H is for Hamburg and the Hopes of Emigrants

Little Pista Tóth (Pista means "little Stephen" in Hungarian) was just shy of 2 1/2 years of age when he, his siblings, and his mother boarded the S.S. Pennsylvania in Hamburg, Germany on May 4, 1907. The family had left their home in northeastern Hungary to make a new life in America, where their father had already spent some time. István Tóth had been in Trenton, New Jersey during 1902 and 1903 and then returned to his wife Mária (Németh) Tóth and his two young daughters, Mária and Ilonka. István's young son and namesake, had arrived in 1904. István had then returned to America and awaited the arrival of his family, including the final child born into the family in Hungary: baby Lajos. (You can read more of this family's story here.)

This list of passengers departing Hamburg on May 4, 1907 lists Maria Tóth
of Gelej, Hungary with her children Maria, Ilonka, Pista and baby Lajos.
Father Istvan awaited them in Trenton, New Jersey. (Click to enlarge)

It is quite a picture to imagine this young family from the little village of Gelej, Hungary staying at the Auswandererhallen (Emigrants’ Halls) in Hamburg, Germany awaiting their ocean voyage to America.

Image of Hamburg's Emigrants' Halls thanks to
Ballinstadt Emigration Museum.

The BallinStadt, otherwise known as the Emigrants' City, was a multiple-building facility designed so that passengers arriving by rail from Eastern European countries could be directed straight to the port and avoid passage through the city of Hamburg. According to the Ballinstadt Emigration Museum website, "In the year 1907 alone, a total of nearly 190,000 emigrants departed from Hamburg into an uncertain future. Hamburg had become Germany’s number one emigration port."

The young Tóth family arrived at Ellis Island in New York via the S.S. Pennsylvania of the Hamburg-Amerika line fifteen days after departure from Hamburg. What a trip it must have been for a wiggly 2-year-old little boy, his older sisters, his baby brother, and his poor mother!

The Tóth family arrived in New York on the S.S. Pennsylvania on May 19, 1907. 

Thanks to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York City and the Ballinstadt Emigration Museum in Hamburg, I can visit museums at both little Pista Tóth's port of arrival in America and his port of departure in Germany. What an amazing chance to get a personal glimpse into what this little boy might have experienced just over 100 years ago on his trip to a new world with his family.

Image of the S.S. Pennsylvania of the Hamburg-Amerika Line 
from the Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives: The Future of our Past.

Note: The Staatsarchiv Hamburg has digitized passenger lists for those departing from the port during the years 1850-1934. These Hamburg passenger lists and their handwritten indexes are available through Ancestry.com.



This article was originally published here at 100 Years in America in 2008 as "A little boy, a big ship, and a brand new world". I've reposted it as part of the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge.  Follow me here at 100 Years in America as I try to keep up with the challenge to work through the alphabet while writing my family history.

C is for Cars: The love of fine cars, it's in the genes!

It's not the kind of hereditary trait that I would ever be able to confirm with DNA testing. I've noticed for many years, however, that a love for fine automobiles runs in the Toth family.

Not to mention the many gems in more recent generations, Steve Toth was the owner of a number of humdingers. There was the 1956 convertible pink Cadillac that he bought used in 1957. His wife Mitzi surely enjoyed that car the most out of all of his vehicles, since she has always favored the color pink.

Back in 1943, when World War II was in full swing, Steve ordered a Fleetwood Cadillac. By the time his order was filled, four years had passed. He received his black Fleetwood Cadillac in 1947. (Here he is enjoying a "trunk-side view" from the Fleetwood with his young son Stephen.)

You may have read earlier about Steve's Reo Flying Cloud, the car that he owned during his courtship with Mitzi. They drove off to their honeymoon in style in that car in 1930.

My hunch that this love for fine cars was hereditary was confirmed one day a few years back when I found Steve's father's World War I draft card. István Tóth had arrived from Hungary only a decade or so earlier, and now used the name Steven Toth. Although I don't believe he served in World War I, along with every other male citizen of eligible age, he was required to report to the United States government and fill out the appropriate papers.

