PART TWO of WE THREE and our story

Ron, Diane and Anna 

Continued... A Brief 

Family History of the Berger and Binder Surnames.

Catherine Binder was born in what was Yugoslavia (now Palesnik/Hercegovac, Croatia) but her mother Anna Marie and the Binders were born in Hungary and believed also to have emigrated prior to the 1700’s  from Germany as Donube Swabians. 

Germans were recruited to come into the Hungary to help rebuild the country after the Turks laid it waste. The Binders can be traced back to mid 1700s in Somogy Harsagy, Hungary .

LDS micfrofilm

Anna Marie Binder (Bauer) was born in Somogy Harsagy, Hungary as was her father Johan (Ivan, John). She was the only living birth of Johan Binder and Agnes Marie Weingartner. Agnes was listed as native of Switzerland on Anna's death certificate.  Agnes Marie died (?) and Johan remarried Marianna Bauman (Baumann).

LDS microfilm

Of that union there were Kata (Aunt Katie), Ivan (uncle John) who came to America and Teresa Binder Bauer, and Elizabeth Binder Rebic. Of these who remained in Europe I have visited the daughter (Teresia) of Teresa Binder Holowitz (who lives outside Munich) and the grandson (Franjo) of Elizabeth Binder Rebic (who lives in Zagreb, Croatia).

LDS microfilm,  family group sheets of Estella Bacon

Johan Binder (Anna’s father) visited America and at least in 1910 was on the South Dakota census as a hired man. He made several trips to and from America but no other family members followed.

Ree Heights, South Dakota census of 1910

Anna Bauer moved to Ree Heights South Dakota where she married Winfield Scott Bauer.

Marriage certificate of Polo Catholic church document

Kata (Aunt Katie, my half great aunt) came to America registered on the ship as Binder and married Matias Muehl at Ellis Island. 

Ellis Island and passenger list documents

Kata was pregnant at the time. They moved to Reblake, WI. From there they went to South Dakota and then to New York state. Anna Binder and her daughter Kata (my mother) came to America in about 1910. It is believed that at any one time they were all in the same place Reblake, WI or Mitchell, SD as there was a family photo* taken of Johan, Katie, Matt Muehl, little Kata, and two of Katie’s other children (Mathew and John?). Kata Muehl’s first child Anton died at birth in Reblake, WI.

Census records, death record, church records

*The photo then had three of Johan’s children in it (Ivan/John, Katie and Anna).

DNA results of our lineage has been somewhat stunted as not many Eastern Europeans of the Bergers or Szabos are here in America. And of those that may be in the USA it is supposed have not many take the DNA tests.

From the DNA samples from Ronnie and David Berger the DNA reveals a not so surprising German ancestry but also and surprisingly French ancestry as well. 

If you are Danube Swabian I would like to hear from you.

See ya down the road... on the horizon...

What Was It that Sparked Your Passion?

What Was the Spark to Your Passion?
My passion for family research began with the death of my maternal grandmother Anna Marie BINDER Bauer.

My interest in genealogy/family research started when my grandmother Anna Marie Binder Bauer passed away in 1961. As a young teen holding the funeral card in my hand and staring down at the simple gravestone I wondered... and my wonder became my passion for genealogy and family research. 

Gravestone for Anna Marie at Holy Cross Cemetery San Diego, CA

   Much later another spark was ignited when my mother Catherine Mae Bender (BINDER) Berger  retired and decided to get a passport for travel. The difficulty and the process she went through to get proof of citizenship/naturalization etc. continued this intrigue for me.

   I am first generation in America of immigrant parents and research in the countries of Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and the state of South Dakota was difficult to nonproductive. I spun my wheels writing queries, doing translation into several languages, and waiting for postal responses that provided little to nothing from abroad. 
My spark waned.

  Feeling frustrated, I switched my interest to my husband's Dutch ancestry and was tremendously successful. These sparks of success kept me going...nonetheless I was hooked.
More on Dutch research in another post.   

  When I returned to the BINDER research I was more successful in finding information about my grandmother Anna Marie Binder, by sidestepping on the family chart to Anna's half sister, Katherine Binder Muehl.

Katherine is located in the middle of this chart

There will be MORE ON SIDESTEPPING IN THE UPCOMING BLOG ENTITLED SERENDIPITY. WATCH FOR IT.

QUESTIONS:

Have you had sparks?

What sparked your interest in conducting family history/genealogy research?

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I would love to hear some of your comments!

Some may go into another one of my blogs.

Copyright @ 2015-16 Diane McClure Lott

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION