Nosiv/Nosow/Nosov village

[crs175]

After many years of research, I have come to find that my family originated in the village Nosiv/Nosow/Nosov which is in the Podhajce district (Ternopilska region) of western Ukraine. The surnames associated with my family include Popik and Prokop (sometimes spelled Prokopiv). My great-grandmother and her first husband left this village in approximately 1910 for the Northeastern United States.

The question I have is what are the next steps for someone who is unfamiliar with the languages of the area? I have not been able to ascertain whether any of my family remains in this area or anything at all about the village they are from. Any help would be very appreciated.

[Hannia]

Hello again Christine,

Please reread previous posts.

Vitalij's E-Mail - vivandr@brandeis.edu

http://old.ukraine.com/forums/showth...?threadid=7055

[Hannia]

From late 18th century to 1919 wies/village Nosow (Polish name) was a predominantly Ruthenian village w/its own Greek Catholic Church> Podhajce was both the administrative and judicial/tax district > Tarnipol Wojiwoidstwo > Galicia, administered by ethnic Poles for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The filial Roman Catholic Church was in Zawalow. The Jewish
Kahal was also located in Zawalow.

Most of the villages in this immediate area date back to 12th century. The area was settled by Cossacks in 14/16th century, who acted as protectors against Tartar hoards.

[crs175]

Thank you for replying Hannia It took me years to find out what village my great-grandmother came from. I appreciate all the help you provided back a few years ago when I first posted.

One question...is the Ruthenian/Rusyn language similar enough to either Russian/Ukrainian or Polish to be understood by a speaker of these three languages? The reason for my question is, as tradition was back then, my ggrandmother remarried quickly after her first husband died. The man she married has been described as Russian on the US Census, but is listed as having the name John Krause (which apparently was changed from Krawiec per my grandmother's birth certificate). If I am correct, Krawiec is a fairly common Polish surname? I'm trying to sort out where my great grandparents met and how they knew each other in an effort to find out where my great-grandfather is from. That is why I am trying to figure out if they would have been readily able to understand each other given that they spoke different languages. With a name like John Krawiec, I need to be creative

[Hannia]

Christine,

GGrandmother was very likely bilingual (speaking Ukrainian & Polish), or even trilingual (speaking German). Most Ruthenians***in Galicia/Halychyna were.

Although Nosiv was predominantly a Ruthenian village, there were some Poles in your ancestral village and many Poles in the immediate district and region.

***Submit RUTHENIAN in TITLE SEARCH.
http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/

From late 18th century to 1919 there was no such geopolitical entity as Poland. The Kingdom of Poland had been partitioned and divided out of existence for about 125 yrs. A part of it was incorporated into Galicia, under Austrian domain, and the northern part came under Czarist Russian domain.

John Kraviec (think surname means tailor) could have been ethnically Polish, coming from what was at the time, the Russian dominated part of the former Kingdom of Poland? His citizenship would read as Russian, just as your GGrandmother's citizenship read as Austrian.

This following article may help clarify these issues for you. Apply it generally and it will help you understand, why John (Jan or Ivan) could have been from Russia
in his lifetime.

"Did Your Baba Come from Austria?" by Orysia Tracz
http://www.infoukes.com/genealogy/tracz/baba.html

It is also possible that John Kraviec was Rusyn (not Russian, pronounced Ru-thene) /LEMKO. He would have been Greek Catholic (his forefathers would have been Christian Orthodox) and he would have been emigrating from Austria (Galicia), in today's geography, SE POLAND.

LEMKOs | Lemkivshchyna | Lemkovyna | Lemko | Boyko | Rusyn | Rusnak | Ruthenians | Carpatho-Ruthenians, etc.....
http://lemko.org/

If John was a Lemko (micro-ethnic Ruthenian group), he would have spoken a dialect that your GGrandmother would have understood.

Think of it this way, although you may be residing in NE USA, you can certainly understand Cagian English spoken by the Bayou people in Louisiana.

PS> In the 1919-1939 time frame, anyone emigrating from GGrandmother's village would have been coming from the Reconstituted Republic of Poland. Post WW2 until 1981, they would have been emigrating from the Soviet Union.

[crs175]

Once again, thank you for your help

I think that I have found my ggrandfather on the Ellis Island site (based on arrival date, birthdate, nationality, and area going to in the US listed, I was able to eliminate all but one individual). The town listed on Ellis Island as the origination point is Dabrowka, Austria, with the Nationality being Austrian-Polish. He was traveling with several people, including some with the surname Mozdzierz. Based on the town name (and there seem to be quite a few places with this name) and research into the name Mozdzierz, I am thinking this may be the Dabrowka located in Małopolska Voivodship, Nowy Sącz County.

From what I have read, the Małopolska Voivodship area was part of Galicia.

Does this seem too assumptive?

Thank you very much again for any help you can provide.

Christine

[crs175]

It seems my copying of Polish characters did not come through. Hopefully it is still readable. Małopolska should be Malopolska and Nowy Sącz County should be Nowy Sacz County.