Finding your Hungarian Female Ancestor

Inspired by an article written by Liza Alzo, the Slovakian researcher and writer, [1][2], on finding female ancestors, there are some guidelines that she listed that are practical for searching for your own Hungarian female ancestor. They are all really great but I find Lisa’s suggestions in post No. 4 really very helpful.

See Five Strategies For Finding Forgotten Females

The one I want to reflect on is No. 4

4. Track Her through Time

The suggestion is to make the woman’s own timeline. 

What record did her name first appear to you? 

Is there a marriage record?

Was it a census?  

Was she a witness to an event as in the baptism of her child? 

Was she a witness to an event as in the baptism of someone elses's child ? 

Was she found mentioned in an obituary or her name engraved on a tombstone ? 

Is there an obituary?

I find myself sketching out on a poster board (or using the timeline features in my genealogy software) to see her life in terms of the records of events I collected concerning her and her family.

Sometimes you do not have her name but you find her in a record as a “Mrs.” only. I have a few “Janosne Nagy” (Mrs. Janos Nagy) that I need to sort out in one village. In my experience,  it seems that the Reformed or Calvinist Church records seem fond of letting a woman, who gave birth to maybe ten or eleven children, go unnamed! There is nothing like combing through these kinds of baptisms while hoping the minister slips just once and writes in, at least, her given (first) name !

How to find the maiden name of these elusive female ancestors ?

Many times I have discovered the married woman's maiden name in the godparents column.

Where did she die?

I have found many death records miles away from where the married women lived, especially after she was widowed, living with her adult children. That requires following each of this woman's children from birth, marriage, death and burial records of her children.

[1]Five Strategies For Finding Forgotten Female (by Lisa Alzo, 6 May 2010)

Lisa Alzo's Blog[2]

About the 1869 Hungarian census

       The 1869 Hungarian census was a population census conducted by the Kingdom of Hungary and it's stored in the Hungarian National Archives. It was also the first census done after feudalism ended and the peasants were emancipated. For research purposes, it provides a great framework to finding other records in doing family history in Hungary. This website was basically inspired by the transcriptions  I did of many villages in the 1869 Hungarian census. It would only hold interest to people who are related to the surnames from these villages and probably great amusement to the people who actually live there. I have never traveled to Hungary; only researched the records for my families first, and now, do research for others. I can also help you locate the census you need to search for your family if you want to try reading the census yourself. I also have an index of many villages in the Abauj~Torna regions.

                           Here is the link for some of the 1869 Hungarian Censuses free online if you want to read them yourself. This website is labeled Slovakia 1869 Census because many parts of Hungary are now located in Slovakia. The census forms are written in the Hungarian language (or sometimes German).

                      https://familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://familysearch.org/searchapi/search/collection/1986782

Hungarian research and passports

                                         Sometimes the key to researching your immigrant ancestor from Hungary is right in your own home -  the passport. Many immigrants never throw out their passports because it was their only form of identification in the new country. The passport was usually kept in a special purse or drawer. Sometimes it was brought out because it was a reminder of home. Oftentimes, it may have been retrieved from it's hiding spot when experiencing tough times in the new country. There is no doubt that a passport sticks around, possibly throughout the immgrant's lifetime. 

                                         Ancestry's website has many passport databases. Some are indexed; some can be browsed online. Some examples in the card catalog range from the Emergency Passport Applications to the standard U.S Passport Applications, 1795-1920 which is frequently updated. All are catalogued under the Immigration & Travel section. There is a database you do not want to miss for Hungarian research called the "Emergency Passport Applications, 1915-1916: US Consulate in Budapest". Not only are the applications chockful of vital information about the applicants but the photographs tells a story. They may be the only photographs you can find for an ancestor. As you will notice in these particular examples, there are very few families together. Usually it's the man alone, some women alone or the mother with children. Anyone that researches Hungarian immigrants realizes that it was the pattern of the man going first to the United States, boarding in a rooming house while working at the mills or mines that hired them. When they collected enough funds, they sent for their wives and children. 

                                      These passport photographs from the passport applications were assembled carefully into albums by Louis Takács. Louis is a researcher who studied anthropology and continues his interests in working with records. He did an amazing job of sorting, arranging and collating the passport photographs together. There is a poignant story in each one of them. So much wariness in their faces about their upcoming journey, yet some of them looked to hardly contain their excitement. It was a time when they wore their Sunday best for a studio photograph. Some of the photographs appear to be family portraits that were already snapped outside and brought into the passport office. Some could sign their names; some signed with their mark. Many were unsigned. 

                                      The  "Passport from Hungary, 1916-1925" pictures albums aptly called "mákvirág" are remarkable here at Flicker at : https://www.flickr.com/photos/64267112@N03/sets/

                                             For separate collections :

                                     https://flic.kr/s/aHsjYPiwBE

                                     https://flic.kr/s/aHsjYHPv3z

                                     https://flic.kr/s/aHsjYBRgzL

            The link to the index for the database is at Ancestry if you want to search through the actual passports yourself  at : http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1174

On the right side panel, under "Browse this Collection", is a dropdown menu with many options to explore for your immigrant's passport.

You can also search for them at FamilySearch too at : https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/500311?availability=Family%20History%20Library

Hungarian Records and Twins

     
         When researching old records from Hungary, one will come upon the mention of twins in the Latin words of Gemelli (could mean male, or male and female), Gemellae (girl twins) or Gemini. In Hungarian, ikrek (twin), két (as in two infants), kett, kettos or ketts gyermek.

   In this record, on July 9th 1756, we see fraternal twins - GEMINI - as it is written in Latin. Although not in this particular example, I always wondered about the popularity of naming fraternal twins, "Adam and Eve" for a boy and girl births or "Peter and Paul" for male twins. I see this naming occurrence in Hungarian and German records, even in baptismal records of twins born to immigrants in America. 

   There must have been something in the water in this town, Morvaszentjános, in upper Poszony. In this one particular record, in the span of one week, there are THREE more sets of twins born between the 22 Oct and 31 Oct, 1756 week ~ “Catherina & Elisabeth“ on 29 Oct; “Barbara & Dorothy“ on 31 Oct  and  “Andreas & ??”.  

     Here is an example of an "Adam and Eve" naming for twins. I frequently wonder about the survival rates for twins so always check ahead in the death records in the same time frame.