Monahill Memories

By Helen Piros (Tarkany), 2003

Helen Tarkany was born November 16, 1912 in Whitman, WV. She died December 8, 2006 in Santa Paula, CA.

She was the daughter of Gabor Sr. and Susan Tarkany. They came from Cseszek, Hungary in 1902 to the USA.  Helen had three brothers, Gabor Jr. born in 1902, Steve and Paul born in 1905 and a sister Mary born in 1920.

The family moved to Monahill and they lived there from 1919-1922.  As a coal miner, Gabor moved the family around a lot always looking for better pay. Gabor worked in the Mona Mine owned by the Logan Mining Company. The community of Monahill no longer exists.

The road where they lived was compacted dirt which was used to pull wagons on. About 1921, a large grader and steam shovel scooped up the dirt and the road was graded off and gravel was compacted. Straw was put down on the top. The road was smooth and made of concrete.

At one time, there were houses on the left and right hills and a valley in between. There was a playground at the top of the right hill. It was close to a house. It had four swings, teeter-totter and one long slide. Kids would put sand on the slide so that they could go down faster.

The people who lived on the left hill were all Hungarian families. Those living on the right hill were a mixed group of families, Polish, Italians and Americans. They all worked together in the Mona Mine.

There were also two boarding houses below the houses where other coal miners lived. Somogyi a Hungarian family ran them.

The Hungarian families who lived on the left hill were, Kish who lived in a two story house. Kuber who lived in a two story house, Tarkany, Vespremi, Bahus and Bachlar all lived in four room houses. McCalvin was one of the families living on the right hill.

The Hungarian men built an oven of grayish white concrete about 5′ tall and 4′ round. There was a metal door with a handle that was inserted when something was baked. The women did the baking during the week. It took about an hour to bake whatever they wanted. Most times it was different types of bread. Each family had their own assigned day when they could use the oven.

The community had its own hand water pump. It had a long metal pipe driven down about a 100′. Concrete was put around the top of the ground where the pump was located. The women and children spent many hours during the morning hauling the water to their homes to use for the washing of clothes and their bathes and for drinking.

The clothes were washed on boards. The clothes were hung outside on clothes lines to dry. If it was wintertime, they would let the clothes freeze and then take them inside to dry out. They would heat the iron on the cook stove. They used coal for the stove. All houses had electricity. Drop cords were used to run the lights on. Each room of the house had its own fireplace, coal and wood was burned to heat the house.

The Tarkany family had one milk cow, which they tied close to the house. They had a few fat black-speckled chickens for eggs. They had three ducks, six chicks, two roosters and two pigs. They had a garden where they grew tomatoes, carrots, parsley, green onions and hot peppers.

If the milk cow went dry they would buy two quarts of milk from one of their neighbors in the morning and evening. One could usually taste the grass in all of the cow’s milk.

Once a year at Christmas time, the Hungarian men would help Gabor kill a pig. It usually would weigh about 200 lbs. After killing it, they would clean and cut it up. The Hungarian women would fry the meat and make three kinds of sausage:

1. Kolbasz – Brownish
2. Hurka with rice -White
3. Hurka with blood and rice – Dark

Gabor’s daily activities, he was up at 5am and he would milk the cow first, then have his breakfast and then walk down the hill to the Mona Mine. he would load the coal in a horse drawn wagon by getting down on his hands and knees. He used a pick axe to chop the coal out. He used a carbide lamp to see with. Sometimes he worked operating the chute at the coal tipple. He got paid every two weeks. Work started at 6am and he would finish at 1pm.

The family’s meals usually consisted of bacon and eggs for breakfast and Kellogg’s cornflakes with bananas.  For lunch they would have goose liver square loaf and minced boiled ham. For dinner they had a pot of stew, chicken soup and beans cooked different ways. With all of their meals they had fresh fruits and green salads. They would drink lots of water, milk, tea and coffee.

Susan’s daily activities would be to prepare all of the meals. She used old shirts to clean the floors with, she didn’t have a mop. When her sons weren’t working in the coal mine, they would help her haul the water for washing the clothes. Some days she would go and help her neighbors out with things.

Gabor bought a 1920 Model T Ford for himself and his three sons. The windows were black canvas with snaps on each window. The car was black and had front and back seats. It had to be cranked up. They had no training in driving the car. They just learned by practicing.

While the family did trade at the Mona store, Gabor felt it was better to seek out other stores. He would drive all the way to the Mercantile store in the City of Logan to buy clothes for his family. Those were enjoyable rides.

