Magyar News, 2003. szeptember-2004. augusztus (14. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

2004-04-01 / 8. szám

case of my maternal grandparents, this confirmed their membership in the State Street. Hungarian Reformed church. Although the church no longer exists, the records were transferred to another church which I plan to visit in the future.

Margaret: Don't be discouraged if you come up short with one source. I found no record of the death of my great-grandmother's brother, János (John) Gyiire, though the County was already keeping records of deaths in 1906 when he died. Still I was able to confirm his death, by sunstroke, in August 1906 as the newspaper, "The Lorain Times-Herald" carried two related articles, one the day Gyiire collapsed while shoveling ore at the B & O dock, and the next day reporting his death. Both stories were news accounts. The newspaper is on microfilm at the Lorain Public Library.

Photographs

Look for old family photographs - wedding portraits, communion group photos, and snapshots. We have found that many of the old photographs from the studios in Bridgeport, such as Balkany and Kovács were taken on glass using silver iodide, and are especially clear and focused. They are good candidates for reproduction through scanning for addition to your family history. Photographs have other values as well. They can help establish important dates - weddings, graduations, etc. They can also help us to see family resemblance, and sometimes, to suggest who was related to whom, especially in wedding photos. Photos are even more

in Wallingford

The Gázsa Folk Ensemble, a Folk Music Band from Budapest performed at the Hungarian Community Club in Wallingford in February. Although, the group members are all Hungarians, they have explored in detail the beauty and depth of all cultures in the Carpathian Basin. They performed folk music and dances from Transylvania, Dunántúl, Felvidék and Slovákia, also gypsy dances from Örkö, Transylvania. Their previous 2000 North American tour was praised by The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the Chicago Sun Times as "superb, compelling, irresistible, seductive music". Every one who attended enjoyed the Wallingford performance, and it was a memorable evening. The dancing couple was absolutely beautiful in their costumes and the dances were exiting and free spirited. The concert was followed by a gulyás and palacsinta dinner that the club ladies prepared.

Karolina Szabó

helpful when the names of the individuals have been recorded, so that faces can be connected to names.

Bob: We have a worn group photograph of Hungarian players involved in some type of pageant or dramatization which took place in the Rakoci Hall in the old Hungarian section of Bridgeport. It was taken in 1903 in this hall which was constructed for the Rakoci Association and was the center for many activities related to the Hungarian community. In the photo are some 40 or 50 people, all wearing Hungarian costumes. Shown clearly on the left side of the photo were my newlywed Kránjyik grandparents. Nearby were cousin George Tóbis and my grandfather's sister, Mary Krájnyik. This photo helped us to recognize that our family was active in the community and participated in dramatic activities. It helped us to sense that these were real people, engaged in interesting activities.

Margaret: Time passes, and so do the places our families have occupied. Back in the early 1970s just before the City of Lorain began urban renewal in the old Hungarian enclave in South Lorain where my great-grandmother in 1904 built her little house where we lived when I was a child, my mother and I drove around and took pictures of all the places where her family had resided as well as the places she and my father had lived. I would no longer remember these locations; indeed some of the houses have been tom down, but I am happy to report that we have today a photographic legacy of the family residences.

Bibles, Working Papers and Legal Documents

Many families are lucky to have old family Bibles. These usually contain names and dates related to important events such as births, deaths, and marriages. These dates can be used in conjunction with other information to help flesh out the family chronicle. Working papers were usually issued by the Austro- Hungarian Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries. They contained much valuable information. Since immigrants were especially proud of their U.S. citizenship, these papers are likely to be found wellpreserved and often framed.

Bob: My sister managed to find my paternal grandfather's working papers. They were issued about 1893 and confirmed that my grandfather had been a cabinet maker. His birthplace of Gáva on the Tisza River was also confirmed along with his then current place of residence which was the village of Palágy, now just over the border in Slovakia. Later evidence confirmed that the whole family emigrated from Palágy. This confirmation was helpful, and it also helped show a pattem of mobility about which I will speak later.

Margaret: Naturalization papers are a wonderful source of information if you can find them. Grandpa Sándor (Alex) Molnár's papers were at the County Courthouse in Elyria, Ohio. They gave details about the time and place of his birth as well as his ship passage to the U.S. in 1906, including the name of the ship and dates of passage. (to be continued)

Above: Felvidéki Bagpipe Melodies by Péter Mako.

Above right: Tamás Babus and Barbara Baranyai dance Csárdás. Right: Barbara Baranyai sings with the Gázsa band. Lead violinist István Papp. Dénes Németh violin, Péter Árendás - brácsa, Dániel Szabó - cimbalom, József Bartók - bass.

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