Joseph Stampfel - 1749 Painters Run Road
4th Cousin
I just completed an epic research journey in an attempt to discover the lineage of Joseph Stampfel. 30 hours over 3 days and I DID IT! I am very proud of myself. And with what I learned, I could take this post in a zillion directions, but for now, I'm going to document my research.
I'll start with WHAT I KNEW.
I knew a J. Stampfel lived on Painters Run Road, the sole house in one of the Delač clusters at the base of the massive Delach farm. That's all.
And until I found his historical property card, I only knew his surname. Yes, I have taken a historical map of Beadling and am going house by house for the Slovenian names and creating their genealogies. I'm guessing they are all cousins of mine. SPOILER: Joseph Stampfel turned out to be a surprise Cetinski, pulling him into my tree.
Great! His name is Joseph and he appears to have been married to a Nellie. They purchased or built their home in 1929.
Next, I found him in the 1930 Census living on Painters Run Road with a wife Nellie and three sons named Louis, Joseph and baby Anthony. He immigrated in 1922, is naturalized, his language is listed as Magyar and he works in the construction industry. At this time, the coal mines in Beadling were winding down. But something is odd about this Census. The age at first marriage for Joseph is 25 and he is only 26, so he has been married for a year. His wife Nellie's age at first marriage was 16 and she is 21 - married 5 years? The children are almost 4, 3 and a newborn. Hmmm. The children all carry the Stampfel surname.
By 1940 Census, all the mines in Beadling proper had closed, but Joseph was working as a cutter in a nearby coal mine. On his WWII draft registration card, he says he is working in Coverdale for the Castle Shannon Coal Company. Somewhat illegible in that the reference is misleading. Pittsburgh Terminal Coal Company (Pittsburgh Coal) operated 8 mines in southern Allegheny County. 3 were in Castle Shannon and one was in the town of Coverdale in current Bethel Park. Maybe they moved him around to different mines. Joseph still lives in the same home.
In 1921, Joseph was a 16 year old workman travelling alone to Beadling, PA. His mother on the passenger list is Ursula Stampfelj from Banjaloka. Yugo Sl. His destination is a Brother in Law Anton Klancar at Beadling, PA. He answers no to all the questions about overthrowing the government, anarchic tendencies and polygamy. He is in good health.
FHL has restricted access to the particular census for Banja Loka that I need to be able to quickly find Josephs parents. Slovenian census records were maintained by the church, so they contain birthdates, mothers maiden name, dates of sacraments, where they moved - all sorts of quick and easy information you can use to build a tree and supplement with other records. And the one I need has been pulled from online access for some reason. Rant-worthy for another post about their botched digitization launch! Boiling Blood here. So I have to go around the mothers name and try to figure out which Stampfel branch in Banja Loka is his.
I start with Brother in Law Anton Klancar..... and so the the epic research marathon began.
Anton Klancar. Sounds familiar. Upper St. Clair's first sheriff and chief of police was a Klancar. I think - I'll find him. In keeping this post about John Stampfel, I'll skip all the details, but know this - the Klančar family must now be included in the Families of Beadling Coal Camp project. SPOILER: the sheriff is a newly discovered relative and a surprise Cetinski.
I found Anton. And Antons entire family. I really got into them because his son John A. Klancher was the sheriff. Reading all the newspaper articles about John's cases was addicting. Anton Klancher was married to Maria Micklege - sister to Anton and John Micklege who has witnessed John Stampfels naturalization. And Maria is the daughter of Anton Miklič and Helena CETINSKI from Drežnik house 3. I know this Cetinski family and I have their marriage record. So I then researched the entire Miklič-Micklege family. All I could find - hours of happiness.
Anton Klancar was not the brother in law. He is a relative via his marriage to Maria Micklege. Because we know now there is some sort of in-law relationship, I went to the Banja Loka parish marriage records at the FHL which are fortunately not restricted. Helena Cetinski m. to Anton Miklic parents are Mathias Cetinski and Ursula Glad. And she has a sister named Ursula (from the passenger list) who is only two years younger. In 1895, Ursula married Andreas STAMPFEL born in Banja Loka 47, but living in Banja Loka 5 at the time of his marriage. BINGO! Joseph wasn't going to his brother in laws house, he was going to his mother's brother in laws daughters house to live with her nephew in law Anton Klanchar, husband of her niece Maria Micklege. Oooh horrible sentence. Here's a tiny picture. You may be able to double click to enlarge.
And here is where it gets interesting. Anton Micklege, witness on John Stampfels naturalization was married to Nellie Rupinsky. Poor Anton died very young at the age of 26 from complications related to a perforated ulcer on 28 Dec 1927. 3 days after Christmas and 13 days after the Clerk of Courts signed Joseph Stampfels naturalization paperwork. He left behind an 18 month old son and a 19 year old wife who was 6 months pregnant.
11 Months later, Joseph married his cousins wife Nellie Rupinsky in early November 1928. While I have yet to find the marriage record, I did find the license application dated 9 Nov 1928
Joseph passed 16 Apr 1984 and at the last hour, won a lawsuit against the church to be buried in St. Agathas in Bridgeville next to 3 of his 4 children who pre-deceased him.
I just completed an epic research journey in an attempt to discover the lineage of Joseph Stampfel. 30 hours over 3 days and I DID IT! I am very proud of myself. And with what I learned, I could take this post in a zillion directions, but for now, I'm going to document my research.
I'll start with WHAT I KNEW.
I knew a J. Stampfel lived on Painters Run Road, the sole house in one of the Delač clusters at the base of the massive Delach farm. That's all.
And until I found his historical property card, I only knew his surname. Yes, I have taken a historical map of Beadling and am going house by house for the Slovenian names and creating their genealogies. I'm guessing they are all cousins of mine. SPOILER: Joseph Stampfel turned out to be a surprise Cetinski, pulling him into my tree.
