08/04/2026
Sometimes the more you research a person, the more questions you encounter about their life story. Such is the case with Julius Oswald, buried in Division 5 of the cemetery. It's possible that Julius embellished the facts of his life story, but regardless, he was an intriguing man, and who are we to judge?
Everyone has a story ...........
HISTORY BEHIND THE HEADSTONES: International Man of Mystery
Sometimes the more you research a person, the more questions you encounter about their life story. Such is the case with Julius Oswald, buried in Division 5 of the cemetery.
Julius was born in January 1859 in what was then called the city of Eperjes in the Kingdom of Hungary. Eperjes is the historical Hungarian name for Presov, a major city located in what is now northeastern Slovakia. He was the eldest son of Christian and Marie Oswald.
A ship manifest dated October 10, 1860, documents that Christian, Marie, and Julius arrived in New York on the ship Germania. Christian’s occupation is listed as farmer. The young family traveled from New York to Braddock, but the reason for their move is unclear.
At some point the Oswalds left the United States and returned home to Eperjes, for news articles state that Julius was educated in Europe and later returned to Braddock while his family remained in Eperjes, the seat of Saros County in the Kingdom of Hungary.
Eperjes (Presov) was and is a center of education and culture and Julius was highly educated at various universities. He was something of a “Renaissance man,” or a person with deep knowledge, curiosity, and talents in many areas. In addition to speaking German and English, he was fluent in the Romance languages, including Spanish, French, and Italian, as well as conversant in many of the Slavic languages like Slovak, Hungarian, Rusyn, Ukrainian, and others. How did a farmer’s son have the resources to become so well educated?
Julius returned to Braddock in 1885 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He served as an officer in numerous German and Slavonic unions and fraternities. News articles described him as being “well known” in banking and insurance circles and a former court reporter. However, the only employment documentation that could be verified in city directories was that of a bookkeeper, first to a wholesale liquor dealer on 11th Street in Braddock and later to a saloon owner and hotel proprietor on Washington Avenue.
Julius was frequently named in newspapers as a national officer of such organizations as the Queen Elizabeth Hungarian Society of Braddock; the National Slavonic Union; the Evangelical Slovak Union of the United States; the German Beneficial Union; the Central Turn and Singing German Society of Braddock, and the St. Nicholas Greek Catholic Beneficial Society of the South Side of Pittsburgh, just to name some! How did he manage to find the time to serve in all of these societies?
We know that Julius’s father was German. Why was he so heavily involved in Central European fraternities? Was his mother Hungarian, or of other Slavonic descent? One news article listed him as a “nobleman” but it is highly unlikely that someone of noble birth would work as a bookkeeper for a Pittsburgh brewing wholesaler, plus his family was listed as farmers when they immigrated here.
Julius seemed enamored with nobility and the upper echelons of society. On January 27, 1908, American heiress Gladys Vanderbilt made international news with her marriage in New York City to Hungarian Count Laszlo Szechenyi. The next day The Pittsburgh Post published an article announcing that the former Gladys Vanderbilt was “unanimously elected the first honorary member of the Queen Elizabeth Hungarian Society of Braddock” at a meeting on the day of her wedding.
The article claimed that Julius had a “close friendship” with Count Czechenyi, which could be neither proven nor disproved. Julius was then “instructed to forward a congratulatory telegram in both the English and Hungarian languages to the countess.” However, it seems unlikely that receiving a telegram from Braddock would be a highlight of Gladys Vanderbilt’s wedding memories.
The news article explained that “the Queen Elizabeth Hungarian Society is composed of a number of the better class of Hungarians of the Monongahela Valley, many of whom are said to come of noble families. Mr. Oswald is a nobleman and is the only man who is a member of the society.” Most likely Julius himself provided the newspaper with this information.
Unfortunately, no photos or physical description of Julius could be located so we do not know what he looked like.
He died on February 17, 1913 at age 53 of tuberculosis, an infectious disease of the lungs. At the time of his death, he was one of five boarders living at a hotel and saloon run by Andrew Hudacek at 1101 Washington Avenue. Sadly, the “nobleman” lived and died in a hotel room without family or fanfare. He was buried on February 19, 1913 in an unmarked grave at Monongahela Cemetery.
PHOTO CAPTIONS:
1. Julius Oswald Obituary. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. February 19, 1913, page 14.
2. “New Countess is Made an Honorary Member.” The Pittsburgh Post. January 28, 1908, page 4.
3. “Blessed Two Flags.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 22, 1901, page 12.
4. “Slavonic Convention.” Pittsburgh Weekly Gazette. April 22, 1902, page 5.
