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. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks-Week 7: An Unusual Source

 

My grandmother, Gertrude McDonough (daughter of Frank McDonough and Mary Doris), had an autograph book (entries dated 1907-1920), which provided the evidence that linked Mary Doris to her brother and subsequently confirming the parents of Mary Doris and her birthplace in Ireland.

 

 

My grandmother was born in Greenwich, Connecticut on 22 July 1891. Her parents, Frank McDonough and Mary Doris came separately to the U.S. from Ireland about 1881 and were married in Greenwich on 25 September 1887.

 

The Irish birthplace of my g. grandmother, Mary Doris, was a mystery.   After several years of research, I did discover a few things:

• She was born circa 1860 based on the Federal census records, age at her marriage, age at the birth of her children, and age on her death certificate (which had the name of her parents wrong, but that’s another story!)
• The Doris surname was prevalent in County Longford, Ireland. A search of the available indexes settled on a Mary Doris baptized 12 April 1860 to James Doris and Catherine Lackey in Ballinalee, Clonbroney Parish, Co. Longford. This family was also suggested by a genealogist that was hired working in Ireland. There was no one else named Mary Doris of the right age in Ireland, except for this family. 

 

• The death, in November [year obscured], of a Catherine Doris, was recorded in Mary Doris’ family bible having died in Brooklyn, NY. She did not indicate a relationship, but it was the only Doris name mentioned in her Bible.

• The death certificate of a Catherine Doris in Manhattan, New York on 3 November 1898 indicated that her husband was James Doris and that her parents were William Lackey and Bella Lackey. 

So I had good reason to suspect that my g. grandmother was the same as this Mary Doris, born in Clonbroney Parish, Co. Longford in the town of Ballinalee to James Doris and Catherine Lackey and that she had a brother, Patrick Doris.

 

But was that enough to say that this Mary Doris born in 1860 in Ireland was my g. grandmother?

 

Enter my grandmother’s autograph book.  I had this little book in my possession, which was given to me by my mother. I had looked through it and tucked it away (trying careful to keep it in an archive-safe storage). The pages in this book contains sentiments, witty poems, and well wishes from friends and family from about 1907-1920.  

 

On several pages were writings and sentiments from a Marguerite Doris (sometimes called Rita), which she signed as “your cousin.” On another page were the signatures of Marguerite as well as Katherine Mary and Francis Doris, which were assumed to be Marguerite's siblings.

 

 

Who were these cousins? I went looking for a family that had these three siblings together in the same household.

 

Research in the NY State census and Federal census for New York identified one such family:  the 1905 state census as well as the 1900 and 1910 Federal census for Manhattan has the family of Patrick and Katherine Doris and three of his children: Marguerite, Katherine M., and Francis.

Patrick was born about 1865, about the right age to be Mary’s brother. Furthermore in the 1900 census his father, James Doris, age 70, is living with Patrick’s family.  

 

Is this the brother of Mary Doris and my grandmother’s cousins Marguerite, Katherine Mary and Francis that wrote in her book?

 

Using the clue of the cousins in my grandmother’s autograph book led me to this Patrick Doris and I was able to find his marriage record, which records his parents as James Doris and Katherine Lackey. He was baptized 13 May 1866 in Ballinalee, Cl.onbroney Parish, Co. Longford, the same village, parish and parents as Mary Doris.

 

Finally, a gravestone was found in Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York, erected by Patrick Doris, naming his parents as from Co. Longford, Ireand. The stone reads:

 

“ERECTED BY

PATRICK DORIS

IN MEMORY OF

HIS BELOVED MOTHER

CATHERINE DORIS

DIED NOV 3RD 1898

A NATIVE OF

CO. LONGFORD, IRELAND

FATHER

JAMES DORIS

DIED MAY 28, 1918

SISTER

CATHERINE DORIS

DIED OCT. 21, 1934.”

 

So, an unusual source, an autograph book, led to the confirmation that my grandmother’s cousins were the children of Patrick Doris, brother of Mary Doris, who were in turn the children of James and Catherine Lackey of Co. Longford, Ireland.

