Helen Piros (Tarkany)

The Helen Piros ( Tarkany) Collection

Helen Piros (Tarkany)1912-2006 was a young girl who came to live in Himlerville,Ky with her family. She documented Himlerville with pictures and written memoirs. The pictures on these pages are all from her personal collection. The memoirs are as posted from her written memories recorded on September 20,2005.

"My father Gabor and my mother Susan moved our family to Himlerville KY in the fall of 1924. We had been living at Monahill,WV. The Kish family who also lived near us had gone to Himlerville a month before us and they had written back about how wonderful the town was. We took the train from Monaville, WV to Huntington WV and we stayed in a hotel there that was owned by a Hungarian family that my parents knew. We then took a train to Kermit WV and we walked about two miles to Himlerville.

My father Gabor had already purchased a house and everything in it plus the livestock of cows, pigs, and chickens for about $3,000. While my father dragged a large foot locker, My brother Gabor dragged a smaller one. My other two brothers Steve and Paul carried the heavier suitcases and my mother Susan and I carried the smaller ones. My four year old sister Mary walked with us.

Once we got settled in we got to know our very friendly neighbors. My father and my brothers worked in the Himlerville coal mine with many of the men and they all became great friends."

Helen's Father, Gabor Tarkany in 1940. The buildings behind him is where the livestock was kept.

Helen Tarkany was born in 1912 Helen's father Gabor Tarkany owned the property in Himlerville till his death in 1941. His wife Susan followed him in death 1943. Gabor Tarkany Jr. had it from 1941-1955.

The i on the end of the Tarkany name was dropped to make it more American.

While living in Himlerville, Gabor Tarkany Sr. worked at the coal tipple as a switchman.

"He had to move the cars up the line but because he had lost his hearing he was fired from the job."

Helen Piros (Tarkany) age 12, in the year of 1924 standing on a newly constructed road in the new town of Himlerville.

"I will always hold a place in my heart for the wonderful community of Himlerville"

"I saw Martin Himler only a few times, he seemed like a nice person. He was about 40 years old, about 5'6" tall, had no hair on the top of his head only hair on the sides. He lived in a beautiful two story house on the top of the hill. It was white and made of wood. He had no family and he had a cook Ruth Knausz and her sister Nellie was the housekeeper. Their father Alex was a electrician at the coal mine."

Picture on left is Geza Kish holding his nephew.Main picture is Alex Kish 1925.

Helen's first communion. Pictured are the ones standing in line to go to St. Stephen's Catholic Church.

"My first communion was at the Catholic Church which was built in 1925. I went there for a couple years. Then in 1926 a Hungarian Presbyterian Pastor arrived. He was Barnabas Dienes. He stated that he was 25 years old. He brought with him his Helen, who stated that she was 26 years old. They went to stay with Pastor Harsanyi in New York City. After he arrived in Himlerville, our church was held in the school room at the six room grade school."

*Research from Ellis Island Passenger Arrivals show a Barna Dienes from Budapest Hungary arriving on March 19,1921.

"Going to the Himlervivlle Grade School was really wonderful. I started in the 4th grade. Miss Waterfield was my teacher, she was about 25 years old, she had dark brown hair was about 5'4" tall. I think she lived somewhere outside of Himlerville. The subjects that I learned were reading, spelling, english, math and geography. There were 32 students in the class. Hours were 9am to 3pm.

Helen's Teachers Miss Waterfield (4th grade) and Mrs. Bradshaw. The first boy is George Oros and second boy is Johnny Younger. Circa 1924

Teachers Miss Thompson and Miss Sullavan. Circa 1924 They were the Tarkany boys' teachers.

"I can still see the beautiful flower gardens in the area and those bright blooming purple morning glories growing on our front porch. I am glad they renamed area Beauty,KY"

Middle picture was taken in the Tarkany yard L-R- Mary Bocskay, Margaret Cooper, Paul Tarkany and Fern Walters.

"After church on Sundays, the people had a Community Picnic. They would dance and play games, eat watermelon, get ice cream for a nickel from a horse drawn wagon. (In those days, stamps were 2 cents, candy bars 5 cents and smokes 15 cents a pack.)"

