Moditz Genealogy

Welcome to the Moditz Family Genealogy page. My name is Alan and for many years I have wondered where it all began.

On my mothers side, my family is well documented. My mothers maiden name is Gove and we are descendants of the Abbott's and Webster's of Hudson, New Hampshire. My Uncle Dick and Aunt Gail in Colorado have well documented this. I understand they have even found the first Abbott to come across the big pond in the mid 1700's.

My fathers side is much more difficult. My grandfather passed away when I was very small (1965) and my grandmother passed on in 1973, long before I had an interest in their history. From the stories I heard as a child, My grandfather came from somewhere in Austria or Southern Germany sometime around World War I. There is a legend that he served in the Austrian Ski Patrol in WWI, but I had always had trouble finding the name Moditz. Through two tours (almost 8 years) in Germany with the Army I searched for information on Moditz and was completely unsuccessful. What we thought we knew was that his name was George Moditz, born approximately April 8, 1885.

Then in late 1998 my sister Betsy was searching for something on the Internet and on a whim put "Moditz" in the search box. Much to her surprise it return the following web site: Gottsheer Heritage and Genealogical Association. On this page was listed Surnames found in the region of Gottschee (now part of Slovenia).

I sent off for some information from them and wrote a letter to Kate Pruente, treasurer of the association for more information. I also ordered some books about Gottschee and a list of the Surnames from this area. Not only did Kate send along the books, she did some research for me and found my grandfather! The reason we had had so much trouble find George Moditz is that the spelling in the historical documents is the Slavic spelling, Modic with a mark over the c. I cannot find a font that has that mark so I drew it in the picture to the right.

My first concern of course was the spelling of the name, George Modic. Kate Pruente assured me that the english equivalent of Modic is Moditz. She provided the following information from the Latter Day Saints Microfiche #'s 1346977 & 1346978 page # 205 Line # 6:

Parish:	Gottschee
Name of Child:	Georg Modic
Place of Birth:	Gnadendorf #11
Date of Birth: date of Baptism:	08 April 1885 10 April 1885
Religion: Sex: Legitimate:	Roman Catholic M Y
Fathers name: Occupation:	Georg Modic Day Laborer
Mothers Name:	Magdalena Verderber

Where to go from here? We now have the correct spelling of the name Moditz. I have searched the internet for Modic and have been so far unsuccessful. It is my intent to join the Gottsheer Heritage and Genealogical Association as soon as my family and I get settled in Oregon. I also have a copy Family Tree Maker coming later today and I have found online that there is some information contained therein. More updates as I find them and please feel free to contact me ajmoditz@hotmail.com with any questions you may have or to provide information. the ultimate goal for me is to track the Moditz crossing of the pond and where we all ended up in the 70-100 years since then.

Alan Moditz

May 2000 Albuquerque New Mexico

 

UPDATE!!!

March 31, 2001

Most of my readers know I moved recently. Since the last time I updated this much new information has come to light. We now have a copy of the manifest of the ship that brought George Moditz and Family to the United States. My Aunt Julie has found much of this information and is sending it to me via snail mail. As soon as I have it I will scan and post it. Thanks for waiting!
Alan
Oregon, March 31, 2001