Hi Ashlynn,

Yes, your last name was bit Americanized. Its original spelling was Мулярчик or Mularczyk (in PL), pronounced with "soft-L" like in "lia". Muliar or mularz(PL) means mason, so "mularczik" would be mason-apprentice.

Horodenka (Городенка) is a small town, a county center in Ivano-Frankivsk (former Stanislawow) region, West Ukraine. First mentioned in records close to 1200, now had over 9,000 people. Famous people from there, listed (on Wiki): Poles, Jews, Ruthenian/Ukrainian last names.

Serafyntsi (Серафинці) - a village of 2,300 people, first mentioned in 1500, located 3-4 miles S-E of Horodenka.

Both are close to Dniester river and border with Chernivtsi region.

What sub ethnic groups?

It looks like the region is a borderland of Hutsuls and Bukovyna - so Rusyns from both groups could reside there.

There are records for Austrian "Greek Catholic Church. Serafińce (Horodenka)" 1857-1925 on FamilySearch. You would need the names, approximate years to narrow your search.

Rachel:  Good explanation of GALICIA, including Ruthenian Language, borders, and countries that governed this area through the centuries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galicia_(Eastern_Europe).

Rachel,

A village elder was one of a select few in the village.  They would be the arbiters of minor disputes among the villagers.

Tom

Marriages in Wierchomla Mala

No. 1

17 February 1907

House No. 43 Wierchomla Wielka

Groom: Thadeus Fedorczak, son of Nicholas Fedorczak& Xenia Kiczura, farmers in Wierchomla Wielka.

Greek Catholic

Born 2 Sept 1876

unmarried

Bride: Julianna Szczawinski, dau of Alexij Szczawinski & Tekla Dziubinska, village elder here (Wierchomla Mala).

Greek Catholic

unmarried

Born 6 October 1890

Witnesses: Adam Hutyszak, farmer in Wierchomla Wielka. Theodor Laszenyk, farmer in Szczawnik.

http://www.skany.przemysl.ap.gov.pl/show.php?zesp=142&cd=0&ser=0&syg=7407

Online records of Wierchomla Wielka:

http://www.skany.przemysl.ap.gov.pl/show.php?zesp=142&cd=0&ser=0&syg=7407

1883-1913

1857-1882

http://www.skany.przemysl.ap.gov.pl/show.php?zesp=142&cd=0&ser=0&syg=7406

1811-1840

http://www.skany.przemysl.ap.gov.pl/show.php?zesp=142&cd=0&ser=0&syg=7404

1784-1836

http://www.skany.przemysl.ap.gov.pl/show.php?zesp=142&cd=0&ser=0&syg=7403

Tom Peters

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Laine,

After much research, you might consider trying to obtain the death certificates for Andrew Pawlak and Eva Stopen.  There is very little out there on this family. The birthdate for Andrew 24 March 1878 does not match anyone from Pielgrzymka or Wola Cieklinska.  If you know where any of the children were baptized, please advise.  If you have any family documents that might shed some light, can you post them please.  There are at least 3 Stopen families in Petna.  The one listed on the Ancestry site has a notation about a death in 1920 so I am not convinced that this is your person.  There is a gap in the birth records of Petna from 1879-1891 so if she was born in this period, that is an additional problem.  Please write back as we wish to help.

Tom Peters

Thanks so much for getting back to me. My info on Eva is pretty solid. Here's the death info I have on Andrew - https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/194836597/andrew-pawlak

Here he is on FamilySearch - https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/G4GS-Q37

Through 23andMe I’ve connected with others who I am relate to through the Pawlak line, and I’ve traced those lines back to people contemporary with and even preceding Andrew, but I have yet to make a solid connection to him, from those lines. I can give you some of that info, to see if it helps:

John Pawlak, born 20 Apr 1886 in Jaslo, Austria, Galicia; 23andMe thinks his great grandson is my 3rd cousin.

John Pawlak Sr (1883-1944), died Allegheny County, PA; 23nMe thinks his great granddaughter is my 3rd cousin.

Wasyl Pelak, born 11 May 1887 in Wola Cieklinska, Jaslo, Austria (Galicia), died 26 Jan 1928 in Laflin, Luzerne, Pennsylvania; 23nMe thinks his grandson is my 3rd cousin.

So I am betting Andrew (Andrzej?) was born in Jaslo County.  I think he may have lived in Yonkers in 1925 but I've been unable to access the NY census for that year, so far. Birth dates range from 1877-1882, 77-78 seem most likely. Censuses suggested immigration as early as 1893 and as late as 1895, but I found a record from 1897 that I think is him coming in through Baltimore. He lived in Manhattan and the Bronx. I don't have a marriage record, I think they married after immigrating, but I don't know it. They had their 1st child - my grandfather - in 1902 in NY.