Helen loved living on Monahill where in the summer she use to catch June bugs and tie a string to them. Put lighting bugs in a jar. When it rained or snowed, she would make fig and apple cookies. She helped her Mom make the Hungarian breads.

She attended Monaville Grade School, a short walk down Monahill. She would carry her lunch in a round metal pail with a handle on it. This pail had contained rock candy in it, which one could purchase at the Y.M.C.A. store. Helen’s mom Susan would put in home made bread, fresh fruits and canned fruit of blackberries that were picked in the local hills. The fruits were purchased from local farmers.

While at school, the girls would play tag, hop scotch and jump rope. The boys would shoot marbles with in a round circle. Sometimes Helen and her classmates would go by train to other schools in the area and have running races. These were considered Field Meets. Monaville’s school colors were green and white.

Movies were shown at the Y. Helen saw Ruth Roland and Pearl White in some westerns and comedies. Dances were held at the Y and Gabor played the accordion which he taught himself to play. The favorite dance was a Hungarian two step called the Csardas. The mail was picked up at the Y post office. Stamps were two cents.

The Monahill Bowling Alley was built about 1918. Helen Piros (Tarkany) worked in it one day in 1922 when she was 10 years old. It was in the summer and on a Saturday. Helen earned $4.20 for working from 10am to 6pm. She worked only the one day setting up the pins. Her father Gabor wouldn’t allow her to work there anymore. There was a problem with the labor laws regarding children.

The building was built by the Hungarian coal miners and the Mona Mine Company supplied the materials.

Helen states that the building that the bowling alley was in was about 50′ wide and 100′ long. It had large timbers at the ends and black tar paper tacked on the top. The roof was slanted. The two sides were open. The area where the pins were placed and the area where the men stood to throw the ball was boxed in. There was a door on the end where the men stood to throw the ball. There were benches where they could sit to watch the game and wait for their turn. Due to the open sides, the game was played only on warm dry days. There were numbers on the pins and on the floor where she was to place them. The floor was slanted so the balls would roll back when Helen placed them in the side slot.

The bowling lane was about 4′ wide and 50′ long. The one wood floor was made of oak. It was put together real good and it had a shiny glowing look. There was only one lane. Helen had to roll the ball to the slot area about the size of the ones today. The pins were made of wood and they had a metal ring in the middle.

While life was wonderful for the Tarkany family on Monahill, they moved on to a better one when they moved to Beauty, KY.

You may also enjoy:

  • “Hungarians were the second most numerous immigrant group in West Virginia mines after the turn of the 20th century, with Italians being first.” Read “Hungarians” by Cathy Pleska at wvencyclopedia.org.
  • www.himlerhouse.org – Beauty, KY coal camp The Helen Piros (Tarkany) Collection

39 thoughts on “Monahill Memories”

  1. Rebecca Epperly

    I’d love to know if you have any pictures of this area. My Grandmother was a Kish, her mother was a Somogyi. I believe there was a time when they did live in this area. I would love to figure out if this was the Kish and Somogyi family you mentioned.

    1. Rebecca, my Mother Helen Piros – 1912- 2006 wrote this story. What was your Grandmother’s name? I have a Steve Kish in my family. There are no Somogyi photos on this site. Do an online search for Somogyi Family History Photos and you will find many photos. There is a photo of Gazel Kish on this site. Go to Site Index down to Monaville photos.

  2. I lived on Monahill in the early 60’s. ThE Blankenship family lived across from us. We played with the Elkins kids. David and Richard Elkins. I played on the big rock and ate strawberries in the hills. Took part in the Easter egg hunts in the field infront of the church.

  3. Brenda Steele Prather

    I just stumbled upon this web site. I was born in Logan in 1941 but my parents lived in Monaville. My dad, Charles Steele was manager of the Company Store around 1940. I can remember getting to stand on the big scale. What a treat for a 4 year old. We lived next door to Virginia and Bill Frye.
    When I was 5 we moved to Huntington where my dad began his career with the Philco Corp.
    Love reading about Monaville history. Thanks for your good work.

    1. Brenda,did one of your relatives play on the
      Monaville Basketball team in 1924?
      Do you know anything about Coach Carter?
      There is a photo of the team on this site.
      Thanks for any help that you might be able
      to give.

    2. I was raised at Monaville, b 1953, I and knew Bill Frye and his brother Arnold and their families. I helped my family deliver the newspapers to some of the same families listed in the article above. I never left the Logan area.

  4. My mother was born “somewhere in Logan County” in 1908 to Hungarian Immigrants and I have been unsuccessful in finding a birth certificate. Is there a Church or local facility that would have birth records that old? Their last name was Gyarmaty.

