Following the unsuccessful 1848-49 War of Liberation, several hundred Hungarian patriots emigrated to the United States. Some of them attained a degree of fame; others carved out a more modest career or faded into oblivion. In many ways, the story of Charles Semsey typifies the immigrant experience of that era.

A scion of one of Hungary's oldest and most distinguished families, Semsey was born at the city of Bártfa, Sáros County, in 1829. His father, Károly Semsey, was a wealthy landowner and prominent local politician.

At the outbreak of the War of Liberation led by the Lajos Kossuth against the ruling Hapsburg dynasty in the spring of 1848, Semsey was studying to be a clergyman. Like countless thousands of patriots, he enlisted in the revolutionary army. He fought in numerous battles in various parts of the country and eventually attained the rank of first-lieutenant.

Following the defeat of the Hungarian forces, made possible by the intervention of a huge Russian army dispatched by Czar Nicholas I in response to the pleas of Emperor Franz Joseph, Semsey fled to the Ottoman Empire. When emissaries from the Vienna government came to the refugee camps offering amnesty on easy terms to enlisted men and lower-ranking officers, he returned to Hungary, only to find himself impressed into the Hapsburg Imperial Army.

Incensed by this duplicity, Semsey, along with 30 comrades, deserted at an opportune moment in Hamburg, Germany, and made his way to London. With the help of associations formed to help Hungarian refugees, he was able to secure passage to the United States. He sailed from Liverpool to New York City on April 7, 1851.

Like the majority of new immigrants possessing no knowledge of the English language and without a profession or trade, Semsey found it impossible to find meaningful and renumerative employment. Openings existed only in the most arduous and menial occupations. Extremely despondent, he even entertained the idea of returning to Hungary. Despite the hardships, however, he stayed in New York City and supported himself by working as a common laborer. Through many sacrifices and diligent work, he slowly adjusted to his new homeland.

At the start of the Crimean War (1853-56), which pitted England and France in alliance with Turkey (later joined by Sardinia) against Russia, the British government began recruiting mercenaries abroad to supplement the regular army. Three foreign legions were raised: the German Legion, the Swiss Legion, and the Italian Legion. Recruitment was not confined to Europe; it extended all the way to the United States, creating considerable diplomatic tensions between London and Washington.

Semsey and some 600 others living in America joined the German Legion. While in Europe he met and married a young lady, Franziska Haubold, originally a resident of Dresden, Germany. Their first child, a girl named after her mother, was born at London in 1858. Shortly afterwards Semsey took his family to New York City; his son, Kálmán, was born there the following year.

After Fort Sumter was fired upon, Semsey enrolled in the 20th New York Infantry Regiment on May 3, 1861. He was mustered in as captain, Company F, on May 6, and was commissioned captain on July 4. Two days later he resigned and subsequently joined the 45th New York Infantry Regiment. He enrolled in the 45th New York on September 9, was mustered in as major on October 7, and was commissioned major on November 4.

The regiment, composed almost wholly of Germans, left the state on October 9, 1861, and was assigned to General Julius Stahel's brigade, General Ludwig Blenker's division, Army of the Potomac. Semsey resigned on June 14, 1862 and was discharged the following day. During his tenure the regiment was involved in several battles in Virginia: at Annandale, Strasburg, Woodstock, New Market, Harrisonburg, and Cross Keys.

Upon resuming civilian life, Semsey took up photography, a profession which also attracted many other Hungarian emigres. He remained a steadfast Hungarian patriot till the end of his long life. He took a keen interest in Hungarian-American affairs and was a frequent contributor to the Nemzetőr [National Guard], one of the early Hungarian-language newspapers published in the United States.

Like many Civil War veterans, Semsey was eventually rewarded with a civil service job; in his case, a position with the U.S. Customs Service. Later he worked for the immigration bureau of the Port of New York, first at Castle Garden and afterwards on Ellis Island, where he eventually became a member of the Board of Special Inquiry. In his spare time Semsey was an active member of a host of political and veterans associations and social clubs.

