Vintage Pics

Mary Isabelle Hart ~1922


Mary Louise Hart and family

Mary Hart Davisson and Pres. Johnson, 1964

Pics from this weekend

Pie's grave is in Mountain View Cemetery right next to the Confederate Cemetery, in a section entitled "HART".

Catharine Hart Brown (1926-2010)

Obituary 7.11.2010 Charleston Gazette-Mail

Catharine Hart Brown, known to her friends and family as “Canky”, passed away on July 7, 2010, at her home in Charleston. She was born on April 4, 1926, the second of three daughters of Edward Hart and Louise Davis Hart, at their home in Edgewood.
Catharine was predeceased by her parents; her brother, John Davis Hart; and her sister, Isabelle Hart Wilson.

She is survived by her sister, Elizabeth Hart Guiher of New York City and her husband, James F. Brown III, as well as their three sons, Charles C. of Denver, Colo., James F. IV “Jeff” and Patti, his wife, of Charleston, and Edward Davis Brown, and Alice Bryan, his wife, of Englewood, Colo. She is also survived by nieces, Catharine Wilson Burt, Catharine Guiher, and Deborah Chamblee; and nephews, William Ferguson, John H. Wilson, and Edwin McConihay Wilson; three grandchildren, Molly, Davis, and Emily; and several great-nieces and nephews.

Canky was educated in the local schools of Clarksburg, and then studied at Stephens College of Columbia, Mo., and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. This began her career as a soprano, participating in and often taking the leading lady role in many Charleston Light Opera Guild productions. She was a longtime member of the Kanawha United Presbyterian Church and a member of its choir and Women's Association.

As a supporter of the Community Music Association, she became its president and brought metropolitan Opera stars John Alexander and Beverly Sills and the pianist Van Cliburn, among others, to Charleston.

Canky was a member of the National Society of Colonial Dames in West Virginia, tracing her ancestry to John Hart, who in 1776 was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. She maintained this quality of self-reliance and independent thinking all of her life. She also served as a trustee of the Craik-Patton House Foundation.

In 1949, soon after marrying Jim, they lived in Charlottesville, Va., until his graduation from the University of Virginia Law School in 1950, when they purchased their present home in Edgewood, only a few blocks from the home of her birth.

In Charleston, Canky was an active supporter of the Charleston (West Virginia) Symphony, becoming president of its Women's Association, and participated with the Women Builders of Morris Harvey College, now the University of Charleston.

The family thanks Paula Jones and Beverly Bolland for their excellent care giving and Hospice Care for support in her waning days.

Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Friday, July 16, at the Kanawha United Presbyterian Church, 1009 Virginia Street, Charleston, with the Rev. Charles Ringe officiating. Burial will follow in the Mountain View Cemetery, Charleston.

The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 15, at Wilson Funeral Home of Charleston.

Remembrances may be sent to Kanawha United Presbyterian Church, University of Charleston, 2300 MacCorkle Avenue SE, Charleston; West Virginia Symphony, 1 Clay Square E., Charleston, or the Charleston Light Opera Guild, 411 Tennessee Avenue, Charleston.

July 4, 2010

Presents from Central Europe being modeled

Some Tour Pics and Connections with Hungary

Hero Square, Budapest


Budapest Cathedral


Impromptu singing at Melk Abbey

Scott, the Mayor, and Sue

Joseph (our driver), Steve, soloists (Claire and Megan), and Bill & Debbie

The clock tower in the Old Town Square in Prague

Doesn't this look like a postcard? Who would believe it? It was surreal to sing this music in these settings. This was taken at our last concert in St. Michael's Church in Budapest.
Here is a link to one of our performances. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VVchEx1rGw


Here I am on our last night's dinner cruise on the Danube in Budapest.


This is the Arpad Dynasty tower in the Fisherman's Bastion in Budapest.



Here is a statue of Bela IV, King of Hungary
King Bela IV was my 26th great grandfather.




