BB News No. 37 dtd 15 Jun 1998

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 37 DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) June 15, 1998 (all rights reserved) CHANGE IN NEWSLETTER FORMAT! With over 150 members, we're getting a lot of newsletter material. This pleases me no end but the back log of material with a short shelf life is causing some problems. I'm not able to publish it in a timely fashion and still bring you featured articles and membership information, email being limited to about 30K. I also rely on Clipboard copying and Clipboard is limited as to size. Email of 30K is frequently downloaded by some servers as an attached file and this can be cumbersome for some as well as hazardous. I do not wish to use compressed files. Effective with this issue, I will start issuing newsletters in two or three sections of 25K or less depending on the amount of material on hand. Section one will carry feature articles. Section two (A) will contain current correspondence and section three (B) will contain membership data such as new members and member changes, homepage statistics and changes to our internet address list. This issue includes number 37, number 37A and number 37B. Similar to the sections in your local newspaper! This section contains articles on: - St. Michael im Burgenland - 1924 Immigrant Donations for Szt. Kathrein - Maureen Tighe-Brown Conducting Research in Budapest and Eisenstadt - Availability of Baptism & Conversion Records 23) SANKT MICHAEL (H: Szent Mihály) -continuation of the father Leser village series from Albert Schuch: Called "Pusztaszentmihály" in Hungarian since 1544, to distinguish from Großpetersdorf ("Nagyszentmihály"). Was predominantly Croatian from ca.1600 till at least 1812. Market place, belonging to the Counts Batthyány since 1524. Surnames as mentioned in the baptism records 1712-23: SAILER, HANZL, RADAKOVITS, MAROSITS, BOISSITS, GARTLER, PAUER, JANDRISEVITS, KAVLERITS, NOVOSZEL, FRÜHMANN, KOPITAR, EBERHARD, RUESZ, ZWITKOVITS, SCHAAR, SCHNEDL, SALLER, MATHEI, STIPSITCS, KOVÁCS, KREUTZER, FABSICS, GERGISCH, SCHRANZ, GRIESZL, HATZL, PRUNNER, DAMASCHITSCH, TOBISCH, WAGNER, MATISCHOVICH, TROBITSCH, MALITS, FRANCZICZ, JOSICH, EBERL, MARX, LORENZ, KRAMMER, HOPITZA, SAUERZOPF, PÁNY, BERKOVITS, STEINER, KRANZ, MAREKOVICH, VIRÁK, SIEDERICH, PETKOVICH, MURLASICH. The fragmentary Urbarium of 1768 shows as noble land owners apart from the Batthyány: LIPICS, SZILÁGYI, Adam and Franz FRANCZICZ, Franz BARDISCHI and Sigmund JOBBÁGYI. The FRANCZICZ family (Peter F. ennobled in 1573, his sons were Franz, Stefan, Johann and Kaspar) also had possessions in Tatzmannsdorf (Franz F., 1604), Tobaj (Franz and Sigmund F., 1693, mill owners) an Onód (Stefan F., 1646). The baptism records of 1716 state that a Peter F. was a General, the same surname also mentioned in the years 1721 (Stefan F.), 1749 (Martin and Franz), 1750 (Sigmund and Adam), 1762 (Franz), 1780 (Anton), 1790 (Theofil), 1799-1803 (Josef). Tax liability of the community: In 1776 St. Michael was assessed 56 6/8 Dica (1 Dica à 1 fl 48 Den.) amounting to 356 fl 86 ½ Den. tax. In 1796: 257 5/8 Dica (à 1 fl 40 kr) amounting to 429 fl 22 ½ kr. In 1800: 259 Dica (à 1 fl 36 kr) amounting to 414 fl 36 kr. "Dica", in Hungarian "rovás", in our area called "Robisch" was the unit of taxation; the amount of the Dica was decided by the Hungarian (noble) parliament; the word Dica also means tax, hence the verb "dicare" = to pay tax(es). In 1811 French soldiers confiscated the horse of Josef SZIDERICS. In 1848 Johann FIGERL, Ludwig EIXNER and Adam EBERHARD served in the National Guard. Stefan and Josef SAILLER, Johann WOLF, Andreas JANDRISCHICH, Stefan SIDERITS, Georg HANZEL and Franz KLEMENT were recruited for the army, each of them receiving 50 fl plus some money for traveling expenses from the community. Apart from that, one Johann SCHUCH gave "his" recruit 63 fl. [translator's note: meaning that originally J.S. had been drafted, but had been wealthy enough to pay this person to serve instead of himself. This system was still practiced during World War I.] The "Freiwillige Feuerwehr" (Voluntary Fire Brigade) was founded in 1903. In 1853 letters were still mailed in Großpetersdorf, in the 1860ies Sankt Michael already had its own postmaster, Rudolf GRABNER, who was succeeded by Franz NEMETH (ca. 1879-1910). First "Kreisarzt" (physician) was Thomas BALLUF (ca. 1858-84), followed by Emmerich RETTEGI and Dr. Rudolf GRABNER (since 1921). Until 1860 the teachers acted as notaries, from then on notaries were: 1860-81 Johann KONRATH, 1881-95 Hugo GRUBER, 1896-1921 Josef ILLÉS (shot by Hungarian guerillas). Number of inhabitants: 1812 - 461; 1832 - 1179; 1929 - 928 (156 houses). In 1698 the parish included villages Gamischdorf, Schallendorf, Rauchwart, Neuberg and Güttenbach, the predominant language was Croatian. Lutheran pastors: Matthias VISNYÁK (1618-19), Johann VUNICZA (1624), Johann STORK (1669). The churches had been reclaimed for the Catholics by Count Adam Batthyány in 1634, so the Lutheran service was held in a private house. Number of Lutherans in 1698: 107 in St. Michael itself, 382 in the whole parish. In 1757 the church was still surrounded by the cemetery, only two Lutherans in the whole parish (1711 Catholics). Church records starting with 1712 (baptisms), 1713 (deaths) and 1714 (marriages). Today's church built in 1778. New cemetery outside the village since 1841. Oral tradition knows of two other former cemeteries. In 1847 Neuberg and Güttenbach became independent parishes. On 4 June 1773, while the teacher, his 8 year old son and two villagers, Nikolaus MURLASICS and Matthias BOISITS (both ca. 24 y) were ringing the church bells during a thunderstorm, a lightning stroke, leaving the teacher and his son unharmed but killing the two others. During the Canonical Visitation of 1827 the village council states that the cross (with a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary) located in the center of the village has already been erected "by our forefathers in times unknown", and that they promise to keep it in good shape. This document (19 June 1827) is signed by the council members Georg SAILER (Richter), Josef DERGOSITS, Matthias BOISITS, Johann SCHUCH and Johann SVETITS. In 1853 the community erected a chapel at this place. Iron parts were bought from Bernharth STERN [translator's note: probably a Jewish merchant], 5000 bricks and some wooden parts from Philipp HANZL; also engaged in this effort were the carpenter Matthias SIMON and the blacksmith Josef SCHUCH. The "Ortskinder in Amerika" (children of the village living in America, ca. 350 persons [in 1929]) were always benefactors of the community, the donated the money for statue of the Virgin Mary, a second church bell and the War Memorial (consecrated 28 May 1922; casualties in WW I: St. Michael 29, Rauchwart 29, Schallendorf 8, Gamischdorf 9). Priests: Georg HERWOWICZ (1698), Franz Xaver HIRSCH (1712-17), Benedikt METELL an Georg WEINLINGER (1717-19), Johann GRUDER (1719-26), Peter Johann VONDERSICH (1726-49), Matthias VUKOVITS (1749-68), Franz PERKONIK (1768-73), Johann MAGDITSCH (1773-87), Paul MICHTICS (1788-1820), Franz BARDOSSY (1820-56), Franz AUSZERNEK (1860-88), Josef SZILÁGYI (1888-96), Franz THOMA (1896-1923, was also "Landtagsabgeordneter" (member of the provincial parliament) for