100 Years in America

Ten years for 100 Years in America!

2017-06-02T23:51:00.000-04:00

Wow! A decade has sped past since I made my entrance into the world of blogging on June 2, 2007 with the birth of this blog and Small-leaved Shamrock (about my Irish Pennsylvania roots). A day later, I created A Light that Shines Again (focusing on my Boston Irish family tree).

A lot has changed in the past ten years, although it seems like I just blinked and here we are in 2017. When I started this blog, one-hundred years seemed like a long time. Today I'm humbled as I am reminded how quickly my own life is floating by, and how the century that my family has lived in America is really only a small segment of our long, multi-faceted epic family story.

In honor of the 10th birthday of 100 Years in America, I'd like to share with you a few highlights: some of the most popular articles and some of my personal favorites.

Thanks for stopping by 100 Years in America! I have many drafts waiting in the wings, and more family stories needing a bit of digging before they are unveiled here on the web. Here's to longevity and the unending joy of genealogical research!

If you'd like to see what else I'm up to on the web, visit my website at smallestleaf.com.

"To face whatever lies before us...": New York City disasters and the prayers of young mothers

2015-09-11T10:21:00.000-04:00

I was one of the many who witnessed the crashing of the plane into the
World Trade Center's South Tower on the morning of September 11, 2001
after turning on the television to see reports of the first crash

I was several months away from the birth of my third child - a precious daughter - on the morning of September 11, 2001. Taking a few quiet minutes before my sleeping children woke up, I was doing some inspirational reading with a book called In Conversation with God. The day's meditation read:

"It is in prayer that we learn the mystery of Christ and the wisdom of the Cross. In prayer we perceive, in all their dimensions, the real needs of our brothers and sisters throughout the world; in prayer we find the strength to face whatever lies before us..." - from a homily by Pope John Paul II, Jan. 13, 1981

The peace of my quiet morning did not last long. Soon I learned the true wisdom of those words and found out the reality of that day's trials.

"...whatever lies before us"...

I learned the "real needs of [my] brothers and sisters throughout the world" with shocking clarity when I got a call from my Mom.

"Turn on the T.V.," she said. "A plane has crashed into the World Trade Center."

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
occurred in the Asch Building
(now the Brown Building)
at 23-29 Washington Place, NYC

It was only last week as I was thinking about another event in New York City's history that I made an interesting connection.

Ninety years before the World Trade Center disaster - on March 25, 1911 - another expectant mother must have been shocked to learn of a horrible tragedy that had just occurred. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire took the lives of 146 garment workers - most of them young immigrant women ages 16 to 23. It would rank as the second deadliest disaster in New York City's history (behind the burning of a passenger steamship in 1904) - that is, until the destruction of the World Trade Center eclipsed them both ninety years later.

Like the World Trade Center tragedy, the Triangle Shirtwaist fire was a catalyst that brought enormous change. In this case, the movement for worker safety and social justice was finally brought to the forefront in New York and throughout the country.

A quick bit of research led me to a startling realization: at the time of the disaster, this young mother and her family had lived only six short blocks away from the Triangle Shirtwaist factory.

The woman? My great-grandmother, Ilona Ujlaky. A new immigrant to America who had arrived only two years earlier. Knowing her, she had said many prayers since she had arrived in the crazy and wonderful world of New York City. More than likely she prayed for these victims and their families, and the struggles of the city in which she and her husband were beginning their new life.

The child she was expecting? Her third. A baby girl. My grandmother.

In 1911 my great-grandmother and her family (she is pictured here c.1913)
lived at 415 East Fifth Street on the Lower East Side,
only about six blocks from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.

This article was originally published here at 100 Years in America in 2012. I have reposted it today in honor of the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy.

News for Smallest Leaf: a new website and a new book!

2015-06-03T16:11:00.000-04:00

This week I celebrate my eighth anniversary of blogging here at 100 Years in America, Small-leaved Shamrock and A Light that Shines Again. It has been slow-going at times, but I've stuck with it and look forward to many writing years ahead.

I am thrilled today to announce my brand new website and blog at smallestleaf.com. I have decided to pair my interest in genealogy with my other favorite hobby - poetry! - and use my website to share both.

Many of you have known me as a genealogy blogger for many years, but you may not have known of my love for poetry. Tales from my family tree are a regular source of subject matter for my poems, along with world history, nature, faith and the writing life.

I have just announced the upcoming publication of my first collection of poetry: winner of the Eakin Book Award given by the Poetry Society of Texas. You’ll find the title familiar. I feel a bit like the Irish mother who gives her firstborn a name that has been in the family for generations. My poetry collection is entitled (surprise!): Smallest Leaf. You can read more about my new book on the Poetry page at my website.

Thanks to all of you readers who have followed me over the years! I hope you'll stick around for what's to come. Happy reading!

Winter Wednesday Wedding: The 110th Anniversary of Ferencz & Ilona Ujlaki

2015-02-15T02:31:00.000-05:00

On a cold Wednesday 110 years ago today 25-year-old Ferencz Ujlaki married his bride, 20-year-old Ilona Bence, in the Catholic church of a small Croatian village in Austria-Hungary.

Their life together would carry them to New York City where they would Americanize their names to Frank and Helen, raise six children, and leave a host of descendants.

Yesterday a cousin of mine and I (Hi, Ric!) worked to calculate the current count of just how many descendants Frank and Helen have as of this, their 110th anniversary. We are happy to report that - tada! - the number is actually more than 110!

In honor of this very special anniversary and in hopes that we, their descendants, will not forget the lives of Papa and Grammy Ulaky (as we now know them) and the sacrifices they made that altered the courses of so many of our own lives, I'd like to briefly share their story once again.

Ferencz and Ilona were born in different villages just across the Drava River from each other in what is now northern Croatia. At the time Donja Dubrava (formerly Alsodomború, where Ferencz was born in 1879) and Legrad (where Ilona was born in 1884) were considered part of Zala megye (Zala County), Austria-Hungary. Presently this area is in Croatia right on the border of modern Hungary. Read more about the fascinating history of their home villages in Međimurje: Meeting place of rivers and cultures.

Holy Trinity Catholic Church (Župa Presvetog Trojstva), Legrad's parish, was the home church of the Bence family. That is where Ferencz and Ilona married on February 15, 1905.

Their marriage record includes lots of information, including their birthdates and birthplaces, parents' names, occupations, etc. Both the bride's and groom's fathers are listed as földműves (farmers). Ferencz himself is listed as bognár: a wheelright. I was happy to see that the document has the original signatures of both the bride and the groom (see the right hand side of the photo below).

Within the first year of their marriage, by the fall of 1905, Ilona was expecting their first child. As one of the couple's daughters shared with me, Ferencz hastened his plans to immigrate to America before the baby was born: he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to bring himself to leave after his or her arrival. He left the port of Antwerp for New York on April 7, 1906. Baby Ferencz was born just a month later on May 9, 1906. Ilona and her baby stayed behind for almost three years. They left the port of Rijeka (Fiume) on February 13, 1909, joining Ferencz in New York City on March 2, 1909. Theirs was a difficult journey, but the small family was finally reunited.

Following their firstborn, Ferencz (later called Frankie), four daughters were born followed by another son. The girls - Ilona (Helene), Marie, Wilma, and Ethel - were born while the family lived in the Hungarian neighborhood of the lower East side of Manhattan. Their youngest child, Kasmir, was born after they moved to Staten Island into a home built by Frank with the help of friends.

Ferencz and Ilona's days were filled with the struggles of new immigrants trying to raise children, make a living, and somehow fit into the new culture in which they found themselves. Theirs was a difficult life, as I realized with even more clarity when I created a short timeline of her Ilona's sorrows over just a 33-year period. Helen lived to be 97. Sadly, Frank succumbed to tuberculosis at only age 60.

Their marriage had lasted only 34 years, yet today we celebrate the 110th anniversary of their union and the more than 110 descendants that are here today thanks to their love and sacrifice. Their wedding took place a day after February 14. That date has two special memorial celebrations in the Catholic Church: St. Valentine's Day (on which today we celebrate love) and the memorial of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the "apostles to the Slavs" who are known for bringing Christianity to the Slavic peoples (my Ujlaki and Bence ancestors included). The saints we celebrate on this day make it easy for me to remember the anniversary of my great-grandparents on February 15.

Happy 110th anniversary, Papa and Grammy!

Frank and Helen (Bence) Ujlaki

Marriage at a Glance

Married: 15 February 1905 in Legrad, Austria-Hungary
Children: Ferencz/Frankie (1906-1942), Ilona/Helene (1910-2009), Marie (1911-2011), Wilma (1913-2014), Ethel (1920-1943), Kasmir (1922-2006)
Duration of Marriage: 34 years ending at Frank's death on 22 April 1939

Ferencz/Frank Ujlaki
1879-1939

Life at a Glance

Name at birth: Ferencz Ujlaki
Parents: Josip Ujlaki and Terezija Globlek
Born: 17 March 1879 in Alsodomború (Donja Dubrava), Austria-Hungary
Immigrated: Departed Antwerp aboard the S.S. Zeeland on 7 April 1906; arrived at Ellis Island in New York City on 19 April 1906
Died: 22 April 1939 in Staten Island, NY at age 60
Buried: St. Mary's Cemetery, Grasmere, Staten Island, NY

Ilona/ Helen (Bence) Ujlaki
1884-1981

Life at a Glance

Name at birth: Ilona Bence
Parents: Stjepan Bence (1857-1939) and Magdalena Bedenica (1860-1957)
Born: 6 May 1884 in Alsodomború (Donja Dubrava), Austria-Hungary
Siblings: Katarina (1882-1981), Adam (1888-1915)
Immigrated: Departed Rijeka (Fiume) aboard the S.S. Carmania on 13 February 1909; arrived at Ellis Island in New York City on 2 March 1909
Died: 15 September 1981 in Staten Island, NY at age 97
Buried: St. Mary's Cemetery, Grasmere, Staten Island, NY

This article is included as part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge organized by Amy Johnson Crow. The theme for Week 7, in which this article falls, is "Love". [Note: Hat tip to Donna Pointkouski of What's Past is Prologue for the summary format I've used at the end of this article.]

