Simple Pleasures

Happy Easter

The Rewards of Utilizing Message Boards

In trying to find more information on a picture of my grandfather, I posted a query on the Rootsweb/Ancestry Hungary message board and included a link to my April 9th blog post . Within 24hrs I received this detailed reply to my query in regards to translating the written portion on the backside.

The handwriting is an address, assuming in Budapest:
Bajnok utca = Champion street
30 I m = House number 30, First floor
Bognár Lászlo = name, in Hungarian last name goes first amerika

You can find Bajnok Street on this Map of Budapest at the left side between L and M sections where TEREZVAROS is written = Teresia Town (Budapest Zone VI/6):

http://www.fsz.bme.hu/hungary/budapest/tkp/b23_200.jpg

The printed text is the photographers name and address:
"OPAL" FENYKEPESZETI MUTEREM = Opal Fotography Studio
BUDAPEST VII = Zone 7, KEREPESI UT = Road
You can find KEREPESI UT, the main Road at the lower middle of the same map.

Another mystery solved.

It's coming.....

The 2010 census - can you believe it - 2010! Not that long ago it would have seemed so far in the future, but now it is coming upon us.
April 1, 2010 is Census Day.

Taken from the U.S. Census Bureau website - Did you know: In 1790, the first census was taken by U.S. marshals on horseback and counted 3.9 million people.

The last census taken in the year 2000 counted more than 281 million people.

The census, taken every 10 yrs, is mandated by the U.S. Constitution.

Purpose (other than genealogy) : Census data are used to distribute Congressional seats to states, to make decisions about what community services to provide, and to distribute $300 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year.
And what we all want to know the most: The April 1st, 1940 census will be released on Sun, April 1st, 2012.

Need Assistance re: Hungarian Army

This photo was taken in Budapest of my Grandfather, Andrew Bauman, before he immigrated to Canada in 1926. He was born in Veszprem, Hungary, Jan 1901. I have included a copy of the back side of this picture postcard - perhaps someone can translate. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who can provide some historical insight to this photograph.

Wordless Wednesday - An Easter Moment

Above is my grandfather, Alexander Kolbush, with his 3 sons, Ralph, George, and Richie.
This picture was taken in their front yard in Jamesburg, NJ, on Easter Sunday.

Anton & Maria Stosz

(Click photo to enlarge)

Great-Grandparents: Anton Stosz b. 25 Oct 1886 in Segethau, Austria-Hungary (now Sagul, Romania), son of Michael Stoss & Anna Wild, married Maria Rauner, daughter of George Rauner and Theresa Ballner, on 25 Jan 1910, and had two daughters, Anna and Theresa.

Maria and Anton Stosz are buried in St. Peter's Cemetery, New Brunswick, Middlesex, NJ

Monument Monday - John Catlin

John Catlin was born 1643 in Connecticut, son of John Catlin and Isabelle Ward. He married Mary Baldwin in Sept. 1662, and they had several children including our ancestor, Mary Catlin. John died in the Deerfield Massachusetts Massacre on 24 Feb 1704.


This monument, erected in his honor in 1911, is located on the corner of Broad and Commerce Streets in Newark, NJ., and reads:

On this Site
John Catlin
Newark's first schoolmaster
opened his School in 1676, holding
it in his home as was the custom
in those days. By vote of the
town's men he was engaged to
"Do his faithful honest and true endeavour
to teach the children or servants of those
as have subscribed...English and also
arethmetick...as much as they are capable
to learn and he capable to teach them."

He was a man of mark in the
community, serving as town's attorney
and later as town's man.
In 1683 he became one of the early
permanent settlers of Deerfield, Mass.
where his services gained for him
the honorable title of "Mr."
He was killed Feb. 29, 1704, in the
defence of his home against an
attack of French and Indians.

He was a guide of youth
and a leader of men

Erected by the Newark Schoolmen's Club
Newark Day, Nov. 6, 1911

My Little Nook of the House - Sat. Night Fun - Genealogy Space

***Genea-Musings Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Challenge - Show us your Genealogy Space***

Okay - I can do that.

This is where you'll find me when I am in the Genealogy Zone. I have found it useful to use two computers simultaneously (the desktop and the laptop to my right) so I can browse the internet on one and key in information on the other without switching back and forth between screen views. I then back up on a jump drive and on both computers to have three current copies of my data in case I have an 'oops' or other traumatic event on one computer.