some time), Georg HAUSCHKA (1923-25), Leopold Klement HOLZHEU (1925-). In addition to these from 1808-1856 a total of 26 chaplains. Teachers: Andreas GRIMMWALDT (1757), Franz RAFFEL (died 23 Dec 1800), Georg RAFFEL (born in St. Michael, 34 y in 1812, succeeded his father Franz in 1800), Johann SVETITS (ca. 1817-1859; 44 y in 1832, has served in Stegersbach before coming here), Franz SCHMAL (-1869), Franz WUKISEWITS (1868-83). New school house built in 1864 at # 13. Further teachers: Josef SCHMAL (1883-1909), Elemér KOLOSZÁR (1909-11), Julius SZENTGYÖRGYI (1911-23), Ludwig BEIDL (1923-25), Josef HÖRCSÖKI (1925-), in 1929 Franziska TUNKL as second teacher. Apart from this Catholic school a "Staatsschule" (run by the government) was in existence from 1897. Teachers: Alexander SELESTEI (1897-1921), Franz HANEL (1921-25), Josef TUNKL and Richard WIESINGER (1925-). (source: V+H Nr. 14-16/1957) IMMIGRANT DONATIONS FOR ST. KATHREIN ORGAN (Albert Schuch to Frank Teklits and John Lavendoski) (many villages and family names are mentioned) "I enjoyed reading your comments on the emigration article in the BB newsletter. You may also have noticed the Loipersdorf list of donors. Here is one from the Oberwarther Sonntags-Zeitung of 13 Apr 1924, showing American donations for a new organ for the St. Kathrein church:" Collectors were: Josef NOWOGORATZ in Nordhampton (sic!) and Johann JELOSCHITSCH in St. Louis. Total sum of donations was 386 $ 40 Cents. Donors: From St. Kathrein: 5 $: Josef NOWOGORATZ, Johann JELOSCHITSCH, Stefan TSCHENTSCHITSCH, Stefan SABARA, Hermann FRÖHWIRTH, Josef MILISCHITSCH, Stefan MRAKOWITSCH, Franz MILISCHITSCH, Stefan STUBITSCH, Michael BENDEKOWITSCH, Stefan SABARA, Alois TSCHENTSCHITSCH, Franz TSCHENTSCHITSCH, Josef PALKOWITSCH, Josef FILIPOWITSCH, Adelheid GEOSCHITSCH, Josef STUBITSCH; 4 $: Theresia KISCH, Josef TSCHENTSCHITSCH,; 3 $: Johann GEOSCHITSCH, Johann JELOSCHITSCH, Anna BRZKOWITSCH, Paul TSCHENTSCHITSCH, Alois KNOPF, Franz TSCHENTSCHITSCH, Rosa BAUMANN, Josef STEIER, Georg NOWOGORATZ, Franz NOWOGORATZ, Johann MRAKOVITSCH; 2 $: Theresia STUBITSCH, Johann KISCH, Ignaz BENDEKOWITSCH, Rosa MARTH, Franz TSCHENTSCHITSCH, Johann SCHIMON, Theresia DOGMANITSCH; 1 $: Georg GEOSCHITSCH, Alois SABARA, Stefan TSCHENTSCHITSCH, Rosa TSCHENTSCHITSCH, Rosa STUBITSCH, Stefan MILKOWITSCH, Johann HANDLER, Theresia HANDLER, Josef GEOSCHITSCH, Rosa GEOSCHITSCH, Gisela GEOSCHITSCH; Edlitz: 5 $: Josef STUBITSCH; 3 $: Florian WINDISCH; 2 $: Stefan STUBITSCH, Georg GARGER, Stefan BOCK, Anna GARGER; 1 $: Johann SUPPER, Franz LUISSER, Josef WOLF, Alois WOLF, Thomas EBERHARDT, Stefan BOCK sen., Viktoria STUBITSCH; Harmisch: 5 $: Stefan STUBITSCH, Michael STUBITSCH, Johann STUBITSCH, Alois STUBITSCH, Alois STUBITSCH; Johann MILISCHITSCH, Georg TSCHENTSCHITSCH; 4 $: Franz STUBITSCH; 2 $: Georg STUBITSCH, Stefan STUBITSCH, Maria HANDLER, Josef LIEBEZEIT, Johann BRZKOWITSCH, Anna GEOSCHITSCH, Franz STUBITSCH, Josef NEMETH, Stefan NOWOGORATZ; 3 $: Franz BRZKOWITSCH, Alois SCHUCH, Anna STUBITSCH, Michael LUIPERSBEK, Josef STUBITSCH, Stefan BENDEKOWITSCH, Matthias TANGL, Maik NOWOGORATZ, Matthias NOWOGORATZ, Franz STUBITSCH; 1 $: Johann LUIPERSBEK, Georg TSCHENTSCHITSCH, Meri MILISCHITSCH, Josef NOWOGORATZ, Josef NOWOGORATZ; Kroatisch-Ehrensdorf: 5 $: Stefan PALKOWITSCH, Ignaz SCHIPITSCH, Georg KISCH, Johann TSCHENTSCHITSCH; 3 $: Johann SCHUCH, Stefan STUBITSCH, Josef MILISCHITSCH; 2 $: Josef EBERHARDT, Vinzenz STUMPF, Josef PALKOWITSCH, Stefan TITZ, Johann TITZ, Georg MILKOWITSCH, Stefan PALKOWITSCH, Ignaz FLANDORFER, Josef WINKELBAUER, Stefan MILKOWITSCH, Rosa TSCHENTSCHITSCH, Josef KISCH, Stefan PALKOWITSCH; 1 $: Johann FILIPOWITSCH, Franz LUIPERSBEK, Franz TSCHENTSCHITSCH, Johann PALKOWITSCH, Rosa MARTH, Josef LEITGEB, Khedi MILKOWITSCH, Stefan TSCHENTSCHITSCH; 0.50 $: Johann TSCHENTSCHITSCH; 5 $: Josef LEGATH, Deutsch Schützen; 3 $: Maria PRELOWSKY, Punitz; 2 $: Mary JANISCH, Steinfurt; Josef JANY, Prostrum; Johann MRAKOWITSCH, Winten; Johann TAMDER, Gläsing; Franz KNOR, Prostrum; 1 $: Lukas PURKER, Großdorf; Josef NEMETH, Steinfurt; Leo LEIER, Moschendorf, Josef FRÜHMANN, Urbersdorf; Karl MRAKOWITSCH, Hasendorf; Johanna LAKY, Maria LAKY and Alois STUBITSCH, Winten; Franz DEUTSCH, Rax; Georg POTZMANN, Pernau; Nikolaus PREISZL, Schauka; Josef STRIMI, Deutsch Schützen; Georg NEMETH, Prostrum; Franz REICHL, Zahling; Stefan POTZMANN, Pernau; Georg GRAFL, Kohfidisch; 0.50 $: Julius MATHOFFER, Bocksdorf; Georg HUGMANN, Deutsch Schützen; Stefan SKRAPICS, Prostrum; Peter UNGER, Strem; Adolf MARTIN, Deutsch Schützen; Julius GMOSER, Zahling; Karl UNGER, Strem; Rudolf GAAL, Julius BREIER, Zahling; Gregor BAUMANN, Josef BAUMANN, Deutsch Schützen; Eduard SCHMIEDT, Zahling; 0.40 $: Franz WOLF, Kalk; 0.25 $: Josef GABRIEL, Badersdorf; Josef UNGER, Deutsch Schützen; Josef WIESLER, Moschendorf; Johann WINDISCH, Deutsch Schützen; Franz SCHRAMMEL, Moschendorf; Josef WAGNER, Kohfidisch. MAUTHAUSEN AND GREETINGS FROM EISENSTADT ED. Member Maureen Tighe-Brown recently flew to Budapest and Eisenstadt to continue her demographic Burgenland Jewish research work-she sends the following): "After I read the wonderful description of the Elderhostel trip and Mauthausen, my curiosity was peaked about the identity of the various groups of prisoners. So I posted a request for information with sources on H-Sig, the Hungarian branch of JewishGen. Here is an excellent, footnoted post that I received from the head of H-Sig, Louis Schonfeld, which may be of interest to you and our group (you will note that 'prisoner' is apparently defined differently here than by the Elderhostel guide, but the number of dead Jews has been documented at Yad Vashem as accurate:" - Maureen <<"The number of prisoners who passed through Mauthausen is estimated at 199,404. It is believed that 119,000 of them died, of whom 38,120 were Jews... The suffering of the Mauthausen internees has been expressed in the Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis's Ballad of Mauthausen, based on a work by the Greek Jewish poet Jackob Kambanelis." quoted from the Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, Vol. 3 p952. Edited by Israel Guttman, 1990." Louis Schonfeld>> By the way, I met Gerhard Lang (Eisenstadt) tonight and we chatted outside my hotel here in Eisenstadt. It was most enjoyable, and it was great to meet him in person after he was so kind to facilitate my hotel here and also my work in the two archives. GO, BBUNCHERS! (Maureen) Maureen also met member Fritz Königshofer in Budapest. He writes: "I am unfortunately lacking any time here in Budapest, even for e-mail. Tomorrow afternoon I fly to Klagenfurt to see my parents in Krumpendorf, then on Sunday I travel to Tirana, Albania. One thing I barely, but fortunately, managed in Budapest was to meet Maureen Tighe-Brown. She was dug in the Library every day, from the opening bell to the last call to leave the building." (ED. for those of you unfamiliar with Maureen's work, I'm appending a recent message) She writes: "Without reading the BBunch newsletters, I would not have expected to find this treasure trove of data, and hence would not have thought to contact the archivist ahead of time. I suppose I would have dropped in just to introduce myself, and not have been prepared as to how to arrange my time. At the very least, I will be able to reconstruct