Ulchak and Naczas from Jezierna, next step?

[kkemnitzer]

Hi,
My greatgrandparents were Peter Ulchak/Ulczak and Paraska Naczas, who came from Jezierna (modern Ozerna, 10 miles west of Ternopil) in 1907, with their daughter Katarzyna. I have found information as far back as the Hamburg ship's list, but can anyone tell me the next step? I have been told a couple of stories, such as her father Jon Naczas was like a mayor, or that 5 of the 13 children were killed in fighting between Cossacks and Austrians, but all I have are general history books and I would like to find out a little more. From what I can tell there isn't much left of Ozerna now, I would guess that family is gone? In my town (in Vermont, US) there is a local historical society, is there anything like that in the area that I can contact?
Thanks, Karl Kemnitzer

[Hannia]

Welcome Karl.

Ulczak = Ульчак in Ukrainian. There are still Ulchak's residing in Ozerna. There are also some in the district center town of Zboriv and some in the regional capital of Ternopil. I found at least 120+ still listed as residing in Ukraine.

Naczas = Начас in Ukrainian is a Cossack name, that means SOMEONE WHO ARRIVES ON TIME. There are appx 100+ individuals that still carry the surname in Ukraine. I found none in Ozerna, but that means nothing. Telephones are still a luxury for many in Ukrainian villages.
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I don't have a great deal of time today, but your ancestral village comes with a lots of history, which I promise to provide you.

It was founded in 1469 on the Vosushka River. During WW2 (specifically in 1941) it sustained a great deal of devastation, but it still exists today with a population of 3,615 people.

Today selo/village Ozerna > Zborivskij (Zboriv) raion/district > Ternopilska (Ternopil) oblast/region > Ukraine, latest zip 47264.

[kkemnitzer]

Hello Hannia,
It is pretty exciting that you have found some info. I have been working on this for a year or two now, and while I have picked up a vocabulary of a few hundred Ukrainian words, I haven't been able to find any info more specific than histories of Ternopil. Thank you for your help.

[Hannia]

Following is a quick read which explains how it is that your immigrant ancestors came from Austria.

www.infoukes.com/genealogy/tracz/baba.html.
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From late 18th century to 1919, wies/village Jezierna was a fair size village with both a Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic Church and a Jewish Kahal of its own. Zlochow was both the POWIAT (county/administrative district) and the GMINA (judicial/tax district) > Lwowskie wojiwodstwo/region > Galicia/Halyczyna Province, administered by ethnic Poles for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. From 1919-1938, this region came under Reconstituted Poland's domain. Technically Poland had not existed as a geopolitical entity for the previous 125 yrs. The Reconstituted Polish govt geographically moved your village into the Zborow powiat and gmina > Tarnopilskie (Tarnipol) wojowodstwo. With exception of Halyczyna (transliterated from Ukrainian), all previous place names are in Polish language. Post WW2 this region became a part of SSR Ukraine, under Soviet domain until 1991, when Ukraine became independent.

LDS has filmed some old Jezierna/Ozerna Church Records. Problem is that GC Records have been filmed up until 1867 and RC Records up until 1935. You will need to cover the gap w/an inquiry @Lviv Historical Archives. Prices at the Archives have gone up. Nowadays it is more economical to have a local perform the research for you. One of our members, IreneLviv is a crackerkjack at archival research. Her rates are very fair and the quality of her work has been reported as exc. If you like, you can even have her perform a personal inquiry re any direct-line surviving family still residing in the village.
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Very important resource for anyone researching family in Galicia/Halyczyna.

Genealogy of Halychyna and Eastern Galicia

PS> I'm in NYC. Where in VT are you?

[kkemnitzer]

Hi Hannia,

Just to be sure I understand this correctly, Jezierna had a change in government right? It wasn't physically moved, such as the forced resettlements in the area after World War 2?
The problem I am having with my family history in Ukraine is that a few things don't make sense. For example 5 of 13 children dying. As far as I can tell some people were very unhappy in Galicia in the 1890's and many people emigrated, but the Austria-Hungarian empire was enabling some cultural programs, local government, and investment like the railroad, so no one was fighting very much. There is more to the story that I haven't been able to find out with regular history books. I know they spoke "Ruthenian Ukrainian" so I can guess a little, but it is pretty vague guesses.

It would be nice to know the names of another generation or two back from the archives, but what I really want to know is what was going on and that is why I was asking about local historical societies. Perhaps if Irene found an older family member (or other older person from Ozerna) they might remember some history? My greatgrandmother was Orthodox, my mother has told me that as a child she was glad when they went to the Catholic services here because they lasted only an hour or two instead of all day.

I am from Windsor, VT, but the Ulchaks and Naczas relatives were in Boston. I have to say that the rural areas of Vermont look very much like some of the pictures and videos of the Carpathians in Galicia, sometimes I put Ukrainian music on the radio while I am driving and it is very easy to believe that I am in one of the videos. It is interesting that telephones are a luxury in some of the villages, (although I do have several friends here who don't have phones either), I had scanned your telephone book lists last winter and never saw one for Ternopil. I've noticed that there aren't very many websites for 250,000 people in Ternopil either. Making connections seems to be a big problem, even with all the schools in Ternopil.

Best wishes

[Hannia]

Jezierna had a change in government right? It wasn't physically moved,

The people were ethnically Ukrainian, but were under the domain of the Austro-Hungarian govt (Hapsburg Emperor) then under Reconstituted Poland's domain for appx 20 yrs and then under Soviets. Under the various domains district names would frequently change and the names of places would take on the language of the ruler du jour.

5 of 13 children dying

Bare in mind that at the tail end of the 19th century into early 20th century there were major typhoid and cholera epidemics in what is Western Ukraine today. The other reason could have been just the normal mortality of children in that time frame. Many never made it thru being born.

Have you ever read the book Arrowsmith? Perpetual Fever was a killer of both newborns and their mothers worldwide.

Ruthenian Ukrainian

Ruthenian is an artificial political label, imposed by the Brest-Litovsk Agreement in the 16th century. Poland led the campaign, looking to convert the Christian Orthdox to Greek Catholicism and bring them under the papacy, anyway they could..
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Try browsing Ukrainian Encylcopedia.
Encyclopedia of Ukraine

[kkemnitzer]

Hi Hannia,

It's taken awhile to reply because I was finishing reading Anna Reid's book "Borderland", it was good but needs to be updated, it ends just before the Orange Revolution. Also, I actually have the first volume of Ukraine Encyclopedia in hard copy, but the online version you pointed out is better.

The meaning of Ruthenian to me has been just a term I found for language on 1920's and 1930's US Census forms for the Ulchaks. I then used it to narrow down the part of Galicia, (eastern half) with Austria Hungarian 1890 and 1905 census and ethnic group maps, before I finally found the ship's lists. Your reference to the 1600's made me first go to Wikipedia (where they labled it "culturally loaded"), and then go back to the Union of Lublin. Hmmm, is there a better term nowadays?

I am thinking that what I would really like is contact with a person living somewhere near Ozerna, family or not. I think I will put a posting on your penpal board. In the meantime, could Irene please give me an idea of the cost of either a search in the archives, or contacting an Ulchak in Ozerna?

I caught your citation of the book "Austro-Hungarian life in town and country, 1903" and have started reading it, thanks for the information, I really appreciate it.