Bethlen Almanac 1999 (Ligonier)
The Hungarian Reformed Federation of America
his own father (Joseph Putina TOTH) died at age 33 of cholera. His ancestors were shepherds in northeastern Hungary and his widowed mother, Maria BARNOCZKI, was left to raise four children on her own. With the help of the McKeesport Heritage Society, 1 obtained a copy of the newspaper article (June 30, 1906, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS) describing the accident that killed my great-grandfather. The headlines read “Scoop Chain Broke; One dead, one hurt. An Accident on Sand Barge at Duquesne (Mill) Yesterday, One who met death and leaves family abroad.” Joseph TOTH, it said was a laborer at the Rodgers Sand Company, a subsidiary of Carnegie Steel. He boarded on Mill Street and had been in this country only a few weeks. I never learned how my great-grandmother Julia MOLNÁR cared for my grandmother and her brother following her husband’s death. During Thanksgiving weekend, 1997, all of the descendants of Joseph TOTH gathered at his grave to pay tribute, 91 years after his death. I would not have become interested in genealogy or the cultural heritage of the Pittsburgh area had it not been for the fact that I moved to the very same city that my great-grandfather had immigrated to from Hungary 90 years before. Written by Laura Janocko - Ljanocko@aol.com Previously published by Julia M. Case and Myra Vanderpool Gormley, CG, Missing Links: Rootsweb Genealogy Journal, Vol. 4, No. 42 13 October 1999. RootsWeb: <http://www.rootsweb.com/> This article reprinted with permission from “Missing Links” which is a genealogy newsletter, caught my attention because it was a mirror image of my effort to locate the final resting place of my husband’s grandfather in the very same area. Mrs. Margaret Pauli Branch Manager St. George District and Branch 250 mmpaull @ castle.net 33