the population trends from 1883. I will ask Dr. Zelfel if these records can be microfilmed; if not, and if they are for each individual by name, all I can do for now is count up the births, marriages, and deaths per year, and also count up the male occupations involved. I'm also sending this on to you for what it may be worth to my companion BBunchers. On my return, I will let you all know the exact amount of detail. For the 1773 records, which are on a microfilm I bought from the Magyarország Levéltar, the births, marriages, and deaths are not listed by individual name, but are totaled by religion and by event occurrences for male (or father or spouse, for children and females) status (peasant, noble, itinerant, and such). As you probably know, it will be crucial for me to locate the total village population for as many years as possible, so I can tell the amount of population growth. Isn't this exciting? I owe a tremendous debt to the BBunch. Thanks as always. Incidentally, I have copied all the BBunch newsletters in text format onto a floppy disk, and am taking 3 such disks with me as gifts to interested people I meet. They will be thrilled." AVAILABILITY OF CONVERSION AND/OR BAPTISM RECORDS (helped by Rev. Paul Reicher, Betty Jean/Theresa Horrum & Dr. Conrad Christianson) ED. Note: For some time I've wondered what type of conversion records might have been kept during the Reformation and Counter Reformation. I've never seen or heard of any. Since large groups of people were involved (they would have included all under a particular "Herrschaft" - in that period "he who rules decides religion" - as formulated by the Treaty of Augsburg, 1555), a conversion record could almost be viewed as a census and an invaluable genealogical source. Beginning AD 1517 and continuing into the 18th Century, the Reformation and its Counter are periods during which genealogical records are very sparse. Since many people would have converted from one faith to another moved by the winds of politics, war and spirit, understanding of the conditions under which we can expect to find records has value. I do not have the expertise to delve into these matters, so I posed the question to members Betty Jean/Theresa Horrum and Rev. Paul Reicher and family friend and former pastor, Rev. Dr. Conrad Christianson. Rev. Reicher's answer follows: "I found your e-mail very fascinating. Particularly interesting was the story about Rev. Alexander Berghold. It is wonderful that you can make so many connections now with the name "Berghold." I wish I knew something of past procedures with regard to the recording of "conversions" to the various Christian denominations. As you know it was not until the 17th century that Catholicism was "victorious" in Austria. One of the "sub" themes of the Pestsaeule on the Graben in Wien was the ascendancy of the Catholic church over the reformers. If there were wholesale returns to the Catholic faith at that time I doubt if they would have been recorded. The same would hold true for those regions of Europe affected by the Peace of Augsburg. As commoners were forced to follow the religion of the local ruler, I cannot imagine that there was an actual recording of names. One person who may have some grasp of the situation might be the chief archivist at the Bishop's residence in Vienna. When I was searching for my mother's baptismal records back in 1961, he proved to be an invaluable source of information and helped me find the correct church of my mother's baptism. In those days baptisms were not only recorded at the local church but also in a general archive at the bishop's residence. Whoever the archivist might be today might have some knowledge of more ancient practices. Today when a person already baptized in Christian denomination other than Catholic expresses an interest in or a desire to become Catholic, that person would become a part of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA). Depending on the parish this will be a process of anywhere from 9 months to several years. The person joins with other "inquirers" and gradually is formed in an understanding of Catholic life and practice. After that period of formation, if the person desires to become a Catholic, the time of formal reception into the Catholic community takes place at the Easter Vigil, a rather lengthy liturgy that takes place the Saturday evening before Easter Sunday. There is no "re-baptism." The person makes what we call a Profession of Faith. The names of such persons are recorded in the baptismal records of the parish noting that they were received into the Church through "Profession of Faith." That is essentially the practice today. In the more distant past, individuals desirous of becoming Catholic were given individual instructions by one of the parish priests and then privately received into the church. In those days there was the practice of "conditional" baptism. i.e. the formula for baptism was "If you are not baptized, I baptize you... etc. Then, of course the name would be recorded in the parish baptismal archive. I would say that was the standard practice for a good long time up till the 1960's when the RCIA was introduced or should I say "reintroduced." A period of formation for inquirers was the practice in the early church. The process was called the "Catechumenate." I doubt if this has been very helpful to you. The key question is when we began to record the names of "converts" to the Catholic Church. And I can give no definitive response to that question. Peace, Paul Betty Jean Horrum received the following information through Archbishop E. Curtis: "Dear Mrs. Horrum, A 3/27/98 "e-mail" from Gerry Berghold was forwarded to me for information relating to his questions about converts from Roman Catholicism to the Lutheran Church and vice versa during the time of the Reformation or the latter period of Counter Reformation. Apparently he is researching a family genealogy for the Berghold family and has come across, or is in search of, this kind of activity. I have no knowledge about the requirements that existed for the Lutheran or Reformed Churches in terms of receiving once-baptized Catholic persons. In that historical time there would have been ecclesiastical penalty levied against a Roman Catholic who departed the Church for another church or who renounced the faith of the Church. This penalty could have involved excommunication, suspension or some punitive or remedial penalty. Lifting these ecclesiastical penalties would have required the action of a Catholic bishop before the Catholic person could be reconciled, perform the prescribed penance and return to active participation in the Roman Catholic Church. If a non-Catholic person sought to enter the Roman Catholic Church in that historical period, there would have been a required period of instruction with a priest. This instruction would have included detailed presentation of the Creed, the Commandments and the Sacraments. While Martin Luther developed the instructional device of the "catechism" in the age of the printing press, these convenient compendia of Church teaching also existed in the Roman Catholic Church. A non-Catholic but baptized person would have been "conditionally" baptized at the time of his admission into the Roman Catholic Church. There would have been absolute "confirmation", depending