As the sun sets on the feast of All Souls

2014-11-03T17:08:00.002-05:00

If you read my article over at The Catholic Gene about All Souls Day, you know that this day is very important to me. In fact, I consider it THE feast day for Catholic genealogists. (This is the day that our efforts to seek out the stories of the lives of our ancestors intersect directly with our Catholic faith and our responsibility to care for the souls of others. Read more in my article The Catholic Genealogists’ Feast Day: Lifting Your Family Tree to Heaven on All Souls Day).

In spite of the fact that our family had a very hectic All Souls Day this year with lots of activities, I was determined to be sure that we took time to commemorate the feast. It was late afternoon by the time a couple of my daughters and I finally arrived at the local cemetery to make a visit to my dear grandmother's grave. The sun was lighting up the gravestones beautifully as it descended.

We brought new flowers and, as we usually do, carried our small hand broom with us as we stepped out of the car to make our visit. My grandmother is buried under an oak tree, so we brushed aside the acorns that had accumulated since our last visit, and tidied up the place before we arranged the new flowers.

As we were doing so, we spotted a gentleman a stone's throw away who was doing a little tidying of his own around a gravestone. He was not, however, under an oak tree, but a pine tree, so he had a different problem: lots of pine needles. He was working diligently with a small rake and a number of cleaning tools, which interested me, so I walked over to say "hello".

We had a nice visit, getting a little tutorial about his method of cleaning his wife's gravestone, which looked immaculate, polished and shining beautifully. We thanked him and walked back to pay our respects to my grandmother before we planned to leave. A few minutes later, he walked over to us, supplies in hand, and offered to train us. After a minute or so of instruction, he left us with the supplies and tools and walked back to his wife's grave.

What a transformation! In just a few minutes, we had my grandmother's gravestone looking much cleaner than it had in a long time. It didn't look as professionally done as the one that the gentleman had worked on (and, as we learned later, had tended to several days a week for the past decade), but it was much cleaner and actually shined. The sun was getting closer to setting when we gathered up the tools and turned to walk back toward our benefactor to thank him. When we did so, we saw that he had finished his tidying up. He was standing still there before his wife's grave in the setting sun, Rosary beads dangling from his hands: a beautiful image for my girls and I to remember at the close of All Souls Day 2014.

So I'm from Texas... (Smallest Leaf's take on FGS 2014)

2014-09-04T12:54:00.003-04:00

The electric Texas flag at the Institute of Texan Cultures, San Antonio

It's true. I am from Texas, though you might not have known that from reading my blogs. My genealogical search focuses on the states and countries from which my ancestors hailed (I have Pennsylvania Irish, Massachusetts Irish and New York City Eastern European roots). Since I don't write much about where I live, you may not have been aware that Smallest Leaf actually makes her home in Texas.

But Texas was the focus recently of a great genealogical discovery of mine: my very first national genealogy conference! Yes, that's right. I've been researching my family for decades, blogging for over seven years, but had never attended a national genealogy conference until last week. Needless to say, I was very thankful that FGS (the Federation of Genealogical Societies) decided to boot scoot to San Antonio for their annual conference.

Gone To Texas! they called it, and I was happy to make my way across the countryside of this big state to join them. It was a tremendous experience for me.

Now, I've done much reading in the field of genealogy, watched lots of webinars, connected for years with many other genealogists (bloggers and not), but the experience of attending this conference was even better than I expected. The act of dedicating several straight days to genealogy lectures and learning, to connecting with other like-minded folks tracing their roots, and to perusing an exhibit hall dedicated completely to genealogy was an experience that I still need a good amount of time to process. I learned a lot and have lots of new ideas to help me with my continued research.

The conference, hosted at San Antonio's Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center just a few blocks from the legendary Alamo, involved lots of river-crossing.

The convention center straddles the San Antonio River and a portion of its famous riverwalk, so back and forth I went along with many of the nation's genealogists as we hiked to and from lectures, luncheons, the exhibit hall and other places of interest.

I had a difficult time choosing from all of the excellent presentations. I cannot possibly give you a full recap of all that I soaked up from the many speakers I heard at FGS 2014, but I'll share with you some of the "bits of wisdom" I jotted down during the conference.

Some of these I tweeted during the event (and have extended here since there is no 140 character limit!). Some I just pulled out of my notes to share with you for the first time. Unfortunately, I didn't note "quotes" from the speaker of every presentation I attended (though I now wish I had!), so these tidbits don't represent every speaker I was privileged to hear last week.

Whether or not you attended FGS 2014, I hope you find some inspiration in these "sound bites" from the conference, which I've grouped below into three themes.

Words of Wisdom from FGS 2014

On genealogical research

"Build a profile of what's in the shadows. Look deeper at what's outside the flash. Often the places we are looking for are dimly lit. They are in the shadows. They are outside the flash." - J. Mark Lowe

Take time going through manuscripts for stories of ancestors and friends. Don't get what J. Mark Lowe calls "clickitis". "Squirrel!! (That's almost every genealogist I know.)" - J. Mark Lowe

"The best clues to birth family and origins are at the earliest proven place of residence, even if a 'burned county'." - Elizabeth Shown Mills

"A synonym for citation is description...Don't just look up a citation model and copy it, try to understand the source." - Thomas W. Jones

"Documentation is a conversation. Conversation is a description. I think you can have a conversation with your readers that is effective." - Thomas W. Jones

"Scientists don't just state conclusions. They document every step of the research process." (So must genealogists.) - Elizabeth Shown Mills

"You have to try to disprove your theories as well as you try to prove them." - Elizabeth Shown Mills

"Genealogists never run out of opportunity." - Elizabeth Shown Mills (explaining her bullseye genealogy approach)

A few genealogy a-ha's

"Types of maps to seek: any kind of map you can think of, any kind of map you can get your hands on." - Paul Milner

"Boundaries changed, like when the river changed course." - Paul Milner

"Photos don't go down from direct descendant to direct descendant. They trickle down the tree and trickle up the tree. The provenance of the photographs represent relationships within the family." - Maureen Taylor

"Have a plan for who will inherit your photos. Decide now, not later, or else all your photos will end up in one of my presentations and I won't know who they are." - Maureen Taylor

Why become a Certified Genealogist? If not, "we're sitting in our bunny slippers at 2 am doing research asking, 'Am I doing this right?!'" - Judy Russell

On the importance of story

"We [genealogists] understand that the story is more than six words. It's more than half a paragraph. We understand that the story is longer than that." - J. Mark Lowe

"Preserve it now! Tell your family these stories now. Even if it's an oral story, pass it down. Share it with your family. Tweet it if you have to!" - Juliana Szucs Smith

"What are you going to leave behind? An inscription? A memorial of some kind? We all have a story to tell." - Paul Milner

"You've got names, filled out the family group sheet. But who do you love? The ones whose stories you know. How are you going to tell those stories? How are you going to pass those stories along?" - Paul Milner

Button, button, who's got the button?

Smallest Leaf's handcrafted FGS 2014 buttons (it was a family affair!)
alongside my first set of GeneaBlogger beads (courtesy of Thomas MacEntee)

Prior to the conference, I designed and created (with the help of several of my family members) a set of buttons for FGS 2014. It was lots of fun passing them out at the conference to online friends whom I finally had the chance to meet in person, and to fellow genealogists I met for the first time at FGS. I've been told that my buttons were a hit. If you attended, I hope you got one and that I had a chance to visit with you there! If not, I'm hoping that FGS members enjoyed their time in Texas and will come back again to the Friendship State very soon. Ya'll come back now, ya hear!

Tower of the Americas as viewed from the Institute of Texan Cultures, San Antonio

Little girls, family trees and a cemetery trip

2014-06-10T13:23:00.000-04:00

Every year on my "blogiversary" I like to give a shout out to my readers to let you know that I am still alive and well (though blogging may be light). This year I missed the chance (by about a week) to celebrate the day seven years ago that I started blogging. I had completely forgotten! When I took a look at my calendar to see what had been keeping my attention on the anniversary of the day I started my genealogy blogs, I was happy to see that I had spent my time celebrating genealogy in a very special way: teaching family history to kids.

I had scheduled a two day Ancestor Detector Day Camp for young girls to begin (unbeknownst to me) on my genealogy blogs' anniversary! I had a wonderful time spending the first part of the week teaching a group from a local troop of American Heritage Girls ages 9-11 how to search for and celebrate their family history.

Here are a few highlights from our day camp as the girls and I worked to help them fulfill the American Heritage Girl requirements so that they could earn their Ancestor Detector Badges:

Day 1: Family History Scrapbooks!

Prior to our first meeting, the girls gathered family documents, made phone calls to grandparents, and started completing a pedigree chart of their family tree. During our first gathering each girl began a scrapbook to include all of the documents, photos, and other memorabilia they had gathered. I wish I had gotten a photo of all the creative books they made! Below is the AHG handbook page with badge requirements for the Ancestor Detector badge, and two of my daughters' scrapbooks:

Day 2, Part 1: Cemetery field trip!