    1. Evelyn, you might try an online search for
      Hungarian Reformed Church in WV.
      It would help you to know her parents
      names. Are you sure she was born in
      Logan Co. & what record do you have?
      familysearch.org is a good site to search.

      1. Evelyn Gallegos

        My mother told me when she was alive that she was born in Logan County. I have searched extensively through Ancestry.com and Family Search and even requested a search of West Virginia Vital Records. However, I have not searched the HRC in WV and I thank you for that suggestion as I do have her parents names. I never understood why they were in Logan County but reading your website was so informative. I now have a better understanding why they moved from New Jersey to Logan County. Thank you.

        1. Evelyn, Franklin Thompson is the owner
          of this Logan website. I’m just a person
          trying to do research for people.
          There are lots of the Gyarmaty family names
          listed in Ohio, one being Anna b. 1908.
          Lots of the names spelled with an i instead
          of a y at end of name.
          I guess you checked in New Jersey for
          your relatives?
          Where did your Mom & her parents die?
          Lots of Hungarian families went to the
          St.Mary’s Catholic Church in Holden,WV.

  5. My husband grew up in Monaville. His parents were Curtis and Lillian Taylor. My husband Don, is brother to Ron, Dale, Michael, and Debbie Rayburn. They lived in a coal house which is no longer there. Their front porch was just feet from the RR tracks. I’ve heard stories of the house shaking as the train passed by. I’ve heard so many stories of how wonderful the community was. And though they were poor, the kids didn’t really know it. Everyone was poor.

    1. Your husband’s grandparents and their family is listed in the 1930 census of Monaville listed under the “Monaville” topic on this website. They are item #117.

  6. Patricia Maynard

    Ernie (Sonny) Browning, your grandmother Mrs. Hall babysat me when my mother worked. My family was the William Thomas Whitt, mom was Lillian Whitt, she had two brothers Fred and Johnny and one sister Margaret. My maiden name was Duty. We lived in one of the houses on the hill. 1936-1945 at least …

  7. Maggie Dempsey

    I have wonderful memories of life on Monahill. The house we lived in burned down in 1979 and we moved to Stollings. My heart was always on Monahill. After my dad died my brother and I put my dads ashes there where the two story house we lived in stood for all those years, so my heart is still there in Monahill or as I fondly call it Momma Hill.

  8. MY NAME IS ROBERT WELLMAN, I WAS BORN IN MONAVILLE AT 200 CRUTCHER ST IN A COAL COMPANY HOUSE! IN 1945 , MY DAD WAS PARIS WELLMAN, MY MOM WAS GLEEMA HENSLEY WELLMAN I HAD THREE BROTHERS AND TWO SISTERS. ALL MY BROTHERS HAVE PASSED AWAY. MY TWO SISTERS-DORTHEY AND DELORIS ARE STILL LIVING.

  9. I would love to find out the surnames of the Hungarian families that lived in these boarding houses From 1902-1940. My second great-grandmother was named Mary Mészáros and she was a cook at a boarding house in Logan Virginia during this time for the coal miners. I believe her last name was Mészáros but I’m not entirely sure if this was her maiden name. She re-maried once she re-located to Logan between 1918-1920 to a Russian man by the name of afoanasy Zaytsef. I would love to hear more about these boarding houses and any documents that you might have!

    1. Laurell, glad that you enjoyed the
      Monahill Memories. There are no
      documents other than census records if
      you can find them at familysearch.org.
      There is a listing for a Mary Meszaros married
      to Frank Kish. The Kish family lived on Monahill.
      Family photo on this site at Friends & Family,
      8th row,1st & 2nd photos.
      The Somogyi family is listed in the 1920 census.
      There are many listings for a Mary Meszaros born in
      Hungary,giving parents names back to the 1600’s.

    2. I believe that my great grandparents may have lived in this area around 1920. Their name was Beniczki but spelled Bensky after immigration. They were listed in the 1920 census. I know that in the 1930 census they were in Taylor Co. WV. They were married in the Hungarian Reform church in Pittsburgh in 1902 and moved to Logan Co shortly thereafter. I would love to learn more about their history in Logan County in the hope that I can learn more about where they may have come from in Hungary. It appears that there were many other Hungarians who immigrated around this same time period and ended up in Logan County and Monaville. I would also be very interested in any documents and photos from this community!

      1. Roger,

        I note your grandparents moved to Logan County around 1902. I would point out that the influx of Hungarians to Logan began when Island Creek Coal Company started their mining operations in 1904 and it is likely your grandfather came to Logan and lived at and worked at an Island Creek mine at Holden rather than at a mine at Monaville since mines at Monaville started quite some time (years) after Island Creek began.