upon the age of the individual. In the Reformation time, and down to the modern times of the late 1960's, the "conditional" baptism would have taken place apart from Catholic Mass. The reception of "confirmation" would have taken place at the hand of a bishop, whether within or apart from Catholic Mass would have been a function of the particular place. In the current time period, if a non-Catholic - whether baptized in another Christian denomination or unbaptized - seeks membership in the Roman Catholic Church then that person is given instruction in the basic teaching, practices and discipline of the Church so that he/she understands what is expected of him, why it is believed or practiced and allow the person the time to consider whether he/she can assume this way of life. The ordinary means for this instruction is parish or congregation based and is called the "RCIA" or the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. It usually spans the period of mid-September until the Easter of the next spring or approximately once weekly for 6 months. This process concludes with a ceremony of baptism or the public profession of faith, joined by confirmation and the reception of holy communion. The context is Catholic Mass at the Easter Vigil on the Saturday evening prior to Easter Sunday. In the historical reality and in the present practice there is a record made of all persons who are baptized (even if "conditionally"), confirmed or received holy communion. This is kept at the parish church where the action occurs. The pastor or parish priest is responsible for overseeing the instruction, verifying the readiness of the individual for the admission into the church and the recording of the action. I hope this information will be helpful to you. Sincerely yours, Reverend Michael F. Gutgsell, Chancellor, Archdiocese of Omaha." Rev. Christianson says: "Thanks for copying me regarding this subject. Suffice it to say that most likely in earlier years, there would be some record of 'rebaptism' for persons changing from one religious practice to the other. I'm not sure what kind of requirements might have been made in the past, nearer to the point of the Reformation. I imagine that an abjuration would have been required. Whether or not this would have been recorded in the parish register is always a question. You've asked a very interesting question. I hope some of your correspondents will have more acquaintance with the documents. I can only speak from an exceedingly brief experience. I have only ever had one request from a Roman Diocese as to the baptismal status of an individual, and a transfer of membership is simply something that does not exist for Romans. We are all, theoretically, subject to the bishop of the diocese in which we reside." SUMMATION: Our thanks to all who participated in this project. While the results are inconclusive, we can assume that records of conversions during the Reformation period do not exist, although there may be local exceptions. Given their age and the vicissitudes of war, even that hope is nebulous. It thus follows that Burgenland baptism records (all faiths) are available from 1828 forward (when parishes were required to maintain and submit copies of records to a central archive), generally available from about 1770 to 1828 (Joseph II's Toleration Patent made records state property and enforced preservation), partially available from 1690 to 1770 (following the Turkish expulsion from Vienna many churches were destroyed), very fragmentary from 1547 to 1690 (although made mandatory by the 1547-Council of Trent-they exist only for those parishes or archives not destroyed by the Turks or during the civil unrest which followed). One source (Felix Gundacker) says that of this latter period, only a death register of St. Stephen's, Vienna exists. From this it appears that we must proceed in the following manner: 1921-present, some LDS microfilm, reference local parish records-visit or write 1896-1921, use LDS microfilm of civil records, reference Hungarian municipal civil records 1828-1896, use LDS microfilm of Hungarian Archive copies (some earlier years are included) 1770-1828, frequently available at the local parish-visit or write 1547-1770, visit Archives of the Diocese of Eisenstadt or the Lutheran AB of Burgenland In the absence of baptism records, we must turn our attention to other types of records, many of which we have already seen through the efforts of the Burgenland Bunch staff and members. (newsletter continued as number 37A & B) END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 37A DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) June 15, 1998 (all rights reserved) This second section of newsletter 37 contains articles on: - Burgenland Emigration (from Der Volksfreund) - a Naturalization Question - Confusing Foreign Words With Family Names - Comments Concerning Miedlingsdorf Immigrants - McKees Rocks - Another Burgenland Enclave - Klemens Name - Oslip & Passaic - A Report From Chicago Burgenland Reporter Tom Glatz BURGENLAND EMIGRATION AS GLIMPSED FROM "DER VOLKSFREUND" (excerpts, translations and article by Fritz Königshofer) Emigration from Western Vas County (the later Southern Burgenland) in the reports of "Der Volksfreund" (Szombathely), years 1910 to early 1914. From the articles in Der Volksfreund it seems that by 1910 emigration to the Unites States had become an accepted fact and the earlier articles deploring emigration were fizzling out. The emigrant communities with their money transfers and their sheer size had started to put their mark on developments (economic and cultural life) back home. The following summary surveys emigration themes as covered by Der Volksfreund in the years 1910 to early 1914 (before the outbreak of the First World War), sorted by general subjects. The dates in brackets refer to the issue and page of the related story. Continuing depopulation of Western Hungary and attempts to stem it. The rampant emigration severely reduced the number of young men showing up for the obligatory military draft. For instance, in one of the drafts of 1910, only 170 of 277 eligible candidates appeared in Szent Gotthárd, of which 56 were declared fit for military service. The article says that "most of the missing men are in America" [DVF, Aug. 13, 1910, p.7]. In the military draft of 1912 in the same town, only 725 candidates showed up out of the expected 1,500 legally-obliged ones, of which 309 were found fit for service [DVF, Oct. 5, 1912, p.6]. Probably all towns and villages were affected by emigration, though the effect was not the same everywhere. For instance, Rechnitz (Rohonc) was only modestly affected. The census of 1910 counted a population of 4,185 for this market town, while 10 years earlier it had stood at 4,051. According to the new census, 500 locals were living either in America or Vienna [DVF, Feb. 4, 1911, p.6]. To keep the emigration in some check, new measures were introduced. For instance, in 1911 possession of a passport became an obligatory requirement for leaving the country [which in this case meant crossing the border from Hungary to Austria!], and only certain explicitly defined larger border stations could be used (e.g., Sopron, Pozsony = Bratislava, etc.) [DVF, July 29, 1911, p.6]. This measure clearly put a damper on official emigration. For