 

The Major-Gavay Family from Hungary, Part 1

 

The Major-Gavay Family from Hungary

The next several blogs will provide some background, historical context and genealogy of the Major and Gavay family who immigrated from that part of Hungary which is now in Slovakia in the early part of the 20th century. In Part 1, the region where the Major and Gavay families lived prior to their immigration is described. Part 2 will explore the historical context of their lives in Hungary and events that led them to leave their homeland to start a new life.

 

My grandfather, Jeno” (Eugene) Major (pronounced "My-yor") and my grandmother, Anna Gavay, immigrated in 1920 to the United States from the Hungarian town of Szepsi. Szepsi, now called Moldava nad Bodvou, is now in Slovakia (formerly part of Czechoslovakia, formerly Hungary) southeast of the city of Kassa (now Kosice) in northeast Hungary and Slovakia.  The Major and Gavay families lived along the towns around the Bodva (Bodvou) River in the former Abauj-Torna county, which now approximates the border between Hungary and Slovakia.  The Major family can be traced back to the late 18^th century through Roman Catholic parish church records. The towns where the Major’s lived include:

• Szepsi (now Moldava nad Bodvou in Slovakia)
• Torna-Ujflau (now Turnianska Nova Ves in Slovakia
• Nadaska (or Torna-Nadaska, still in modern Hungary
• Szilas, still in modern Hungary.
  

 

The Gavay family came from:

•  Somodi (now Drienovec, in Slovakia)
• Szepsi
• Jaszo (now Jarov, in Slovakia)

 

Anna Gavay and her siblings were born in Somodi although her father and grandfather were born in Szepsi.

The towns around the Bodva River.

The Major and Gavay family lived around the Bodva River in Hungary, which now straddles the boundary between Hungary and Slovakia.  Eugene (Jeno) Major was born in the town of Szepsi (now called Moldava nad Bodvou).

 

Eugene Major was the son of Istvan (Stephan) Major and Maria Hagan and he was born in the town of Torna-Ujfalu (now in Slovakia, called Turnianska Nova Ves). Stephan was the son of Jozef Major and Barbara Meszaros. Jozef was born in the village of Nadaska (sometimes called Torna-Nadaska and is still in Hungary, right on the border between Hungary and Slovakia. Jozef was the son of Stephan Major and Elisabeth Kotsis, also of Nadaska.

 

His wife, Anna Gavay was born in the nearby town of Somodi (now in Slovakia, called Drienovec). She was the daughter of Kalman Gavay and Ilona Frankovits (or Franckovics). Kalman was born in Szepsi and Ilona was born in Jaszo (now Jarov or Jasov, Slovakia). Kalman was the son of Franciscus Gavay and Elizabeth Tomas (or Tamas); both were from Szepsi.

 

Szepsi was the largest town along this part of the Bodva River.

Szepsi was the former district seat and birthplace of the Hungarian Reformed preacher and writer Márton Szepsi Csombor (1595-1622), the author of the first Hungarian guide-book, Máté Szepsi Laczkó (1576-1633) wine-improver and "inventer" of the old Tokay (wine).

 

The following is an excerpt from the Geographic Dictionary of Hungary By Elek Fenyes (1851). Translated from the Hungarian:

SZEPSI, an old well-known Hungarian city in Abauj County; 5 hour distance West of Kassa, next to the Bodva [River]; fetile [land] on the plain; 1,082 Catholics , 67 Evangelicals, 1,232 Hungarian Reformed [Presbyterian], 6 “unlisted [n.e.]” Greek Orthodox, 22 Jewish inhabitants, who were the royal wheelmakers. They were the ones that took the royal coach to the camp where liberties were bestowed upon them [by the nobility].

 

Today there are mostly craftsmen, mainly bootmakers and tanners.  There are Catholic and Hungarian Reformed Churches, a casern for the cavalry, an apothecary, three mills on the Bodva [River], a large vineyard, and a large town hall. The Catholic parish in Kassa County is not only the oldest but also the most luxurious. The grain sold in the weekly markets was especially well-known throughout the country.