We started our second day camp day by gathering at a local historic cemetery. We live in an area whose history is not easily visible, and I wanted the girls to see some of the headstones dating back to the mid-19th-century and written in the native language of the early German settlers to our area. I was happy to introduce the girls to this historic place, and to help them to understand how to properly respect the final resting places of those that came before us.

As part of our field trip, we searched for the headstones of the first settlers to our area (after whom many streets and schools are named), and did a little cemetery scavenger hunt for fun. (We used the form below created by Jennifer of Climbing My Family Tree.)

It was a beautiful day at the cemetery, but we needed the refreshing lemonade that we brought to enjoy under the shade trees after our romp around the cemetery grounds in the heat.

Day 2, Part 2: Heirlooms and ancestral countries!

Immediately after the hot trip to the cemetery, we gathered (in a cooler place) to complete day two of our Ancestor Detector badge work. The day's focus included the countries of our ancestors, which each girl had done a little research on at home before our gathering.

We had a great assortment of ancestors from various countries represented, including Germany, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Lebanon, Mexico, Haiti and even the little island of Domenica in the Caribbean.

The final part of our session involved a "show and tell" of family heirlooms (or photos of them). Each day camper brought in a family heirloom (or a photo of one) to share with the other girls. They told the stories of their items and to whom they had belonged: a little lesson in heirloom provenance. My day camper daughter chose to share this little bronzed boot that was worn by her great-great-grand-aunt as a baby during the 1920s:

The short time I spent with these girls was not nearly enough, but I hope it got them thinking about their family history and lit the spark for a little more ancestral research this summer. At the very least, maybe they'll think of making another phone call to their grandmothers!

A St. Patrick’s Day miracle for the Irish/Hungarian genealogy blogger

2014-03-17T17:59:00.001-04:00

You may be thinking, “It’s a miracle! Finally a new blog article from Lisa!”

Though this very well might be a small miracle, there is a real miracle I’d like to share with you in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. It is a documented phenomenon that occurred over three centuries ago that is still remembered and celebrated today. It is close to my heart for a very special reason, as you’ll see when you read on.

I first posted this article three years ago, but really wanted to share it again this year. Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Smallest Leaf!

As a Catholic and a mother, I often look to Christ’s mother, Mary, for inspiration. She is the perfect example of womanhood. Her life has provided encouragement to women for many generations, including my own and my beloved ancestors’ (on both the Irish and Hungarian/Croatian sides of the family).

In many places throughout the world, Mary is remembered by a special name or title, or honored with a particular statue or painting containing her image. There are countless “names” for Mary. I thought I had heard of most of them.

I was surprised to come across a new title for Mary recently that I absolutely could not believe. As the descendant of Irish and Hungarian ancestors, I was thrilled to discover the Irish Madonna of Hungary. The story behind this title of Mary involves a beautiful painting, two European cities a continent apart, and a documented miracle that is as surprising as it is inspiring.

The village of Clonfert in County Galway, Ireland could not hide from the troubles facing the island during the middle of the 17th century. Oliver Cromwell was imposing his will on the Irish people – often brutally – and many, particularly church leaders, were displaced, persecuted, or killed. Among those was one Irish bishop by the name of Walter Lynch. As history tells us, Bishop Lynch was forced to flee his native Clonfert to Galway city. After the attack and capture of Galway, he was pursued to the island of Inisbofin, and then escaped to mainland Europe. He was in Austria by 1655 – four years after fleeing Clonfert. While in Austria, the good Bishop met the Bishop of Győr, Hungary, who offered him the opportunity to continue his ministry within the Győr diocese until the time when Bishop Lynch could safely return to his homeland.

Sadly, Bishop Lynch, who was making plans to return to Ireland, passed away in Győr in the year 1663, twelve years after leaving Clonfert. During his travels as an exile, the Bishop had carried with him a painting of Mary and the child Jesus (shown below), which he had saved from the Clonfert cathedral. Before his passing, Bishop Lynch had placed the picture in the care of the Bishop of Győr, who put it on display in the Győr cathedral.

Thirty-four years passed with the painting housed in the Győr cathedral. The Hungarian faithful venerated this beautiful image of the Madonna, and felt sure that Mary’s intercession on their behalf had ensured their recent victories over the Turks. By the year 1697, Hungary was enjoying newfound peace. Unfortunately, that same year, Ireland was beginning to face one of its greatest trials: the outlawing of the Catholic faith, the confiscation of its churches, and the banishment of all Catholic clergy from the British Isles.

As historical accounts tell us, on the feast of St. Patrick on March 17, 1697 a miracle occurred in Győr. According to the account of a priest who witnessed the event, “…the picture of the Blessed Virgin in the cathedral began to weep copiously.” Additional details recorded indicate that this “weeping”, or “bloody sweat”, went on for several hours, and that witnesses of various denominations were unable to attribute the occurrence to any natural cause. Eventually, word of the miracle spread throughout the city. It was witnessed by thousands, many of whom signed a document indicating their presence at the time of the miracle. These included the imperial governor of the city, mayor, councilmen, the Bishop, priests, Protestant ministers, a Jewish rabbi and many more. A linen cloth used to soak up the liquid is still on display today in the cathedral. The inscription on the case reads: “This is the true cloth which was used to dry the blood, which this picture shed in this church on St. Patrick’s Day 1697.”

The linen cloth on display in Győr Basilica today
(Image thanks to Győri Egyházmegye - Győr Diocese)

The beautiful image of the Irish Madonna of Hungary, also referred to as the Consolatrix Afflictorum (Consoler of the Afflicted), remains in the cathedral to this day, framed in silver above the altar. For over three centuries, it has played a special role in drawing together the two nations of Hungary and Ireland.

Every March 17 since 1947 (the 250 year anniversary of the miracle), even during the Communist regime, Hungarian priests have made a pilgrimage to the Győr cathedral and visited the Győri Könnyező Szűzanya (Győr Weeping Virgin Mary) or Ír Madonna (Irish Madonna), as they call the painting in the Hungarian language.

Hungarian priests in procession at Győr Basilica
(Image thanks to Győri Egyházmegye - Győr Diocese)

Other special celebrations occur regularly for Hungarian lay Catholics to honor Mary’s weeping image in Győr, and there is even an annual Croatian-speaking celebration. Irish Catholics, too, regularly make pilgrimages to the Irish Madonna of Hungary. The year 1997 (the 300-year anniversary of the miracle) saw a special exchange as the Irish Clonfert Bishop John Kirby was presented a copy of the painting by Győr Bishop Lajos Papai on his visit to the city.

Győr, Hungary's Bishop Lajos Papai giving a copy of the
painting to Clonfert, Ireland's Bishop John Kirby
(Image thanks to Hitvallás)

As Clonfert’s Bishop John Kirby wrote, “The kindness shown to Bishop Walter Lynch has led to an unusual link between the small Irish rural diocese of Clonfert and the large Hungarian diocese of Győr centered in a big industrial city. It has shown us the value of friendship and the way that the consideration shown to a refugee can deepen the understanding between peoples who might otherwise never have known each other. The history of the painting has an even deeper message. It reminds us of the faith and trust in the intercession of Our Lady that existed both in Ireland and in Hungary 350 years ago.”

The Basilica of Győr today

Where were my Irish and Hungarian ancestors 350 years ago? I haven’t determined that yet, but it is interesting to imagine the possibilities knowing the history of the time.

As you may know, Catholics like to choose patron saints for themselves. I think it’s pretty obvious that Mary, the Irish Madonna of Hungary, is the ideal patron saint for this Irish/Hungarian genealogist! I hope that Győr’s Weeping Virgin Mary, the Consoler of the Afflicted, will smile down on my efforts to continue the search for ancestors on both sides of my family tree: those from Bishop Lynch’s beloved native Ireland, and those from Hungary, the country that welcomed him with open arms.

If you'd like to read more about the history of the Irish Madonna of Hungary, check out the following websites and books:

Hitvallás (Creed) 2005, a Győri Egyházmegye folyóirata (the online magazine of the Diocese of Győr) - special online issue in the 350th anniversary year of the painting's arrival in Győr (website in Hungarian and English)
The Irish Madonna of Hungary by Zsolt Aradi from Shrines to Our Lady Around the World published in 1954 by Farrar, Straus & Young (webpage in English)
Győri Egyházmegye (Győr Diocese) (webpage in Hungarian)
Szomorúak vigasztalója : a győri könnyező szűzanya - az ír madonna by Hetény János, Kiss Tamás, Szabó Béla (book published in 2009 in Hungarian; German and English translations available - see this book review in Hungarian)

Note: This article is cross-posted to one of my Irish genealogy blogs, Small-leaved Shamrock. Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!

My Catholic, Hungarian and Croatian Genealogy QuickGuides™ now available as Kindle eBooks

2013-12-10T07:40:00.000-05:00

If you are tracing Catholic, Hungarian or Croatian roots (or two of those, or all three!), you may be familiar with my Catholic, Hungarian and Croatian Genealogy QuickGuides™. Published in partnership with Legacy Family Tree, these resources were first available as PDF downloads on the Legacy Family Tree website.

I am pleased to announce that all three guides are now available as Amazon Kindle eBooks. Whether you have a Kindle (or use the free Kindle app on your computer, tablet or smartphone) you can now have handy access to these guides in eBook format.

What's the difference? The PDF downloads are in a compressed format and make the guide compact for easier printing and sliding into the rings of a notebook. The eBooks include the same content laid out into book format, so they have more pages. They would use up more paper if printed, yet are easily scrollable using a Kindle or Kindle app.

