Sunday, May 3, 2015

Sentimental Sunday: The Christmas Eve Wedding of Great-uncle Alex Farkas and Jennie Katz

On Sunday, December 24, 1916, Jennie Katz (daughter of Elias Katz and Sarah Lindenbaum Katz) married my great-uncle Alex (Sandor) Farkas (oldest son of Moritz Farkas and Lena Kunstler Farkas). Below is the transcribed record from their marriage license, clipped from Family Search. That's how I know Jennie's parents' names and her birthplace of Malomfalva, which is now in Romania but when Jennie was born, it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Alex and Jennie met through the Kossuth Society in New York, where Alex was one of the founders. Alex was in the garment trade and Jennie was a dressmaker who could copy any fashion after seeing it once. Their wedding was quite an event, judging by the above photo. The bride and groom, both about 30 at the time, are at center.

Alex's sister Minnie (hi Grandma!) was the first of his siblings to marry, in 1911. Minnie married Ted Schwartz (hi Grandpa!), who's next to her in this photo, and their 4-year-old son Fred (hi Uncle!) is also in this photo.

Although the people are numbered on the photo for identification purposes, the list of names has been lost over time. All but one of Alex's 10 siblings are here, identified by my cousins. Younger brother Albert Farkas (born May 5, 1888) was in Vancouver at the time and doesn't appear in the photo.

Great-aunt Jennie Katz Farkas died on May 1, 1974, outliving her husband Alex by 26 years. He died on January 18, 1948.

Remembering these Farkas ancestors on Sentimental Sunday.

4 comments:

  1. What a wonderful photo Marian!

    Reading about Jennie's talent as a dressmaker reminded me of my sister-in-law. She made my wedding dress without a pattern. We went shopping and I tried on a dress I liked and she made one like it, probably with a few variations, but still. Such an amazing talent!

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    1. You are one lucky bride. Jennie made lots of wedding and bridesmaid dresses for my Farkas ancestors over the years and they looked quite beautiful.

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  2. Marian, I love that wedding photo; the top hats, the people sitting on the floor,... That is unique. Looks like Jennie and Alex had a fun wedding day.

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    1. It does look like a fun day, doesn't it? My grandpa Ted is wearing some contraption on his head . . . ?!

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