On the evening of June 17, 1872, Semsey occupied the chair at a meeting of the Eighth Assembly District Grant and Wilson Soldiers' and Sailors' Campaign Club at their headquarters, 26 Delancey Street. The assemblage wholeheartedly endorsed Ulysses S. Grant and Henry Wilson, denounced the charges swirling about Grant as nothing more than baseless slanders, and repudiated the so-called Liberal Republicans and their platform because of their lenient attitude and policies towards the South.

In late September that same year, Semsey was one of the principal movers behind the organization of a Hungarian Grant and Wilson Campaign Club, also at 26 Delancey Street. Captain Alexander S. Toplanyi was elected president. Like Semsey, Toplanyi was a veteran of the 1848-49 War of Liberation and during the Civil War served in the 5th New York Heavy Artillery and then with the 3rd Regiment, U.S. Colored Infantry.

More than 500 former soldiers attended the meeting of the German Veteran Garfield and Arthur Association on the evening of September 22, 1880, in the Germania Assembly Rooms, 291 Bowery. They elected, as permanent officers, Constantine Nietzsche, president, and Semsey, one of the vice-presidents. Furthermore, they adopted resolutions expressing the opinion that if the Democrats should get into power the achievements of the war for which they had fought would be jeopardized.

At a meeting of the Veteran Association of the 45th Regiment New York Volunteers Infantry in October of 1881 Semsey was elected president for the ensuing year. He also played a prominent role in the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.). Led by a group of dynamic and energetic organizers, this nationwide veterans' association wielded great political power. For several years Semsey was commander of the Koltes Post, No. 32, G.A.R., one of the largest posts in the state, and for a time served as Assistant Quartermaster-General for the Department of New York.

On September 17, 1882, Semsey was among the some 3,000 people, mostly Germans, who gathered in Lutheran Cemetery, Middle Village, Queens, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the battle of Antietam and to lay the cornerstone of a soldier's monument in the new burial plot of the Koltes Post. It was a grand affair, with a large musical band, speeches by several notables, and the battle-weathered flags of the 7th, 40th, 45th, 58th, 62nd and 66th New York volunteer regiments fluttering in the wind.

Semsey performed the ceremony of laying the cornerstone of the 40-ft high granite monument resting on a simple pedestal. General Henry A. Barnum, the orator of the day, concluded his speech with the words: "All honor to the Koltes Post of the Grand Army of the Republic for the noble work which they this day inaugurate. It fitly crowns their splendid record in behalf of fraternity, charity, and loyalty, . . ."

To aid the widows and orphans of the Koltes Post, Semsey and his comrades launched a week-long fair in May of 1890 at Tammany Hall, 14th Street, between Third Avenue and Irving Place. It was formally opened by Carl Schurz, the most distinguished German-American of the era. Several German singing societies, among them the Liederkranz and the Arion, provided entertainment.

With the impending opening of the Ellis Island Immigration Station for the Port of New York, the last group of newcomers passed through Castle Garden on April 18, 1890. Most of the staff at Castle Garden, among them Semsey, were transferred to the new location. At this time, he was one of the four assistant to William Van Duzer, Chief Clerk of the Registry Department.

In 1902 Hungarians throughout the world marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kossuth. Celebration of the event by the Hungarian Republican Club of New York on September 18 was held at the rooms of the club, 54 St. Mark's Place. A life-sized portrait of Kossuth at age 80 was presented by Sigmund Tenner, son of Louis Tenner, a captain with the 39th New York Infantry Regiment during the Civil War, and was unveiled by Marcus Braun, the president of the club. Addresses in Hungarian were delivered by Semsey, the Reverend László Perény, rector of St. Stephen's Church, and Parks Commissioner Julius Schwartz; General James S. Clarkson made a short speech in English. President Theodore Roosevelt sent a letter of regret for being unable to attend, saying: "No American can fail to feel the greatest admiration for Kossuth's high character and mighty deeds. I am proud as an American that while he was living our country should have received him with the eager honor it showed."

The Board of Special Inquiry, on which Semsey sat on for more than a dozen years, wielded considerable power and handled a wide variety of cases. Many of these made headlines in the newspapers.