Main picture-Having fun at the Sunday Afternoon Community Picnics Circa 1925 far right looking back George Kertesz & Gabor Tarkany next to him. Picture on the left_Guys with bikes,L-R- Gabor Tarkany & John Vince in ballpark.-1927.

Paul Tarkany and Geza Kish circa 1925 at a community picnic

L-R- Paul Tarkany,Geza Kish, Steve Toth & Paul Mayerchak Circa 1926

1928- L-R- Mary Younger,Andy Novak, Elizabeth Doka,John Mayerchak,Julia Younger,Mary Gurdon,Andy Doka & Rosie Yuhasz.

"In 1925, I listened for the first time music on a radio with a headset. My good friend Isabell Vlaz had one and it was really great. I don't recall the song that was playing that day but we had lots of songs that we enjoyed. America the Beautiful, Tiger Rag, Sweet Georgia Brown, Swanee, It Had To Be You, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and Me and My Shadow."

One of Gabor Tarkany's friends at the ballpark. Circa 1925

Isabelle Vlaz and Anna Kish. Circa 1925

Helen standing on the Warfield Bridge circa 1930

Bill Domosley and Mary Sabo at a community picnic. Circa 1926

Paul Tarkany (Helen's brother) and Anna Kish. He was working in the Hokhold Bakery.

"One of my friends was Lola Hokhold and her father had a bakery and I was allowed by my parents to buy myself something each morning on the way to school. He made pies, hot dog buns and different kinds of bread. My brother Paul got himself a job working there as a deliveryman."

Thresa Zsoldas- circa 1926

Agnes Toth,Paul Tarkany & Lola Hokhold,daughter of Mike Hokhold who owned the bakery

Agnes Toth,Paul Tarkany & Lola Hokhold walking away

L-R Andy Doka, Gabor Tarkany, Joe Younger and Joe Knausz Circa 1929

L-R top row- Susie Csoka,Geza Kish, Kati Kunn,John Mayerchak, Mary Younger. Bottom row, Louise S.?, Mary Bocskay & Margaret Cooper Circa 1925

top left picture is George and John Mayerchak Main Pictures is L-R- top-Alex Czoka,Joe Curtis,John Vince,George Mayerchak,bottom- Andrew Balazs,John Mayerchak and Joe Voytesky. It is thought that some of the men pictured were on the Himlerville Baseball Team. Bottom Left picture-These boys were all fans of Robert Stack Movies as they were acting them in out in this picture in 1927- Geza Kish in front seat,Paul Tarkany in back and Steve Tarkany standing.

The above pictures were made at the ballpark and were of the boys playing around or re-enacting movies. Bottom right is of Gabor Tarkany and George Kertesz. Top right- L-R is 1st two unknown and the last is Gabor Tarkany.

"The sport of Baseball was a big event in my time. There were many teams that our Himlerville players played. They all had uniforms. We all sat in one grandstand. I don't recall the name of our team or those that we played. I attended a few of the games. My brother Steve was the umpire most of the time. I do recall a couple of games there was almost a fist fight, but Steve remained calm and there wasn't a fight."

Steve Tarkany as an umpire at the HImlerville ball park. Circa 1932

George Kertesz and Kati Kunn at the ballpark, Circa 1929

L-R John Vince, Mary Bocskay, Gabor Tarkany and Louise S, Circa 1930 at the Ballpark.

L-R- Anna Vargo and Helen Tarkany. This was taken after a ballgame on Sept 5, 1932. On the back was inscribed "Whoopee! What a ballgame"

Gabor Tarkany sitting and George Curtis standing. Circa 1928

L-R Elizabeth Kochel and Helen Tarkany Circa 1926

Middle Picture-Andy Novak circa 1928

Taken in the Tug River Circa 1925. L-R 1-Unknown 2- Paul Tarkany 3- Geza Kish 4- head of unknown boy 5- Leo Kish 6-Steve Takrany

Kish family,L-R- Eugene,Frances,Alex,Joe, Helen,Anna,Mary,Geza and Leo Circa 1929

Pictured below are ladies in front of the Himlerville Bank. The bank still stands today in Beauty, Ky.