Steven's World War I draft registration (pictured below) indicates his occupation at the time. Only ten years after Henry Ford had begun producing his Model T, Steven Toth, according to the document, was working as "Repairer" in the "Boston and M. Car Shop" in Charlestown, Massachusetts.

Another bit of circumstantial evidence? Or definitive proof? I'll leave it to you to decide whether or not this confirms the hereditary nature of this family's appreciation for fine automobiles.

This gene didn't seem to be as strong on the other side of the family - the Ujlaki branch. You see, Frank Ujlaki brought a car home to his family one day, more than likely sometime in the 1920's. In the process of introducing it to his wife and children, he somehow managed to plow into the fence with it. His wife Helen, concerned that the thing was too dangerous, made him take it back. He never owned another car again.

Frank did, however, work as a carpenter for many years. Part of the time he was a "wheelright" building wooden wheels. He also worked jobs buildling wagons and trucks out of timber. It took a lot of mathematical precision, talent and hard work to create the vehicles that he did. But I don't think his wife Helen would ever have let him drive them!



This article was originally published here at 100 Years in America in 2008. I've reposted it as part of the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge.  Follow me here at 100 Years in America as I try to keep up with the challenge to work through the alphabet while writing my family history. I'm way behind getting started, but here goes!

Wordless Wednesday: Trenton, New Jersey Post Office, c. 1909

Could this have been the building from which Steven Toth sent letters to his wife and family giving them information about his new life in America?

Did he write? If so, how often? He missed the birth of his second child. Her birth record lists him in "Trenton, Amerika". Was this because he didn't get his wife's letter in time?

Image courtesy of Mercer County, New Jersey Vintage Postcards.

István Tóth: The elusive "John Smith" of my Hungarian family tree

In the world of the Hungarian people, a man named István Tóth is as common as an American named John Smith. Take that Hungarian and transplant him to America, and he becomes Stephen Toth - not quite as common as the John Smiths who have become his new neighbors, but still just as difficult for his great-granddaughter to distinguish from the many other Hungarian-Americans named Stephen Toth.

My genealogical search for my great-grandfather has been (and continues to be) a challenge for me. His common Hungarian name has sometimes made it difficult for me to track him down. Born in 1874 in the village of Mezőkeresztes in what was then the district of Mezőkövesdi in Borsod County, Hungary, István Tóth was one of two babies born of the same name to appear in the Roman Catholic Church records of that locality during a period of several years. A few clues such as his birth month (as listed on later records), his family's residence, and the name of one of his siblings helped me to narrow my search down to the right István Tóth. Here he is listed in the Roman Catholic parish registry for Mezőkeresztes in 1874:

As an adult, my great-grandfather traveled back and forth from his home and family in Gelej, Hungary (a village very near to his birthplace of Mezőkeresztes) across the Atlantic several times before finally settling in America with his family.

Here listed within one of his daughters' birth records in 1903 as a törvényes atya (the legal father), it is interesting to note István's lakóhelye (place of residence): "jelenleg Trenton Amerika", meaning "currently Trenton, America".


As far as I have determined, István usually traveled alone - his wife and children made their voyage to America separately on another ship after what I assume was István's last visit back to Hungary. My great-grandfather's common name has made it difficult for me to narrow down his passenger lists from the many other István Tóths that made similar trips during the years that he traveled. Thanks to his children's birth records, I know that he made at least two trips to America before finally settling in Trenton. I have unfortunately not been able to confirm even one ship passenger manifest for him yet.

His wife and children, however, were easy to recognize once I found them. (Read more of their story at A little boy, a big ship and a brand new world, Lajos long forgotten: An immigrant baby's story, Update on baby Lajos: His arrival at Ellis Island, and On babies and trans-Atlantic crossings).

István, who became Steven/Stephen in America, first settled with his family in the U.S. in Trenton, New Jersey. He is one of five Stephen Toths that resided in the city during the year 1908, according to the city directory. Another instance with too many possibilities to narrow down easily thanks to Stephen Toth's common Hungarian name!

My real dilemma with my great-grandfather has been my search for records that tell the story of the end of his life. Various records in the early 20th-century (censuses and city directories) indicate his wife as a "widow". Interestingly enough, these records alternate between other records in intervening years where he is listed with his family or where new children were born into the family.

