Magyar News, 2003. szeptember-2004. augusztus (14. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2004-04-01 / 8. szám
Finding Your Hungarian Roots Searching from the attics to the Intemet/Part One By Bob Krányik and Margaret Molnár That Inevitable Homework Assignment Sooner or later that inevitable homework assignment will reach your house or that of your children. One of your little ones will arrive home with a project to be done that involves your Hungarian roots. Perhaps it will be to write the story of your family. Or, it might involve doing a family tree. When that happens, will you be prepared? Are you prepared now to tell the generations to follow where grandma and grandpa came from? Can you pass on their names and the names that preceded them? Do you know when they were born, and when they died? How they made a living? Who were their cousins? Do you know what they looked like? What special and interesting facts do you have about them? Unfortunately, many Americans of Hungarian descent regret that they did not ask important genealogical questions while older generations were alive. This includes the authors of this article. Recently, one of us had the pleasure to attend a family wedding. It was exciting to meet younger generations, now spread across the country, and often married to people of other ethnic backgrounds. And, it was both interesting and challenging to be asked by them about their ancestry. Many of them are really interested, but have little or no information, and don't know how to proceed to learn about the Hungarians in their background. So, to help your little ones complete their homework assignments, and to find yourself a source of delight at family weddings, start putting together the story of your family. Of course, to some degree, learning about your Hungarian family is a lot like learning about most other families of European descent. But, being of Hungarian descent places its own special challenges before the seekers of their Magyar roots. A few years ago, we each had our albums of old pictures, and some recollections of grandparents and even some greatgrandparents. But, there was much more to learn. It all began with the fact that we both had Hungarian ancestors named Krájnyik, - one family living in Lorain, Ohio, and the other in the Bridgeport, Connecticut area. We literally met on the internet where people searching for their ancestors can leave messages asking for help. We spent a great deal of time emailing back and forth, trying to determine if our Krájnyiks were related to each other. We studied documents, shared old photographs, contacted archives in Europe, and worked through a large number of websites. Even though our Krájnyiks at one time lived within 20 kilometers of each other in what is now Eastern Slovakia, just over the present Hungarian border, we have not yet found the "smoking gun" that proves that we are related. Nevertheless, our independent, yet somewhat interrelated searches taught us a great deal about our families, and even more about how one seeks his Hungarian roots. And, now, we would like to share with you some important bits of knowlBob Krányik and Margaret Molnár edge about how you can go about finding those roots. Start Your Search at Home Many clues to your family's past can be right under your nose in a family trunk, a dusty drawer, or a cedar chest. Your first breakthrough might be the finding of a wedding photo, a packet of old letters, or an obituary notice. Hopefully, some thoughtful person wrote the names on the back of the photo, and you were able to match those names with addresses on some old envelopes. Bingo, you know a name, and how that person looked in life. And, you might now know where some family member came from. Old family Bibles can be treasure chests of information. They are usually written in Hungarian, so knowing Hungarian is a definite advantage. But, if you don't, not to worry! You can usually find someone who can translate for you - usually someone from an older generation who may have learned the Magyar tongue from original immigrants. Or, perhaps a more recent arrival from Hungary will step up to help. Margaret: My mother saved letters written between 1906 and 1914 from a person she thought was my great-grandmother's sister in Hungary. The addresses on the envelopes provided answers to me not only about how my great-grandparents spelled their Krájnyik name, but their village of origin - Vaján in the Old Hungary, now Vojany in Slovakia. Bob: How excited I was when I found my grandparents' Bible among my father's things. There was the page recording their wedding day - Agnes Tobis and Imre Krájnyik, married with the date of their The old weathered workbook issued 1897 in Ungvár was made out to Imre Krájnyik, born in Gáva, Szabolcs County, Hungary. Residence id Palágy Ung County Page 5
