Themisvar

I thought I would begin Papa's story with some information about the area where Papa's father Grandfather Charles came from. He and his Mother Suzanna and Father Johann Saar began their family in a tiny town called Gymata.

Not far from Gymata, perhaps a mornings walk, is a walled city is known in German as Themisvar. It is now part of Romania and in that language is Thimisora. Grandfather Charles said that they would walk to Catholic Church in Thimisora or special occasions.

Some information on the city and the area.

Saar Name Meaning and History

1. German and Jewish (western Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of various places called Saar, in particular one in western Germany on the French border, which takes its name from the river on which it stands. This is found in Latin sources as Saravus, and ultimately goes back to an Indo-European root, ser-, sar- ‘flow’.
2. Dutch: from the Biblical female personal name Sara.
3. Jewish: from Hebrew saar ‘storm’, a translation of German Sturm, perhaps a nickname or ornamental name.


Timisora
In the Roman period, in the place where Timişoara is today, or in its immediate proximity there was a military camp named Zambara or Zurobara.[2] During the time of the invasions of the nomad tribes from the Central-Asian plains, especially that of the Avars, on the site of the ruins of Zambara, a new settlement, called Beguey, was built.

In 1019 the locality of Dibiscos/ Bisiskos/ Tibiskos/ Tibiskon/ Timbisko/etc., presumed to be the future Timisoara , was mentioned for the first time in written documents of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II, although not all historians do agree with this identification. In 1154, the Arabian geographer Sarif al Idrisi mentioned the city telling that "it is a nice city offering a lot of riches". The first mention of the fort of Timişoara (Castrum Temesiensis) is found in the decree of King Endre II of Hungary dating from 1212. Timişoara itself was first mentioned in official documents as a city in 1474. It was conquered by the Ottomans in 1552 and remained under their control until it was taken by the Habsburg army led by the Prince Eugene of Savoy in 1716.

The demographic conditions of the region changed dramatically during the 167 year of Ottoman rule. In 1582, the city of Temeswar, in spite of the bloody siege, still had a Hungarian majority (the chief judge was István Herczegh[3]). Later, the largest ethnic group in the city were Muslim Turks, and other smaller groups included Serbs, Jews, and Gypsies.[4]

After the city was occupied by the Austrian Empire, the Turkish population fled. Of the remainder, we know of about 600-700 inhabitants out of which 446 were Hungarians, Serbs, 144 Jewish, and 35 Armenians. [5] The "Armenische Stadt" as a separate quarter existed until the Great Plague of 1738.

On December 16, 1989 many citizens of the town came to support the Hungarian Calvinist pastor Tőkés László against the authorities and Securitate (secret police)'s decision to deport him. In these circumstances on 17 December a popular uprising started in Timişoara against the Communist regime of Nicolae Ceauşescu. This was the beginning of the Romanian Revolution of 1989, which put an end to the Communist regime a week later.


Wikipedia

How the Saar's came to America.

GGrandfather Johann Saar was married to Suzanna Kiefer. They had two children Barbara and Charles. They lived in a small village named Gymata, a mornings walk to Thimisvar ( as told to me by Grandfather Charles.)

In abt 1903 Johann, Suzanna and her sister left for America to find some land and a better living for their family. Shortly after arriving in Chicago Suzanna left to go back to Gymata to bring the children back. While back in Gymata Suzanna received a telegraph that her husband had died of pnenumonia and had been buried in a paupers grave as there was no money to give him a stone.

Grandfather Charles was just five years old at his time. He told many stories about his life in Gyamata. One story he told on himself was that he had the run of the village with many other little boys. He said that they liked to climb up on top of a village church. He called it a "Holy Rollar" Church and the boys would watch through the roof and watch the people speak in tongues and roll around the floor. One day he said they had gotten some bread from a bakery and when the leader of the Church asked God to make the mana rain from the sky he and the other hooligans threw the bread through the window. He said they ran like the dickens but when he got home the constible had already been there.

Grandfather Charles also said that he would go down to the meet the train watching for his Mother. When she came she saw Charles and went to hug him. She was such a beautiful woman that he was afraid of her. He ran home with her following him. He ran to his Grandmother Barbara Lenert Keifer who laughed at him because he didn't remember his own mother.

When GGrandmother Suzanna found that her husband had died she decided to go ahead as planned and return with her children to America. There was a Widower Joseph Flory who lived next door to Suzanna and asked her to marry him. He would care for her and her children and give them a good living.

Suzanna Saar, her parents Philip Kiefer and Barbara Lenart Kiefer, Joseph Flory set sail from Fiume on the Pannonia.

The Pannonia was acquired by Cunard to cater for the Hungarian emigrant trade. It had originally been built for the Furness Line, but was bought from the shipyard by Cunard. By 1904 Cunard had successfully negotiated a contract with the Hungarian Government to operate a service from Fiume to New York.
Cunard

The names on the ships manifests show Szaar, Zuzsanna 28, Barbala Szaar 2 yrs and Karoly Szaar 6yrs old. Her parents Philip Kiefer and Barbara, along with Josphep Flori 37. The manefest showed Suzanna as a widow but Joseph Flori as married. I do remeber Grandfather telling it that they were married before coming to America. I think there is a story behind that one.

Ellis Island Ships Mainfests.

They settled in Freeport, Illinois, Stephenson Co. They had a farm there.

Grandfather told a story about working at the zoo in Freeport and how one day the Racoons let all the other animals loose and he had to catch a ostritch. He said that each time he got close it ran. They were afraid of getting kicked but finally Grandfather Charles climbed on top and took a ride. Grandfather was sure a good story teller.



Here is where Grandmother Alice Scheweder comes in. I will tell about her next.