Note the 1908 and 1909 city directory listings for what may be my Stephen Toth and his family in Trenton, New Jersey. Stephen is with the family in 1908, but Mary, a "widow", appears at the same address in the 1909 directory.

1908 Trenton city directory listings for Toth

1909 Trenton city directory listings for Toth

A year later what is clearly my Toth family appears residing in Trenton, father included, in the 1910 U.S. Census.

This pattern occurred later within city directories for the Toth family in Massachusetts. Mary appears to have sometimes labeled herself a "widow" when questioned about her family, although her husband was probably just absent.

It appears that Stephen Toth was not always "around", although he appears to have remained a presence in his family's lives for many years. He is conspicuously missing from this formal family portrait taken of the Toths about 1929.

I have word, however, from one of his daughter-in-laws that Stephen Toth was alive and well in New Jersey at some point during the 1930s. Although the rest of his family was living in Massachusetts at the time, she remembered visiting him there in New Jersey with her husband, Stephen's son.

My questions: Where did my great-grandfather Stephen Toth spend the rest of his life after he apparently left his family in Massachusetts? How long did he live? Where and when did he die, and where is he buried?

These questions have troubled me for some time. There does not seem to be a Social Security record for him. Because of this and because of his birthdate, I assume that he may not have lived past the 1930s or 1940s.

Did Stephen Toth resettle in Trenton, his first American city of residence, after leaving his family in Massachusetts? I may never know the reasons why he made the choices that he did, but it would be nice to at least finally know the genealogical facts regarding the end of his life.

Great-Grandpa, whom so many of your family members never knew: here's hoping that I'll finally find your whereabouts and learn a little more about the missing story of your life.

Sources:

Hungary. Borsod. Mezőkeresztes. Anyakönyvek, 1769-1895. Római Katólikus Egyház, Keresztespüspöki. FHL 623394, page 95. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Hungary. Borsod. Gelej. Állami anyakönyvek, születtek [births], 1895-1908. Gelej (Borsod) Anyakönyvi Hivatal. FHL 2227088, item 5, page 628. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
City Directory (Trenton, New Jersey: The city, 1908), Toth listings.
City Directory (Trenton, New Jersey: The city, 1909), Toth listings.
1910 U.S. census, Mercer County, New Jersey population schedule, City of Trenton, enumeration district (ED) 59, sheet 13B, Stephen Toth; digital images, ProQuest (http://www.heritagequestonline.com/hqoweb/library/do/index: accessed March 2009); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, roll 674.
Toth family portrait. Photograph ca 1929. Digital image. Privately held by the author, United States. 2009

Author's Note:

Thanks to Amy Lenertz Coffin of We Tree for the suggestion of Weekly Genealogy Blogging Prompt #12: to post a genealogy "brick wall" problem to share with others. This genealogist would be very grateful to anyone who might be able to provide any further clues on the life of Stephen Toth (1874-?) of Mezőkeresztes and Gelej, Hungary; Trenton, New Jersey; and various towns in Massachusetts (including Wilmington, Malden and Cambridge).

On the hunt for Hungarians in Trenton, New Jersey

In the process of looking for information about ancestors residing in Trenton, New Jersey in the early 20th-century, I found a helpful resource: the Trenton Historical Society. With help from the Trenton Public Library's Local History & Genealogy Trentoniana section, the Trenton Historical Society has placed data from seven of its city directories online, spanning the years 1844 to 1920.

I am particularly interested in István & Maria (Németh) Tóth and their family who arrived in Trenton in the early 20th-century from Gelej and Mezőkeresztes, Hungary. I looked up their surname in the 1900 and 1920 directories. It seems that Toths didn't arrive until after 1900, but when they came they did so in large numbers. Thirty-three listings for Toths occur in the 1920 Trenton directory. Unfortunately, my family members had come after 1900 and had already moved on to Massachusetts by 1920 so they were not listed.

