Hello Bill, I'm so glad to hear from you! I do think we have a match! I can't prove it 100% yet (and maybe never will), but I do believe that George was the brother of my great-grandfather John Jr (Janos Jr, son of Janos and Anna). I also believe George and John Jr. had a sister Sophie (Sophia?) who married Andrew Roskovensky in about 1901. George had 3 children, Justina, George, and Mary, correct? John Jr. had 5 sons: Joe, John, Martin, Mike and Frank. Apparently all 5 sons estranged themselves from him and moved to Cleveland in the late 20's and early 30's. My grandfather (Martin) didn't tell my father much about his family back in Indiana. My father remembers visiting his uncle (John) on his farm in Clinton back in early 40's (?). Apparently John moved from Cleveland back to Indiana after the 1930 census. My father is the one who got me started on this geneaology trail and would like to visit Diamond and Clinton to look for headstones and paper trails. Would you happen to know if there is any family still living in that area? It appears that the coal mining may have slowed down and the family left the area. George, Mary (wife) and George (son) were living in Gary, Indiana in 1930 (both George's working in a cement plant), and John Ilas Jr and family ( 2nd marriage) were living in Fairview Park, (Clinton Township) Indiana (still as a coal miner).
You can e-mail directly if you like, but I would prefer to continue corresponding through this board. I posted these first messages here to no one in particular, only so it could be flagged if someone searched for the last name (Before that there was no Ilas board!). By my count, Janos and Anna had 14 grandchildren, so I'm trying to leave a big trail if any more descendants are looking for us. I get an e-mail from this board if someone posts so I'll know to check it when I check my e-mail . Unfortunately I may only log on once a week or so (more in the winter!- Ha Ha).
Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated, and I look forward to continued correspondence!
Bob Ellis
pmibob@aol.com