Monday, January 04, 2010

Monday Madness - Martin Domagalski

This Monday, I decided to talk about my 3rd-great-grandfather, Martin Domagalski. He has been the most difficult of my ancestors to trace and find.

Information on his birth and beginning is very confusing. What I do know, according to his marriage record, is that he is the son of "Alberti Domagalski et Maria Anna Yatak". I've been corresponding with a fellow Domagalski researcher who descends from an Antonia, daughter of Adalbert Domagalski and Marianna Gadacz. I believe Martin and Antonia are siblings. If you pronounce Yatak and Gadacz out-loud they sound pretty much the same. Also, the St. Mary's church parish records in Medina, NY, where Martin Domagalski was married, was infamous for misspelling nearly all the Polish surnames in the parish. An example is in Martin's wife's (Agnes Gotowa) family. Her mother is listed as "Josepha Vaselineska". Her mother's name was Josephine Lesniewski.

I had found a great resource called the Poznan project, and I found Martin's parent's marriage record. Adalbert Domagala and Marianna Gadacz were married in 1853 in Birkenfeld, Kreis Znin, Posen. Birkenfeld is now known as Brzyskorzstew, Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Anywho.. I have multiple birth date information for Martin. In the 1900 census he listed his birth month and year as August 1864. In the 1910 census he was listed as being born about 1863. His birthdate on his headstone is 18 Nov 1859. His birthdate on his death certificate was 22 Feb 1865. As you can see from the last two sources, VERY different birth dates from reliable sources. The most probable birthdate is taken from his death certificate; the census records agree with this.

Martin Domagalski and Agnes Gotowa had a total of 12 children:
  1. Josephine, born 04 Sep 1886, Medina, NY
  2. Ignacy, born 01 Mar 1888, Chicago
  3. John, born 23 Dec 1889, Chicago
  4. Lucy, born 11 Dec 1891, Chicago
  5. Clara, born abt Oct 1893, Chicago
  6. Wladislaw, born 16 Jun 1896, Chicago
  7. Eleanora, born 15 Jan 1899, Chicago
  8. Frank, born 05 Feb 1901, Chicago
  9. Edward, born 10 Apr 1903, Chicago
  10. Roman, born 15 Feb 1904, Chicago
  11. Cecilia, born 22 Nov 1906, Chicago
  12. Helen, born 06 Dec 1908, Chicago
Three of the children died young: Wladislaw, Eleanora and Edward.

Martin and Agnes both died in 1917 in Chicago. Martin died on May 5th, and Agnes died five months later on October 25th. Something interesting about Agnes, is that her death certificate lists that she was temporarily insane, and jumped from a window. A newspaper clipping from the Chicago Tribune on October 26th states: "Mrs. Agnes Domagalski, 49, died yesterday at the Englewood hospital from injuries caused Oct. 3 when she fell from a third floor window of house at 2417 West Fortyfifth street."

As for where Martin was born, I don't know. His death certificate didn't list his place of birth, nor did any other vital record of his or his children. His naturalization documents have yet to be found, although I know he was naturalized in Orleans county, New York on 09 Oct 1884. I do not know when he immigrated either. Without his naturalization papers, I won't know that information. I petitioned to the Gov't using the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requesting Martin's naturalization records, stating they were in Orleans county, New York, but received nothing from this request. They found nothing.. or didn't bother trying. I have a feeling a thorough search in the Orleans county court house will yield his naturalization papers.

It's A New Year!

Well, the new year is finally here. 2009 definitely was a great year for genealogy resources & records, but with 2010 it'll just keep getting better and better.

Organizations, counties and societies all across the country are digitizing and putting online their records. FamilySearch's project entitled RecordSearch has come a long way since it began. To date, it's currently at 165 different databases ranging from all around the world. And hopefully that list will grow vastly during this upcoming year. I consider RecordSearch the most vital new research tool to any and all genealogists. It's continually updating and uploading new records and it won't stop, for years to come. And the best part.. it's free! Here's a little wish list of records I'd like to see appear on RecordSearch:
  • Completion of the Brandenburg records
  • Completion of the Posen records
  • Prussian Parish Registers
  • Hungarian Parish Registers
  • Baden & Württemburg Parish Registers
  • Southern Poland Parish Registers
  • Land Deed records for USA (grantor/grantee)
2009 was a grim year for my family. I had 4 aunt and uncles (Ray Heffner, Gloria Flemming Kolpack, Leonard Martin and Kathy Felton Larmon Johnson), 1 close cousin (Brian Loney) and 4 distant cousins (James E. Blaylock, James E. Howard, Leslie Scott Rodgers and Patrick Swayze.. yes, the actor) pass away this year. This definitely wasn't a good year. In hopes that 2010 would bring more happiness, it was quickly taken down by the passing of another 3rd cousin on January 2nd, Henry A. Jablon. Rest In Peace, my family, and let's all hope for a much brighter year.

