Sunday, February 17, 2008

Back and forth across the Kingdom of Hungary

In addition to continued stories of the Ujlaki and related families from today's Međimurje region of Croatia (formerly Hungary's Zala County), 100 Years in America readers will find a new focus on another set of families and another area of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Tóth, Németh and Nagy families from Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen County in northeastern Hungary became related by marriage to the Ujlaki family after their arrival in America a century ago. They came from the towns of Gelej, Keresztes (or Mezőkeresztes), and Korlat in the mountainous region of Hungary near what is today the border of Slovakia. I'm looking forward to digging further into this side of the family, thanks in part to the nice list of linked sites on János Bogárdi's Radix: a great online source for Hungarian genealogy.

Thanks to a mention of 100 Years in America on the Radix Log - Hungarian Genealogy News Blog, I was reminded of the myriad of good starting places at the Radix site, including a Hungarian place locator and index, and a Hungarian surname index. Radix Forum is an online discussion forum for communication with other Hungarian genealogy researchers. I had lots of fun at a new feature linked to the Radix site: the Topographical Postcards Index. It gave me a nice glimpse into various towns surrounding the areas where my ancestors lived.

If you have Hungarian ancestry and are looking to get started learning about your family's heritage, Radix is a great place to begin for help on a trip back to your Hungarian roots, no matter which side of the Kingdom of Hungary you may find them. I'm looking forward to traipsing back and forth across the land of St. Stephen in the continued search for my heritage. See you there!

7 comments:

  1. This post was most informative as usual. My dad's maternal grandmother was Justina HODICK (married name). I am exploring maiden names of Nauchodile, Nahodil, Nahadil, and Nahodyl. Dad always thought it was the first spelling. A Bible somewhere in the family listed a Fuenfkirchen, Austria as her birthplace. I am exploring Pecs, Hungary as the current placename for this town, although there may also be a small village of Fuenfkirchen still in Austria (it has a castle).

    Both of these suppositions were garnered via my own research (limited) and a response to an ancestry.com message board post quite a while ago. US Census records indicate Czechoslavakia as Justina's birthplace. I really need to start learning up on the Austrio-Hungarian era and figuring all this out.

    Do you have a subscription to Radix? I didn't know it existed prior to your post, and it looks like it may be helpful to me.

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  2. Wish I did have Hungarian ancestry! I lurk (approximately)next door in Galicia/Ukraine, searching away...

    I have tagged you for a meme, no obligation but wanted to let you know!

    Cheers, Lidian

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  3. I'm glad that you found this post helpful, Colleen. No, I don't have a subscription to Radix, but I may do that now that I'm getting more serious about researching my northeastern Hungarian families. I've enjoyed many of the links and free resources on the Radix site.

    Check out my Hungarian Links list on the sidebar for more Hungarian genealogical resources.

    The Austro-Hungarian Empire can be confusing. This is one area of the world where history has to come before genealogy if you want to really make progress.

    Hope you enjoy the process...

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  4. Any luck on your KORLAT relatives ? I ordered some 1869 census films and believe that town is on my roll , although my family would not be from that village . I will look for your family names as I will quickly glance through it for my names anyway .......

    Magda ( researching NAGY,MESZ,HALUSKA, LADIKOVSKY,SZABO, SEBO ,LORINTZ , RAKAI , STERMENSZKY --all in & towns surrounding Jabloncza, Abauj ,Hungary (now Jablonicca , Slovakia )~ Torna , Derenk , Szadvar,Szogliget, Dobodil & more .

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    1. Lisa , Thanks so much for visiting my website and leaving encouraging comment . Believe me , I did not think I had time to do it. I have been following " 100 years " for awhile and always look forward to it immensely . I hope to somehow see you at a convention sometime . Where do you post a convention schedule ??
      My Nana's name was Helen too and like you , I was totally inspired by her to do the family history . Please keep going for us . The pictures , the stories , the travels and experiences are so interesting .

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    2. Nice to find that you are the same Magda who I corresponded with previously! I love your name - my great-great-grandmother was named Magdalena.

      Thanks for the nice comments. I would love to meet up with you at a conference sometime. I don't have a conference schedule posted - my busy family has prevented me from making too many of those, but I hope that will change in the near future!

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  5. Hello Magda -

    Thanks very much for your comment and your email message. I replied to your email but am out of town and having trouble sending mail. You should get that message soon.

    I haven't done any further research on Korlat lately, although it is my plan to. As far as I know my direct ancestors lived there only a short time, although there may have been other branches of the family who were longer-term residents. Thank you for the offer to check for my family's surnames. I appreciate you doing so.

    I look forward to hearing from you again soon. Thanks for reading and best wishes on your continued search for Hungarian ancestors!

    Lisa

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For more from Lisa, visit Smallestleaf.com.

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