"YES!" Moments!

After connecting with another cousin online (I love meeting new cousins online!---if you follow this and are related, definitely contact me!), I did a new search last night for death certificates of a few family members. And, "YES," some new Pennsylvania records had been released and uploaded to Ancestry.com.  I found the death certificate of my great-great grandfather, Harry (Hryc/Gregor) Turenchalk among these newly indexed records.  The great part about it is that the certificate included his father's name and at least a clue to his mother's name!  I love the moments when I make a "new" discovery!  I didn't have this information before---so it was a great "hoorah" for me.  Unfortunately most of the records in the region he came from in Poland were destroyed during WWII, so I am not sure how much further I can go, but I am now hopeful that someone somewhere has a family bible or similar record that holds his father's name! 

Harry (Hryc/Gregor) Turenchalk was born in about 1868, most likely in Jablonki, Podkarpackie, Poland. His parents were John and Nste (likely a nickname for Anastacia---I am researching this still).  In 1898, he came to the United States for the first time aboard the ship, "Hercynia" which departed from Hamburg and docked at Ellis Island.  He died in Green, Indiana County, Pennsylvania on April 7, 1919.  His death certificate states he died of from "influenza" with a contributory cause of "bronchial pneumonia."  He is buried at St John's Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery, Dixonville, Green Twp, Indiana Co., Pennsylvania.

Death Certificate of Harry Turenchalk, 1868-1919.

PHOTO(s) OF THE WEEK (Week of 2/3/13)

PHOTO(s) OF THE WEEK
This week I am featuring several photos of my great-grandmother, Piza Turenchalk Oschip.  Piza was born to Gregor or Hryc (Harry) and Katherine (Kata) Turenchalk.  She was born in Jablonki, Poland on November 5, 1904.  Piza and her mother came to the United States through Ellis Island on November 17, 1907.  They arrived on the ship "The Seydlitz" which originated from Bremen.  The Turenchalk family settled in Dixonville, Pennsylvania.  Piza was the oldest of seven children. 

She was married to Demetrius "Metro" Oschip on September 16, 1916 in an arranged marriage.  Piza was only 12 years (nearly 13 years) old.  Piza had her first child, my grandmother Mary Oschip, at age 13, on September 17, 1917.  Piza and Metro had another 10 children between then and 1937.  Piza passed away in April of 1977.

These pictures came from albums my grandmother had at her house and my aunt recently let me go through.  I assume all these pictures were taken in Clymer or surrounding areas.  If you have any other information regarding these pictures, please don't hesitate to let me know!

 

PHOTO OF THE WEEK (Week of May 20, 2012)

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

This photo is of a young William and Mary (Oschip) Taczak, holding a baby.  William and Mary were my maternal grandparents.  I believe that baby they are holding is my Uncle Bill, their first child, but haven't been able to confirm that it is in fact him.  My grandfather was born March 12, 1910 in Dixonville, Pennsylvania, the son of John and Mary (Kovalyak) Taczak.  My grandmother was born September 23, 1917 in Idamar, Pennsylvania to Metro and Piza (Turenchalk) Oschip.  They married on May 8, 1943 and spent their married life in Masury, Ohio.  My grandpa passed away in 1979.  My "Gram" passed away just shy of her 90th birthday in July of 2007.  A big thanks to my NEW FOUND cousin Cassandra for scanning and sharing family photos, she provided me with this photo of my grandparents! 

William & Mary (Oschip) Taczak,
(Possibly) holding their eldest son, Bill.