Hungarian birthplace from 1914 immigration record
I am trying to discover the birthplaces for Ilona Molnar (wife of Ignac Fekete) and daughter Margit Fekete from the attached 1914 immigration passenger record. As near as I can make out, they were born in "Nyrbelvelz," but I haven't found any such placenames in my research. According to the record, the family of three was last living in Erkenez, Bihar, Hungary. I believe Erkenez is found in modern-day Romania. Ignac was born nearby in Böszörmény, Hadju-Bihar, Hungary, and I have found him, his siblings, and his parents in church records there. However, I have not been able to determine the place or jurisdiction where his wife Ilona and daughter Margit were born. The attached screenshot comes from page two of the family's immigration record: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9SD-W452?view=index&action=view. They are numbers 18, 19, and 20, and the first page of the record is found one page previous to the image in the link above.
Many thanks for any help you may render in deciphering Ilona and Margit's birthplace and directing me to any repositories that may hold records for the location.
Thank you,
Melanie
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Érkenéz is now Voivozi, Romania.
The best I've come up with for the birthplace is a badly-misread/miscopied Nyírbéltek, which was in Szabolcs county (now in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg). It is about 15 miles north of Érkenéz and about 30 miles east of Hajdúböszörmény. Unfortunately, FS appears to be missing the civil registrations of births for 1895-1898 for Béltek (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1523036?availability=Family%20History%20Library), so I can't verify if it's anywhere near correct by looking for Margit's birth. Their marriage wasn't registered there, that I can find, but it may have just pre-dated civil registration. What religion was Ignácz?
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Here's a link to the civil births:https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-Y33S-DV7?i=663&cc=1452460&cat=1523036
It was mis-labeled(as Deaths) in the catalog.
I searched from October 1895 through December 1898, didn't find Margit's birth.
Where did they live in the US? Might have to look for a naturalization record. Did Ignácz go by Ignácz, Ignácz, Ignatius in the US? https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GGYW-VP1?cc=1589502
Margit's husband Mike Pops was naturalized in Beaver County, Pennsylvania in 1921:https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSMY-YQ1B-2?i=92&cat=194862
Unfortunately, the records on FamilySearch stop in 1920. You'll have to contact the Beaver County government to obtain a copy(be sure to give them the date, volume and page number).
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Thank you, @Julia Szent-Györgyi and @Christopher Kovach_1. Yes, I had seen somewhere that Voivozi was the modern location for Érkenéz. I haven't been able to find records online for Érkenéz/Voivozi. If I could, it might lead me to a lateral line to research. Ignac and Ilona had another daughter who they left behind in Érkenéz. She was married to someone by the surname Kzekany(?), the surname of the son-in-law listed on page one of their immigration record.
I had seen on Ilona's familysearch profile that others interpreted "Nyrbelvelz" as Nyírbéltek, too. Thanks for finding and checking in the marriage and birth records there for Ilona and Margit. Good catch on those mislabeled records, Christopher! Guess it could still be a case of wrong location or missing records.
Ignac Fekete and his parents/siblings were discovered in the Greek Catholic Church records in Hajdúböszörmény. As far as I can tell, Ignac didn't naturalize. He died in Beaver County, PA, in 1918--just 4 years after the family immigrated. US documents recorded him variously as Ignatz, Ingnots, Egnac, etc. I don't believe Ilona ever naturalized either. For the 1920, 1930, and 1940 censuses that I believe relate to her, she was listed as an alien. In the 1950 census, the citizenship column is blank for her. For other foreigners on the same 1950 page, there is a "yes" in that column (meaning naturalized). She remarried (to a George Tarpay/Tarpy/Tarpie) but was never enumerated with him. By the 1950 census she was listed as a widower, living at the rear of her daughter Margit/Margaret's address, probably in a separate apartment on their property. I could look more into George to see if he naturalized and mentioned her origins. Ilona (mostly went by Helen in the US) died in Beaver County in 1958. Ilona lived in Beaver and Butler counties, and also I think in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties--essentially in the greater Pittsburgh area.
Thank you for the link to the Beaver County naturalization index, Christopher. Though Mike Popa's final papers aren't online, I did find his declaration of intention: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS9M-P965-4. Though I wish the letter attached to it was also digitized, the declaration provided the most specific birthplace for him so far! I couldn't find the duplicate declaration issued in the June 1921 declarations. I'll see if I can request Mike's 1922 final papers from the county. Any ideas on the "Pian, Austria" location he gave as his birthplace? Might this be a reference to Pians, a village in Tirol County, Austria? I've scoured the passenger list for the Breslau that arrived on 9 November 1904 (just a little off from the ship he cited), but I couldn't find him. I'll keep hunting. Here are all the Breslau's I could find through stevemorse.org: https://stevemorse.org/cgi-bin/boatfs.php?series=&rollStart=&rollEnd=&volumeStart=&volumeEnd=&monthStart=&dayStart=&yearStart=&monthEnd=&dayEnd=&yearEnd=&boatkind=starts&boat=breslau&offset=1&portkind=starts&port=&pageSize=50&database=all&local=yes&auth=
Anyhow, many thanks again for the time and attention you've given my inquiry! Happy New Year!
Melanie
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