I found interesting reading in the historical society's 1929 history, including an overview of the Magyar population of the city at the time. A History of Trenton: 1679-1929 has a chapter entitled Trenton Citizens of Foreign Origin. It includes a section on Hungarians, stating the following statistics on the number of Magyars in Trenton:

1900 - 1,494
1910 - 4, 980
1920 - 4,042

It looks like my family was one of the more nomadic Hungarian immigrant families. They arrived in Trenton when most other Hungarian families did, and left a few short years afterward.

The rest of the 1929 history includes a description of the character of the Hungarian people and the Hungarian neighborhood of the city.

According to the Trenton Historical Society authors in 1929, "The Hungarian makes a valuable workman and is quiet, thrifty, industrious, home-loving and sturdy. By nature he is sociable and finds company necessary in his scheme of life. This accounts for the courtesy and politeness of the people."

I hope these glowing words applied to all of my family members!

It was helpful for me to read the overview of the Hungarian neighborhood in Trenton circa 1929. According to the book, "In Trenton the Hungarians occupy more than thirty-five different streets in whole or in part. All that section of Trenton lying south of Bridge Street, extending many blocks east and west, all the way down to what was formerly Wharton Street, now merged in South Clinton Avenue, is populated by Hungarians".

Now to find the home of István & Maria (Németh) Tóth, and the final resting place of their little Lajos...

Interested in getting a peek back at Trenton, New Jersey one-hundred years ago? View these local WZBN-TV videos for a look back (though not great video-quality, they provide a little bit of interesting history): Trenton Makes, The World Takes and Trenton 100 Years Ago.

Lajos long forgotten: an immigrant baby's story

"Lajos." (Pronounced lah-yos).

"Lajos."

The name is Hungarian for Louis.

I can't help but wonder when the name "Lajos" was last spoken by someone in my family.

I spoke the name "Lajos" with amazement when I found the May 4, 1907 ship passenger list that showed my Tóth family ancestors coming to America from Hungary via Hamburg and the ship U.S.S. Pennsylvania. The names of the Tóth family members traveling on the ship were listed as follows:
Maria, age 25 (my great-grandmother, actually age 23)

Maria, age 7 (her eldest daughter, actually age 6)

Ilona, age 3 (the second daughter, actually age 4 - whom I knew to be Aunt Helen: she had made some beautiful quilts that I remember fondly from my childhood, and I had recently visited with her daughter)

Pista, age 2 (little Stephen, not yet 2 1/2 years old - my grandfather, the last child known to have been born to the family while they lived in Hungary - he was mistakenly listed as female on this passenger list)

But listed below was another name: Lajos.

I had never heard anyone mention his name. A baby aged 6 months, the passenger list stated. He was an infant among the travelers on the trip to America. What had become of him?

Thanks to my local Family History Library, I had access to the civil birth records from the village of Gelej, Borsod County, Hungary where the family was from. I had recently searched for the records of each of the children of István & Maria (Németh) Tóth - from 1900 through 1904. I had found Maria Tóth, born November 3, 1900.

The next child was Ilona Tóth, born January 23, 1903.
It was a thrill to find my grandfather's name and date of birth, which was actually a few days different from the date we had always celebrated. Baby István Tóth, his father's namesake, was born on December 13, 1904.
I had stopped after finding my grandfather's record because I knew him to be last child born in Europe. That was a mistake on my part.

In a matter of days after finding Lajos' name on the passenger list of the U.S.S. Pennsylvania I was able to go back to the microfilms of the village registry and, sure enough, there was the name of baby Lajos: born December 2, 1906.

I spoke his name tenderly and my mind filled with questions. What must it have been like for my great-grandmother on that trip from Hungary to Germany and then on to the United States? She had traveled not only with three children, as I had thought, but without her husband and with a young baby. I had always been inspired by the thought of my great-grandmother Ilona Ujlaky's trip with her ill toddler who arrived at Ellis Island in 1909. Now, here was another great-grandmother whose trip posed even more of a challenge. How did she make it through such a difficult trial? And what had become of her baby, Lajos?

Last month I posted a twenty-five minute Ancestors episode about Ellis Island immigration here at 100 Years in America within my article entitled: The "isle of hope and tears" revisited. Along with other stories of Ellis Island and its immigrants, the video tells the touching story of a woman's discovery of her great-aunt's baby's name on the passenger list (who had been unknown to family members of the current generation) and her resulting search for the baby's final resting place.

