The social strata of farmers in Eastern European villages

                           It's hard to visualize the concept of serfdom. The people in Slovakia, Hungary and many other countries in Eastern Europe were under serfdom till 1848 (Bosnia was the last country to abolish serfdom in 1918). Jabloncza was in the process of freeing itself from this model of economics after so many centuries. The changes must have rippled through the landowners as well as the former serfs, eventually setting the stage for immigration to America .

Written in the Jablonca census and church records, there are people listed with the occupation of ZSELLER which translates to " tenant farmer" or cotter. It can mean one of two things if one finds an ancestor listed as a "zseller".  I quote from Felix Game's treatise on social classes of the farmer in Austria - Hungary: "The cotter was not part of the first wave of settlers, and had to take smaller, and less well-located acreage, but had the same obligations as the tenant farmer, although in proportion to his smaller holding. Usually occupied a small building on a small parcel of land, on which he grew little beyond his family's personal use.  The zseller worked for others as day laborers, or tradesmen. "  The other occurance is when they are zsellers but not on their own land, or sharing a small building with another family while working as day laborers . Sometimes this happens with extra members of a family who have no inherited land or a newer immigrant to the village looking to work in a vineyard or farm.

                          In example below,  The Keller family listed below not only had a  "katona" - soldier - living with the second family in the same house at Jablonca house number 77 but they worked as day laborers. Sometimes day laborers or tenant farmer is written in latin as " inquilineus ". 

                          NOTE: For anyone interested in Felix Game's research or his great genealogy articles, they are still posted at  http://www.felix-game.ca/index.html#toc

               

House No.

Family No.

Individual No.

Surname

Name

M

F

Birthyear

Rel.

Status

Occupation

work

Birthplace

Native

absence

Literacy

Notes

77

1

1

Keller

Janos

M

1828

REF

Married

Zseller

dayworker

Jablonca

Native

reads/write

2

Rakai

Erzsebet

F

1833

REF

Married

Housewife

dayworker

Jablonca

Native

reads

3

Keller

Janos

M

1856

REF

single

Zseller

dayworker

Jablonca

Native

reads

4

Keller

Maria

F

1860

REF

single

Jablonca

Native

reads

5

Keller

Julianna

F

1869

REF

single

Jablonca

Native

2

1

Bazin

Istvan

M

1845

REF

Married

Zseller

dayworker

Jablonca

Native

none

Military Soldier

Matyus

Julianna

F

1845

REF

Married

Housewife

dayworker

Jablonca

Native

reads

Rakai

Istvan

M

1866

REF

Married

     

Keresztszülő ~ Godparents and their genealogical importance

According to a Hungarian-English dictionary, komaasszony means the godmother of my child;  komám means godfather of my child

"Keresztapa" and "keresztanya" are the actual literal translation of godparents. When working with baptismal records of mostly Hungarian babies, one will notice a custom that differs from the typical godparent designation in the records of other cultures. Most cultures in the European tradition use the siblings of the baby's parents, or the siblings, first cousins or even the grandparents of the baby. Recent immigrants fresh on American soils also used family, the nearest immigrant from the same village, or lastly, a neighbor or another couple that also was having a baby baptized that same day .

But Hungarians tend to like having their buddies for godparents. It's a tradition. And then, the same guy - and his wife (sometimes his daughter or sister if he was not married or widowed) will be the godparents for ALL the children of this same couple. If the godfather happen to die while that couple were still in their child-bearing years, the deceased godparent was replaced by his son or someone from his family to represent him. Although he  could also be replaced by another "Koma" which is like a long-term buddy from youth or bachelorhood, also used as "crony", "friend" or the word "brother", as in the labor unions.

Felix Game, an Austrian Hungarian genealogist, once posted at the Hungary- L list the importance of paying attention to the roles godparents - or the Koma - played in a child's life when working with genealogical records. He mentions, "Often they reciprocate and be each other's 'koma', but not always. Felix also elaborated further in his article 'Preponderance of Evidence' "The fact that the same man will normally act as godfather for all the children, is already a big help when trying to place a child into the correct family. The big bonus is that the godfather has an important privilege: he must be the first one asked to be a witness at his godchild's marriage. If you have seen situations (and who hasn't), where two or three men exist in the same village, and two of them marry girls with the same names, and then you find that two of the fathers also have the same first names, then you know how important it is to have some other dependable way to sort out these people. Look for the name of the witness on the baptism record, you should find him as the godfather.". I highly recommend reading Felix's article on how to use godparents to sort out children born with the same names in the same time period in genealogical investigation.

I further elaborate the role the Koma plays in genealogical research by citing from Peter D. Bell's book, Peasants in Socialist Transition: Life in a Collectivized Hungarian Village, He writes "KOMA - the godfather of a villager's child, or a male for whose children one is a godparent, is one's koma. Such individuals reciprocally refer to each other as koma................ Although more limited in scope than the relationship between relatives, the koma tie was often strong and more emotionally intense than many non- immediate kin ties. In some ways, koma relationship combined the tone of friendship and kinship. This was a function partly of the koma role itself and partly of the fact that koma  generally were chosen from among close friends and often from among relatives. ........... The baptismal koma chosen by a husband or a couple has once usually been one of the best friends of the husband, more often from childhood or bachelorhood. Indeed, " koma" often means just that - a good, male friend of the same age group or a bachelor band of one's youth."  Peter D. Bell further explained the extensions of the Koma in a child's life, by saying  that in most cases, the baptismal godfather were also chosen to be confirmation godparent and was a witness to their wedding.

Whatever the tradition, I have noticed the reciprocity of the godparents in the life of the child. In my own research, I have traced the godparents/koma later being the  "násznagy" at the child's wedding later. In fact, my own Great-Great-Grandfather, Karol Stermenzsky, married the daughter of his godparents who were also his father's " Koma. These are important to note when reading genealogical records and doing cluster studies of your ancestral families. 

 
1) Peasants in Socialist Transition:Life in a Collectivized Hungarian Village.University of California Press, 1984.
2) Preponderance of Evidence. By Felix Game .Austro-Hungarian Web Site : http://www.felix-game.ca/html_files/prepond.html
3)Post from Felix G. Game on Hungary-L. Hard copies owned by me.
4)HUNGARIAN - ENGLISH DICTIONARY : http://www.genealogy.ro/dictionary/hun_eng_k.htm.