User:Jvajda/Vajda

Introduction

Four generations of Vajda's

This research homepage details my paternal grandfather's lineage back to a few villages in Austria-Hungary that now are part of Slovakia. It is my most original area of work and most rigorously documented. Stephen Vajda was born in Čáry, Slovakia and his future wife Anna Somolanyi was born in Kuklov, Slovakia. These small villages are about 1.5 miles apart, so although they immigrated to the United States three or four years apart, it seems likely that they knew each other prior to their arrival in the United States.

Large scale Slovak immigration to the United States began in the 1870s with the forced magyarization policies of the Hungarian government. The Vajda and Jurina families ended up in Orangeburg, New York, where the men worked for the Fiber Conduit Company of Orangeburg.

Vajda surname etymology from Wikipedia:

The term derives from Slavic voi or voj (war-man) + vodi (to lead), and thus originally meant war leader or warlord. The word has developed to take various forms in the modern Slavic languages, such as wojewoda (Polish), воевода (voyevoda, Russian), войвода or воевода (voyvoda, voevoda), Bulgarian, воєвода (voyevoda, Ukrainian), vévoda (Czech) and војвода or vojvoda (Croatian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene and Macedonian). It has also been borrowed into some non-Slavic languages, taking such forms as voievod (Romanian), vajda (Hungarian) and vaivads (Latvian).

This etymology is perfectly parallel, though unrelated, to that of equivalent Germanic titles and terms like the Old English heretoga and the German Herzog, which in feudal times was equated with the Latin dux (originally a term for either a barbaric war leader or a Roman commanding officer and/or military governor, which later evolved into such feudal and modern titles of peerage rank as duke). For this reason, the Slavic terms are sometimes translated as duke. However, although in some countries and periods the rank of voivode was equivalent to a Western duke, it was not universally so.

Notable People

WWII Veteran Stephen Joseph Vajda Jr. (b. 1923) witnessed the Hindenburg zeppelin on it’s last voyage.

Stephen Vajda Sr. (b. 1898) pitched for a semi-professional baseball team, and once pitched against Hall-of-Fame pitcher Leon Cadore. Cadore pitched in the 1920 World Series for the Brooklyn Robins, and shares the single game innings pitched record for pitching 26 innings in game.

At the age of eight, Anna Justina Jurina (b. 1898) immigrated to the United States without any family members onboard. She had $5 with her.

Vajda Ahnentafel

This chart represents my ancestors who came from Austria-Hungary in the late 19th century to Rockland County, New York. You can browse browse an interactive ahnentafel here.

Joseph Vajda > Abt 1783, Hapsburg Monarchy

Joseph Vajda 1824, Austrian Empire

Maria Shramek Abt 1792, Hapsburg Monarchy

Stephen Vajda 1865, Austrian Empire - 1948, USA

Joseph Komornik Abt 1800

Theresa Komornik Abt 1835, Austrian Empire

Anna Michalik Abt 1805

Stephen Vajda, Sr. 1898, USA - 1987, USA

Emerius Somolanyi

Anthony Somolanyi 1837, Austrian Empire

Theresa Moravek

Anna Somolanyi 1869, Austria-Hungary - 1913, USA

John Jorok

Helena Jorok 1843, Austrian Empire

Maria Brhina

Stephen Joseph Vajda, Jr. 1923, USA - 2002, USA

Unknown

Josef Jurina Austrian Empire

Unknown

Josef Jurina 1873, Austria-Hungary - 1921, USA

Unknown

Katherine Austrian Empire

Unknown

Anna Justina Jurina 1898, Austria-Hungary - 1962, USA

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Ustina Kumick 1877, Austria-Hungary - 1963

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Important Sources

• Thirteenth Census of The United States: 1910. I stared at this census page for several minutes before realizing that the "White" family that lives next to the Yurina family is actually the Vajda family I had been searching for.

• State of New York Marriage License for Stephen Vajda and Anna Somolarnyi. This document is the only record I uncovered that listed the villages in Europe that my Vajda ancestors hailed from.

Image:Vajda-SV0 & Anna S nyc marriage license.pdf

• State of New York Certificate of Death for Stephen Vajda. This is another document uncovered that lists Stephen Vajda's parents.

• List or Manifest of Alien Passengers For The U.S. Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival, S.S. Rhein. This ship's list shows Anna Jurina immigrating to the United States in 1907 at the young age of eight without any known family members with her.

Image:Yurina-Anna 1907 NY Ships List.pdf

• Slovakia Church Books, 1592-1910. These recently (3/2011) scanned vital record books from the churches of Slovakia are the primary source of information on my ancestors in Slovakia during the 19th century and earlier.

External Links

• Bill Tarkulich's Slovakia & Environs, Genealogy Research Strategies, Why Emigrate? A fantastic essay that explains why so many Slovaks emigrated from Austria-Hungary and what their new lives were like in the United States. This website also has an excellent history of Slovakia, among other valuable resources.
• Orangeburg Pipe Wikipedia Page. Includes a history of the Fiber Conduit Company of Orangeburg, New York that employed the first Vajda and Jurina immigrants in the United States.
• Slovak American Wikipedia Page. A history of Slovaks in America.