The grave of János Szilárd, a soldier of the 1848-49 War of Independence

János Szilárd was born on May 24, 1832 in Esztergom, and completed his secondary school studies there. He was preparing to become a priest, and when the War of Independence broke out, he studied philosophy at the Emericanum in Bratislava. He volunteered to be a soldier on May 13, 1849, and participated in the siege of Buda. He joined the Ujháza hunting team on May 30, 1849, and was appointed chief hunter on July 20. Upon learning of the surrender, he fled to Esztergom, and thanks to his well-wishers, he avoided forced conscription and prosecution. The defecting priestly student was taken under his wing by Prince Primate János Scitovszky, who employed him in the archbishop's estate on December 1, 1849. He was the secretary of the Esztergomvidék economic association for five years. From 1871 he was the steward of the Drégely estate, at which time he moved to Dejtár. From 1875 he was also responsible for the combined Érsekújvár-Verebély and Pozsony estates. He started tobacco cultivation on the érsek estates, with great (financial) success. He also dealt with tobacco cultivation on a scientific basis, and several articles were published in the Magyar Dohányújság. ; The manuscript, which is kept in the Manuscript Collection of the National Széchényi Library, entitled Katonai éltem naploja, is attributed to János Szilárd. The text was published by Hadtörténelmi Közlemények, the quarterly scientific journal of the Hadtörténelmi Intézet és Múzeum, in 2017 (issue 1). ; He died on December 2, 1897. ; In the "Death" column of the political and social weekly Esztergom, published on December 5, 1897, we can read the following lines: ; "We have received the following obituary with sympathy: The undersigned, on behalf of themselves and all their relatives, announce with deep sorrow the sad passing of their beloved husband, father and grandfather, retired prim. urad. inspector János Szilárd, on December 2nd of the current year at 4 o'clock in the morning, in the 67th year of his life and the 42nd year of his happy marriage, after the devout reception of the sacraments of the dead. The mortal remains of the deceased will be consecrated in the funeral home on December 4th at 9 o'clock in the morning and from there laid to rest in the Nagy-Ölved cemetery. The Holy Sacrifice of the Atonement Mass will be presented to the Almighty on the same day at 10 o'clock in the evening in the Nagy-Ölved church. ; Szölgyén-Hidegvölgy, December 2nd, 1897. ; Blessings and peace to the dust! ; Widow Szilárd Jánosné née. Vimmer Antónia's wife. ; Holényi's Mária Szilárd, Vantsón's Szilárd Anna, Szilárd Iván, Szilárd Imre, Szilárd Ferenc, Szilárd Gyula's children. ; Holényi Ferenc, Gyula Vantsó's sons-in-law. ; Amália Zacsovics husband. Szilárd Ivánné, Ditta Lévai husband. Szilárd Imréné, Berta Rédly husband. Szilárd Ferencné, Bokross Margit husband. Szilárd Gyulán's daughters-in-law. ; Holényi János, Holényi Erzsébet husband. Csernyánszky Aladárné, Holényi László, Holényi Jolán, Vantsó Gyula, Vantsó Imre, Vantsó Anna, Szilárd Mariska, Szilárd Rózsika, Szilárd Imre, Szilárd Sárika, Szilárd Józsika, Szilárd Annika, Szilárd Janika grandchildren."