For more details about each individual guide, visit:

Happy researching!

Amazon.com Widgets

My new Hungarian Genealogy QuickGuide™: Trace your roots in the land of the Magyars

2013-12-09T06:42:00.000-05:00

Hungary’s legacy as a nation extends back a millennium, and its people (and diaspora) are proud of their great heritage, myself included. As a child I was intrigued by the idea that my own grandfather had been born in a different country a world away. I grew up with the tastes and smells of Hungarian Gulyás (goulash), Töltött káposzta (stuffed cabbage), Csirke paprikás (chicken paprika), and Kifli from my grandmother's kitchen. It was only natural to me to want to learn more about this country that figured so largely in the lives of my grandparents and to want to delve into my Hungarian family tree.

My Hungarian Genealogy QuickGuide™
is a resource for both experienced researchers
and those new to tracing their Hungarian roots

After the recent success of my Croatian Genealogy and Catholic Genealogy QuickGuides™, I decided to focus on sharing the resources and research tips I've found while tracing my Hungarian roots. In partnership with Legacy Family Tree, I am pleased to present a brand new aid in your search for roots in the land of the Magyars: my Hungarian Genealogy QuickGuide™, a downloadable resource that includes -

An overview of the history and geography of Hungary (as a nation and as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire)
Details about the types and whereabouts of available civil and church records
A description of the various types of archives and repositories that house Hungarian records
An introduction to the languages in which Hungarian records were written
Links to many types of online resources (genealogy guides, translation tools, maps, forums, blogs and more)
A list of genealogy-related publications in both English and Hungarian
A research strategy to follow for success in tracing your Hungarian roots

The search for roots within the age-old kingdom of Hungary, though often made complex by various languages and border changes, can be a greatly rewarding experience. Hungary has long been a crossroads, and Hungarian ancestors’ histories and records of genealogical interest are intertwined with neighboring countries and the empires and occupiers that ruled the area over the centuries.

If you have ancestors who emigrated from Hungary and would like to begin to trace or continue to deepen your knowledge of your family tree, I hope you'll allow me to share what I've learned with you.

Update: I am pleased to announce that all three of my genealogy guides are now available as Amazon Kindle eBooks. Whether you have a Kindle (or use the free Kindle app on your computer, tablet or smartphone) you can now have handy access to these guides in eBook format.

What's the difference? The PDF downloads are in a compressed format and make the guide compact for easier printing and sliding into the rings of a notebook. The eBooks include the same content laid out into book format, so they have more pages. They would use up more paper if printed, yet are easily scrollable using a Kindle or Kindle app.

For more details about the other QuickGuides™ I've authored, see: My new Catholic Genealogy QuickGuide™: Let me help you find those Catholic ancestors and My new Croatian Genealogy QuickGuide™: Journey with me back to your roots in Croatia.

Happy researching!

Amazon.com Widgets

Hungarian Kifli at Christmas: A long legacy of motherly love

2013-12-05T01:57:00.000-05:00

I've shared our family's Kifli recipe several times already here at 100 Years in America, telling the story of how I finally learned the Hungarian name of this traditional favorite. (By the time I came along my family was calling them "Gramma's Christmas Cakes". This European treat had Americanized its name along with the names of my immigrant ancestors!)

This year I'd like to share this delicious family treasure again within my series of Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories articles, giving a little more attention to our family's special legacy with regard to this delicious traditional favorite.

This is the first Christmas that our family will celebrate without a very special family member, my dear Aunt Barbara. She passed away last January. It has been almost a year now, yet the passing of the first Christmas without a loved one is probably one of the most difficult milestones when grieving a loss. So it is with dear Barbara, for myself and the rest of the family, but particularly for her children and grandchildren, I'm sure.

One of 100 Years in America's most faithful readers, one of Barbara's daughters, faithfully bakes these family Christmas cakes each year (and provided me with the beautiful photograph above). One of the sad moments she experienced this month was not being able to call her Mom and say, "Guess what I'm making?" My cousin was taught by her mother, Barbara, who was taught by her mother, our dear grandmother Mitzi. A young bride at age 18, Mitzi had gone to live with her new husband in the household of his mother (and many siblings) several states away from her home. There she was trained to cook and bake as her mother-in-law did, using her recipes from northeastern Hungary. One of the recipes Mitzi mastered: Hungarian Kifli.

Mitzi's mother-in-law, Maria (Németh) Tóth (known as Mary in America), was a 34-year-old mother of four when she emigrated from Hungary's Borsod county to join her husband. Along with transporting four children (one a baby!) on that journey, Maria carried with her a wealth of Hungarian family recipes that would be treasured by many generations of our family over the next century (and hopefully more!).

I like to imagine Maria as a young girl within her mother's kitchen, learning to cook the Hungarian Gulyás (goulash), Töltött káposzta (stuffed cabbage), Csirke paprikás (chicken paprika), and Kifli that would become our family's favorites. Maria and her mother could not possibly have imagined that a century later and a world away, their descendants would remember them and their recipes fondly, having received the legacy of nourishing love produced by the hands of their daughters, daughters-in-law, and grand-daughters.

As I once again share this Kifli recipe, I do so in honor of these women who came before us: my dear Aunt Barbara, my grandmother Mitzi, my great-grandmother Mary (Maria), and her mother (another Barbara): Borbála* (Nagy) Németh.

*Borbála is the Hungarian version of the name Barbara

100 Years in America's Family Kifli Recipe

Otherwise known as "Gramma's Christmas Cakes"

Apricot Jelly Filling

3 lbs. apricots
1 1/2 cups sugar
Cinnamon

Put them in a pot with enough water to cover them plus about 1 inch more
Cook for about 45 minutes until soft, stirring frequently
Mash the apricots
Add sugar
Cook about 1 1/2 to 2 hours until very thick (the longer the better), stirring frequently
Sprinkle the jelly with cinnamon

Christmas Cakes

4 cups flour
1/2 lb. sweet butter at room temperature
6 eggs - separated - at room temperature
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 oz. sour cream at room temperature
4 tablespoons sugar
1 packet of yeast (prepared by mixing with 1 teaspoon sugar & about 1/4 cup milk)
Homemade apricot jelly
1 lb. walnuts (add 4 teaspoons sugar to each lb. when chopped)
Confectioner's sugar

Mix flour with butter and then salt and sugar
Make a well in the middle - add egg yolks, vanilla and sour cream gradually
Mix and kneed until smooth (keep working the dough until ready)
Use flour to make it not too sticky (can freeze - wrap in freezer paper and cover with flour)
Roll out dough
Cut the dough into 4 pieces
Chop walnuts and whip egg whites
Roll out one of the 4 pieces of dough
Cut into individual 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 squares and fill with a heaping teaspoon of homemade apricot jelly
Roll each into a horn (crescent)
Top each with egg whites and nuts
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until light brown (about 30-35 minutes)

Kifli may also be served with a prune filling (prepared similarly to the apricot filling) or a walnut filling, although the apricot kind has always been the favorite in my family. If using walnut filling, add boiled milk to the nuts until pasty, then grated lemon rind.

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2013, Day 4: Christmas Recipes. For more Advent and Christmas memories here at 100 Years in America (going back to 2007), scroll through these articles or stop by my Pinterest page. Visit this preview for more details about the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories and to get some inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

Note: Our family's Kifli recipe has also appeared previously as part of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories here at 100 Years in America several times (once in 2007 and then twice in 2009 - here and here). Over the past six years, these have continued to be among the most frequently viewed articles here at 100 Years in America. If you took the time to try out our family Kifli recipe, please leave a comment and let us know!

Christmas Eve Luminaria: "Who can sleep on this night that God became man?"

2013-12-04T12:16:00.000-05:00

My absolute favorite Christmas song is O Holy Night. The beautiful words and ascending phrases of the music stir my heart as I revel in the glory of Christmas. Many of my childhood Christmas Eves were spent savoring the holiness of this very special night.

After the rest of the house had gone to sleep – or at least after I had gone to my own room – I would sit at my desk and look out the picture window overlooking our front yard. It was the tradition in my neighborhood to set out luminaria – brown paper bags weighted down with sand and illuminated by a burning candle set inside.

My family and I took time each Christmas Eve afternoon to work alongside our neighbors shoveling the sand, filling the bags, and getting everything ready for sunset on this, the most joyful night of the year. I didn't know it at the time, but this tradition had originated with Spanish immigrants to the New World. It was a way that they, as Catholics, helped "light the way" for the Christ Child to visit their homes and hearts on this very special evening.

Each year, after my family and I had gone to Christmas Eve Mass, we would come home to light the luminaria, share a small dinner, and head to bed in anticipation of Christmas morning. Once I was up in my room and ready for bed, I sat at my window and always watched for as long as I could, counting the candles that had gone out and savoring the glow and warmth of the peace that is Christmas Eve.

A few years ago I read and smiled at the words of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) about Christmas Eve, “Who can sleep on this night that God became man?” I still stay up through most of the night every Christmas Eve, savoring the quiet and sometimes listening to a rendition of O Holy Night as I enjoy the peace and anticipation of this beautiful evening when Mary brought forth her firstborn Son.

O Holy Night

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining.

Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!

O night divine, the night when Christ was born;

O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,

Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.

The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;

In all our trials born to be our friends.

He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,

Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.

And in his name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

With all our hearts we praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2013, Day 3: Chri stmas Music and Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2013, Day 4: Christmas Lights. I have also submitted it to footnoteMaven as part of her traditional Blog Caroling event.

