Need help with finding a marriage in (probably) Pennsylvania

Question

I'm trying to get maximum value out of the last month of my (sister's) Ancestry subscription by using it to sort out some immigrant/DNA puzzle pieces, but I swear, the search engine is assembled upside down and backwards, and I can't get it to work.

I'm pretty sure a circa fourth cousin connects somehow through Frank Einfalt and Mary Hoffmann of Northampton, Pennsylvania, but I'm having a devil of a time finding them on the Burgenland end, especially Mary. Does anyone here possess better Ancestry-fu and/or know more about Pennsylvania records who could track down their marriage? I'm hoping that'd give something more than a county for Mary's birthplace.

(Mary's descendant has her birthplace as Pornóapáti, which is very tempting because it's where my one Catholic great-great-grandfather was from, but there's no birth/baptism there that fits.)

Comments

“United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCH3-Q8J : accessed 31 July 2020), Frank Einfelt, Northampton, Northampton, Pennsylvania, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 79, sheet 14A, line 27, family 270, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2088; FHL microfilm 2,341,822.

Answer 1

“Hungary, Catholic Church Records, 1636-1895," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZ28-NY8 : 16 August 2019), Franciscus Einfalt, 27 Aug 1884, Baptism; citing Alsóbeled, Vas, Hungary, Tolna Megyei Leveltar (National Archives), Budapest; FHL microfilm 700,645.

Answer 2

I can't find it either. I did notice that they had four children prior to 1909, so they must have married very shortly after Mary arrived in 1905. Not sure if that helps.

Comments

I was looking at the bit on that birth certificate about four children, only one of them alive (i.e. the one on the certificate) -- did she start with triplets or something? Why can't I find any trace of those previous children?

Answer 3

Hi J-

I had a relative that married in PA and I stumbled across it by searching through all the newspapers. I know this isn't ideal, but sometimes tenacity pays off. (I didn't find it in Ancestry.) Once I had a location I went to that county's records and searched for it. Luckily, it was there. I had to pay $5 for a digital copy of the marriage license. It took me about six months of picking at the question from time to time. My relatives lived in NJ but decided to marry in PA. Don't discount the close states either! Good Luck!

Comments

Given that it took them something like three babies before they managed to get married (see C-H Geschwind's answer), I somehow doubt they put anything in a newspaper.... (But on the bright side, it likely means that they got married somewhere very local, 'cause they couldn't afford to go anywhere else.)

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My mystery marriage was held in secret, yet the marriage license was published in the local newspaper. Never discount a possibility no matter how whacky you think the idea is.

Answer 4

Perhaps take a look at "Pennsylvania Births and Christenings, 1709-1950", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HFKV-BZT2 : 27 January 2020), Frank Hoffman, 1906. It is for the recording on 20 Dec 1906 of a birth in Alliance Borough (=Northampton Borough??) of a Frank Hoffman to a Frank Renfelt/Aenfelt and a Mary Hoffman. As the child was given the mother's last name, it would suggest they were not yet married.

Comments

That child died 11 Oct 1906: "Pennsylvania Deaths and Burials, 1720-1999", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:H5ZW-LFZM : 9 July 2020), Frank Hoffman, 1906.

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Another child of Frank Einfalt and Mary Hoffman, named John Hoffman (again indicating parents not yet married), died 27 Nov 1908: "Pennsylvania Deaths and Burials, 1720-1999", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:H5Z4-V7W2 : 9 July 2020), John Hoffman, 1908.

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And the third child died 18 November 1909 - named Catharine Einfolt, so parents were now married: "Pennsylvania Deaths and Burials, 1720-1999", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:H5Z9-1VW2 : 9 July 2020), Catharine Einfolt, 1909.

Unfortunately the marriage records for Northampton County at familysearch.org only go through 1907, so a marriage in late 1908 or early 1909 would not be found there.

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Their 1910 census record (https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/21022024?h=e2afc9&utm_campaign=bandido-webparts&utm_source=post-share-modal&utm_medium=copy-url) also states that they had been married only 1 year (i.e., in 1909). And by the time of that census the fourth child had also died.

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Turns out Ancestry is lying: they have a batch of Northampton marriages that's labeled 1901-1911, but it's actually all 1905. As far as I can tell, they only have Northampton marriages through 1906. So that's why I can't get the search to cough up the right Mary Hoffman marriage. Grrr.

Aenfelt for Einfelt. That's a new one. Thanks for finding all of those births for me; I'm rather out of my depth where finding Pennsylvania records is considered.

Answer 5

If you check her memorial (#47477442) on Find-A-Grave (www.findagrave.com), she was buried in Our Lady of Hungary Cemetery, Northampton, Northampton County, PA.  Her memorial lists 4 sons.  You might contact Our Lady of Hungary to see if they have marriage information for Mary and Frank.