I had watched the video with interest, touched by the story, with no idea that I would find myself in the same type of search for my unknown great-great-uncle: baby Lajos Tóth.

Did Lajos make it through the trip, or was he buried at sea? If he did make it to America, how long did he live, and where is he buried? In New York, where the family arrived, or in New Jersey where they first settled?

Unfortunately I cannot seem to find the family's arrival passenger list at Ellis Island. I have searched using various fields within Steve Morse's One-Step Ellis Island webpages, but still to no avail. But I will continue to do so. I feel compelled to learn the full story of baby Lajos and his short life.

In the meantime, I can't help but wonder when the name "Lajos" was last spoken in my family. Did his father, having arrived in America before his family, ever even see his young son? Did his siblings remember him years later as they spent their childhoods in America? Did his mother avoid mention of his name because of the painful memories that it brought to the surface for her?

"Lajos."

Born over one-hundred years ago, he lived such a short life, but he is a part of my family and its history forever.

Author's notes:
For the continuation of baby Lajos Tóth's story, see Update on baby Lajos: his arrival at Ellis Island.
I had originally written the post entitled A little boy, a big ship and a brand new world, also about this family's trip to America, with a few errors. Because of Stephen Tóth's naturalization records I had understood that he had arrived via the ship Amerika. I had made the assumption that his family had traveled with his father, and I was unaware at that time of the existence of baby Lajos. My discovery of the passenger list for the family's trip on the ship U.S.S. Pennsylvania of the Hamburg-Amerika line gave me more accurate information and I have corrected my original post to reflect this change.

Sources:

Hungary. Borsod. Gelej. Állami anyakönyvek, születtek [births], 1895-1908. Gelej (Borsod) Anyakönyvi Hivatal. FHL 2,227,088, item 5, pages 583, 628, 660, 704. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934 [database online]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc. 2006. Original data: Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Bestand: 373-7 I, VIII (Auswanderungsamt I). Mikrofilmrollen K 1701 - K 2008, S 17363 - S 17383, 13116 - 13183.

A Valentine tribute to my ancestors

In honor of St. Valentine's Day today I thought I would remember some of the married couples in the Ujlaki and Toth family trees whose wedding dates I know (and some I don't).

Here's to all the loving couples in this extended family (several generations back). Without them there would be no family tree!

Stjepan & Magdalena (Bedenica) Bence

Josip & Terezija (Globlek) Ujlaki

Ferencz & Ilona (Bence) Ujlaki
Married February 15, 1905 in Legrad, Hungary's Catholic Church (now in Croatia)

Juro & Katarina (Bence) Simon

Istvan & Louisa (Bence) Vidakovic

Adam & Katarina Bence

Josef & Barbára (Nagy) Németh

István & Mária (Németh) Tóth
Married in Gelej or Korlat, Hungary

The love of fine cars: it's in the genes

It's not the kind of hereditary trait that I would ever be able to confirm with DNA testing. I've noticed for many years, however, that a love for fine automobiles runs in the Toth family.

Not to mention the many gems in more recent generations, Steve Toth was the owner of a number of humdingers. There was the 1956 convertible pink Cadillac that he bought used in 1957. His wife Mitzi surely enjoyed that car the most out of all of his vehicles, since she has always favored the color pink.

Back in 1943, when World War II was in full swing, Steve ordered a Fleetwood Cadillac. By the time his order was filled, four years had passed. He received his black Fleetwood Cadillac in 1947. (Here he is enjoying a "trunk-side view" from the Fleetwood with his young son Stephen.)

You may have read earlier about Steve's Reo Flying Cloud, the car that he owned during his courtship with Mitzi. They drove off to their honeymoon in style in that car in 1930.

My hunch that this love for fine cars was hereditary was confirmed one day a few years back when I found Steve's father's World War I draft card. István Tóth had arrived from Hungary only a decade or so earlier, and now used the name Steven Toth. Although I don't believe he served in World War I, along with every other male citizen of eligible age, he was required to report to the United States government and fill out the appropriate papers.

