Ferencz Vinis

Ferencz Vinis, known as Francis or Frank Vinish in Canada was born Nov 4, 1865 in a German community in the village of Herczegfalva, Fejér, Hungary. Since 1951 the village has been known as Mezőfalva.

Ferencz’s occupation was a földműves which translates to a peasant farmer who didn’t own his own land. The farm land surrounding Herczegfalva was owned by the Roman Catholic church. The church hired farmers on a daily or short term and seasonal basis.

In 1888 Ferencz married Erzsébet Braun, known as Örzse. Six children were born to the couple. Ferencz, Pál, Katalin, János, Anna and József. Katalin died at seven months old and József died at the age of four months.

In 1900, due to the church purchasing 40 combines and putting their own employees out of work, the unemployed farmers were encouraged to immigrate to North America. Hundreds of people left Herczegfalva, Adony and surrounding villages, some settled in New Jersey and along the eastern coast of the United States while others continued onto Saskatchewan in Canada to take advantage of the Canadian government’s land grants of 160 acres of land.

Wanting better lives for their children and the opportunity to own their own farmland, at the age of 37, Ferencz and Örzse decided to immigrate to Canada. Ferencz left Örzse who was expecting their sixth child, and his four children behind until he established a home for them in Canada. He travelled from Budapest to Hamburg Germany by train, then departed from Hamburg on January 12th 1902, sailing on the S.S. Pretoria with the destination of Rosthern, North West Territories in Canada. Eleven other people from Herczegfalva sailed on the same ship, with their destination also, Rosthern. Ferencz arrived on Ellis Island in New Jersey, USA on Jan. 25th 1902. He then travelled by train to Saskatchewan where he applied for his homestead on Feb. 17th.

On March 11, 1902, Örzse gave birth to baby József in Herczegfalva. Sadly, József died on July 26th, followed by the death of Örzse two days later. In June 1903, Frank Jr., Paul, John and Annie immigrated to Canada to join their father and his new wife, Terézia Göller, who was also from Herczegfalva. Anglicizing their names, the four children born to Frank and Theresa, were Joseph, Stephen, Theresa, and Mary.

To discover more about our ancestors, click on Ferencz’s portrait beside this text or on his name from the top menu bar or scroll down the this homepage a bit and click on one of the eight photos below of your direct ancestor. Future history pages are in the making, so please return often as new information is added.

Our Histories

Our Ancestors

Frank F. Vinish

Paul Vinish

John Vinish

Anna Roll

Joseph Vinish

Stephen Vinnish

Theresa Muller

Mary Suveges

Walking Back in Time