And here is a statue of Andrew II, King of Hungary.

I am a descendant (27th generation) of King Andrew II (1205-1235) via his daughter Vialant who married James I of Aragon. From them are descendant Isabella of France who married Edward II of England (parents of Edward III). I am a 28th generation descendant of Andrew II via his son (and heir) King Bela IV of Hungary (1235-1270), from whom descends Phillpa of Hainaut who married Edward III of England. Edward III's son, John of Gaunt, was the first in the House of Lancaster from stems the War of the Roses. From there, we are descendant from his son Henry Beaufort, great uncle to Margaret Beaufort (mother of Henry VII). Henry Beaufort's line comes down to Frances Sims who married Joshua Morris Sr who were the maternal great grandparents of Dr. John Morris McConihay (my paternal great grandfather). Thanks to brother John for all this research.


One anecdote about Andrew II of Hungary is that his paternal grandmother was Euphosyne of Kiev (ca 1130-1193). It is through her that all the English monarchs from Edward III on are thus descendant from the Saxon kings prior to William the Conqueror. Euphosyne was the great granddaughter of Harold II via his daughter Gytha of Wessex. Gyrtha married Vladamir Monomakh Grand Duke of Kievan Rus.

These statues are in Hero Square in Budapest, Hungary.








This is a ruin of a castle in Durnstein, Austria where Richard the Lionheart was held hostage for ransom on his way back from the Crusades. We are descendant from his sister, Eleanor of England

For those who are interested... Richard the Lionheart was an ancestral uncle of ours via marriage with some of the same Hungarian line of descent. Richard's parents were Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. As it happens, Henry II and Eleanor are great great grandparents of Phillip III of France (1245-1285). Twas Phillip III who married Isabella, Infanta of Aragon, the daughter of Vialant of Hungary and James I, King of Aragon (1208-1276). As you may recall, Vialant was the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary pictured above. These folks are all ancestors of Joan of Valois who was grandmother to John of Gaunt.






Moody at the vineyard where we had wine tastings. In the background up on the hill is the Goettwig Abbey where we had a concert.


Barbara our tour director holding a bottle of Chec digestif.



Moody with the mayor of the little town where we sang outside of Prague.



Linda, Rob, Moody and myself after dinner in Prague. Linda and Rob came to our concert that day.

There is just one more connection I'd like to document with Hungary for those who may be interested. One of our ancestors, Saint Margaret of Scotland, was born in Hungary around 1046. Margaret was the daughter of Edward the Exile (1016-1057), the heir to the English throne interrupted by the reign of Cnut. Cnut was elected king after Edmund Ironside (ca 993-1016) King of England's death, but in order to secure the throne he had Edmund's sons (Edmund and Edward-possibly twins) removed from England and in theory, murdered. But they were not murdered. Edward and his brother, Edmund, were in exile in Kiev Rus when he married Agatha of Kiev. He had several children while in residence in the Hungarian court of Andrew I with whom he made friends while Andrew and his brother Bela I (sons of Duke Vazul who was brother to St. Stephen the first Hungarian king) were also in exile in Kiev. Edward went to Hungary with his good friends to help Andrew secure the throne. It was there that Margaret of Wessex was born. They returned to England to try to win the throne back for Margaret's brother, Edward AEtheling, but he died. While Margaret and her mother tried to return to Hungary after the Norman Conquest, her ship ran aground in Scotland where the king, Malcolm III, rescued and married her. She was sainted because she was a very kind and devout women who always helped the poor. Margaret and Malcolm's daughter married William the Conqueror's son, Henry I, from whom descends Henry II, Richard the Lionheart, and Catharine Wilson of Charleston.

So while I previously would never have desired to go to Hungary, I am very glad I did as part of this tour. Thanks to John, I learned of all these ancestral connections to the place and the greatest and first Magyar rulers, the Arpad Dynasty.