The Major-Gavay Family of Hungary, Part 2

 The Major-Gavay Family of Hungary, Part 2

In Part 1, some background information was presented on the Major and Gavay families of Szepsi, Abauj-Torna, Hungary (now Moldava nad Bodvou, Slovakia) and surrounding towns. Part 2 provides some historical context in which our ancestors lived in old Hungary. 

Historical Context

The earliest known direct Major descendant was Stephan Major known by the baptism of his son, Joseph, in 1812 in Nadaska, Abauj-Torna, Hungary to Stephan Major and Elisabeth Kotsis.  Stephan was probably born in the mid-1770s. The earliest known Gavay descendant was Franciscus Gavay known by the baptism of his son, Kalman, in 1868 to Franciscus Gavay and Elisabeth Tomas in Szepsi, Abauj-Torna, Hungary.  Franciscus was probably born in the 1830s. What was going on in Hungary during the period from 1790-1920?

 

The era between 1790 and 1848 was a particularly turbulent time for Hungarians. With the death of emperor Joseph II, nationalistic fervor, which was just starting to gain momentum, confirmed Magyar (Hungarian) as the official language. Joseph II and his predecessors had attempted to Germanize the region and the formation of a Hungarian state threatened the Hapsburg dynasty and the European powers. Upon his deathbed on 28 January 1790 Joseph II revoked all edicts, with the exception of those on religious tolerance and serfdom. In 1805, shortly after Stephan and Elisabeth had their 2^nd child in Nadaska, laws were first made in Hungarian and Latin – a first step in the recognition of the Hungarian language.

 

• In 1809, Napoleon urged the Hungarians to break away from the Hapsburgs, but the Hungarian nobles, aligned with the Austria, stood against Napoleon. They were decisively defeated by Napoleon’s army in the battle of Gyor in 1809.
• During all this time, remember that the majority of Magyars (and most non-Magyars in Hungary) were peasants.
• From 1835 to 1848, Ferdinand V was King of Hungary. By 1840, The Diet passed an act making Hungarian the country’s official language. On 15 March 1848, revolution broke out in Pest, essentially a revolt against the Hapsburg nobility. Franciscus Gavay and Elizabeth Tomas were probably born during this period.
• On 7 April 1848, The Batthyany government was formed, the first autonomous Hungarian government. Just 7 days later, the Declaration of Independence proclaimed the dethronement of the Hapsburg and the establishment of an independent Hungary. A few days later, the newly formed Hungarian army liberated Pest from the Hapsburgs. Istvan Major and Kalman Gavay were born in the mid-1850s.
• On January 1 1873, Pest and Buda and Obuda were unified under one name: Budapest.  Two years later, Istvan (Stephan) Major and Maria Hagen were married in Szepsi.
  
• In what was to be a portent of World War 1, Bosnia and Herzegovina was occupied and in 1879 a dual alliance was made between the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and Germany and in 1882, Italy joined the alliance.
• Up until 1895, all births, marriages and deaths were recorded in church records. On 1 October 1895, civil registration began. Jeno” Major was born in 1895, so he would not have been found in the civil registration records.
• The period 1903-1906 is referred to as the “great crisis”. Europe was heading for war and alliances were formed and broken largely revolving around instability in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.  After the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914, war was declared on Serbia on 28 July 1914. During this period, Kalman Gavay came to the United States several times, permanently arriving in 1910.
• In 1918, the Austrian empire collapsed with the end of World War 1. Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were formed. Territories that were once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were ceded to Czechoslovakia.
  

By 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Empire included many regions that were neither Hungarian nor Austrian. Many of these regions were Slavic, Romanian, Polish, and even Russian. The region of Abauj-Torna (essentially part of Galacia) was largely Slavic rather than Magyar, so these areas now comprised part of the new nation of Czechoslovakia (later the Abauj-Torna region became part of Slovakia when the Czech republic was split into two: the Czech Republic and Slovakia).

It was under these conditions in Abauj-Torna, where Magyars no longer had a country and were now ethnic outcasts that Eugene and Anna Gavay Major left Europe and immigrated to the United States. Kalman Gavay had immigrated many years before.  

 Part 3 will cover the immigration of the Major and Gavay families to the United States in the early part of the 20th Century.