For more Advent and Christmas memories here at 100 Years in America (going back to 2007), scroll through these articles or stop by my Pinterest page. Visit this preview for more details about the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories and to get some inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

A new spin on an old tradition: Our family's revolving Christmas tree stands

2013-12-01T03:35:00.000-05:00

Though I risk making my readers dizzy, I just had to share a photo that illustrates one of my favorite features of our family's traditional Christmas tree: the revolving tree stand.

I can't remember a Christmas when the living room (of my childhood and now of my own children's) was not graced with a marvelously revolving Christmas tree! The tradition started in the home of my grandmother, continued with my parents, and now has become an important part of my children's lives within our immediate family's holiday celebrations.

Though this picture makes it look like the tree is spinning very fast, our revolving tree stand actually goes at a snail's pace. It would really make our heads spin (and break some ornaments!) if the tree whizzed around as it looks like it does in this photo.

As a child, I loved to turn the switch on and off to start and stop the spinning of the tree. Even more, however, I loved lying under, sitting under, or standing near the Christmas tree and watching all the beautiful lights and ornaments go around above my head. What fun to see a special ornament come around the corner within view once again!

Me admiring the Christmas tree.

In recent years I've added a couple of smaller trees with themed ornaments to our family's Christmas decor. I've had lots of trouble trying to decide which ornaments to put in back since these little trees don't have revolving stands and wouldn't be "making the rounds" as I'm so used to having ornaments do on my large tree.

If you've never tried one, I encourage you and your family to give a revolving tree stand a spin this holiday season! Happy tree trimming!

This article is part of a series written in celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons. It will be included as part of the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories 2013, Day 1: Christmas Trees. For more Advent and Christmas memories here at 100 Years in America (going back to 2007), scroll through these articles or stop by my Pinterest page. Visit this preview for more details about the GeneaBloggers Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories and to get some inspiration to get yourself in the holiday spirit!

On finding my work cited in a young historian's annotated bibliography

2013-06-05T14:13:00.000-04:00

So here I was at the state level of the National History Day competition.

Did I mention that I love National History Day?

Back to my story...

The time had come (following the interview and judging period) when the doors open into the museum hall so that visitors can take a look at the year's entries in both senior and junior divisions of the historical exhibit category. So I wandered the rows, viewing projects on this year's theme: Turning Points in History. I saw projects on everything from apartheid to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire to Napolean Bonaparte to the first transcontinental railroad.

Suddenly, an exhibit struck my eye. The topic: the Cristero rebellion in 1920s Mexico. Now here was a topic I knew something about. I had written an article about it for The Catholic Gene blog. It was a troubling period just decades ago in Mexico's history featuring the almost incomprehensible struggle for religious liberties and civil rights fought by the Mexican people.

I took time to read this project a little more closely than the others, picking up the annotated bibliography on the table in front of the exhibit. I flipped open a page, and - surprise! - there was my article, cited and annotated by the students who created the project.

I was happy to see that they had used my work as a source, and it was a good reminder of the importance of solid research and writing. I work hard to do complete research and write accurate articles about the topics I cover. Yet, seeing that these students had relied on my work as a central resource for their historical research project gave me additional inspiration to continue to ensure the integrity of what I publish here on the web and elsewhere.

One of my greatest hopes is that I can help in some small way to inspire young people to delve into and begin to love the study of history. So many adults, sadly, avoid anything with the H-word stamped onto it, having flashbacks of failing to memorize a timeline or to learn names and dates for a test during their school years.

The nation's top young historians will gather this week to
compete in the National History Day competition at the
University of Maryland, College Park

National History Day is encouraging young students to see beyond the names and dates and learn what history is all about through in-depth investigations using primary sources. They are given a chance to become young historians, doing meaningful research and presenting their conclusions within museum-like exhibits and other formats much like a professional historian might have the opportunity to do. What a thrill for me to find my name and work within the bibliography produced by a group of these young historians!

This year's National History Day competition will take place this coming week at the University of Maryland, College Park: June 9-13, 2013. The theme is Turning Points in History. If you are in the area, I encourage you to stop by and view some of the nation's best student-created historical exhibits, documentaries, websites, papers and performances of the year. I'll be cheering on some of those talented students during this year's competition!

Get National History Day updates on Twitter by following them at @NationalHistory or myself at @smallestleaf.

100 Years in America turns six years old!

2013-06-02T21:33:00.001-04:00

Today is the six year anniversary of 100 Years in America! It's been quiet for awhile over here and at my other genealogy blogs, but I've been busy with some fun projects outside of blogging and hope to find time to do some more writing again now that summer has hit.

A little update on what I've been up to in the world of genealogy:

Earlier this year I created and published two genealogy guides through Legacy Family Tree: the Catholic Genealogy QuickGuide™ and Croatian Genealogy QuickGuide™. I'm now at work on and very excited about my third such project. Watch 100 Years in America and the Legacy website for its announcement.

I've had the joy to present to several genealogy societies recently on the topic of "Telling the Tales of Your Family Tree: How to Share Your Research in Story Form". I hope I have inspired some of my listeners to get to work turning their pedigree charts into story plots and sharing the fascinating tales of their ancestors with their extended families. If you have a group interested in a similar presentation, please let me know.

It's going to be a long time in the works, but I've been dedicating myself to re-organizing many of the records I've collected over the years, scanning them, citing them properly, and revisiting them with new eyes for information that I might have missed on the first once-over. I've also been creating some new family timelines and am unveiling some fascinating stories. I hope to share some of those on my blogs in the near future.

It is hard to believe that 100 Years in America is celebrating its sixth anniversary! What fun I've had sharing my family's stories, and connecting with distant cousins and fellow genealogy buffs. The comments and emails from you, my readers, continue to inspire me to delve deeper into my personal ancestral search and to continue to share my love for history with others. Thanks again for stopping by!

My new Catholic Genealogy QuickGuide™: Let me help you find those Catholic ancestors!

2013-02-13T21:36:00.000-05:00

There is much more to Catholic genealogy than just sacramental records.
The ecclesiastical paper trails left by our Catholic ancestors allow us to explore
their lives through important milestones painstakingly recorded by the church.

If you are researching Catholic roots, I'm sure you have a beginning understanding of the importance of Catholic sacramental records. Baptism and marriage records, in particular, are among the first of our ancestors' documents that we collect. They provide a wealth of information, allowing us to confirm names and family connections, link generations, and gain insight into important milestones in the lives of those who have gone before us.

In many countries, Catholic sacramental registries often served as both religious and civil records. In these cases, they may be the only evidence available to provide clues into the lives of generations passed. Yet, there is so much more to Catholic genealogical research. Church records (which take many forms beyond parish sacramental registries) and other Catholic resources offer a huge, often untapped resource.

After much research into this topic, I have created a Catholic Genealogy QuickGuide™, now available for purchase through Legacy Family Tree. I have perused all the published resources on the topic that I could find, done my own personal research using Catholic records, and put together an introduction to Catholic genealogy that I hope will provide help to both the beginning and experienced researcher.

My Catholic Genealogy QuickGuide™ contains descriptions of the history and types of Catholic records, what value they provide to the researcher, and where to find them. It offers a guide to assist you in following your ancestors' paper trails, and lists books, periodicals and online resources for help in researching Catholic roots in general and in understanding special topics related to specific ethnic groups and parts of the world. I've also provided some help in getting started with Latin language record translation.

If you have Catholic ancestors, I hope you'll allow me to share what I've learned with you. Visit Legacy Family Tree's website for more information. It is my hope that I can help you begin to understand the wealth of resources available to you in your search for Catholic roots!

Update: I am pleased to announce that all three of my genealogy guides are now available as Amazon Kindle eBooks. Whether you have a Kindle (or use the free Kindle app on your computer, tablet or smartphone) you can now have handy access to these guides in eBook format.

What's the difference? The PDF downloads are in a compressed format and make the guide compact for easier printing and sliding into the rings of a notebook. The eBooks include the same content laid out into book format, so they have more pages. They would use up more paper if printed, yet are easily scrollable using a Kindle or Kindle app.

For more details about the other QuickGuides™ I've authored, see: My new Hungarian Genealogy QuickGuide™: Trace your roots in the land of the Magyars and My new Croatian Genealogy QuickGuide™: Journey with me back to your roots in Croatia.

Happy researching!

Amazon.com Widgets

It is hard to say good-bye to these dear women

2013-01-23T02:24:00.000-05:00

This month, within the span of a week's time, I lost two very special ladies: my beloved Aunt Barbara and my dear Great Aunt Molly.

Barbara

Molly

It is hard to say good-bye to these women.

They each lived many states away from me, and that has been the case for most of my years (with the exception of my early childhood and a few years about a decade ago when I had the joy to live close to one of them). Yet, they each figured largely in my life in ways that they may not have even realized.

First as a child, then as a young lady and a grown woman, I have often looked to the women in my family for inspiration and example. I have gained courage for my own life through their stories, their struggles and their vibrant personalities. They have walked ahead of me on the journey through girlhood into adulthood, but we share so much - the same larger than life ancestors who have helped to shape us; the same struggle to make sense of and to find courage for the challenges in the life of a woman.

I have often been inspired by the stories of women ancestors that I never had the chance to meet, yet these dear aunts have touched me in a special way. Both had lively personalities, a great sense of humor, and unrelenting strength of will which gave them the ability to overcome their own personal difficulties. I will remember Barbara especially for her warmth, openness and honesty. I will remember Molly for her delightfully spunky personality. I have been blessed that my life crossed paths with each of theirs, if even for short time, and that I have had the gift of their sweet and strong influences over the years.

