Friday's Faces from the Past: Kindergarten Twins, circa 1924

This school photo was taken more than 90 years ago, when the Schwartz twins (my mother Daisy and her sister Dorothy) were in kindergarten. Since the twins were born in 1919, I estimate the date of the photo to be 1924. Mom (1919-1981) and Auntie (1919-2001) would have been 97 years old this month.

Although I don't know which twin was which, it's easy to spot them sitting side by side in the center, with the Buster Brown hairdo so obviously popular at the time.

How did the photographer get these youngsters to sit still long enough to capture the image so clearly? Maybe that's why the kids aren't smiling!*

As the photo indicates, the twins went to school at P.S. 62 on Fox Street in the Bronx. This elementary school was across the street from the apartment building at 651 Fox Street where the family lived (and where the twins were born, at home).

I'm posting a fragment of the 1920 Census, showing the twins (age 0/12) and their older brother "Fredie" (age 7) with their parents, Theodore Schwartz and Hermina Farkas Schwartz, at that address.

With a magnifying glass and a little imagination, this Census confirmed what I already knew--that my Grandpa Teddy was born in Ungvar, Hungary and my Grandma Minnie was born in Bereg (now Berehovo), Hungary.

The Census-taker wrote the town names in parentheses under "place of birth" for all immigrants on that page...later the town names were crossed out but still visible.

By checking the original rather than relying on a transcription, I could see the birthplaces for myself. Faces and places from the past!

*Actually, the kids aren't smiling because the convention of smiling in a photographic portrait was only coming into favor around this time, as Time explains.

Those Places Thursday: Tiszaujlak, Julia Farkas's Hometown

In my box of "mystery photos" was this darling portrait of a beribboned teenaged girl and her younger brother in a sailor suit. The photo folder had a Hungarian inscription naming the two Waldman children with a date from 1918. Below it, in my mother's handwriting, were the names in English.

The photography studio where these children posed was located in the Bronx, not far from where my Hungarian grandparents (Tivadar Schwartz and Hermina Farkas Schwartz) and great-grandparents (Moritz Farkas and Lena Kunstler Farkas) lived.

This photo was in my mother's possession for decades, so I originally believed the Waldmans were family friends. Now I think they were actually cousins.

It all started when I tracked this girl's name through Census records and newspaper clippings and located her daughter. We confirmed that this photo showed her mother and uncle. I mailed her the photo -- because it belongs in her line -- and I continued the research.

On Jewish Gen, I connected with a family researcher also interested in Eperjes (now Presov), the Hungarian town where the Waldman children were born. He very kindly sent me downloads of vital records from that town.

One excerpt, shown above, included the little boy's birth and a bit about the parents. Jozsef Waldman was an electrician born in Eperjes and Julia Farkas was born in Tiszaujlak (located at M26, the start of the two arrows on the map below). Tiszaujlak (below) was in Marmaros county, Hungary, then became part of Czechoslovakia when the map changed, and finally part of the USSR and then Ukraine, since 1991.

My Farkas family has roots in Berehi and my Schwartz family has roots in Uzhorod [aka the market town of Ungvar], shown at top left corner of the map. Very intriguing geographical connections.

The 1920 US Census shows a teenaged nephew living with electrician Joseph & Julia & their 2 children in Jersey City, NJ: His name was "Emery Swartch" (probably "Imre Schwartz") and he was an electrician's apprentice. Very intriguing surname coincidence connecting Imre with my Schwartz side. Of course the Census doesn't ask whose nephew Imre is, so I can't tell whether he's related to Joseph or Julia--whether he's from the Waldman side or the Farkas side.

So far, I haven't found Julia Farkas's marriage info or her parents' names. Was she from my Farkas side or my Schwartz side? Stay tuned!

Wishful Wednesday: Meeting the Kossuth Ferenc Society

How I wish I could have seen my Farkas and Schwartz ancestors at a meeting of the Kossuth Ferenc Hungarian Literary Sick and Benevolent Society, founded in New York City in 1904. Above, a photo from the group's fifth anniversary jubilee. My great-uncle Sandor (Alex) Farkas (born in Berehovo, Hungary) was one of the founders, and great-uncle Bertalan (Albert) Farkas was a long-time leader! They are in the picture, along with other relatives (see below). This society reached its peak in 1924, when it had more than 600 members.

The Kossuth family (father Lajos and son Ferenc, for whom the society was named) were leaders of the Hungarian independence movement. According to a Fulbright scholar's research (this link leads to an explanatory pdf), the founders of the society asked permission to use his name (and apparently his likeness, shown above in a chair at the very center of the photo).

The society's goals were to establish a library and reading room; raise money for charitable purposes, especially to help new immigrants; and sponsor sports or other special events. The society also participated in March 15th celebrations every year, remembering the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.

Hermina Farkas, 1909

The photographer Gustav Beldegreen, who had a successful studio in New York City's Lower East Side, was obviously a big supporter of the society. He produced the big photo above, along with individual portraits of the members that are included as cameos.

At left, my future grandma Hermina Farkas as she appeared in 1909, in the big photo above. She was born in Berehovo, like her brother Sandor. Two years after this photo was taken, she married grandpa Theodore Schwartz (born in Ungvar, then part of Hungary and now known as Uzhorod, Ukraine).

Also here's a photo of the Kossuth statue that was erected in 1928 New York City (along Riverside Drive) to honor this leader of Hungarian independence.

