Romanian Archives

The naturalization papers for grandfather Joseph Bartha indicate that he was born in Nagy Varad, Hungary, on December 27, 1880. However, his village (Ér-Mihályfalva is now known as Valea lui Mihai, is located in Bihor, Romania because of the breakup of the Austria-Hungary empire around 1918. The Romanian Archives create a challenge to American researchers so I located a Romanian professional to search the Archives in Oradea. We were only partially successful. (The death records for Joseph's parents were not found.) However, we do have three important records.

1. The death record in the Halottak book for Jozef Barta, the Reformed Clergyman, (our second great grandfather) shows his death on August 27, 1864 from sclerosis (not to be confused with cirrhosis). The translated notes state that he was married for 41 years. We also learned that he was born in Rimaszombat,Hungary, which is now Rimavska, Sobota, Slovakia.

Death Record of Jozef Barta 1864

2. The marriage record for Joseph's parents, Miklos Barta and Emelia Hampel in 1872 indicates that they were married in the Roman Catholic church and that the marriage was also registered in the Reformed Church (Calvin). (Note: The name Miklos translates to Nicholas. Joseph's first child born in New York was named Nikolaus Josef Bartha (1907-1912.)

1872 Bartha Marriage Record

3.  The last record is from the Keresztelesi book. This record shows the birth and baptism of Joseph Bartha. This records shows the "h" in Bartha. I thought that might have been added when he immigrated, but not so.

Joseph Bartha was baptized on January 4, 1881

Quite a few Hampel records were located but none of them could be related to Emelia. The most I learned about great grandmother Emelia Hampel is that she was 20 years old when she married Miklos Barta in 1872 and that she was born in Sacuieni, Hungary. The name of this town means bridge of Szekely in Hungarian. The Hampel name is German and I have learned that German settlers came to Hungary for free land in the 17th and 18th centuries to keep Turks from invading. How sad that this history has been lost to us.

Not Much To Do in McAdoo

McAdoo is an old coal mining town about 75 miles northeast of Harrisburg. It has a population of about 2,200 people. At one time, there were 22,000 miners working in Schuykill County because the anthracite coal was important to the industrial age. The railroad used to come to McAdoo but not any more.

I met up with cousin Thelma in Mechanicsburg, and we drove to see the town where the Horvath and Bolla families lived. This is the town where our great grandparents John and Anna Horvath raised their eight children. The Pennsylvania countryside is beautiful, even charming, and we enjoyed the day and getting to know each other. The day started out to be sunny but it was overcast when we got to McAdoo. We first stopped at East Blaine Street to see where the families lived.

Blaine Street

The Bolla lot had been cleared and was for sale. It is my understanding that John Horvath, who was a carpenter, and his sons built many of the old duplex homes for the families to live in. The town was very small surrounded by the old mine and several large cemeteries testifying to the tragic loss of lives by the miners.

We walked over to the cemetery to find our ancestors but first I wanted to see the church, located on Grant Street just two blocks from the Blaine Street properties. To my surprise, St. Stephen's Magyar Church had been converted into a private home. The trees had been allowed to grow around the front to disguise its former use so it was difficult to photograph.

Front of House

Formerly St. Stephen's Magyar Church

We visited the cemetery in their "back yard" and I found the gravestones for both John and Anna Horvath and some of their children including my grandmother, Anna Horvath Bartha. We did not find Frank Ivancics, the father of Anna Horvath.

I learned today that there are old photographs of McAdoo on display in the McAdoo Diner. If only ...
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Pittsburgh and Three Burials

After our visit with Aunt Gail, we drove to Calvary Cemetery in the Hazelwood area of Pittsburgh to find the grave site of my grandfather, Joseph Bartha. The cemetery office gave us the location of the grave (Section 8, Row 33, Grave 23). I understand from Aunt Gail that this is the children's section and we also learned that three Barthas were buried at this site. It took us a while to locate the grave, and I did not know to bring water and a soft brush to clean the stone.

The grave marker is for Joseph and Anna's daughter Anna Catharina, who died in 1928 at eight months of age. Also, this grave holds the remains of Joseph's daughter Margaret, who died in 1933 at age 20, and also Joseph who died in 1937. It is my understanding that this triple burial was an exception because of financial hardship.

Gravestone: Anna Bartha 1928

Calvary Cemetery - Section 8

Pittsburgh and Aunt Gail

Aunt Gail

This June I traveled to Pittsburgh with my eldest daughter Heather. Pittsburgh is where I was born and I hoped to learn more about my Hungarian ancestors. We surprised my mother's sister, Gail, with a visit one afternoon. I had not seen her since I was a young child and she is now about 88 years old. I tried unsuccessfully to visit her five years ago. This time we drove to her home in a beautiful wooded neighborhood, walked down her long walkway and knocked on her door. When I announced who we were, she was both surprised and gracious as she welcomed us to her home. We enjoyed the time spent with her and believe it was mutual. There were many things about my aunt that reminded us of my mother Lynn both in mannerisms and appearance. She was very sharp both mentally and physically and asked us if we would like to feel her muscles when we noticed the small hand weights on the table. They both enjoyed crossword puzzles.

Violet, Helen, Lynn and Gail

Heather and Lynn - 2007

Because Gail was the youngest Bartha daughter and remained in Pittsburgh, she became the caretaker of her mother (my grandmother) Anna Bartha. Just before we left, Aunt Gail shared an old photo album with us and explained each photo. The album had belonged to my grandmother. I was very excited to see a photograph of our great grandparents, John and Anna Horvath, as well as a photo of our second great grandfather, Frank Ivancics. I never knew such photos existed and excitedly began taking photos of the photos.

John and Anna Horvath

Frank Ivancics (father of Anna)

As I began to take photographs, Aunt Gail said that there was no need. I could have the album because I was so interested, that she would not take it to the grave with her. Needless to say, these photos have been carefully inspected, scanned and archived. The writing on the backs of some held relevant family information. I am very grateful to be entrusted with this treasure and will always remember that afternoon in Pittsburgh when we boldly knocked on that front door.
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