Hungarian Heritage Review, 1987 (16. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1987-03-01 / 3. szám
Texas during the 1840s. It is my job to identify and research the pioneers, the refugees of the Revolution of 1848-49, the Hungarian boys who wore grey for the Confederacy, the larger economic migration during the late nineteenth century, and the post- WW II waves of immigration which brought a large percentage of our present Hungarian Texan population. The latter, in large part, are the ones who have organized to maintain Hungarian heritage in new homes in the American Southwest. The 1980 Census tells us that the highest concentrations of Hungarian-born and their descendants live in our large cities — Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, etc. In the case of San Antonio and Houston, Hungarian culture clubs exist. Efforts have been made to organize a statewide umbrella organization (Hungarians of Texas) for these clubs. Statewide meetings have been held in recent years to unify the clubs and preserve Hungarian heritage. It remains to be seen how successful these efforts will be. With the able help of friends, family, volunteers and Hungarian-American scholars across the nation, I gathered data from county courthouses, newspaper morgues, personal interviews with descendants of pioneers and recent immigrants, university archives, public libraries, cemeteries, and a great variety of other sources. Volunteers and scholars assisted with translations. The result is a growing body of research data upon which to base this history. The Census of 1910, as well as earlier ones provided a valuable data base for the great economic migration at the turn of the century. One result was the discovery of not only Magyars, but other Hungarian minorities who settled in Texas. All have provided very interesting stories and further research is called for. One problem I faced was the Anglicized spelling of Hungarian names in Census reports. Hundreds of volunteer hours went into collecting names of the Hungarian-born. Although the censuses for 1860 and 1880 proved more reliable, the census takers in 1870 (during Reconstruction) failed miserably. Many just could not write legibly. One newspaper, the Ennis Daily News, published unidentified wedding photos from the turn of the century. The descendants living in the Dallas region identified the majority of these photos and came forward with family histories as well. Other families supplied old photos to use as illustrations. The question of “Who came first?” is always a challenge. According to our findings, Rudolph Schorobiny (can this spelling be correct?), born in Zips Comitat, Hungary on January 25, 1817, may have been the first. His story is perpetuated in the histories of Medina County, Texas, as well as in an interesting history, Early Settlers and Indian Fighters of Southwest Texas by A. J. Sowell, which recounts his arrival as part of the Henri Castro Colony in 1845. Schorobiny built his red sand= Jäungartan-Americana.....— stone cottage in the farming village of Quihi, married a German immigrant and became a community leader. I visited the ruins of this first Hungarian home in Texas and read the story of how Indians wounded and tried to abduct his wife, who luckily survived. Schorobiny was a true pioneer on the Texas frontier even though the family is now extinct. An interesting puzzle I encountered concerns the “Count” Zondogi. During the spring of 1845, the Houston Telegraph and Texas Register (April 9; May 28, 1845) reported that this Hungarian “count” arrived and participated in a great buffalo hunt on the Central Texas frontier. Who was he? Where did he come from? Where did he go? Though no one knows for sure, Dr. Steven Bela Vardy suggested (Vardy to McGuire, Pittsburgh, PA, January 6, 1987) that he was probably a self-titled educated traveler in America. These are a few of the interesting stories of Hungarian pioneers I discovered through my research. Another story which should prove interesting is that of the 48ers, led by Governor László Újházi, who formed a small colony in San Antonio during the 1850s. As the research continues new data will be collected and new insights into the experiences of these and other pioneers will become available. The result should be a scholarly, readable history with good illustrations which I hope will also become a part of the growing body of information on Hungarians in America. MARCH 1987 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 11