        In the process Island Creek’s building the town of Holden and constructing mines and facilities (which began some time well before the mines began operation in 1904) many Hungarians were imported to do the construction work. Of course your grandfather could have worked at Island Creek and then later went to Monaville.

        1. Douglas/Bob:

          Thank you very much. This is very helpful information. Having a better understanding of where he lived and worked is a tremendous step forward in truly connecting with my grandparents. I knew they lived in the Southern part of WV for a while from stories supplied by my grandmother and Uncle Gabel, but I did not realize the connection to Logan County.

          As recommended by Bob in his reply, I went to the familysearch.org website and I was able to retrieve a lot of information that was completely new to me. Including the possibility of significant variation in the spelling of our family surname. I was also able to determine (what I believe can be?) the correct spelling of his first name “Istvan”, which is consistent with how it is spelled on his marriage license.

          It appears that I have a lot to learn about the history Logan County.

      2. Roger, go to familysearch.org &
        set up an account.
        Put in Steve Bensky in Logan Co.WV.
        He was born in 1874 in Hungary.
        Shows the family in the 1920 census
        living in Micco WV.
        To go back into the Hungarian records you
        need to know the name of the county in
        Hungary where your family lived. Their
        marriage record should show that.

        1. Bob:

          Thank you again, this is very helpful.

          I could not find the county in Hungary where they lived on the marriage record. Do you have any other suggestions where I might find that?

          1. Roger, this will be a long process.

            Please post your e-mail address &
            I’ll see if I can help you.

            You can put into your search this statement:
            What does a hungarian reformed church marriage
            license look like.
            You should get this website,
            Hungary Church Records Genealogy-
            Family Search Wiki.

            Your GG record should look like the examples given
            which should show where they were born.

            There are lots of the Beniczki family names on
            the familysearch site in Hungary.

          2. Roger, hope that you have found
            your GG gravesite on the findagrave.com
            site as it shows Steve Bensky’s grave.

            Hope that you can go over to the LEJHS
            site & help with the IDs of those that
            you knew when you went there.

          3. Yes, I was able to find the grave site. I have actually visited it a few times with my mother and great aunt who is (94 years old). He was struck by an automobile while walking home near Brownton WV and died 3 days later in an Elkins hospital. I actually have a copy of the death certificate that just lists his birth place as Hungary/Europe.

            Following your advice, I went into the family search site and I was pleasantly surprised to find a decent amount of information. I “think” — I was able to find that my Grandmother was born in Abod Hungary, which is in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county. This info came from a passenger list and destination looks about right (Willock, PA). All that seems to align. It is just really difficult because of the uncertainty associated with the spelling.

            I am a bit of a history buff and I have always been interested in the Logan Co and Matewan stories. I am excited to learn that I now have a family connection there. Your advice and guidance is greatly appreciated.

            Thanks again

            You can reach me by email at: robertoosbourno@gmail.com

        2. Also, I am not familiar with the LEJHS site. If you can provide me with more info to find that link, I am happy to help out any way I can.

  10. The Goldie Family lived on Monahill from 1961 to 1987 when they made us all move to put a coal mine in, that never happen. We would still be there if not for that.

  11. Ernie (Sonny) Browning

    I lived on Monahill from 1941 to 1957 with my Grandparents; Mr & Mrs Silas & Cora Hall.
    It was truly a wonderful place and I do treasure them so Much.

    The Maynards, The Curries, Mrs Trent and Mrs Collins have a special place in my heart forever

    1. sonny ,,we went to school together’i live on monahill..my dad was Bernie adkins,,,and my mom evelyn .we lived next to the curries and mrs collins”I left logan in 59.i live in Huntington,wv

      1. Col. Robert Hanger

        Carolyn: I am from Hgtn, but raised in Peach Creek.
        Are you RET? Where in Hgtn do you live? Contact me & I will reply email.
        Luv to chat soon.

      2. Jimmy Montroso I lived monahill I later part of 1950s l rember bernle admins I lived behind the church house

    2. Patricia Maynard

      Sonny, your grandmother babysat me while my mom worked at the bakery in Logan. I was Patty Duty and my family was William Thomas Whitt and Ethel Whitt. Mom was Lillian, my older sister is Beulah ( Whitt ) Cremeans. We lived in one of the houses on the hill behind your grandparents.I have a picture of you and me sitting on the back of a ’49’ Ford in front of your house…BTW, you were a biter and got plenty of spankings for biting me!!! ???? I hope you see this…

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