all of Vas county, only 170 passports valid for emigration were issued in the year 1911 [DVF, Feb. 10, 1912, p.6]. However, it appears that after the initial shock, the numbers quickly went up again, as between April 1 and June 30, 1912 (a 3 months period) the number of passports issued in the county for emigration purposes was reported as 188 [DVF, Sept. 7, 1912, p.5]. The newspaper reported an apparently new rule (part of the defense law) which required that persons subject to the military draft now had to deposit an emigrant bond when asking for the issuance of a passport. The case of a security of 100 crowns is described [DVF, Sept. 14, 1912, p.7]. Not much later, a new emergency emigration law [Ausnahme-Auswanderungsgesetz] actually prohibited the emigration of any person who was in the obligatory age for military service [DVF, Aug. 2, 1913, p.6]. Nevertheless, emigration continued and the following numbers for emigration to the United States got reported: (a) a total of 7,149 Hungarians during January 1914 [DVF, March 28, 1914, p.2]; a total of 118,470 Hungarians for the whole of the year 1913 [DVF, April 4, 1914, p.1]; and a total of 803 [sic] from Vas county during all of 1913 [DVF, May 2, 1914, p.4]. The later figure gives me some concern as it looks unrealistically low and is so much out of line with the others. Perhaps the newspaper misprinted the number or I made a mistake when noting it down. If the number is correct, though, it might indicate that most people who had wanted to leave Vas county had already done so earlier, or that this county in 1913 managed to clamp down on emigration more forcefully than other parts of Hungary. Illegal emigration. Due to the bureaucratic and legal impediments to emigration, some eager would-be emigrants tried to use tricks in order to cross the Hungarian border (which implies that this border was guarded and patrolled by customs and police, even the one to Austria; similarly, this might suggest that continuing on from Austria to any of the countries with harbors for boarding a ship presented less of a challenge). One innovative approach was for a troop of emigrants to disguise themselves as a pilgrimage, e.g., pretending to travel to the famous catholic shrine of Mariazell in Styria. The newspaper reports of a successful attempt by 70 illegal emigrants to pass the border to Austria in the Lafnitz (Lapincs) valley by carrying church flags and banners in front of the group. The border police realized the trick too late for stopping this action [DVF, March 26, 1910, p.8]. As a result, however, the border police appears to have increased their vigilance, because a short while later there is a report about another pilgrimage procession, coming from Horvátnádalja (near Körmend), which was stopped at the border crossing from Hungary to Styria at Neudau. In this case, while this was a real procession, a close search of the individuals in the group by the country-police (Gendarmerie) of Szentelek (Stegersbach) revealed four male would-be emigrants who were promptly arrested. An interesting detail of the story is that during the check at the border it also became clear that there had been two border policemen in the procession in the disguise of civil clothes who had joined it in Güssing (Németújvar) pretending to be pilgrims and had tried during the march to surreptitiously find out about any illegal emigrants within the group [DVF, May 7, 1910, p.7]. In another reported case, a carter ("Fuhrmann") from Bernstein (Borostyánkő) with the name Josef Hofer attempted to assist three women in an illegal attempt to cross the border into Austria. The women were also from Bernstein, wanted to emigrate, and their names are listed as Theresia Hofer, Johanna Fried, and Maria Puhr. The article states that all four persons involved were severely punished as a consequence [DVF, Sept. 24, 1910, p.7]. There is also reporting of more organized, commercial (yet illegal) assistance to people who wanted to emigrate, such as by the German firm Falk & Comp. [DVF, June 15, 1912, p.6]. Interesting stories about or by individual emigrants. There were still some stories about individual emigrants, though less in frequency than in previous years. The newspaper reports about the suicide in Bridgeport [I wonder which Bridgeport?] of an Alexander Paulovics originally from Kethely [probably refers to Neumarkt im Tauchental, but there were several places with the name Kethely in Hungary]. The article writes that this emigrant had fallen ill in America and thus completely lacked the means for his further livelihood [DVF, Dec. 3, 1910, p.8]. Another article reports that in early 1911, the [wealthy] owner of the canning factory of Rechnitz (Rohonc), Rudolf Bogdny, emigrated to South America, after passing the management of the business on to his brother and brother-in-law [DVF, May 13, 1911, p.4]. Bogdny's emigration became a sensational story - and part of the history of Rechnitz - when news crossed the Atlantic about his murder by two highwaymen in the course of a holdup, while he had been traveling on horseback near Montevideo. The paper carried an extensive story about the details surrounding this murder [DVF, Aug. 3, 1912, p.2]. A possibly interesting feature for some Burgenland descendants might be an obituary for Michael Schmidt who died on December 22, 1911 in Rábafüzes (Raabfidisch). The story is interesting because the obit was written by the daughter of the deceased, Theresia Tausz [Taus, Tauss] nee Schmidt, who lived in Mansfield, Ohio, and submitted the obit from there to the Volksfreund for publication, which was duly accomplished [DVF, Feb. 2, 1912, p.7]. Economic impact of money remittals by emigrants. Money remittals to the old homeland had become a significant economic factor. The newspaper reported on the transfers for the Christmas season 1909. Accordingly, the Americans, said to be mostly "workers," had sent about 60 million Marks to Europe during December 1909, of which about half was passed by means of a total of 485,151 postal orders though New York. The lion's share of the New York postal transmittals went to England (about 7.6 million Marks), followed by Italy with about 7 million, but transmittals to Austro-Hungary already held the third rank, with 5,640,000 Marks. In contrast, only 2,808,000 Marks went to Germany via New York [DVF, Jan. 1, 1910, p.6]. As a concrete example, during 1910, the village of Unterbildein (Alsó Beled) is reported to have received from the United States a total of 36,000 crowns in money transfers [DVF, Jan. 21, 1911, p.6]. [To put this amount into perspective, in my estimate a teacher's salary amounted to about 2,000 crowns per year during this time.] In a similar news item, the paper reports that the transfers from the USA received during 1910 by the post office of Rábafüzes for the villages of Rábafüzes and Jakabháza amounted to 62,398 crowns [DVF, July 15, 1911, p.4]. Somehow as a curiosity, the paper also reported about an incorrect transfer of an inheritance of $613 after the deceased Johann Stappel of Pittsburgh, which was wrongly handed out to a family Kappel in Felsö Szölnök (Oberzeming) instead of to the rightful heirs, a family Stappel in Felsö Rönök (Oberradling). [As far as I recall this article, the wrong receivers then balked at handing the money back.] [DVF, Oct. 8, 1910, p.7] Fund