Honevald Family in Hogyesz, Hungary

Tolna County, Hungary.
Image courtesy Wikipedia

As I noted in my last post, I have been researching Bubbie Lena's mother's family in the village of Hőgyész, Tolna, Hungary by way of a Family History Library microfilm. The names in parentheses below are variations on the names I have found (and there are many).

From birth and marriage records, I find that Jacob (Jakob) Honevald (Honewald, Honenwald) and his wife Marie (Mari) Weisz (Weiss), who were married on November 14, 1854, had the following eleven children. Not all were born in Hőgyész.

• Johanna (Hany), born September 3, 1855. Married Salomon Heller on November 28, 1876. They moved to Bonyhád and had children born there.
• Betti, born about 1856. Married David Weisz.
• Moritz born about 1858. Married Sali Strasser.
• Lentsi (Anna) born November 6, 1861. Married Samuel Hollander on March 16, 1886. They moved to Bonyhád and had children there, including my husband's grandmother, Lina Hollander.
• Israel born June 5, 1863. Married Rozalie Fuhrmann on April 29, 1888.
• Leopold born May 14, 1865. Died December 3, 1866.
• Michel born November 15, 1866. Died December 15, 1866.
• Rosi born December 31, 1867.
• Rubi (Robi) born October 6, 1869.
• Josef born May 7, 1871.
• Sandor born November 23, 1873. Died August 23, 1874.

Wedding Wednesday ~ 1886 in Hungary: Hollander-Honevald

When I found Bubbie Lena's birth record in Bonyhád, Hungary, I learned that her mother was from Hőgyész, Hungary. So last month, I rented the microfilm from the Family History Library for Hőgyész and have been into my local Family History Library (NEHGS in Boston) to work my way through this microfilm to see what I can find out about this branch of my father-in-law's family. (I'm still not done.)

On March 16, 1886, in Hőgyész, Tolna, Hungary, Samu Hollander of Bonyhád married Lentsi Honevald of Hőgyész. Interestingly, I found that these records, unlike those from Bonyhád, included some Hebrew.

Groom's information: Samu Hollander, a pipafaragó (pipe cutter) from Bonyhád, son of Lipot Hollander and Betti Kohn, 23 years old, nőtlen (unmarried).

It looks like both Samu (Samuel) and his father Lipot (Lipod) were pipe cutters; they would have carved pipes from wood for smoking.

Bride's information: Lentsi (also known as Anna) born in Hőgyész, daughter of Jakob Honevald, a szabo (a tailor) and Maria Weisz, of Hőgyész.

Bride's information continued: born in Hőgyész, age 24, hajado (unmarried).

The next column indicates where and how many times the marriage was publicized. It looks like three times in both Bonyhád and Hőgyész. If my Hungarian experts want to weigh in on the exact translation, please do so in the comments. The next column notes the wedding date of March 16, 1886, and I would guess that the Hebrew below notes the date in the Hebrew Calendar (9 Adar II 5646?). (I use the Hebrew Date Converter at www.hebcal.com.)

The next column notes the wedding location in Hőgyész, and the last column notes the witnesses. Based on all of the other records I found, I believe Salamon Heller is Anna's brother-in-law and Lipod Hollander is, of course, Samuel's father.

From this marriage record, I learned Anna was also known as Lentsi, that she was born about 1864, and her parents' names were Jakob Honevald and Maria Weisz. From here, I found more birth and marriage records and still need to finish reviewing the microfilm for any death records.

My husband is descended from this set of second great-grandparents as follows:

Jakob Honevald = Maria Weisz

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daughter, Anna Honevald / Honenvald = Samuel Hollander

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daughter, Lena Hollander = Josef Handler

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Father-in-law

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Husband

Tombstone Tuesday and Genealogy Serendipity

Last month, my husband and I decided to fulfill one of my own longtime Find A Grave photo requests and we drove to a group of Jewish cemeteries in West Springfield, Massachusetts from our home in eastern Massachusetts.

I knew that Great Uncle Eddie Levitt and wife, Great Aunt Adele (Reisner) Levitt were buried in Beth El Cemetery in West Springfield. The Find A Grave page for Beth El Cemetery includes a map which notes that there are four Jewish cemeteries on Kings Highway in West Springfield: Beth El (in two sections), B'nai Jacob, Kodimoh, and Beth Israel.

I parked my car in a rather central location near a small building, and a man approached asking if he could help us. It turned out he worked for a vault company and was there to prepare a vault and assist with a burial later in the day.

Well, I explained about Find A Grave and that we were looking for the gravestones for Edward and Adele Levitt and he was the one to walk ahead and let us know where it was.

 

Tombstone Tuesday ~ Hebrew Translations of Handler Gravestones

I previously posted photographs of the Handler family gravestones for family buried in Akron, Ohio. I then shared my experience using JewishGen's ViewMate to obtain translations of the Hebrew on these stones.

One respondent provided the following translation: "Here lies our dear and respected father Reb Josef Ben/(son of) Reb Aharon, Z"L. He died on the 19th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev (and the Hebrew year). May his soul be bound up in the bonds of eternal life."

She also provided the additional information: "A couple of explanations....The word "Reb" is a title of honor and respect, however it does NOT imply rabbi. The use of "Z"L" is the Hebrew abbreviation for one who has predeceased or is of recent memory. It clarifies that Joseph's father Aharon had predeceased him. The Hebrew name Aharon translates to Aaron, and the father could have been named Adolph in Hungary (with a Hebrew name of Aharon)."

Another noted that: "Date is 19 Kislev, 5708 = December 2, 1947" I have his death certificate, so I do know this is the correct death date for Joseph.

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For his son, Alfred, the first response noted: "Here lays Anshel son of Joseph, fell on the kiddush hashem for our country on 2 Tamuz tav shin dalet"

The second said: "Some additional information for you. The "Z'L" after the name of the father Yosef indicates that he had predeceased his son." Now, this puzzles me, as I know (see above) that his father, Joseph, died three and a half years later. I'm not sure why this was put on Alfred's stone.

A third reply added: "Might the second line also be rendered as "died a martyr for our country"?" An interesting thought.

And the fourth response clarified the date of death: "Date is 2 Tamuz 5704 = June 23, 1944."  This is the date that Alfred Handler died fighting in New Guinea.

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Tuesday's Tip ~ Using JewishGen's ViewMate

I recently learned of another great feature at JewishGen, a wonderful online research for Jewish Genealogy. From JewishGen's ViewMate page:

ViewMate allows JewishGen participants to post photographs and documents online, and request help in translating or identifying information.

Here you can submit:

• Photos: for identification of people, clothing, buildings, scenes, objects, artifacts, etc.
• Letters, documents, book pages, maps, etc. for analysis or translation.

This past month, I posted photographs of gravestones with quite a bit of Hebrew on them. I shared these images at JewishGen's ViewMate to see what translations might be provided by volunteers. I thought it might be helpful to share my experience.