 

In the past, the city was surrounded by a stone wall. On 26 November 1683, Janos Sobiesky returned with his army made up of 40,000 men. Here it was agreed upon, that districts of the lower mountain area which includes Tokaj, Tarcal, Tálya, Mád, and Benye, would promise 1,000 barrels of wine to the ruling nobility so that Sobiesky would not led his men through the area. In the agreement, the Okolicsányi family owned the most land [“had the most influence”] amongst the landowners.

The two photos below from the Magyarorszag Varmegyei Es Varosai Enciklopedaja (Sziklay, 1896). The third is a postcard of Szepsi circa early 1900s.

 

The town of Somodi, home to Anna Gavay, was first mentioned in historical texts as early as 1335.  In 1887 a large coal deposit was found near Somodi.  Somodi is the home of the Classicist Bishop Rest-home and Karstic bushforest (nature conservation area, 78 hectares).

 

The photo below from the Magyarorszag Varmegyei Es Varosai Enciklopedaja (Sziklay, 1896)

 

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 1: Beginnings: The Rogers-Lacey Bible Fragment

A single old, hard-backed photocopy of pages from a family Bible got me started on my genealogical quest. I had always been interested in my family history and my mom showed me this old, worn photocopy of a bible page that my grandmother had.  On the right side were a bunch of names, in very old handwriting; one dated 1775 (!) and birth dates. On the left side there was a copy of another bible page placed over the original left hand side of the Bible (what was underneath??). Names on the right side were unfamiliar to me and my mom (my grandmother had passed, so we couldn’t ask her): Moore, Wyatt, Ford (we think), and Lacey. My mother knew the Lacey name as that was the name of her grandmother (my great grandmother): Sallie Lacey, who married Asa Clark Rogers, Sr. The left side of the page were mostly Rogers and their birth dates, which was my mom’s family and she know some of these names including her father, Asa Clark Rogers, Jr.

So my mom and I set out to find out who these people were. My mom knew that the Rogers and Lacey family had come from Delaware and, as a child, she spent many summers in Frederica, Kent Co., Delaware, where her father was born.  She still had cousins there and in the early 1980s we went to visit them, where they helped fill in some details, but there were names on that right side that they were not familiar with, either. We visited the Barratt’s Chapel cemetery in Frederica and found several of the names on the left side buried there.

As a newbie family historian and living near Delaware, I spent many hours at the Delaware Archives in Dover, Delaware (this was way before Ancestry and FamilySearch). I eventually located all the people on these bible pages and all of the people on the right side were related to the Moore and Lacey family of Sussex County, Delaware and the people on the left were the Rogers family that married into the Lacey family and were from Kent County. A summary of my findings was published  in the Delaware Genealogical Society Journal (V.4, No. 1, April 1987, p.18-20).

Right side:

Vincent Moore Son of Issac Moore and Agnes His wife was borned the 1st day of March 1775

Sarah Moore wife of Vincent Moore was Borned April 12th 1786

Thomas Wyatt Son of Noah Wyatt was borned September 13 1783

Clairiasa Ford wife of Thomas Wyatt was borned 1790

Thomas T. Lacey the son of Zadock B. Lacey and Mary his wife was borned December the 16th 1828


Left side:

Sallie M. Lacey Daughter of Thomas T. Lacey & Clairasa his wife was borned March the 8th 1855

James Lacey, Son of Thomas & Clarrissa A. Lacey was borned November the 28th 1859

Clara Lacey Daughter of Thomas T. Lacey &  Clairasa his wife was borned March the 25th 1862

Thomas Lacey Rogers Son of Asa Rogers and Sallie his wife was borned February the 10th 1877

Harriet Lacey Rogers Daughter of Asa Rogers and Sallie his wife was borned January the 2th 1879

Lawrence Smithers Rogers Son of Asa C. Rogers and Sallie his wife was borned August 17th 1881

Asa Clark Rogers son of Asa C. Rogers and Sallie his wife was borned August [crossed out] January the 16 1886


52 Ancesors in 52 Weeks. Oooops. Ignoring the Evidence

This is an “oops” case of ignoring evidence that was right in front of me.   It starts with my g. grandmother, Mary Doris McDonough (1866? – 1951).  I came into possession of her family bible, which had scant information in it. In fact, she just recorded family deaths for a short period of time, approximately 1890 – 1910. [1]

 

Among the names in the bible was recorded the death of a Catherine Doris in November (actual day missing or faded away) in Brooklyn, with the date that could have been “1900,” which someone had penciled in.  It was the only person with a “Doris” surname in the bible.