One of the most celebrated cases he was involved in started when the Ward Line steamship Orizaba carrying a small group of children from Santiago de Cuba among its passengers arrived in New York harbor on November 1, 1902. The 11 children, escorted by Dr. Gertrude Van Pelt, M.D., consisted of nine boys and two girls, aged from 8 to 12, and were destined to be educated at the Raja Yoga Academy of the Universal Brotherhood at Point Loma, in suburban San Diego, California. The school was founded by Katherine W. Tingley, a theosophist, and she established her Point Loma community as an educational center as well as the headquarters of theosophy for the whole world. The fundamental idea of the Raja Yoga system was the development of character and emphasis on individual responsibility.

Dr. Van Pelt, herself a dedicated theosophist of long standing, did not expect any problems with the immigration authorities; the previous year she brought over a party of 40 children from Cuba to be educated at Point Loma.

The docking of the ship was mentioned in the papers; the New York Sun furthermore reported that there had been a demonstration in Santiago de Cuba against sending the children to California. This attracted the attention of the powerful New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (S.P.C.C.) and they requested immigration officials to detain the children and investigate the matter. To Dr. Van Pelt's utmost chagrin, "the thinly clad and shivering little Cubans" were herded off to detention.

Devoted followers of Mrs. Tingley immediately hastened to the Board of Special Inquiry hearing. They were accompanied by a dozen reporters, who sensed a juicy story about to unfold. At the opening of the Board's session, Vernon M. Davis, counsel for the S.P.C.C., protested the entry of the children on the double grounds that the Point Loma institution was irresponsible financially and that its "atmosphere" was detrimental for the children. Friends of Mrs. Tingley countered these charges as absurd with personal testimonies and voluminous documentations.

Albert G. Spalding, once a famous baseball player and now a prominent businessman and one of the most vociferous supporters of Mrs. Tingley, returned the following day with two reporters at his side. The reporters were more than willing to publicize that Dr. Van Pelt and her charges were held in a tiny cell, which measured 6 by 12 ft. and was equipped with only a couple of cots and a watering trough. To avoid any adverse publicity, the children were transferred to more spacious and liveable quarters for the balance of the investigation, which rapidly escalated from the local scene to the national and international levels.

Franco Ortiz, the acting mayor of Santiago de Cuba, sent a telegram to the New York Tribune in which he refuted the story in the Sun and stated that the children had left his community under the most pleasant circumstances. Frank P. Frary, the mayor of San Diego, cabled to William Williams, Commissioner at Ellis Island, demanding the release of the children at once, declaring that Point Loma was a suitable place for them. A similar opinion was voiced by Henry J. Baldwin, superintendent of schools for San Diego County.

Nevertheless, on November 3, the Board of Special Inquiry recommended to exclude the children on the basis that they were assisted immigrants and liable to become public charges. Semsey himself did not agree with this verdict; he favored the admission of the children on the grounds, that according to the evidence presented, they would be well cared for, and that the school was self-supporting and reputable. Considering the growing mobilization of elements favorably inclined towards Mrs. Tingley, Commissioner Williams was reluctant to accept the Board's decision and ordered a re-hearing for November 5.

At this turn of events, Davis called into the case Elbridge T. Gerry. Gerry founded the Society in 1875 and molded the policy and directed its activities to such an extent that it was popularly described as "Gerry's Society."

The hearing on November 5 was punctuated with acrimoniuos charges and countercharges without resolving the issue. As the hearings dragged on, the Society marshalled an impressive array of witnesses, all of them hostile to Mrs. Tingley for various reasons.

Late in November, California's governor Henry T. Gage sent representatives of the State Board of Health and Board of Examiners to Point Loma. They made a favorable report of the conditions they found. Commissioner General of Immigration Frank P. Sargent himself paid a short visit to San Diego as did Mayor Emilio Bacardi of Santiago de Cuba.