Rest in peace, sweet ladies. You are both very dear to my heart.

(This tribute to my aunts Barbara and Molly has been cross-posted over at my blog Small-leaved Shamrock.)

Five years of life in the Lower East Side: 1908-1913

2013-01-05T23:30:00.000-05:00

It was five years ago that my interest was sparked by Jim Rasenberger's January 2008 Smithsonian Magazine article entitled "1908: The Year that Changed Everything".

As I wrote after reading:

"It was a banner year for the Wright Brothers and their flying 'aeroplane'.

It was the year that Henry Ford's Model T went into production and the year that General Motors was founded.

1908 saw the race to the North Pole, the automobile race from New York to Paris, and the race to liberate the housewife via electric irons and toasters.

It was a year of tremendous change for the world and for the nation that had seen the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark's trek across the west only a century before.

1908. One-hundred years ago today.

Where was my family?"

It was a blog post that started a wave of responses. I had asked myself and my fellow genealogy bloggers the question: Where was your family in 1908? (You can read their responses here at Snapshots of the World Back in 1908.)

Five years have flown for me.

When I read Randy Seaver's latest Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge to write about the whereabouts of my ancestors one-hundred years ago in January 1913, I just had to find the time to do this exercise again. After all, this blog is called 100 Years in America!

In January 1908, my great-grandparents Ferencz and Ilona Ujlaki had been an ocean apart. He had immigrated to the U.S. and was trying to establish a new life for himself in New York before his wife and young son would join him. It would be another year before Ilona and the younger Ferencz would leave their native Legrad and make the ocean voyage from the port of Rijeka to New York City.

Fast forward five years to 1913. Much had changed for this little family. After arriving in March 1909, Ilona and her little one had been welcomed by Ferencz and settled into a tenement home in the Lower East Side of New York City. By January 1913, they probably already lived at 329 E. 16th Street, having moved a handful of blocks north from their home at 415 E. 5th Street.

You can read more about the neighborhood they lived in and the churches they attended at Disappearing Churches, Part 1: Manhattan's Immaculate Conception and Disappearing Churches, Part 2: Manhattan's St. Stephen of Hungary. Visit "To face whatever lies before us...": New York City disasters and the prayers of young mothers for a look at a tragic event that occurred in their neighborhood in 1911.

This map shows where the Ujlaky family resided at the time of the 1910 U.S. census (A) and the 1915 New York state census (B). They would remain living on E. 16th St. (although they moved to 431) until 1921.

The 1910 U.S. census shows the Ujlaky (misspelled Ujlakei) family of three living at 415 E. 5th Street. They are already using their Americanized first names. Young Frank is listed as four years old. Frank senior works as a "wheelright" in a "wagon house".

Ujlaky family at 415 E. 5th St., Manhattan in the 1910 U.S. census
(click to enlarge)

By December of 1913 the family had added three sisters and had moved north to 329 E. 16th Street, as shown in the 1915 New York state census below. Frank works as a "carriage maker".

Ujlaky family at 329 E. 16th St., Manhattan in the 1915 New York state census
(click to enlarge)

The closest photograph to January 1913 that I have of my great-grandparents is probably this wedding portrait. The bride Maria Gaspar is the cousin of my great-grandmother Ilona (now called Helen). Maria's wedding to Peter Gres must have been a beautiful celebration. My great-grandparents are seated and their two oldest children, Helene and Frankie, are standing at their sides. Someone else must have been holding baby Mitzi because she would definitely be born at the time of this wedding, but she does not appear in the portrait. My great-grandmother is either expecting or soon-to-be expecting her fourth child and third daughter Wilma.

Wedding of Peter and Maria (Gaspar) Gres, 1913

My new Croatian Genealogy QuickGuide™: Journey with me back to your roots in Croatia

2012-12-26T19:40:00.001-05:00

My family's Croatian roots were originally hidden.
After research I discovered that my grandmother's
"Hungarian" family had actually originated in northern Croatia.

This fall I visited Croatia, but not in the sense that you might imagine. Though I do hope to actually set foot in the country of my ancestors again sometime in the next few years, this "trip" to Croatia was a virtual tour of the country, its history, its geography, and most of all its genealogical treasures.

Croatian genealogy can be a challenging area, yet those who are up to the task can be rewarded with great discoveries.

I am privileged to be able to delve into the heritage of my great-grandparents' who hailed from near the Hungarian border in the northernmost region of Croatia. The country is diverse, and so are the stories of the peoples who have lived within its borders. The historical influence of many different nations, peoples and cultures and the variety of languages found within Croatian records can test the skills of even an experienced genealogist.

My Croatian Genealogy QuickGuide™
is a resource for both experienced researchers
and those new to tracing their Croatian roots

In partnership with Legacy Family Tree, I am pleased to present to you a brand new aid for your quest for Croatian roots: my Croatian Genealogy QuickGuide™, a downloadable resource that includes -

An overview of the history and geography of Croatia
Details about the types and whereabouts of available records
A description of the various types of archives and repositories that house Croatian records
An explanation of the numerous languages in which Croatian records were written
A glossary of common terms in several of those languages
Links to many types of online resources (genealogy guides, translation tools, maps, forums, blogs and more)
A list of genealogy-related publications in both English and Croatian
A research strategy to follow for success in tracing your Croatian roots

One of the kind editors who took the time to preview this little guide for me wrote a note on the sidebar during the editing process: "You're practically handing them their family trees!" Well, not quite, but it is my hope that this resource will act as a compass when you're feeling lost in the world of Croatian genealogy.

If nothing else, I hope it will inspire you to take up the project again (or for the first time). Working on this project has definitely done that for me. I am proud to be the descendant of my Croatian-American great-grandparents and am greatly looking forward to digging more deeply into my Croatian roots. I hope you will join me.

Update: I am pleased to announce that all three of my genealogy guides are now available as Amazon Kindle eBooks. Whether you have a Kindle (or use the free Kindle app on your computer, tablet or smartphone) you can now have handy access to these guides in eBook format.

What's the difference? The PDF downloads are in a compressed format and make the guide compact for easier printing and sliding into the rings of a notebook. The eBooks include the same content laid out into book format, so they have more pages. They would use up more paper if printed, yet are easily scrollable using a Kindle or Kindle app.

For more details about the other QuickGuides™ I've authored, see: My new Hungarian Genealogy QuickGuide™: Trace your roots in the land of the Magyars and My new Catholic Genealogy QuickGuide™: Let me help you find those Catholic ancestors.

Happy researching!

Amazon.com Widgets

The patron saint of my Hungarian family tree: St. Elisabeth of Hungary

2012-11-17T06:47:00.000-05:00

A holy card printed in 1907 for the 700th anniversary
of the birth of St. Elisabeth of Hungary.

(Thanks to my daughter who gave me this treasure after finding
it in a village flea market during her recent trip to Italy.)

St. Elisabeth of Hungary (Szent Erzsébet in Hungarian; Heilige Elisabeth in German) lived a short life (only to the age of 24), but she made such an impact that she was canonized by the Catholic Church only four years after her death. She was born over 800 years ago, but we know much about her family tree back to her great-great-grandparents' generation, and her incredible personal legacy of faith continues to this day. Today, November 17, is her feast day.

Born in the year 1207, at a very young age Elisabeth, daughter of King András II of Hungary, was betrothed to Ludwig IV of Thuringia and taken to live within the Thuringian court. The two became close childhood friends and enjoyed a short and happy marriage until Ludwig died of the plague, leaving Elisabeth a widow at the age of twenty with several young children.

A statue of St. Elisabeth holding roses in
Rózsák tere (Roses Square), Budapest, Hungary

Stories of her generosity to the poor and the miracles that accompanied her work are plentiful. She is best known for the legendary "miracle of the roses". According to Holy Rulers and Blessed Princesses: Dynastic Cults in Medieval Central Europe by Gábor Klaniczay (published in English in 2002), the story "in which a disapproving father attempts to expose Elisabeth, who is secretly stealing alms for the poor in her apron, and finds her pious lie turn the contents of her apron into roses" first appears in written form at the end of the 13th century. Elisabeth is commonly depicted holding these miraculous roses. This is the reason (along with the fact that she was a princess) that many little girls (including my own) have chosen to dress as St. Elisabeth of Hungary on All Saints Day!

I was thrilled to see that much detail is known about Elisabeth's royal family tree. Here's hoping that someday I can find a family connection to her ancestral line.

Wikipedia has links to a number of articles about many of Elizabeth's
ancestors, including her grandfather King Béla III, one of the richest
and most powerful monarchs in European history.

Elisabeth's Hungarian heritage and the fact that my name derives from Elisabeth endear her to me, yet there is another reason that I've chosen her as patron saint of my continued efforts to uncover the roots of my Hungarian family tree. Like my great-grandmother Helen Ulaky, St. Elisabeth was a lay Franciscan associated with the Third Order of St. Francis of Assisi. In fact, just before his death in 1226 St. Francis, aware of her assistance to the poor thanks to Franciscan friars in Thuringia, sent a personal message of blessing to St. Elisabeth.

The Third Order of St. Francis had its start in 1221. Elisabeth's death in 1231 made her the first Third Order Franciscan to be canonized a saint. On her canonization she was declared the patron saint of the Third Order of St. Francis, a role she shares with St. Louis IX of France.

