Hungarians in Tallapoosa, Georgia
They came, they built, they worked, they left or they died.

Georgia's historical records refer to immigrants from Austria-Hungary as Hungarians or Magyar, due to their old homeland citizenship; regardless of their ethnicity.  Germans in Austria-Hungary who settled along the Danube River were known as Danube Swabian or Donauschwaben.  I have found little information about Donauschwaben immigrants who settled in the South.

While researching my family from Austria-Hungary who came to Atlanta, Georgia upon arrival to the United States, I learned there was a settlement of Hungarians in Haralson County...Tallapoosa, Georgia.   I further learned Atlanta & Tallapoosa were destinations for many Donauschwaben from the village of Blumenthal, located in the Banat region of Austria-Hungary, today Masloc, Romania.  

Ralph Spencer of Essex, Connecticut came to Tallapoosa, Ga. in 1886 & invited Hungarian wine-making families, who were then employed in the mining industry in Pennsylvania to settle on 2,000 acres of land near Tallapoosa. Many accepted this offer. They named their largest community Budapest in honor of the capital of Hungary. A nearby village was named Tokaj in honor of a wine-producing region in Hungary. Tokaj was founded to satisfy the desire of "Jacob & Paul Estavanko" for lots larger than ten acres. Other Haralson County fruit colonies included "Stedman" and "Boheme." An 1896 may reveals that by then vineyards covered appx 12,726 acres of land in Haralson County.

Led to Ga. by a Catholic priest, the Hungarians brought the Catholic faith to Haralson County. In 1893, 200 Hungarian families who had settled in Pa. mining region emigrated to the South to begin a new industry.

They say all that remains of the Hungarian colonies is a well constructed Catholic Rectory in Nitra owned by a local family. The "Estavanko" family remained in Haralson county after the demise of the wine industry. As the story went the long time residents reclaimed "their" land.

I have read the Haralson County 1900 census & I found only family who is listed on Dave Dreyers extraction list "John Knapp & Katherine". A perfect example of a German being called a Hungarian.

 

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