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There are a lot of ways to spell Futtak, Futok, Futog, Futag, Ujfuttak, Futtag, Futtok, Altfutak, Futak - and there are two primary ways that my family's name was spelled when they lived there: Frei & Frey. It appears that the oldest son of each Frei household was able to keep the original Frei spelling, but the younger sons appear to have adopted the Frey spelling to somewhat obscure their German heritage so they could find jobs on the local economy.
In any case, my earlier ancestors in the area arrived in the middle to late 1700s and used the name FREI. My great-grandfather always appears to have been designated as Josef Frey, as was his father, George Frey. The family was listed as Frey when they passed through Ellis Island in 1911, but immediately began using the Frei spelling upon arrival at Pigeon, MI.
Now I find that most of the people I know who spell their name Frey have roots similar to mine, while most of those with the Frei spelling have their roots in Switzerland. My guess is that the oldest sons of Futok did not have any real reason to leave until the mass imprisonments of Donauschwäben at the end of WWII.
I understand that the oldest son in traditional Donauschwäben families often inherited the entire estate of his father, while the other sons had to find their own means to support their families. This made for a much more stable social and economic order and permitted the larger society to benefit from the capital accumulation that resulted, but it did often mean that there was no place for the other sons to go to farm, except to work for someone else. Another option was to find work among the merchant or service classes. Failing those two options, many left the area to seek their own fortune elsewhere.
I recall my grandfather once telling me a story about his father (my grandfather did not talk much, so the one time he did it made an impression on me.) If I recall the story correctly, my great grandfather had a tavern, but it was burned out by people who did not like his "religious affiliation" . . . My grandfather is no longer around to provide clarification, but it now appears to me that it was not religious persecution he suffered, but ethnic.
I understand that great-grandfather did not talk much about the 'Old Country' after he settled here, and the family did not speak German either. My grandfather - the oldest son - was already 5 years old when he arrived here, but as an adult could not speak a word of German, and could only vaguely understand a little of it.
If you are related to any Frey or Frei who may have come from Hungary, Austria, Yugoslavia, or if the word "Batschka" or "Banat" come up in descriptions of family emmigration points, please post here and lets get a conversation going.
P.S. sorry for seeding this post with so many words - I want to make sure the right people find it with search engines no matter what words they use to describe the place.
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