Pictures in front of the HImlerville Bank. Left- Center- Helen Piros (Tarkany) Right Picture-

HImlerville KY The company store is the tall brick building. The building to the right is the boarding house for the coal miners without families. The picture is cirac 1928 before the flood.

Left Picture- unknown friend of Paul Talamu circa 1929, Middle Picture-Wilma Radalyi circa 1927, Right Picture- Susie Czoka circa 1926

L-R-Mary Bocsky, Paul Fodor, and Louise S. Circa 1928 Helen wrote on the the picture "My Friends"

L-R- unknown,Louise S., Paul Fodor & Gabor Tarkany Cica 1928

"The Charleston dance was very popular in my days. We had lots of fun dancing int he recreation building upon the hill in Himlerville. Every Sunday from 6-9pm dances were held At other times we would go to the movies at the building. Someone would play the roller piano during the showing of the movie. There was a stage and local people performed. Mr. Heuser was in charge of community plays. Joe Yoytesky (Polish) had a band. He played an accordian, his brother, Steve played a clarinet. Joe Younger played a saxophone, my brother played the drums. There was also a community brass band that performed for various events. My brother Steve blew the alto horn and my Gabor played the french harp. They practiced every nightafter work at the recreation building. Some of the songs they liked to play were Wabash Blues, St Louis Woman, Molly and Me, and Three O'Clock in the morning."

Leo Kish and his sister Mary Dermont with the recreational building in the background. Circa 1932

Gabor Tarkany and George Curtis. Circa 1925

Steve Tarkany playing soldier
circa 1927

George Curtis and unknown woman

Helen Tarkany with the store in background Circa 1928

The Flood of 1928 in Himlerville

"June 21,1928 it started to rain and we had long periods of rain and the creeks around us started to rise. But we didn't worry because we had days of sunny weather also. On June 28th about 1 pm we were at home and I heard a loud boom coming from the direction of the coal mine. About 2pm my good friend Elizabeth Balazs came running down the road screaming and she said "Helen, my father Steve has gotten killed in the coal mine" and she kept running toward the mine. Later we heard that a gas build up had caused the blast. There were several miners who lost their lives, but I don't recall who they were.

Later in the evening on June 28th the rain started coming down really hard. The water kept rising around our house. The creek in back us had come out of its banks. My father Gabor told us to pack what we could into our suitcases and be ready to leave the house. He told all of us to go out and stand on the porch. We had our coats on and our suitcases on the porch. My father Gabor said, "if you feel the house start to move then pick up your suitcases and head for the hills"

The Tarkany house in 1988. This is the porch from which they stood during the flood.

We stood out there for quite a few hours. At about 8pm we heard a very loud crash where the other houses had been moved by the water into the Oros' two story house. The houses (about 10 of them) had been built on raised blocks, so the force of the water picked them up and moved them. Around 10pm the water around our house started to go down and we didn't have any more problems that night.

"The next day we got to see the terrible destruction of our once beautiful community. Lots of homes were ruined. Mr. Hokhold's oven was damaged so he had to quit the bakery business. The newspaper's printing press was badly damaged. The force of the water did lots of damage to the mining equipment."

Damage after the flood.

Elizabeth Balazs and Helen Tarkany in 1928 after the flood. Lower left in the background is the Tarkany house.

"After the cleanup of the flood a lot of the Hungarians moved over to New Camp, where a new coal mine had opened up. Some moved to other states to stay with family members and to seek jobs.

Since most of my friends had moved to New Camp about 40 miles from Himlerville, I use to walk to Kermit (WVa) to get a train to go to the visit them. It cost $1.25 one way. The train had a couple of coaches and a different conductor each time to collect the tickets."

Helen and her Husband Joe Piros with their son Joe Jr. in Himlerville.
Circa 1940.

"I and my brothers went on to other lives but we always helped support our parents with their needs"