The Ever Elusive Bennett Karoly

Bennett Karoly, Born in 1897, is my Grandfather whom I have never met. He died in 1951, four years before I was born. He left home at an early age and did not talk much about his family. A very private person. His own wife, Bertha, was not too sure about his past because he did not talk much about it.

Our dilemma is this: We can't trace our family tree beyond him. We've been trying over the years but so far no luck. My oldest son, Joshua, works at Ancestry.com and has brought the full power of his employers databases to no avail. The earliest records we can find are his World War I draft registration and another document that may be him but were not sure.

When Bennett married my grandmother he listed his place of birth as New York, NY and his father as Charles Karoly (born in Hungary) and his mother Hermine Haupman (born in Austria). On his WWI draft registration he listed his place of birth as Budapest Hungary and his mothers name as, Mary. Same birth date so we are certain he's the same Bennett Karoly. We think he lied about his mother and place of birth to avoid the draft. A couple of days before he registered for the draft we find another Bennett Karoly who claims to be thirty-four and he's caught on the border with Mexico which makes for some interesting reading. He stated he was born in Austria and came to America as a small child. We think he's the same Bennett Karoly and lying about his age trying to avoid being drafted.

We've been searching the census records and the earliest we can find him is in the 1920 census in San Francisco, CA. We're trying to find him in the 1900 and 1910 census records also but so far we are at a dead end. We found a Hermina Karoly married to a Gabriel Karoly in the 1930 census but have not been able to find a Hermine Karoly yet. The Gabriel and Hermina Karoly's are old enough to be his mother and father but who knows.

DNA samples: It would be cool to take DNA samples of every Karoly in the USA and see if we are related because there are not really that many.

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time I had a family that was excited about being able to post about their lives on this cool little Blog that their Father had so kindly created. But alas the children's excitement dwindled as we each slacked at displaying pieces of our life for the whole world to see. Perhaps is was due to the forgetfulness of brains. They do that some time. So the old fart brother (the brother who was near as old as the old flatulent father) decided to write about Once Upon a time... I wonder if it worked...

Life - February 18th 2006

Although I do have my own blog, I haven't posted much about my current life. Just reliving the past. But now I've been posting little thoughts I've had. It's starting to become my journal. Right now I just wanted to say, "life is good." I like it.

I'm still just working to complete college. When I do, it will be one of the happiest days on earth. I'm thinking about just making it a national holiday... on my own without the help of Congress or Mr. President. If everyone else celebrates it, what can they do about it? They would just have to join in the celebration. So when that day comes (something I still don't know exactly, but know is coming close) we will party like it's 1999 again, cause last time I slept through that one. Being a missionary 1999 didn't seem to have the same importance it had to me before that. So this will be make up.

But, yes, college is going really well this semester. Still hard, but so much better than last. I'm getting things done and doing well on what I do get done.

Dating was pretty non-existent for a short time there. But, thanks to a friend who unknowingly helped a struggling recovering dater, I went on a blind date last night. No I didn't hear wedding bells (sorry Dad), but I did have a good time. It was just good to get out and have fun with friends and make new ones.

Work is also good. The call center is still recovering from the lay offs last month, but things are returning to normal. I work with great people and the job pays the bills. No complaints.

So, Family, life is good. Better than it has been for a couple of weeks. I'm still learning and growing. Stinky stuff is still happening. But life is good.

I love you all.

- Josh

Post Your Stuff Here My Little Karoly's

Hello. This is a place for my family to post their comments about their daily life. Six kids and two grand children plus the wife and I will be posting here. Enjoy.