of descent to a Zafira Logofét. The entry on the Rácz de Galgó family also gives some information on Zafira; it states: "neje oláh származású volt: Logofét Zafira". This says that Zafira Logofét (surnames are always listed before the given names in Hungary and Transylvania), was originally from Wallachia (Oláh). This seems to continually fit, as Vlad Dracula's family was from Wallachia and Vlad himself was once Voivode of Wallachia.

This is when my research starts to dry up with my Hungarian resources that I have. The resources are primarily for Hungary, not Transylvania. I now go to a trusted source for nobility and royalty information: http://genealogy.euweb.cz/. This website was created by Miroslav Marek and he has a whole page devoted to his sources. The alleged ancestry above from Zamphira Logofat de Szazsebes to Vlad II Dracul is correct, according to his website.. which I do not doubt. The only problem is with "Stanka (Stanca) Basarab of Wallachia". It lists her husband as "Ioan Norocea, Logofat de Pitesti, Great Chancellor of Wallachia", but no children (Zafira) are listed for them or can be found on his website. Also note that the name is "Logofat de Pitesti", not the "Logofat de Szazsebes" listed in the alleged pedigree.

All in all, the line of descent from Queen Elizabeth II to Vlad II Dracul, the father of Vlad "the Impaler", is very possible. The only contradictory facts, that need to be proven, lie with Katalin Kún and Zafira Logofat. Does anyone have any sources to prove or disprove these two remaining pieces of this alleged line of descent? If so, please contact me!

Sources:
*Magyarország családai, by Iván Nagy
*Magyar Nemes Családok, by Béla Kempelen
*Magyar nemzetségi zsebkönyv, by Magyar Heraldikai és Genealogiai Társaság
*A Magyar Nemzetségek A XIV. Század Közepéig, by János Karácsonyi
*Középkori Magyar Genealógia, by Pál Engel
*http://genealogy.euweb.cz/, by Miroslav Marek

Robert Pattinson is related to Dracula?

Today while doing my daily genealogy blog readings, I stumbled upon Randy Seaver's article Is Robert Pattinson a cousin to Vlad the Impaler?. I was instantly intriuged because I myself have a connection to Vlad Dracula Tepes "the Impaler".

Reading his article, I find that the entry originated with a article posted today (June 24th) on the UK version of Ancestry's Blog. You can find the article here: Twilight star Robert Pattinson is related to Dracula!. Reading the article and looking at the [very] tiny hard to see pedigree, I become confused and dumbfounded.

The article was written by Annabel Bernhardt, the PR Manager for Ancestry.co.uk. In the article she claims that King George VI of England is a direct descendant of Vlad II Dracul, the father of Vlad III Dracula.. otherwise known as Vlad "the Impaler". At this point I could care less about Robert Pattinson's connection to Vlad, or even the current reigning English monarchy. I needed to clear the air of King George VI's ancestry.

King George VI of England is a descendant of countless royal and noble houses of Europe, but one: the Basarab family of Transylvania. The Basarab's were a very large Transylvanian family with powerful aristocratic, noble and also royal connections. It is through these that Vlad "the Impaler" is connected to King George VI and his descendants, not related.

King George VI's mother is the well-known Mary of Teck, wife of King George V of England. Mary's paternal grandmother was the Countess Klaudina Zsuzsánna Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde. Klaudina ia a documented descendant of the Szilágyi de Horoszeg family. The connection with the current England monarchy is through this Szilágyi family. The wife of Vlad "the Impaler" was a noblewoman from that same Szilágyi de Horoszeg family. Here is the descend of Klaudina to the Szilágyi de Horoszeg family:



Klaudina Zsuzsánna Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde is the great-granddaughter of László Rhédey de Kis-Rhéde and his wife Mária Toroczkay de Toroczkó-Szent-György. Mária herself is the daughter of István Toroczkay de Toroczkó-Szent-György and his wife Borbála Kapy de Kapivár.



In this next pedigree chart, you see that Borbála Kapy de Kapivár is the descendant of Miklós Kapy de Kapivár and his wife Katalin Lipcsey de Nagy-Lucse. Katalin is the daughter of Damian Lipcsey de Nagy-Lucse and his wife Margit Macedóniai de Macedónia.



This next pedigree shows that Margit Macedóniai de Macedónia is the granddaughter of János Macedóniai de Macedónia and his wife Anna de Gara.



You can see this this next pedigree that Anna de Gara is the great-granddaughter of Dezső de Gara and his wife Anna Szilágyi de Horogszeg.