Great! His name is Joseph and he appears to have been married to a Nellie. They purchased or built their home in 1929.
Next, I found him in the 1930 Census living on Painters Run Road with a wife Nellie and three sons named Louis, Joseph and baby Anthony. He immigrated in 1922, is naturalized, his language is listed as Magyar and he works in the construction industry. At this time, the coal mines in Beadling were winding down. But something is odd about this Census. The age at first marriage for Joseph is 25 and he is only 26, so he has been married for a year. His wife Nellie's age at first marriage was 16 and she is 21 - married 5 years? The children are almost 4, 3 and a newborn. Hmmm. The children all carry the Stampfel surname.
By 1940 Census, all the mines in Beadling proper had closed, but Joseph was working as a cutter in a nearby coal mine. On his WWII draft registration card, he says he is working in Coverdale for the Castle Shannon Coal Company. Somewhat illegible in that the reference is misleading. Pittsburgh Terminal Coal Company (Pittsburgh Coal) operated 8 mines in southern Allegheny County. 3 were in Castle Shannon and one was in the town of Coverdale in current Bethel Park. Maybe they moved him around to different mines. Joseph still lives in the same home.
You really have to love the giant databases that are available. Remember having to leave the house? Now I only have to leave for obscure records or something only available for viewing at the local FHL. So yes, I was able to quickly find Joseph's passenger list and naturalization papers with a minimum of effort. Because there are so many Stampfels who immigrated to the United States, I started with the naturalization papers. These are usually accurate within a year on arrival and always have the ship name.
Joseph arrived in 22 Feb 1921 on the ship Leopoldina and started the naturalization process almost 5 years later on 2 Oct 1925. His paperwork tells us he was born 3 Apr 1904 in BANJA LOKA Jugoslavia. Banja Loka. How exciting! I have already done years of research in this town and know how endogamous the population of that area of Slovenia is. Joseph is 5 ft 5, an enviable 138 pounds and is NOT MARRIED - which we inferred from his 1930 Census record. Affidavits of Petitioner and Witnesses were John Micklege and his brother Anthony Micklege. Paperwork was filed on 1 Dec 1922 and was sworn to at the Clerk of Court in Pittsburgh, PA on the 15 Dec 1927. Joseph made his Oath of Allegiance in 21 Mar 1928 and was admitted on 8 Jun 1928 Certificate 2819334.
In 1921, Joseph was a 16 year old workman travelling alone to Beadling, PA. His mother on the passenger list is Ursula Stampfelj from Banjaloka. Yugo Sl. His destination is a Brother in Law Anton Klancar at Beadling, PA. He answers no to all the questions about overthrowing the government, anarchic tendencies and polygamy. He is in good health.
FHL has restricted access to the particular census for Banja Loka that I need to be able to quickly find Josephs parents. Slovenian census records were maintained by the church, so they contain birthdates, mothers maiden name, dates of sacraments, where they moved - all sorts of quick and easy information you can use to build a tree and supplement with other records. And the one I need has been pulled from online access for some reason. Rant-worthy for another post about their botched digitization launch! Boiling Blood here. So I have to go around the mothers name and try to figure out which Stampfel branch in Banja Loka is his.
I start with Brother in Law Anton Klancar..... and so the the epic research marathon began.
Anton Klancar. Sounds familiar. Upper St. Clair's first sheriff and chief of police was a Klancar. I think - I'll find him. In keeping this post about John Stampfel, I'll skip all the details, but know this - the Klančar family must now be included in the Families of Beadling Coal Camp project. SPOILER: the sheriff is a newly discovered relative and a surprise Cetinski.
I found Anton. And Antons entire family. I really got into them because his son John A. Klancher was the sheriff. Reading all the newspaper articles about John's cases was addicting. Anton Klancher was married to Maria Micklege - sister to Anton and John Micklege who has witnessed John Stampfels naturalization. And Maria is the daughter of Anton Miklič and Helena CETINSKI from Drežnik house 3. I know this Cetinski family and I have their marriage record. So I then researched the entire Miklič-Micklege family. All I could find - hours of happiness.
Anton Klancar was not the brother in law. He is a relative via his marriage to Maria Micklege. Because we know now there is some sort of in-law relationship, I went to the Banja Loka parish marriage records at the FHL which are fortunately not restricted. Helena Cetinski m. to Anton Miklic parents are Mathias Cetinski and Ursula Glad. And she has a sister named Ursula (from the passenger list) who is only two years younger. In 1895, Ursula married Andreas STAMPFEL born in Banja Loka 47, but living in Banja Loka 5 at the time of his marriage. BINGO! Joseph wasn't going to his brother in laws house, he was going to his mother's brother in laws daughters house to live with her nephew in law Anton Klanchar, husband of her niece Maria Micklege. Oooh horrible sentence. Here's a tiny picture. You may be able to double click to enlarge.
And here is where it gets interesting. Anton Micklege, witness on John Stampfels naturalization was married to Nellie Rupinsky. Poor Anton died very young at the age of 26 from complications related to a perforated ulcer on 28 Dec 1927. 3 days after Christmas and 13 days after the Clerk of Courts signed Joseph Stampfels naturalization paperwork. He left behind an 18 month old son and a 19 year old wife who was 6 months pregnant.
11 Months later, Joseph married his cousins wife Nellie Rupinsky in early November 1928. While I have yet to find the marriage record, I did find the license application dated 9 Nov 1928
Joseph passed 16 Apr 1984 and at the last hour, won a lawsuit against the church to be buried in St. Agathas in Bridgeville next to 3 of his 4 children who pre-deceased him.
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