The beautiful holy card pictured at the beginning of this article was printed in 1907 in celebration of Elisabeth's 700th birthday. The year 2007 (the 800th anniversary of her birth) also saw a renewed focus on the history of and devotion to St. Elisabeth of Hungary with celebrations throughout Hungary, Germany, Austria and also worldwide through the Third Order of St. Francis. The town of Marburg, Germany was a special focus of the year since it was the place of Elisabeth's death and its Elisabethkirche was the location of her shrine and relics until 1539. The church was a place of pilgrimage for many Europeans during the medieval period. Today her relics are located in various churches throughout Austria, Germany and France.

One side of the German 10 Euro coin minted in
celebration of the 800th birthday of St. Elisabeth

Disappearing Churches, Part 2: Manhattan's St. Stephen of Hungary

2012-10-06T15:28:00.000-04:00

The entrance doors to the present-day
Church of St. Stephen of Hungary
(Photo by brooklynbred)

This is the second in a series of Disappearing Churches here at "100 Years in America". These articles have been written as part of the special Doors of Faith celebration in honor of the upcoming Year of Faith 2012-2013 proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI. For more information, visit The Catholic Gene.

It was the year 1909 when the family of three consisting of my great-grandparents and their young son (little Ferencz) were reunited at Ellis Island. It had been three years since Ilona’s husband Ferencz had left their home in the Croatian-speaking region of Austria-Hungary's Zala County. They had finally joined him in the United States, jumping right into their new life as residents of New York’s Lower East Side.

As it still is today, the neighborhood was a magnet for new immigrants, each nationality forming its own community within a particular section of city blocks. New immigrants like the Ujlaki family surely found comfort for their homesickness within the neighborhood where the languages, traditions and foods of their homeland were a part of everyday life.

The first St. Stephen of Hungary
Church on E. 14th Street

A central part of life for the Hungarian immigrant families was the Church of St. Stephen of Hungary. It was located at 420 East 14th Street, at the northern boundary of a series of city blocks that were predominantly a Hungarian neighborhood. The church was founded in 1902 by the St. Stephen Roman Catholic Society. It's first church building, formerly used by Episcopal and Presbyterian churches before the area became largely Catholic, was consecrated in 1905 by pastor Rev. Ladislaus Perenyi.

Lucky for Ferencz and Ilona Ujlaki, the Hungarian priest who became pastor in 1907 was from Nagykanizsa – a town that is today about an hour's drive from their home villages. Their families had made visits to his town. It must have been nice to have this connection with their pastor Rev. Louis Von Kovacs de Jardanhaza now that they were all in America and so far away from their homeland.

The Hungarian pastor had quite a distinguished history before his arrival at Manhattan's Church of St. Stephen of Hungary. According to a 1914 publication entitled The Catholic Church in the United States of America, Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. v. 1-3, Fr. Kovacs de Jardanhaza was "born in Nagykanizsa, Hungary in 1878 from an old noble family and graduated from the University of Hungary in 1899. He was in the Cathedral of Tamesvar, Hungary, with Bishop Dessiwffy for four years, and was then professor in Nagybeeskerek, Hungary. In 1904 he was a candidate for the Hungarian Parliament. He came to the United States in 1905 and until 1907 was rector of the Hungarians of Perth Amboy, N.J. He was decorated with the Cross of the German Knights by Prince Eugene of Hapsburg in 1907.” With a history like that I hope he didn't seem intimidating to his parishioners!

The Ujlaky family about 1915

By 1914, St. Stephen of Hungary had about 4,000 Hungarian Catholic parishioners, including my great-grandparents. By that year, the Ujlaki family had baptized three daughters at the church, and would continue to be active members for many years, even after the family and the church itself moved - in different directions.

As Hungarian immigrant families settled into their new lives in America and began to live more comfortably financially, they left the Lower East Side, and the church followed them. The Church of St. Stephen of Hungary moved uptown to the upper east side of Manhattan in Yorkville. The area from 75th Street to 83rd Street was becoming the center of Hungarian life and was the natural choice for the location of the new church.

By 1926, plans were underway for the building of a new Romanesque Revival church at 408 East 82nd Street. Construction began on St. Stephen's day: August 20, 1927. Today, the church remains at that address, and includes a rectory, school and community center. Designed by architect Emil Szendy, it is built of light brick and sandstone with an archway at the center for the entrance to the church. Below are photos of the church today, which still offers a weekly Hungarian language Mass. I love the striking stained glass window behind the altar depicting King Szent István (Hungarian for St. Stephen) kneeling at the feet of Mary and the infant Jesus.

The current St. Stephen of Hungary on 82nd Street was built in 1927
(The beautiful photographs of the interior are by Andrew
of the Catholic Churches of Manhattan blog)

A few short years before the church itself moved, Ferencz and Ilona Ujlaki (now using their Americanized names Frank and Helen Ujlaky) had moved their family not north, but south. Probably in search of more rural surroundings like the villages in which they had been raised, they moved their family to Staten Island in 1921. Because it was closer to home, Holy Rosary became their new parish, yet they remained connected to the Church of St. Stephen of Hungary. Their teenage children attended youth activities with other young Catholics from Hungarian families at St. Stephen's.

One of the Ujlakys' daughters was a teenager when she met and was courted by a Hungarian-born young man from Massachusetts who was attending St. Stephen's while visiting his New York cousins. The Church of St. Stephen of Hungary had introduced the young couple, but Steve and Mitzi were married the following summer at Holy Rosary. He was 25 and she was 18. They were my grandparents.

This article is part of the "Doors of Faith" series focusing on our ancestors' Catholic parishes. Visit The Catholic Gene to learn how you can share photos and stories of your family's "Doors of Faith" in honor of the upcoming Year of Faith 2012-2013.

Disappearing Churches, Part 1: Manhattan's Immaculate Conception

2012-09-30T00:00:00.000-04:00

Several photographs clued me in to the fact that my grandmother and her siblings had attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Manhattan's Lower East Side during the first two decades of the twentieth century. The family worshipped at St. Stephen of Hungary parish, but since that church had no school the children joined several thousand other students from immigrant families and attended school at what was then one of the busiest Catholic churches in New York City: Immaculate Conception.

The first Immaculate
Conception at
505 East 14th Street

It took me a bit of sleuthing to learn the full history of Immaculate Conception and to unravel the mystery of the disappearance of its original church building.

As the story goes, New York's Archbishop John Hughes was standing a few feet away from Pope Pius IX in Rome when the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was first promulgated on December 8, 1854. "Just at that moment," Hughes later recalled, "I resolved, on my return to New York, to erect a church to commemorate the event." The cornerstone for Immaculate Conception Catholic Church was laid on December 8, 1855: exactly one year after Archbishop Hughes' had decided to build the parish. The beautiful Romanesque building was finally dedicated on May 16, 1858 by the archbishop, who declared it to be "the first church on earth set apart to honor the immaculate nature of the Mother of Christ."

The first Immaculate Conception Catholic Church as it looked in 1914

Several of the Ujlaky children, including oldest brother Frankie circled in the pictures below, attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School during the second decade of the twentieth century along with about 3,000 other children, mostly from immigrant families. At that time the Sisters of Charity taught the girls; and the Christian Brothers, including Brother Aloysius pictured below with Frankie's class, taught the boys.

Brother Aloysius' class at Immaculate Conception Catholic School, abt. 1917-1919

The first Immaculate Conception church building, its rectory, convent and school buildings were destroyed in the 1940s along with two other churches and many other buildings within the city blocks of 14th and 23rd streets from First Avenue to Avenue C. The reason: the building of Stuyvesant Town, the post-World War II urban housing development which remains today.

This map shows the sites of the original and current
Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (click to enlarge)

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (and school) found a new home in the former Episcopal mission settlement called Grace Chapel, which was located on the south side of 14th Street, east of First Avenue at the address 406 East 14th Street. This church, just outside of the planned area for Stuyvesant Town, had lost its purpose as the neighborhood had largely become Catholic. It closed in 1942 and was left vacant until the church and its affiliated buildings were purchased by the Archdiocese of New York and renamed Immaculate Conception. This remains the home of the Immaculate Conception church and school today: over 150 years after the founding of its original church home.

The church website states:

"In many ways, New York City is America’s front door, even though
most of the newest residents come not only from Europe but from all over the world. This is the city’s gift to the parish: a remarkably multi-ethnic, multi-cultural population, whose hearts burn with the same ambition: to create a better life for themselves, their children and their descendants.

"Above the church door, there is a small but exquisite statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the first Immaculate Conception Church. The expression on her face is neither joyful nor sad; it is pensive. What could she be thinking? Is she calling all those men, women and children who have passed beneath her feet?"

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church today
(Notice the small statue of Mary from the original
church building above the church doors)

For more information about the history of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, visit the church's website or refer to From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship by David Dunlap.

This article is part of the "Doors of Faith" series on our ancestors' Catholic parishes. Visit The Catholic Gene to learn how you can share photos and stories of your family's "Doors of Faith" in honor of the upcoming Year of Faith 2012-2013.

The search for family history: Savoring the journey

2012-09-29T09:50:00.000-04:00

Jacqui Stevens over at A Family Tapestry wrote an insightful post this past week entitled A Blog Needs a Voice that touched on "the slow journey of stopping along the way to absorb the aromas of life each of [our family's previous] generations must have experienced".

That describes perfectly my approach to this lifelong project I call family history. When I stop and think about the few generations for which I have uncovered names and dates, I am sometimes tempted to have a fleeting moment of discouragement, since I have been tracing my family tree for so very many years! Yet, the great blessing I receive from this "slow journey" is the glimpse into the experiences of those who have lived before me; it is the reward of learning their stories, how they fit into the greater history of their times, and how their lives have helped to shape who I am today. That is what I seek to share within each of my family history blogs.

