The phrase “two steps forward, one step back” has been in my thoughts the last couple of days. Some forward progress was made in my quest to locate where in Hungary Louis Radvany and Mary Nagy were born. I also hit my head against that concrete wall at the same time. The previous posts I have written about this research are My Wall Is Made Of Concrete and Mystery Monday – Unraveling the Radvany Secrets.
I wish more of my (or my husband’s) ancestors lived in Indiana. The people and government offices I have contacted in the last several weeks have been amazing. Great service and lightning speed on delivery of documents.
Two weeks ago our mailman delivered the death certificates for Louis, Mary, and their son, William. The death certificates for Mary and William confirmed the information that I had already found in their obituaries but also added new information for each of them. The cause of death for Mary was a heart attack. The highlight was finding her mother’s maiden name – Elizabeth Viro.
William died in the garage of his home due to carbon monoxide poisoning. His death was ruled a suicide. The death certificate disputes the story of William’s younger sister that the ex-boyfriend of William’s girlfriend killed him and then made it look like a suicide. I want to check to see if there are any coroner’s record to back up the death certificate. William’s death certificate also indicates that he was a World War II veteran. I need to add finding his military records to my research plan.
Receiving Louis Radvany’s death certificate in the mail was the biggest find. I did not know his date of death prior to the death certificate. I only knew that my husband’s grandfather was young when he died. I guessed the correct five-year range when applying for the death certificate. Louis died November 16, 1930. It listed his parents as Stephen Radvany and mother Unknown. Unfortunately the cause of death section of the certificate is illegible.
There are a couple of family stories regarding his death. The first is that he was a spy for Hungary and when he decided to quit being a spy, he was killed. The second story was that he was hit by a bus. I was skeptical about both stories. It turns out that the second one comes close to the truth.
After receiving the death certificate, I immediately sent a request to the Lake County Library for an obituary for Louis’ death. The obituary was actually a front page story, “Pedestrian Fatally Hurt By Autoist.” Louis was hit by a door handle of a passing car. The car was driven by a man accompanied by his family. Louis died before the ambulance reached the hospital. The man was held by local police pending an investigation. Again, I need to check to see if there is any access available to the coroner’s records.
The genealogy question I am trying to answer is where were Louis Radvany and Mary Nagy born? I have made some positive steps forward for Mary by identifying both of her parent’s names. This is key since she immigrated with them as a baby. While I have filled in stories about Louis’ life, I am still no where close to finding where he was born. I still have some action items on my research plan to follow-up on. I will keep you posted!