drives among the emigrant communities. Through fund drives and voluntary contributions, emigrants started to play a symbolic and sometimes significant role in assisting the construction, renovation or furnishing of churches and other public buildings in their old homeland. For instance, members of the Gilly family are mentioned as the driving force in fund drives among emigrants for the erection of the new Lutheran church in Szent Gotthárd. These attempts of collecting contributions abroad were reported by the teacher of the Lutheran school of Alsö Rönök (Unterradling), Anton Spisszák. One of his reports tells about a fund drive organized by Franz Gilly, son of the innkeeper Theresia Gilly of Felsö-Rönök (Oberradling) who lived in Chicago. [By the way, this Franz apparently was a close relative of the family branch of our Burgenland Bunch's Joe Gilly -- the uncle of Joe's grandfather.] Franz collected 250 crowns among emigrants, and in achieving this, followed earlier contributions made by a Josef Fischl in W. Kees Roks [sic,.... does anyone know what place this may have meant?], (ED: probably McKees Rocks, near Pittsburgh) and a [Mr.?] Graf from Allentown [DVF, April 22, 1911, pp.3-4]. This fund drive had collected $50 which translated into the 250 crowns as mentioned above. A namesake, Josef Gilly, originally from Alsö Rönök (Unterradling) but now living in Coplay near Allentown, PA, is reported to have organized another fund drive among emigrants for the same new church, collecting $60 and 50 Cents (said to be about 300 crowns). He was helped in collecting the money by a Franz Sulzer [DVF, Oct. 7, 1911, p.4]. Towards the costs of the bells for the same church, and once again at the prodding of teacher Spisszák, 100 crowns were collected among emigrants in Cincinnati [DVF, Aug. 3, 1912, p.6]. The same article reports that, prodded by teacher Johann Kirnbauer of Zahling (Ujkörtvéles), a Franz Gaal collected 210.75 crowns among emigrants in America for the same purpose (the bells of the new church). By the way, this new Lutheran church in Szentgotthárd was finished by the spring of 1912, the bells had been consecrated in May of that year [DVF, May 25, 1912, p.4], and the church itself was consecrated in a huge ceremony in October [DVF, Oct. 26, 1912, pp.4-5]. Another story reports about the dedication ceremony for a new schoolhouse in Horvát Lövő (Kroatisch Schützen). It mentions that two statues for the building were donated by Julian Hegeds and Agnes Schneider respectively, "currently living in America" [DVF, Sept. 8, 1911, p.6]. Emigrant publications in the USA. The Volksfreund issues of that time suggest that emigrants produced publications or received them from the old homeland. This fact might indicate that copies might still exist in libraries or archives of typical immigrant communities or at the libraries and archives of certain states and the Library of Congress. For instance, the same article referred to above about the collection for the Szentgotthárd church bells mentions the existence of an American newspaper "Deutsch-Ungarischer Bote" (German-Hungarian Messenger) published at the time in Cincinnati. Another issue mentions an "Address Book" of Hungarians living in America, published (in the USA) by Karl Babics, son of the pharmacist Stefan Babics of Szombathely [DVF, Aug. 9, 1913, p.4]. From the issues of Der Volksfreund it is also clear that this weekly had a readership in North America, and its distribution there was organized by an agent located in Coplay, PA. (end of article). TOBAJ (from Anna Kresh) I just spoke via phone with Marie Panny who told me a bit of Croat history in which I thought you would be interested. When the Turks were persecuting the Croats in what is now Tobaj, the inhabitants cried out "Tobaj, Tobaj", meaning "Mercy! Mercy!", hence the name of the village. (ED. If this isn't true it ought to be!) CONFUSING FOREIGN WORDS & FAMILY NAMES (ED. & Fritz Königshofer) A new member gave us the name Wittwer. Neither I nor Fritz felt this was a good Burgenland name, but Fritz wrote: "Your signature line included the names you search. Are you sure about the family name Wittwer? Witwer is German for widower, and was often used together with the name of a person, e.g., when somebody remarried or died, the priest would write the name including the word "Wittwer." Just as the priest would write Junggeselle or Jungfrau for somebody who had not been married before. Wittwer as a family name is very rare. In fact, I have not seen it in this form at all. I vaguely recall forms like Widwar used as family names in Austria." A few other foreign words to be aware of when searching church records are "Ismeretlin" (H-unknown), zvegy (H-widow), nehai (H-the late), csaladi (H-family name), utoneve (H-given name), colebs (L-unmarried), hajadon (H-maiden). Watch names with "-in" endings, they can "signify the wife of "like Bergholdin, Janos (wife of Janos Berghold). You'll see some of these in the IGI file! Also watch out for poor script. I had an Eslinger in my files for a few years which turned out to be Artinger. Poor translation of bad script or my mind was on beer! QUESTION RE NATURALIZATION RECORDS (Rosemary Bradford) << I also just found out that these same gr-grandparents spent about six years in Pennsylvania before settling in Minnesota. In 1900 they were permanent residents of Minnesota and stated for the U.S. Census that they had been in the U.S. for 17 years which puts their immigration date at 1883. I'm assuming they spent 1883-1889 in PA. Family recollections indicate they "gained citizenship" before arriving in Minnesota .. probably! I'm just not sure how to proceed from this point. (They do not show up in "Germans to America.")>> Answer: That is a tough one. Neither 1880 nor 1890 PA census would show them even if you checked all of the PA counties. The naturalization record is at the county office but we don't know which one! Needle in the hay stack. You might check 1883 ship arrival lists but what port? Likewise if they left from Bremen or Hamburg, those ship records might tell you where they were headed. Let's bounce this on the membership in a future newsletter. NEW MEMBER FRED BUSCH COMMENTS - CHICAGO & MIEDLINGSDORF Yes, there are many Burgenländers in Chicago. My mother's home town of Miedlingsdorf contributed at least nine that I can think of and probably more if I ask around. I know of five from my father's town of Rumpersdorf. Rumpersdorf goes back to 1289 and was originally known as Rumpolstorf. In 1938 it had a population of 240 but was down to 111 in 1950. I'll have to ask my Aunt Mary about the 1907 fire in Miedlingsdorf. She just turned 100 on Apr. 9 and her memories of her childhood are sharp and clear. She is the last of her generation and once gone will leave a great void in my life. My ancestral villages include not only Miedlingsdorf and Rumpersdorf but Podler and Mischendorf. I have relatives in R-dorf and Miedlingsdorf and nearby. I am in contact with my once removed first cousins in Vienna by fax and e-mail One has a catering business and the other works for the Red Cross. I am in contact with other cousins by snail mail and phone. A strange thing has happened to Burgenland. The Viennese have discovered it. More and more of them are building weekend homes there. The land is cheap and they can get away from the tourists. My wife and I were there in 95 and could not believe the amount of new construction since our previous visit in 1980. For some family history I depend on my Cousin Josephine in Switzerland. She grew up near Miedlingsdorf but married in Switzerland. She knows more about local history around G-Pedersdorf than anyone else in the family. Good thing my wife, a Transylvanian Saxon, speaks German or else I would be in a pickle. There were many Baloghs in Miedlingsdorf. In 1980 (my first visit) my Aunt Rosa went nuts trying to sort which Baloghs belonged to my mother's family and which did not. You see, my mother's father and mother were both Baloghs; no relation at all. The Balogh name was common in the area. The phone list now shows only one Balog ( no H). Sorry to go on like this, my father was a barber and I get carried away at times. Fred MCKEES ROCKS - ANOTHER BURGENLAND "ENCLAVE" (from new member Bernadette Sulzer Agreen) Have been doing research using LDS microfilm on my ancestors in Felsö-Rönök and Alsórönök. Family names are Wagner, Harrer, Windisch, Sulzer, Artinger, Schmidt, Gollinger. Have filled in a lot in my family tree (back to about 1800), but I'm interested in knowing more about the area where my grandparents were born. I know that McKees Rocks, PA, (ED. Borough in Allegheny County, ESE of Pittsburgh) was a common destination for many emigrating from Felsö-Rönök. There is a street in McKees Rocks that was called 'little Rönök' because so many folks came from that village. I've even met a very nice woman who escaped from Felsö-Rönök in 1956 during the Hungarian revolution. She lives nearby. Her last name is Gaal; her maiden name was Stern. I also correspond with a cousin who lives in Australia. She was forced to leave her home and settle elsewhere after WWII. Please let me know how I can find out more about this area, websites, etc. Thanks!! KLEMENS FAMILY, PASSAIC, NJ & OSLIP (Bezirk Eisenstadt, near Rust - from new member Bruce Klemens) Researching: KLEMENS in Oslip (near Eisenstadt), MUHR in Schandorf (southern Burgenland). Michael Klemenschitz, 1889-1954, (changed it to Klemens) was my paternal grandfather and Elizabeth Muhr, 1892-1958, my paternal grandmother. Both Oslip and Schandorf were Croatian villages in Burgenland. Grandpa and Grandma Klemens settled in Passaic, NJ before World War I, and later in adjacent Garfield, NJ, where my father grew up. In reading your Burgenland Bunch archives, I see Passaic listed now and then. The reason so many Burgenländers settled in Passaic was the woolen mills, where there was work for the immigrants. There was also Holy Trinity R.C. Church, which I attended as a child. Even into the 1960's and later, Holy Trinity still had some German language masses and sponsored trips to Austria and specifically, Burgenland. My parents took several of these trips and were able to see Grandpa Klemens' house, which still had the name "Klemenschitz" on it. Let me explain why I listed so many variations of Klemens above. I hope I did this in the correct format. KLEMENS was how Grandpa Klemens and most of his many brothers shortened KLEMENSCHITZ in America. (Oddly enough, one brother, for reasons unknown, called himself KLEMENTS.) Another brother, Karl, stayed in Burgenland. I have met him once in person and regularly correspond with, his granddaughter, (my second cousin) Anna Odorfer of Eisenstadt. In a letter I just received from her regarding my queries about the family name, she says her mother (Karl's daughter) always spelled it KLEMENSICH. Plus, in the past there were variations such as KLEMENSITS and KLEMENSITZ. I've gone through the on-line Austrian phone book, and cannot find either of the two latter names anywhere, although there are quite a few KLEMENSCHITZ and KLEMENSICH names listed, and just plain KLEMENS as well. All of these names are Germanized versions of the original Croatian name KLEMENSIC. (Plus, you can see below that apparently the way it was spelled by the Croatian immigrants in Oslip in 1569 was CLEMENSCHITSCH.) I'm still trying to sort all this out! Based on my translation of a letter Anna sent, below is a history of Oslip (ED: SEE BB NEWS 35A) which explains how the Croatians got there. Also, based on what Anna has researched, we can trace back to our common ancestor, LORENZ KLEMENS__? We don't have any dates for him, but since we know his son Franz was born in 1811, he had to have been born in the 18th century. Anna tells us that the church that kept the records before this time burned down, so there are no direct records of KLEMENS ___? before Lorenz. I know very little about the MUHR family and Schandorf. FROM CHICAGO BURGENLAND REPORTER (Tom Glatz) I saw many people at the Rosegger Steirer Dance last night (May 1998). Walter Pomper (editor of the Chicago based "Austrian American Newsletter") liked the newsletters very much. He said he will send you some information on Neuberg. I gave the newsletters then to Ernest Kolb who is the Mayor of Oak Lawn, one of the largest suburbs of Chicago. His roots are in Harkau. He had brought with him a well documented book someone had written in Harkau about emigration from that town. Unfortunately I didn't get to look at it that good. But hopefully I will be able to get together with him soon. I was also able to copy BB News 34A at work. Everyone liked it very much. Those who are not as interested in genealogy always find other things like the Elderhostel articles interesting. (ED: Tom Glatz also corresponds with fellow Burgenland researcher Robert Strauch from Allentown, PA. Strauch is not on the net but has shared a significant amount of material with Tom, who forwards copies to us for our use. We recently received a publication of the "Pannonisches Institut (in German and Croatian) from A-7535 Güttenbach) and various articles (German) dealing with Burgenland Folk Songs (from Burgenländisches Volksliedwerk. Our special thanks to Strauch for his contributions. We hope to see him on the net one of these days!). Tom's package also included two critiques of Burgenland political dissertations by Andrew Burghardt and other material. A source of future articles.) (newsletter is continued as number 37B) END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD

THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 37B DEDICATED TO AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN BURGENLAND GENEALOGY (issued biweekly by Gerald Berghold) June 15, 1998 (all rights reserved) This third section of newsletter 37 contains: - Notice of LDS Availability - Kappeller Name - Book Advertisement - Szt. Gotthárd Muster Rolls - "Bergen" Villages - Term "Octavalista" - New Internet Addresses of Interest - 8 New Members CURRENCY & ECONOMICS Do we have a currency expert among our membership? I would like to publish an article concerning the value of currency in circulation in Austria/Hungary (1825-1926). Specifically currency names (including, but not necessarily limited to Austrian Kreuzer, Gulden, Heller, Krone, Schilling; Hungarian Filler, Korona, Pengo); its value in equivalent US dollars in 1825, 1875, 1900, 1925 and the corresponding 1998 value in US dollars. In providing 1998 US equivalent of the 1825 Gulden, for instance, a comparison with US per capita income 1825-1998 (or some other economic indicator) would probably suffice. A tall order but of immense value to our understanding of these time periods. Please contact me if you are able to oblige. I visualize a table something like this: Austria 1825:1998 1875:1998 1900:1998 1925:1998 Kreuzer (60/1 Gulden) $value50X(?) $value25X(?) $value20X(?) $value12X(?) Hungary - Filler (100/Korona-Crown) - same as Austrian Krone(?) NOTICE CONCERNING LDS FICHE & FILM NUMBERS (from Giles Gerken) In CYNDI'S LIST (Cyndi's Genealogy Site http://www.Cyndislist.com) go to LDS & FAMILY HISTORY CENTERS then quite a way down find "Coming in June" FREE LOOK UP SERVICE Parish & Vital Records= Get Microfilm & Fiche Numbers. This will save going to center to have their volunteers look up the numbers. One can find film number of data desired on line and will then just need to go to the center, fill out an application form and pay fee. KAPPELLER NAME (from Giles Gerken) Was interested in info from latest Newsletter re meaning of name Kapeller ( My great-grandmother = Erzebet Kapeller) Our understanding has been it meant band= orchestra= musician or similar. Family claimed she was younger sister of Anton Regls first wife Maria Vaigl or Weigl (must have been half sister if true) A nearby orchestra contained a Joseph Weigl as Bass Viol player and a wife Anna Maria as one of the singers. They had son Joseph who composed Operetta, and a son named Thaddeus (All this in late 1700 early 1800s) I found only 3 Vaigls in 1828 census, no Kapellers ( 2 named Kapelle) So I was curious about the Weigl musicians & a possible Kapeller association. So I wrote to Esterházy Archives where the orchestra was under J. Haydn as Kapellmeister, but of course their answer is they don't give out information, referred me to Parish office. Of course they would have transferred any pertinent documents to Esterházy. So it would all become a vicious circle. Probably no connection but couldn't find any other clues. I see now from MATAV White Pages ((English) http://www.matav.hu:8080/tqw/istart_e.html - Hungarian Tel Service Provider (English version) that there are 26 Kapeller names today in Hungary phone list ADVERTISEMENT - THE SEARCH IS OVER (ED. ads are only provided as a service to BB members) We are excited to announce a timely and much-needed reference, The Ultimate Search Book: Worldwide Adoptions and Vital Records, by Lori Carangelo. If you are searching for a missing person, virtually anywhere in the world, this book will be incredibly useful to you. Procedures and resources are provided for finding any missing person.....almost anywhere in the world. In addition, the extensive information on vital records can greatly assist you in your genealogical research for finding data on family members. The Ultimate Search book is a collection of how-to-search information that is comprehensive and extremely helpful. The book provides you with: * Governmental and private adoption resources available in every state as well as two hundred foreign countries * Comprehensive information on locating adoptees, birth relatives, and stolen children * Addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, and website URL's for vital record offices, archives, motor vehicle registration offices, and search/support groups. "The Ultimate Search Book is an excellent resource for finding information that will aid the researcher in locating relatives. It is more comprehensive than any other book of its kind.... It should certainly make searching for relatives, living or dead, much easier." -Keith Rose, Director of Library Collections, Family History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Priced at $39.95, Add $6.50 s/h. Utah residents add sales tax. Product # A0075. Mention this price code E3BU. Toll Free: 1-800-760-2455. Snail-mail: Heritage Quest, PO Box 329, Bountiful, UT 84011-0329. Visit our Websites for all your genealogy needs (http://www.agll.com and http://www.heritagequest.com) SZENT GOTTHÁRD MUSTER ROLLS (from Margaret Kaiser) I just sent the following film information to Bernadette Sulzer. I had mentioned that I had looked at them some time ago. Katonal nyilvantartasi jegyzek (1887-1914), Muster Rolls, Szentgotthárd dist., LDS Film #1629870. Since males were military service eligible for a longer age period than in the USA, I found my John Spirk, born 1860 in the 1887 survey. I'm afraid I don't remember too much about the film, I suspect it was returned before I could finish it. This film is not limited to Rönök. Probably if you look up the film no. in the LDS computer, the towns included will be listed. Just thought if it was of use to you, I would offer it as a suggestion. I also should have some census microfilm nos. somewhere. Unfortunately, my papers are somewhat disorganized. I'll let you know what they are, when I can recover them. Most folks don't know these muster rolls exist. VILLAGES WITH SUFFIX "Bergen" (Kresh, Berghold & Schuch) I found 2 villages of birth listed on my Nemet Csencs microfilm that I have not been able to validate against the BB villages list you supplied. - Haseldorf - double-checked the film - it is clearly Haseldorf, not Hasendorf and Tobaibergen - could this be the outskirts of Tobaj? (Kresh) Anna, unless it's a misspelling there is no Haseldorf in Burgenland that I can find. It may be one of those small villages that have been absorbed by another, but I can find no reference. (Berghold) I also think it's a misspelling. There is a "Haselgraben" that is part of St. Michael, also a place called "Hasel" that is a part of Bernstein (but far away in Bezirk Oberwart). So it almost has to be Hasendorf. (Schuch) In the hills surrounding most villages, there are cross roads communities of a few houses which are given the name of the parent village plus "-bergen" or "in the hills". Sometimes they appear on maps, sometimes not. On my map, for instance "Poppendorferbergen" does show just north of Poppendorf. I was there and it's just as I described, a small crossroads community. (Berghold) I agree - these "-bergen" settlements are a typical Southern Burgenland phenomenon, they are very frequently found in the districts Jennersdorf and Güssing, less in the district Oberwart. (Schuch) "OCTAVALISTA" (from Robert Schmidt) I have a question I hope one of the Bunch can answer. My major source of information about my Burgenland ancestors is the Frauenkirchen church historical record, which I found on microfilm at the LDS library. It lists baptisms, marriages and deaths. In the column showing the status or profession of the individual involved, it shows "octavalista" next to the name of my GGF. I have tried several sources, including the Languages Dept. of the local university, but have not been able to find a definition of this term. I would appreciate hearing from anyone with knowledge of the subject. Answer from Joseph J Jarfas: sorry for the delayed reply but I'm in the process of relocating - as you well know! The word "octavalista" was not familiar to me either. I placed it as a question on one of the Hungarian news groups. Received one reply and it makes sense. Basically it says that any settler who worked 1/8th of a basic area of land (ED. - see previous articles re "joch" and "hold"), before and around 1848, was called that. The writer claims the basic area was sort of undetermined at that time. END OF NEWSLETTER-EDITED & DISTRIBUTED BY GERALD J. BERGHOLD