This final pedigree chart does not show Anna, but she is a known granddaughter of Miklós de Szilágy, alive in 1408. She is the daughter of Mihály, who was the uncle to Erzsébet. Erzsébet was the wife of János Hunyadi, Regent of Hungary, and mother of Mátyás Corvinus, King of Hungary. Vlad Dracula "the Impaler"'s wife is the known daughter of Osvát, brother of the previously mentioned Erzsébet.

A lot of false pedigree and assumptions are made when it comes to celebrities, royalty and family trees. Embellishments are made and facts are not documented and sourced. I'm honestly a little upset that this fabricated pedigree for King George VI of England shows that he is a direct-line descendant of the Transylvanian Basarab family. This is false and there is no given proof by Annabel Bernhardt of her sources for this information.

Source: Nagy, Iván, and István Fribeisz. Magyarország Családai.

Hungarian Marriage Project Update: 09 Jun 2010

I had taken a 2 1/2 month break from extracting marriage records, but I'm back at it again. Today I have added the Roman Catholic parish of Ibrány from Szabolcs county. This addition to the database adds 520 marriages from 1801 to 1894. This brings the Hungarian Marriage Project well over 12,600 marriages! You can search the Hungarian Marriage Project here:

Hungarian Marriage Project

If you have have records to contribute to Hungary Exchange, don't hesitate to contact me! Your contributions will helps others! :)

Tombstone Tuesday - János Cserpák

I was at the Mount Olivet Catholic cemetery yesterday, which is on the south side of Chicago. I was originally looking for my half-uncle's great-grandmother, Anna Felton nee Vearon or Vieron. I found her lot easily enough and she unfortunately didn't have headstone or marker. Neither did the random three other people completely unrelated to her, that were around her. Quite sad.

While walking back to my car I stumbled upon a headstone of a fellow Hungarian: János Cserpák. His headstone stated he was born on 22 Jul 1903 and he died on 20 Mar 1922 at the age of 18 years old. I snapped two pictures of his headstone; one of the headstone and one of the picture on the top. You can see them below:





During the car ride home I got to wondering what he could have died from so young. I got home and went onto FamilySearch's Record Search and searched for him in the Cook County, Illinois Deaths, 1878-1922. I found his death certificate listed under John Cherpak. In Hungarian, "CS" is pronounced "CH" as in 'chug'. The Americanized spelling of his name makes perfect sense.

John died at his home, 916 East 92nd Place in Chicago, on 20 Mar 1922. He was buried two days later in Mount Olivet cemetery on 22 Mar 1922. The cause of death is listed as "Lobar pneumonia" for the duration of 4 days and the secondary contributor was "cardiac failure". It's sad to think that something as common as pneumonia is so easily cured with today's medicine. He was listed as 18 years old and was a machinist at the "Nickle Plate R.R." His parents are listed as Jacob Cherpak and Mary Turk. John and his parents were listed as being born in "Austria". His father was the informant for the death certificate.



I found the Cherpak family in the 1920 census living at 916 East 92nd Place in Chicago, Illinois:
Cherpak, Jacob, Head, 52, married, immigrated 1911, alien, Hungary
Cherpak, Mary, Wife, 41, married, immigrated 1913, alien, Hungary
Cherpak, John, Son, 16, single, immigrated 1913, alien, Hungary
Cherpak, Anna, Daughter, 14, single, immigreated 1913, alien, Hungary
Iheri, Jacob, Boarder, 48, married, immigrated 1912, alien, Hungary

Jacob was a carpenter for the railroad shop and John (2 years before his death) was an apprentice at the railroad shop. Looking at the whole census page, every single family was Hungarian.. it must've been a predominantly Hungarian area that they lived in.

I was then able to locate John with his mother and sister in the Ellis Island passenger manifests. They were listed as Cserpak Mária (30), Cserpak János (9) and Cserpak Anna (7). They were of both Hungarian nationality and race. Their last residence, which happened to also be their place of birth, is a town called Vencsellő. They were residing with Mária's mother Anna Turk. (John's death record stated his mother's maiden name was Turk!) They were traveling to their husband and father Cserpak Jakab in Chicago. Vencsellő was in Szabolcs county of Hungary and was actually not too far from where my family came from. Vencsellő is roughly an hour North-East of Tiszadob and Büdszentmihály (now Tiszvasvári). Today, Vencsellő is combined with the town of Gáva and called Gávavencsellő (how original, huh?).

I've actually been researching in the Reformed church records of Gáva with my friend Sharon for her noble Bakó family, for the past few weeks. What are the odds? :)

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.