Magyar News, 2002. szeptember-2003. augusztus (13. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

2003-04-01 / 8. szám

The Kassay family. Kneeing in the front are the girls, standing in the back are the boys, in the center (X) John Kassay, Sr. with his wife Anna

and contributed so much to this American nation.

Frank Kassay and Sophie Kovács were two of hundreds of thousands of Hungarians who arrived in the United States after the turn of the last century seeking a better life. Frank was bom in 1890 in Bodrogszerdahely, Zemplén Megye and Sophie in Sáros Megye.

They met in New Jersey, and were married there in 1914. New Jersey was a common destination for Hungarian emigrants, along with Connecticut, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. ( This writer's grandmother lived in Passaic, New Jersey, before moving to Connecticut.) Frank and Sophie had two sons, Louis and Frank, Jr. Unfortunately, Sophie died in 1918, during the great influenza epidemic during World War I, leaving the two boys motherless. For several years they were cared for by relatives.

The young Frank and Anna Galdun were introduced to each other by relatives on both sides and were married in New Jersey in 1924. They moved to

Huntington, Connecticut where they lived and worked on a farm. The children attended school by horse and buggy. Eventually they moved to Fairfield, Connecticut where Frank and Anna were able to buy nearly an acre of property just off Baross Street with a small bam situated in one comer. The property was purchased from Joseph Youhouse (Juhász), a wellknown member of the Hungarian- American community and a business executive and one-time Selectman of Fairfield. The bam was some 12 by 24 feet, scarcely the size of a modem-day living room, and had two tiny rooms under the eves. This bam was to be the Kassay family home for the next six years during the depths of the great depression.

Life in the Barn

The Kassay children described life in and around the barn. Betty Kassay Gondola noted that she and three siblings were born in the barn. Betty, John, Page 4

Margaret and Helen were each delivered at home by a local mid-wife - Mrs. Deri.

John Kassay recalled that they had no electricity and used kerosene lamps for light. There was no refrigerator or even an "ice box", so the Kassays kept food from spoiling by lowering it into the well next to the bam. Well water was used for cooking, drinking, and bathing. There was no plumbing so that the "good old outhouse" was put to use. John vividly recalled the challenge of running out in the snow to the outhouse in mid-winter.

Marge Kassay Balogh recalled one small storeroom in the bam used to store one hundred pound sacks of flour and sugar. The sacks would later provide material for the quilts and pillows. The family was able to purchase a pedal operated sewing machine, so that clothes could be made. Through hard work and ingenuity, the family survived. Marge further recalled that all was not work. Games were invented by the children. For example, a short piece of a tree branch was sharpened, and out of another branch they cut a longer stick and used it to hit the first piece that bounced up and was hit the second time as a baseball would. Whoever hit the smaller stick the farthest won the game. It was called the BIGE, a traditional Hungarian game.

Helen Kassay Olah remembered that chicken, ducks and geese were sources of both meat and eggs. They also produced feathers and down for the family quilts .

Her brother, Zoly recalled that he and his wife received one of these quilts as a wedding present. It was one of the gifts that he most treasured - the handi-work of his mother.

Helen further pointed out that in another small barn were kept two cows and some cats whose responsibility it was to keep the mice away.

She smilingly remembered how her parents would squirt

milk directly into the cats' mouths when they were milking the cows.

Helen continued to describe the family's nearly self-sufficient existence. She observed that "Mom and Pop also raised pigs to feed the hungry family. It was a special time when the pigs were slaughtered. Our Godparents, Mike and Barbara Onder, their children Barbara, Frank and Marge, and the neighbors would come to help. Our pigs would provide us with ham, pork chops, bacon, and that Hungarian favorite, 'szalonna', which we roasted over an open fire in the summer time. We had space for fruit trees and all types of vegetables. Everyone had to pitch in with the weeding, hoeing, and picking of bugs off the plants. There was always lots of work, but it didn't seem so bad because it was a family project.

She also told how relatives would visit from Massachusetts and New Jersey during the summer, and would usually end up staying for weeks. The hayloft in the bam was used as sleeping quarters for the boys. The grown-ups and the girls were the only ones who could fit into the house. It was hard work for Mom, but she would smile and say "There is always room for good people"

John Kassay recalled the wide variety of vegetables that were grown. In addition

Anna Kassay with the family calf.

John, Jr. and his brother Zoly talk about the photos that cover the wall