From the Kossuth Ferenc Society booklet, spelled as in the original and in the order it appeared, I want to include the complete Tagok névsora (list of members): 

Altman, Sándor

Altman, Rosie

Altman, Bertha

Altman, Malvin

Aurbach, Emma

Ábraham, Isidor

Bleich, Ármin

Blau, Sámuel

Blau, Sámuelné

Berman, Dezsö

Burger, Jenö

Burger, Miksa

Burger, Géza

Burger, Lajos

Burger, Rosie

Burger, Harry

Braun, Ferencz 

Braunstein, Jenö

Böhm, Máli

Berkowitz, Márton

Berkowitz, Sadie

Beldegreen, Gusztáv (the photographer/printer)

Braun, Jakab

Brummel, Frida

Berger, Pepi

Berger, Isidor

Breuer, Márton

Cohn, Sarah

Davidowitz, Jenö

Deutsch, Dezsö

Deutsch, Samu

Deutsch, Ferencz

Diamand, Ignátz

Eichler, Hermina

Ehrenfeld, Bella

Farkas, Sándor  (my family!)

Farkas, Bertalan (my family!)

Farkas, Hermina (my family!) 
Friedman, Jenö

Friedman, Adolf

Friedman, Isidor

Friedman, Annie

Feldman, Herman

Fischer, Sarah

Fischer, Rosie I

Fischer, Rosie II

Fischer, Jenö

Fischer, Harry

Fischer, Julia

Funk, Deszö

Fried, Sámuel

Frank, Mihály

Fábián, Jenö

Fábián, Jenöné

Greenberger, Bertha

Greenberger, Max

Green, Malvin

Green, Cili

Green, Herman

Goldstein, Lina

Goldstein, Márton

Greenfeld, Irén

Greenfeld, Bertha

Greenfeld, Sámuel

Gross, Isidor

Gross, Etel

Gross, Ida

Gross, Jenö

Gross, Márton

Grossman, Jenö

Grossman, Etel

Grossman, Annie

Gerendási, Béla

Gerendási, Márton

Gottlieb, Julius

Grünwald, Albert

Goldstein, Giza

Greenstein, Vilmos

Gellért, Ármin

Gellért, Miksa

Gewirtz, Jenö

Greenbaum, Dávid

Gáspár, Anna

Grünwald, Selma

Hohenberg, Bérnat dr.

Hochheiser, Dóra

Hirschfeld, Jenö

Herskowitz, Máli

Hartman, Ármin

Horowitz, Fáni

Hartman, Wm. L. dr.

Jäger, Sadie

Jungreis, Antal

Klein, Jenö I

Klein, Jenö II

Klein, Jenö III

Klein, Jenöné

Klein, Szerén

Klein, Lajos

Klein, Isidor I

Klein, Isidor II

Klein, Máli

Klein, Bernath

Klein, Vilmos

Klein, Ida

Klein, Regina

Klein, Helen

Klein, Róza

Klein, Mór

Katz, Bertha

Kornfeld, Heinrich

Kraus, Hermina

Kraus, Bernath

Kallisch, Teréz

Kellner, Árpád

Katz, Ida

Kestenbaum, Jack

Klausner, Sam

Kraus, Matild

Lehner, Etel

Leffkowitz, Rosie I

Leffkowitz, Rosie II

Leffkowitz, Helén

Lessauer, Sam

Lebowitz, Max

Lax, Harrz

Leggmar, Sarah

Markowitz, Herman

Markowitz, Hermanné

Markowitz, Isidor

Mayer, Adolf

Miesels, Sam

Moor, Max dr.

Neuman, Vilmos

Oppman, Gizella

Rendler, Annie

Rosner, Dávid

Reschowsky, Lajos

Rosenfeld, Fülöp

Roth, Helén

Roth, Margit

Rosenzweig, Boriska

Radóczy, Irma

Rosner, Bertha

Singer, Szerén

Schwartz, Nathan

Schwartz, Nathanné

Schwartz, Isidor

Schwartz, Theodor (my family!)

Schwartz, Malvin

Schwartz, Alex

Saffran, Bertha

Schwartz, Szerén

Schwartz, Bernath I

Schwartz, Bernath II

Strauss, Eszti

Smidt, József

Schwartz, Eszti

Schönwald, Emma

Schönwald, Rosie

Schwartz, Sam (my family!)

Spitzer, Vilmos

Saffir, Rosie

Süsskind, Pinkusz

Spitz, Áron

Stark, Miksa

Schwartz, Marie (actually MARY, my family!)

Schreiber, J.H. dr.

Selymes, Ferencz

Schwartz, Sarah

Stark, Sándor

Salamon, Rosie

Schwartz, Bertha

Schwartz, Sadie

Schwartz, Hannah

Staub, Matild

Spiro, Annie

Steuer, Paulin

Steuer, Jolán

Tresenfeld, Rosie

Tresenfeld, Ármin

Wolf, Adolf

Weitzner, Janka

Weitzner, József

Wolitzer, Sándor

Weiss, Dávid

Weiss, Harry

Weiss, Sámuel dr.

Weiss, Max

Weiss, Helén

Weiss, Feri

Weiss, Bernath

Weiss, Piroska

Weiss, Sam

Weiss, Margit

Weiss, Ida

Williger, Helén

Weltman, Ernö

Wellner, Henry

Weinreb, Márton

Zimmerman, Harry