One-hundred posts for 100 Years in America

In case you didn't notice...

100 Years in America just quietly passed a milestone: one-hundred posts!

(Thanks to footnoteMaven for the creation of the celebratory poster above!)

Now I know that's not a huge number in the world of blogging, and this blog has not yet even hit its one-year anniversary, but since one-hundred is the significant number here at 100 Years in America I thought it would be right to reminisce and celebrate a little.

100 Years in America began, appropriately enough, with a post about my Croatian great-grandmother Ilona Ujlaki's stop at Ellis Island on her journey to America. Since that first introduction to our family's heritage, you've had the chance to read more about this young mother's trials at Ellis Island, about how Ferencz & Ilona's family grew once they had settled in America, about the suffering of one of their grown children, and about the joyful wedding of one of their daughters (complete with a Flying Cloud).

I introduced another branch of the family from Hungary with their arrival to the U.S. in 1907 by way of Hamburg, Germany. The trip that my great-grandmother Maria Tóth took with her four children was not for the faint-hearted. You might have enjoyed reading about my discovery of her infant Lajos' name on the ship's passenger list - a great-uncle of whom I had never heard. I have still not learned the full story of Lajos' short life, but hope to share it here at 100 Years in America once I do. On the lighter side, Lajos' older brother grew up to inherit a love for fine cars from his father - a trait that has been passed down in the Tóth family to today's youngest generations.

Through the writing of this blog I have not only been given an avenue to share my genealogical research with my extended family members, but have also been able to get into contact with others who are researching their own families' stories. I opened this year with a question: Where was your family in 1908? This question struck a chord with many. As a result I enjoyed a fascinating look back one-hundred years ago through the articles of other family historians.

I hope that you've enjoyed learning about my family's heritage, getting ideas on how to celebrate holidays with Hungarian and Croatian traditions, gaining a few genealogical tips along the way for your own research, and learning a little bit about me through 100 Years in America.

Please join me in celebrating my first one-hundred posts. I hope you'll continue to read and to share this journey with me!