Determined to buttress their position, Davis and Gerry travelled to Washington, D.C., to plead their case before the Commissioner General of Immigration and the Assistant Secretary of Treasury. They were rebuffed in no uncertain terms by both. On December 6 the Cuban children were ordered released by the Treasury Department. However, the Society still had the power to seize the children upon their release from Ellis Island and entry to New York City. To avoid this unpleasant possibility, Spalding hired a launch, loaded the children on board, and made a beeline for the New Jersey shore. From there they were conveyed by train to Washington, D.C., and then onto California.

Semsey was one of the speakers when nearly a thousand members of the United Hungarian Societies of New York welcomed the Hungarian statesman Count Albert Apponyi, one of Europe's most distinguished public men, at Webster Hall, 119 East 11th Street, on the evening of February 12, 1911. The entire interior was lavishly bedecked with the flags of Hungary and the United States. Apponyi's appearance was greeted with thunderous cheers and the festivities commenced with the playing of the Hungarian and American national anthems.

G. D. Berko, chairman of the reception committee, said: ". . . although we are good citizens of the United States, we have not forgotten our mother country." Turning towards Apponyi, he continued: "When you return to our native land we wish to convey our sincerest regards and tell our brethren that we have come here to make our living, but our hearts are in Hungary."

Apponyi's speech lasted for 45 minutes. He intoned: "My brothers, I am glad to meet you here tonight and hear that my countrymen are doing well and making good citizens in their adopted country. But it breaks my heart to see you away from the land of your birth. . . . I hope that the time will come when we shall have such prosperity there [in Hungary] that emigration will cease." The assemblage gave him five full minutes of ovation.

Others delivering addresses included the Reverend Louis Kovács of St. Stephen's Church
and former Secretary of State Samuel Koenig. The reporter covering the event for the New York Times wrote: "A speaker who attracted the attention of the guests was Major Charles Semsey, a veteran of four wars who was hale and hearty enough at eighty-two to sit on the Board of Special Inquiry at Ellis Island."

However, Semsey wasn't as "hale and hearty" as he appeared to the reporter and he died a few months later, on June 18. Two days after his death Semsey was laid to rest in the Koltes Lot of Lutheran Cemetery, which he helped to dedicate 30 years before. His gravestone, like many of the others surrounding the monument, can no longer be discerned. Decades of weathering have eroded the inscriptions on some, while others have sunk deep into the ground.

Notes:

The name Semsey is derived from Semse, a small town close to the city of Kassa in the northeastern part of the old Kingdom of Hungary. Semsey literally means someone from Semse.

Charles Semsey's original given name was Kálmán, equivalent to Coleman in English and Koloman in German. Why he opted for Charles (Károly in Hungarian) in America isn't known. This change has unfortunately led some authors to confuse him with his older brother Viktor Károly. However, Viktor Károly, who was married to Mária Dessewffy, never left Hungary and died there at the age of 38 in 1860.

Semsey's military service during the 1848-49 War of Liberation is given in Gábor Bona's Hadnagyok és főhadnagyok az 1848/49. évi szabadságharcban [Lieutenants and First-Lieutenants inthe 1848/49 War of Liberation]

József Pozsonyi, director of the Semsey Andor Múzeum [Andor Semsey Museum] at Balmazújváros, Hungary, has written extensively about the Semsey family; one of his recent works is Adalékok a semsei Semsey nemzetség történetéhez [Data Pertaining to the History of the Semsey Family of Semse] in the Yearbook of the Déri Museum of Debrecen, 1997-1998. His book on this most illustrious family, entitled A semsei Semsey család története [History of the Semsey Family of Semse], was published in December of 2002.

The history of the Semseys is also summarized in Iván Nagy's monumental Magyarország családai: czimerekkel és nemzékrendi táblákkal [The Families of Hungary: With Coat-of-Arms and Genealogical Charts].

Named after Andor Semsey (1833-1923), a renowned scientist, generous philanthropist, and one of the most outstanding members of the family, the Semsey Andor Múzeum [Andor Semsey Museum] at Balmazújváros, Hungary, houses a variety of artifacts and memorabilia related to the history of the city, the surrounding region, and of course the Semseys.