Steven's World War I draft registration (pictured below) indicates his occupation at the time. Only ten years after Henry Ford had begun producing his Model T, Steven Toth, according to the document, was working as "Repairer" in the "Boston & M. Car Shop" in Charlestown, Massachusetts.

Another bit of circumstantial evidence or definitive proof? I'll leave it to you to decide whether or not this confirms the hereditary nature of this family's appreciation for fine automobiles.

In the meantime, Bill West is organizing a virtual genealogy parade over at West in New England. What better addition than a few fine cars to carry the dignitaries at the beginning of the parade? In honor of Steve Toth and his descendants, I'd like to submit the Reo Flying Cloud, 1947 black Fleetwood Cadillac and 1956 convertible pink Cadillac to the virtual parade.

Unfortunately, if they were attending, the Ujlaki family would probably have to walk alongside the parade. You see, Frank Ujlaki brought a car home to his family one day, more than likely sometime in the 1920's. In the process of introducing it to his wife and children, he somehow managed to plow into the fence with it. His wife Helen, concerned that the thing was too dangerous, made him take it back. He never owned another car again.

Frank did, however, work as a carpenter for many years. Part of the time he was a"wheelright" building wooden wheels. He also worked jobs buildling wagons and trucks out of timber. It took a lot of mathematical precision, talent and hard work to create the vehicles that he did. They would make very nice entries into any parade, I'm sure. But I don't think his wife Helen would let him drive them.

This post has been brought to you by Cadillac.

(Just kidding, but I thought you might enjoy seeing this 1956 ad for the pink Cadillac. It's not the convertible version, but it's some car, don't you think?)

A little boy, a big ship, and a brand new world

Little Pista Tóth (Pista means "little Stephen" in Hungarian) was just shy of 2 1/2 years of age when he, his siblings, and his mother boarded the S.S. Pennsylvania in Hamburg, Germany on May 4, 1907. The family had left their home in northeastern Hungary to make a new life in America, where their father had already spent some time. István Tóth had been in Trenton, New Jersey during 1902 and 1903 and then returned to his wife Mária (Németh) Tóth and his two young daughters, Mária and Ilonka. István's young son and namesake, had arrived in 1904. István had then returned to America and awaited the arrival of his family, including the final child born into the family in Hungary: baby Lajos. (You can read more of this family's story here.)

This list of passengers departing Hamburg on May 4, 1907 lists Maria Tóth
of Gelej, Hungary with her children Maria, Ilonka, Pista and baby Lajos.
Father Istvan awaited them in Trenton, New Jersey. (Click to enlarge)

It is quite a picture to imagine this young family from the little village of Gelej, Hungary staying at the Auswandererhallen (Emigrants’ Halls) in Hamburg, Germany awaiting their ocean voyage to America.

Image of Hamburg's Emigrants' Halls thanks to
Ballinstadt Emigration Museum.

The BallinStadt, otherwise known as the Emigrants' City, was a multiple-building facility designed so that passengers arriving by rail from Eastern European countries could be directed straight to the port and avoid passage through the city of Hamburg. According to the Ballinstadt Emigration Museum website, "In the year 1907 alone, a total of nearly 190,000 emigrants departed from Hamburg into an uncertain future. Hamburg had become Germany’s number one emigration port."

The young Tóth family arrived at Ellis Island in New York via the S.S. Pennsylvania of the Hamburg-Amerika line fifteen days after departure from Hamburg. What a trip it must have been for a wiggly 2-year-old little boy, his older sisters, his baby brother, and his poor mother!

The Tóth family arrived in New York on the S.S. Pennsylvania on May 19, 1907. 

Thanks to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York City and the Ballinstadt Emigration Museum in Hamburg, I can visit museums at both little Pista Tóth's port of arrival in America and his port of departure in Germany. What an amazing chance to get a personal glimpse into what this little boy might have experienced just over 100 years ago on his trip to a new world with his family.

Image of the S.S. Pennsylvania of the Hamburg-Amerika Line 
from the Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives: The Future of our Past.

Note: The Staatsarchiv Hamburg has digitized passenger lists for those departing from the port during the years 1850-1934. These Hamburg passenger lists and their handwritten indexes are available through Ancestry.com.