I'm sure that I will never "finish" my family tree. It is a work in progress that I hope someday will be continued by the younger generations in my family. Yet, uncovering a little bit about the lives of those before me who have been forgotten is more fulfilling to me than just blazing through my genealogy research to fill out the complete list of names and dates that make up my direct ancestry.

I love the way Jacqui explained this rewarding aspect of the search for family roots: "While we may never have met these people in real life, the events that shaped their lives ultimately touched our own in some way—be it ever so small. That’s the part of our roots that I focus on when I ferret out the message behind the data and documents. Perhaps it’s that relay race of influence passed down from generation to generation that fascinates me..."

I've entitled the blog about my Boston Irish-famine-immigrant ancestors "A Light That Shines Again" after a stanza of a poem that summed up my purpose in writing: to resurrect my forgotten ancestors' humble lives from the "death of memory" so that they might "shine again".

Here is the stanza:

"Yet not in vain,
Fathers and mothers, were your humble lives;
Each in its turn an influence that survives,
A light that shines again
In sacred memories, and in hearths and homes,
Vital as greater names that gild historic tomes…”

~ Christopher Pearce Cranch

I like to think of my family history blogs as a type of "illuminated manuscript", but not the illustrated kind, like the famous Book of Kells. My blogs are more than just a list of dates and names; they are a collection of stories that I hope will illuminate the lives of those who have come before me so that their memories will live on and that others will gain strength from the inspiration of their lives.

Thank you to Jacqui Stevens for highlighting my writing at 100 Years in America and at The Catholic Gene within her "tour" of blogs "with a voice". Visit her article for some good reading suggestions and also take some time to page through more of this prolific blogger's work. You will be enriched.

What a surprise! Great-Great-Great-Grandfather's "Doors of Faith"

2012-09-25T08:49:00.002-04:00

About a month ago I was happy to find the name of my 3rd great-grandfather in a history book about my ancestral village of Legrad, Croatia. The discovery that he had held the post of mayor during the middle of the 19th century confirmed a family story and gave me hope that I might eventually reveal more clues about my ancestor, who was supposedly a Jewish orphan raised by Catholic religious sisters.

Two weeks later, I planned and announced a special "Doors of Faith" blog carnival over at The Catholic Gene. Its purpose: to highlight articles by bloggers that tell stories and share photos of Catholic churches in which their ancestors worshipped. The round-up of all those articles will be published on the opening day of the new Year of Faith 2012-2013 declared by Pope Benedict XVI.

Only two days after I posted that announcement, I received an amazing bit of news about the very doors of my own ancestors' Catholic church in Legrad, Croatia. Here's the story.

The Holy Trinity Catholic Church (Župa Presvetog Trojstva) is a beautiful late-Baroque one-nave parish church serving the village of Legrad. It was built around 1780, and by the middle of the 19th century the church needed renovation. That project was taken on in the year 1857. In addition to the renovation, a few other improvements were made.

Guess who provided for them? My 3rd great-grandfather, Josip Bence.

What were those improvements? The inside of the church was repaired, painted and tiled; two more bells were purchased for the church bell tower; and one more item was upgraded - you won't believe this: new entrance doors for the church.

I have loved this beautiful little church for many years, ever since I was given a picture postcard of it that was formerly in my great-grandmother's possession. Now I've learned that her grandfather was instrumental in preserving and updating the church. Talk about a family heirloom!

I haven't yet had the opportunity to visit Legrad, but you can be sure that once I make it to the village one of my very first stops will be to the Holy Trinity Catholic Church (Župa Presvetog Trojstva) to visit the place where my ancestors worshipped for so many decades and to admire its beautiful interior, its bells, and of course, the church doors.

A very special thank-you to Mike, a current resident of Legrad, for sharing this bit of history with me and for providing these photographs of the church. The news about Josip Bence's contribution to the church was taken from Josip Đurkan's Legrad i Njegova Župa Kroz Stoljeća (Legrad and its Parish Through the Centuries), published in 2005. Here is the English translation along with the original text:

"In 1857, the tower of the parish church was renovated through gifts from the Legrad municipality and the Varaždin general command for the sum of 2,000 forints. That same year, a new entrance door to the church was made, by care of Legrad Captain Joseph Bence. Then two more bells were purchased and placed in the tower. One weighing 230, and another 170 kg. The church inside was painted, tiled, also cared for by gifts of the captain."

"1857. godine toranj župne crkve obnovljen je darovima legradske općine i varaždinskog generalata za svotu od 2.000 forinti. Iste godine načinjena su nova ulazna vrata u crkvu, brigom legradskog kapetana Josipa Benceja. Potom su nabavljena još dva zvona i smještena u toranj. Jedno od 230, a drugo od 170 kg. Crkva je iznutra okrečena, popločena, također brigom i darovima kapetana."

Legrad's Holy Spirit Catholic Church (Župa Presvetog Trojstva) is once again undergoing renovation as funds become available. An upcoming article here at 100 Years in America will highlight the details of the current restoration project. In the mean time, you may view some of the conservation work done on the St. Joseph altar by the Department of Conservation at Zagreb University. Visit their Facebook page (Odsjek za restauriranje i konzerviranje umjetnina ALU Sveučilište u Zagrebu) or go directly to their photos of the restoration and assembly of the altar. If you'd like to make a donation to go toward the restoration, please contact the church: Župa Presvetog Trojstva.

More articles (including photos) here at 100 Years in America about Legrad's beautiful little Catholic church:

My Lady of Sorrows: When Family History Meets the Catholic Liturgical Calendar

2012-09-15T23:25:00.000-04:00

Helen Ulaky was born Ilona Bence.
She lived to the age of 97.

You don't have to spend too much time reading 100 Years in America to come to the realization that I admire my great-grandmother Helen Ulaky. I write a lot about her life.

I only had the opportunity to spend a little bit of time with her during the years our lives intersected. She was already in her eighties by the time I was born, and my family and I didn't have too many opportunities to visit with her during those years prior to her death at age 97. Yet she had a strong presence in my life: partly because of a special memory I have of one of my visits with her, and partly because of a photograph.

Grammy Ulaky was a praying woman, and I remember vividly one visit I made as a child to her home. She called me over to her and gave me a Miraculous Medal (a Catholic medal meant to be worn as a necklace as a statement of faith). That moment stuck in my memory for many years. I felt like I had been given a birthright. She had shared with me a special item; but even more importantly, she had entrusted me with her most precious treasure: her Catholic faith.

I didn't see her too many times after that visit, but her photograph was a regular presence in my life. I was blessed to share many visits with one of her daughters: my dear grandmother. Gramma also had a strong Catholic faith, and like many Catholics, she kept a crucifix on the wall and a vigil candle on the dresser in her bedroom. In its permanent home beside the candle was the photograph of her mother: my great-grandmother, Grammy Ulaky.

Over the years I've tried to learn about the life of this dear woman whom I knew only as a sweet old gray-haired grandmother with a thick accent. I've been fascinated and humbled by what I've discovered. So many of the important events of the early 20th century impacted her life directly. To tell my children the story of her life is to give them lessons in some of the most historic events in modern American history.

Her life (which spanned almost a century) was filled with the joys of a close and loving family, yet she faced many times of sadness throughout her days.

Here is a brief and incomplete timeline of just several decades of her life:

Ilona (Bence) Ujlaki at age 22
with her firstborn son before
their emigration (and her
Americanized name)

1909 She and her young son left their home and family in their native Hungary to meet her husband in America. She would never see her family or her homeland again. After arriving in New York City her son, just age two, was separated from her and quarantined within the Ellis Island hospital.

1911 As a young mother of two with a baby on the way, she stayed at home with her children living tenement life in New York City's Lower East Side while her husband worked each day. Their home was just six blocks from the historic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.

1921 Like many immigrant families who were establishing themselves in their new country, she and her husband Frank and their five children left Manhattan's immigrant neighborhood and moved out to Staten Island once they had the means to do so. Her husband enlisted the help of friends to build their home.

1925 Her son Frankie, the eldest of her (now six) children, was hospitalized for Encephalitis Lethargica after an outbreak of this "sleepy sickness" took hold in New York City. He remained hospitalized for the rest of his life.

Helen with her grown daughters and two
young granddaughters about 1936
in front of the home her husband built

1934 She was the proud grandmother of three grandchildren, but was saddened by the sudden loss of her grandson Stephen who died from meningitis at the age of 15 months.

1939 After battling tuberculosis for five years under the care of doctors at historic Seaview Hospital, her husband Frank passed away at the age of 60 . After his death she lost the home that he had built and she and her youngest children moved to a "railroad apartment" in another area of Staten Island.

1942 While still hospitalized at Harlem Valley State Hospital after contracting Encephalitis Lethargica years earlier, her eldest son Frankie died from tuberculosis at age 35.

Helen Ulaky in 1947

1943 Almost a year to the day that her son passed away, her daughter Ethel died from tuberculosis at the age of 23.

1943 Her youngest child (and only remaining son) Kasmir was drafted as an Air Force aviator cadet to serve the United States during World War II. He earned his pilot wings at age 21. There's much more to his story, but that will have to wait until another time...

Several months ago as I was looking through my family tree database, I noticed the death date of my great-grandmother. I had never made the connection before, but at that moment I realized that her death had occurred on a very special feast day within the Catholic liturgical calendar.

I can't help but believe that God intentionally chose this day to take my great-grandmother home to Heaven. This daughter of His, who had suffered so much sadness during her life, passed away on September 15, the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. Requiescat in pace, Grammy. After all the sorrows in your long life, you must have been grateful to rest in God's eternal peace.