 

One of the first things I did was look at the death certificate for Mary Doris McDonough. Fortunately, my grandmother, Gertrude McDonough Rogers (1895-1972)  kept a copy of the original. The death record names her parents as John Patrick Doris and Catherine Duffy. The informant was her daughter, Catherine McDonough O’Connor (1896-1987). [2]

Now being a novice family historian at the time I took that as gospel truth.  My mother did also, but she didn’t really know much about the Doris side of the family. Turns out these weren’t her parents at all, but that’s another story.

 

I did assume that the Catherine Doris in her bible record was either a sister of Mary Doris or Mary Doris’ mother. Catherine Doris, Catherine Duffy. Made sense.

 

I started looking for death records in Brooklyn for a Catherine Doris that died in November 1890-1910.  I came up with several possibilities, noted the certificate number, ordered the records, paid the fees and waited.  When they arrived none of them were my Catherine Doris. Realizing that I should look at other boroughs, I eventually found a Catherine Doris that died on November 3, 1898 in MANHATTAN (not Brooklyn).  Noted the certificate number, ordered the records, paid the fees and waited. The record (handwritten, no less) arrived and was disappointed. Her parents were given as William Sacke and Bella Sacke. Not Duffy.  Oh well. I put it aside. Nothing else seemed to match or make much sense. [3]

 

Years later. And I mean literally YEARS later, after many Irish records started coming online, I eventually found, through the help of genealogist in Ireland, a record of a baptism of a Mary Doris to a James Doris and a Catherine LACKEY in Clonbroney Parish, Co. Longford. [4] By this time I knew that the Doris family and her husband, Frank McDonough came from Co. Longford.  After further research, I found that  Catherine Lackey’s parents were William Lackey and Isabella Wallace and that Catherine was baptized in the Church of Ireland in St. Johnstown, which was the old name for the town of Ballinalee, Clonbroney Parish, Co. Longford where Mary Doris was baptized. [5]

 

 

 

 

Oh no. Years ago I had found the death record of a Catherine Doris in Manhattan on 3 November 1898! What I mistook for the surname SACKE was actually LACKE. The “L” was mistaken for an “S” or at least the clerk wrote it like an “S.” There was the death record for Catherine LACKEY Doris, the same as in my g. gradmother’s bible with her father William Lackey and Bella [Isabella] Lackey. Through other corroborating research, this was indeed the mother of Mary Doris and the parents of Mary Doris were not what was on her death certificate, but actually what was in the Irish records. Again, it’s another long, winding story that eventually confirmed the identity of the parents of Mary Doris as James Doris and Catherine Lackey as well as her siblings that came to the U.S. and lived in Manhattan and in Brooklyn.

 

So I could have saved myself years of research, dead ends and false leads if I had recognized that “S” was an “L.” Ooops, but I learned a lot along the way!

 

[1] The Holy Bible. New York: Thomas Kelly, 1880. ‘Deaths”; copy privately held by Gene R. Major (Original in Rutkamp/O’Connor family).

[2] Connecticut State Department of Health, Certificate of Death, No. 13261 (1951), Mary McDonough; Bureau of Vital Statistics, Connecticut

[3] State of New York,  Certificate and record of Death, No. 31251 (1898), Catherine Doris.

[4] Catholic Parish Registers, National Library of Ireland, Clonbroney Parish, County Longford, Baptisms 14 January 1849 – 2 March 1862. Indexed at Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1655-1915, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61039/); Maria Doris bapt. 12 April 1860, parents Jocobi Doris and Cath Lackey, Ballinalee.

[5] Church of Ireland, Baptism Record, Catherine Lackey, 12 Oct 1828, St. Johnstown [Ballinalee], Clonbroney Parish, Co. Longford, https://Rootsireland.ie.