Office of the Historian

Mr. Tripp to Mr. Gresham.

United States Legation,
Vienna, October 3, 1893. (Received October 18.)
No. 45.]

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith, for your information, copies of correspondence between this legation, the United States consul at Budapest, and the ministry of foreign affairs at Vienna, relative to the arrest, enrollment into the army and subsequent release of Mike Minis, or Michael Minich, a native of the province of Slavonia, in the Kingdom of Hungary, and a naturalized citizen of the United States.

I have,

Bartlett Tripp.
[Inclosure 1 in No. 45.]

Mr. Hammond to Mr. Grant.

United States Consulate,
Budapest, March 31, 1893.

Sir: Mike Minis (Michael Minich), as shown by the inclosed certificate of naturalization, is a citizen of the United States. Upon his return he was examined and found fit for the army in his native place and was enlisted and put in the army. This case came to my notice by letter written by Mathew Mieder from Mount Pleasant, Pa. Upon investigation I found that the above Minich is an uneducated Slovak, without energy, who did not object to his enlistment, and did not even mention that he was a citizen of the United States.

I have found out that the said Minich left this country by Bremen at 16 years of age in 1886; after living six years in Mount Pleasant and working in the coalmines, he acquired his citizenship. He returned to Hungary last year, and was enlisted October 1, 1892. His present address is Ferdinand Kaserne, Budapest. I turn the matter over for your action.

Yours, etc.,

E. P. T. Hammond,
U. S. Consul.
[Inclosure 2 in No. 45.]

Mr. Hammond to Mr. Grant.

United States Consulate,
Budapest, April 15, 1893.

Sin: Yesterday I had conversation with Mike Minis (United States citizen in army here), and gathered from him the further information that he was born at Felsö, Slavonia but he could not tell what year or month, only that this summer he will be 23 years old. He went to America six years ago the 10th this April by steamer Fulda, or Ems, from Bremen, returned from America to Hungary about nine months ago, and has been serving in the army since 1st October, 1892. Knowing how important to find date and year of his birth, will write to proper authorities in Felsö and try and get certificate of birth. I have heretofore and now given all information that can be obtained from said Minis himself.

I am, etc.,

E. P. T. Hammond,
U. S. Consul.
[Page 22]
[Inclosure 3 in No. 45.]

Mr. Grant to Count Kalnoky.

United States Legation,
Vienna, April 14, 1893.

Your Excellency: I have the honor to inform you that I am in receipt of certain letters which seem to indicate that “Mike Minis,” or “Michael Minich,” a naturalized citizen of the United States of Hungarian origin, was, upon October the 1st, 1892, forced by the Hungarian authorities to enter the ranks of the imperial and royal army.

I can not as yet place before your excellency all the details of this case, as they have not been fully reported to me, but I inclose herewith Minis’s naturalization certificate of American citizenship, and I hasten to request that his case may be investigated and that he may be discharged from the army of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy.

Investigation has shown that Mike Minis, or Michael Minich, emigrated to the United States in the year 1886, and remained there for six years, during which time he was a workman in the mines of Pennsylvania.

It is also reported to me that the present address of the above-mentioned individual is K. K. Genie Regiment, fifteenth company, Ferdinands Kaserne, Budapest.

With the request that your excellency will have the inclosed certificate of citizenship of Mike Minis, or Michael Minich returned to this legation when the imperial and royal authorities shall have finished the investigation of this case,

I have, etc.,

Frederick D. Grant.
[Inclosure 4 in No. 45.—Translation.]

Count Welsersheimb to Mr. Grant.

Vienna, June 2, 1893.

Sir: In preliminary response to the esteemed note of April 14 last, No. 174, relative to the enrollment of Mike Minis, alias Michael Minich, a naturalized citizen of the United States, for service in the imperial and royal army, the ministry of foreign affairs begs leave to inform the honorable envoy of the United States that this case has been referred to the royal Hungarian ministry of public defense with a view of an immediate leave of absence to be granted him and that investigations be made in regard to his naturalization.

Welsersheimb,
For the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
[Inclosure 5 in No. 45.—Translation.]

Count Welsersheimb to Mr. Tripp.

Vienna, September 25, 1893.

Sir: Supplementary to the note of June 2 last, which the ministry of foreign affairs addressed to the predecessor of the honorable envoy of the United States in reference to the enrollment of Mike Minis, alias Michael Minich, a naturalized citizen of the United States, for active service in the imperial and royal army, the undersigned now has the honor of informing the honorable envoy of the United States that the royal Hungarian ministry of public defense, after having fully investigated the case, report that Minich’s naturalization in the United States took place in due form and according to law, and that he has been therefore definitely discharged from the imperial and royal army, and that the documents proving his identity have been returned to him.

Welsersheimb,
For the Minister of Foreign Affairs.