Now on a happier note, I thought I would discuss the best genealogical find of the year for me. It was the marriage record for my 7th-great-grandparents, Mihály Tóth and Mária Izdenczy de Komlós.


Marriage of Mihály Tóth & Mária Izdenczy de Komlós - 29 Sep 1715

They were married on 29 Sep 1715 in Bőcs, Borsod county, Hungary. You can see the image of their marriage record above. You can see in the beginning it names "Mich. Tótt" and the second line begins the bride's name "Relicta Martini Isdentzi ?? Maria Komlosiensis". This states Mária, daughter of the widow of Márton Izdenczy. The date begins on the third line "29 7bris 1715". This is September 29th, 1715. The witnesses to the marriage consist of the remaining marriage information: (in Hungarian) György Kohányi, László Kohányi, András Balog.

Now for the good stuff! The Izdenczy family is a very old noble Hungarian family, who can trace their roots back to a man named Márk who lived during the reign of King Sámuel Aba of Hungary (1041-1044). Now, Mária's father Márton Izdenczy was a militaryman. In 1685 he was in top command of the Tokaj fortress under Prince Imre Thökölyi. Later on in the 1709, he served under Prince Ferencz Rakóczy II. Márton held land possessions in Komlós in Sáros county and Bodrog-Keresztur in Zemplén county.


Land Deed - 1696

Not long after I found the marriage record, I found a land deed record dating from 1696. It contained vital information needed to connect me back to two more ancestral families: Berzeviczy de Berzevicze and Horváth de Perlak.

The main important part of the document is highlighted and underlined in red. Click on the image for a larger view. Here is the excerpt of the key information: "Barbaram, Martini Izdenczy consortem filiamuero praenarrati Stephani quondem Horvath de Perlak, ex praedicta Nobili condem prae Margaretha Berzeviczy". This means Borbála (Barbara), wife of Márton Izdenczy, daughter of István (Stephen) Horváth de Perlak and Margit (Margaretha) Berzeviczy. You can find information on the Berzeviczy family on a previous post of mine entited "My Aristocratic Cousins!".

It's amazing to know that one single marriage record unlocked a treasure trove of information, all freely available on the internet. My next task now, is to track down information on the nobility and family tree of the Izdenczy's. And secondly to connect my Margit Berzeviczy into the MASSIVE Berzeviczy family tree, which is heavily documented and dates back to the 1200's.

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Obituary - Henry A. Jablon

Henry A. Jablon, age 82, of South Holland, IL, passed away, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010, loving father of Linda (Frank) Jablon-Katona, the late Lawrence Jablon, Adrienne Jablon, Joan(Warren) Millsaps and Jean (John) Jablon-Zeigler; cherished grandfather of Anthony and Michael Millsaps; devoted brother of Armela (Dave) Hammes; dear uncle to numerous nieces and nephews; fond former husband of Irene. Visitation, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010 from 2 to 9 p.m. at the Smits, DeYoung-Vroegh Funeral Home, 649 E. 162nd St. (Rt.6/159th St.) South Holland, IL. Prayer Service, Friday, Jan. 8, 2010, 9 a.m. leaving for Holy Ghost Church, Funeral Mass, 9:30 a.m. Interment, Resurrection Cemetery, Justice, IL. Mr. Jablon retired from Governor's State University in University Park, IL and was a WW II Army Veteran. Memorial contributions may be given to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, www.michaeljfox.org. For further information 708-333-7000 or www.smitsfuneralhomes.com.


Henry's sister, Armela, is a cousin of mine through the Domagalski family. We've been corresponding for several years now on our research.