What you do not see is the bookshelf and cabinet full of notebooks and papers of genealogy quests gathered from pre-internet times to present. I have made good progress in organizing much of my loose papers this past year by creating a drawer of hanging file folders all labeled with a surname or region of study. Over time I go through the papers one by one. If the data has been entered into my genealogy program (I use The Master Genealogist) then I put a green highlighter check on it and file it away. I have the usual 'to do' pile and a 'need follow-up on' pile, and a 'someday I'll get to this' pile; plus a cabinet full of stuff not yet assigned to a pile. This is definitely a long term project - but then again so is genealogy!

Remembering Those That Gave It All

Martin Joseph Wetzel

Pilot, U.S. Army Air Forces
Royal Air Force Ferry Command
Entered the Service from: New Jersey

Died: 14-Aug-41

Buried at: Plot G Row 3 Grave 156
Cambridge American Cemetery
Cambridge, England

Martin wanted to join the fight in WWII before the United States was officially involved and gave his life before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. We recognize his sacrifice and call to serve.

Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial is one of 14 American WWII military cemeteries erected on foreign soil. It began as a temporary cemetery in 1943 on land donated to the United States by Cambridge University. Buried there are over 3800 American servicemen and women who died during WWII. Included in the memorials in this cemetery is the jazz band leader, Glenn Miller, who died Dec 15, 1944, on his way to Paris to set up a Christmas program. The cemetery is maintained by the American Battlements Monuments Commission.

This Day in History - Edward is Crowned

On this day, April 3rd, 1043, Edward, the youngest son of King Ethelred the Unready and his second wife, Emma of Normandy, is crowned at Winchester Cathedral. Known as Edward the Confessor, he was born c.1003 in Islip, Oxfordshire, and was the last King of the house of Wessex to rule England. The founder of Westminster Abbey, the place of coronation and burials of the Kings and Queens of England, it was finished and consecrated just before his death at the age of 62 in 1066.
He was canonized in 1161 by Pope Alexander the Third and in 1163, the newly sainted king's remains were enshrined in Westminster Abbey with solemnities presided over by Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Today he remains the patron saint of the royal family.

From Just a Name to a Whole Family

When I first began researching our family history my first brick wall was my own grandfather. Both my mother and her brother knew nothing about him other than he came from Hungary and had a least one brother. They did not know their grandparents names or the names of his siblings. Andrew Bauman came to the United States in 1929 through Canada, started his family here, and never talked of his past to his children. My first bit of success came when I received a copy of his marriage application from New York City. On it he revealed his parents. This was the first time my mother heard the names of her paternal grandparents:
Frank Bauman and Susanna Grosz.
The second bit of luck came when I located a copy of his Passport application. Here he discloses the town of his birth.

B. Oszlop, Hungary, also known as Bakonyoszlop in the county of Veszprem, Hungary.
Bakonyoszlop is a village located in the Bakony Mountains in Hungary.

Being fairly new to genealogy I can tell you I was quite excited.
It was at this time that I made my first visit to a local Family History Center. There I found a volunteer who was familiar with Hungary and the records available. It was also there that I learned the ways of the microfilm reader, practiced patience, developed a sore shoulder, and learned to decipher what I thought was unreadable handwriting. It all paid off. The LDS had microfilmed the church records for Bakonyoszlop, and a I was able to put together Andrew Bauman's whole family and then some. This was my first big project in researching my family history and the feeling I got when accomplishing this was indescribable. I've have had many other aha moments since then, but the first is always the most memorable ;-)

Wordless Wednesday - Visiting Family

I was asked to give a bit of background on this photo... so here it is: The woman in the photo is Theresa Stosz Hack ( http://tangledtrees.blogspot.com/2009/03/theresa-stosz-of-segenthau-romania.html) With her is her husband, Steve Hack, and his two nephews whom they always referred to as "the twins". I do not know their names. They were always 'the twins'. The picture was taken at a German airport on one of their visits.

In the past people dressed up when travelling by plane or train. Women wore dresses & heels; nothing like the pajamas I saw on one woman that last time I traveled by air. Eeke! I'm all for comfort but that's just wrong!