Thursday, February 28, 2013

Mezőkövesd, Hungary

Now that I have made up my mind to do this, I don't know where to start. There is so much to share. I guess the best place to start is where I started.

My very first clue, long before we found the treasure box, was my mother's birth certificate.(This, by the way, is rule #1 in genealogy...Start with the known, close to home, then work your way backwards.  From the known to the unknown.) It listed her parents' names and places of birth. My Grandmother was born in a nearby town in Ohio. That was pretty easy!  But my Grandfather's birthplace was a mumble-jumble of letters that made no sense to me, followed by, Hungary. Then I plugged those letters into Google to see what it could tell me. They had never heard of the place either. So next, I played around with the lettering alittle and Googled it again. Still nothing. But this time, Google asked me if I meant

Mezőkövesd, Borsod megye, Hungary
 

So I told Google..."You bet, that's what I meant" with a snicker to my computer screen. "That's exactly what I meant."

I began my quest to find everything I could about this town. I had never heard of it or knew where it was. But, I'll be honest, my education only taught me that there was a city named Budapest in the country of Hungary and that was all. So anything that I learned would be "a first" for me. So here comes the geography lesson.

Country:  Hungary
County: Borsod
Village:  Mezőkövesd
Location: east of Budapest, 30 miles from Miskolc and 9 miles from Eger.

Before WWI, Hungary was part of a much larger entity, called Austria Hungary. This name was used interchangeably with Hungry, although there was a country, among others, called Hungary.

After WWII, Borsod county merged with other counties and is now called Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen County. It is now the northeastern county in Hungary.  The river Tisza forms the southeastern border and the river Sajo flows through the county.I will explain the history at a later date in another post. I wouldn't want to overwhelm you with all this schooling.

1)  Here is a current map of Hungary:




2)  Below is a map of the old county of Borsod in the year of 1910. Can you find the village? I'll give you a hint. It is down in the yellow section.





3)  Here is a current map of the area from Google maps. Use the controls and take a look around. Scroll in real far to street view and drive around or scroll back to see where it is in relation to the other towns. It's okay to play with it. You can't do anything wrong to hurt Google maps. If something happens, go back to the beginning and start playing again.







"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." -Benjamin Franklin








14 comments:

  1. Welcome to Geneabloggers! I wish you great success with your new blog :)

    Michele
    Ancestoring's Ask A Genealogist
    http://ancestoring.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks Michele...I look forward to putting all this down on paper for my family and any new prospective family. Hope you enjoyed reading it.

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  2. What a beautiful old map of the county! Where did you find it?

    Kathy, I found your blog this morning, thanks to a mention on GeneaBloggers. Best wishes as you continue your writing project here.

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    1. Yes, I agree, it is a Beautiful map!
      http://lazarus.elte.hu/hun/maps/1910/borsod.jpg

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  3. Hi Kathy! Looking forward to reading more about your family tree adventures. One of the surnames I'm researching is Farkas from Botpalad, Szatmar-Bereg region of Hungary. Another is Kunstler from Nagybereg, now in Ukraine but part of Hungary in 1860s. Just wanted to mention those surnames in case they're part of your family. Best, Marian

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    1. They are not, but I will keep an eye out for those names for you. I am glad you enjoyed it.

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  4. It's amazing how you finally figure out a name on a passenger list or naturalization papers and you've got a town to learn about. My father-in-law always thought his mother and her family (surname Hollander) was from Budapest but in my research I have discovered it was two different communities: Bonyhad and Hogyesz in Tolna District, Hungary. FamilySearch.org has quite a collection of records for Hungary, if you're willing to search through them.

    Welcome to Geneabloggers!

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  5. Thank you so much for welcoming me!

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  6. Welcome to GeneaBloggers! It's a wonderful community.

    I see that you have Ohio roots, as your grandmother was born there. I also have roots in Ohio, as my great-grandfather was born in the small town of Coolville in Athens County, Ohio.

    Best to you in your genealogy research and blogging!

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    1. Yes, Jana. This side of the family moved to Summit County in and around the Akron and Barberton area, after immigrating to the US. That part of Ohio along with Cleveland had alot of Hungarians.

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  7. Hi Kathy,
    I have seen you around the Hungary Exchange group.
    Mezőkövesd is wonderful! I was there in 1993. We went to the museum there that I called embroidery shrine. The old women used to sit around embroidering beautiful things without a pattern in the colorful Matyo style.
    What a lovely plavce to research. Enjoy!
    Diane

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  8. Oh, Dianee, I am green with envy. At the top of my bucket list, is a trip to Hungary to see where they all came from. Our family has in their possession several items that had been embroidered from there. Alot of the those linens are at the University Of Pittsburg, Hungarian National Room. They were donated as part of an estate. They did not realize how unique Matyo embroidery was. Do you have family there, as well?
    Thanks for reading
    Kathy

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