Great Grandmother Maria was born 12 Jan 1869 in Budapest, Hungary. Oral family history has it that her mother died when she was still young. Maria was the youngest of several children and her father, not being able to handle all the extra responsibilities, gave her to a Jewish family to be raised as a servant.
She married Ignatz J. Kollain and they immigrated to the U.S. in 1909. They were residing in NYC in 1912; then moved to Jamesburg, NJ, prior to 1920. Maria Kollain died 12 Oct. 1957 in Jamesburg, Middlesex, NJ. Because of her past, researching Maria has been very frustrating. Her parents were listed as 'unknown' on her death cert. We gleened the date and place of Maria's birth from her husband, Ignatz's naturalization papers. Interestingly her older children cited her maiden name as Bergner while the younger children cited Pergel on their documents.
3 comments:
O what a tantalizing project you have with Maria!
Hope you can identify which surname is which (Bergner, Pergel, or other) and break down your brick wall.
I noticed this 2009 post as I was reading your WASSAIL recipe . Have you had more research on the G-Grandmother , Maria , to prove her name and identity??
Magda
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