Geneablogy: An occasional Journal about our experiences exploring our heritage

Friday, August 4, 2000

I was looking through these pages for references to "Karyshyn" and realized I had forgotten to post this. When I was at the New York Public Library a couple of weeks ago, I found the ship's passenger record for Daniel Karyshyn, the husband of my Grandma's Aunt Mary (Zurbyk). All the photocopying machines were occupied, so I couldn't get a copy of the record, but I did abstract the information. He came to America on the S.S. Finland, sailing from Antwerp, arriving in New York on 7 Sep 1907. His name was spelled in the Polish fashion rather than Ukrainian, that is, Karyszyn. He was 24 years old and single, which I thought was interesting, given that he was from Lychkivtsi (Liczkowce), the same town as my grandmother and presumably as her aunt. So I wonder if he went home to find a bride, sent home for one, or if he came to America having already been engaged to Mary. He worked as a laborer, was able to read and write, was a citizen of Austria, and his race was given as Polish (although he was certainly Ukrainian). For his nearest relative he listed his father, Teodor Karyszyn, in Lickowce, as it's spelled on the record. His final destination was listed as the state of Rhode Island, the city as Novno Ocket and later as Wovno Ocket. That would have to be Woonsocket. He was joining his brother Johann Karyszyn there, who lived at Sosial Str 42. He didn't have a ticket there, though, nor $50. He had paid for his passage himself, and had not been in the U.S. before. He had never been in prison, wasn't a polygamist or anarchist, and had no job offer. His health was good, and he wasn't deformed or crippled. He was 5' 6" tall, of fair complexion, with light hair and blue eyes.

The reason I was looking for Karyshyns here? I got e-mail last week from someone named Karyshyn who had found this page and who thought that Mary Karyshyn was her great-grandmother. Given that she knows she's descended from Teodor Karyshyn, that her grandfather is Stanley Karyshyn of Hilton Head, South Carolina (who my grandmother mentioned as one of her aunt's children) and a few other details, I figured out that we were third cousins.

Posted at 5:47:15 PM

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