Once again…a bold step has lead to more information.
Since this family search began, I have not hesitated in leaving a stone unturned without leaving a small comment that might trigger a possible response to my family research.
Today,I received an email response to a comment I made to a photograph of a picture from the village my grandfather was born.
Using search engines for both data and images can be a dubious quest. Evidently, back on June this was one such occasion. On that day, I stumbled upon a set of pictures posted to a Picasa account by a woman named Olga.
Here were the first pictures of the village and surrounding landscape of Sabadash. It was this nice shot of what looked like the end of someone’s backyard looking out onto a field that caught my eye.
It was photo 2 of 55 of her album.
This is what I wrote as a comment to that photo on Jun 15, 2011 5:36 PM:
“olga...my grandfather was born in sabadash...his name was prokofi lysysanyuk...if i am correct. thanks for posting these pictures...as i am doing our family genealogy and have no other connection to the village than his stories...but, no pictures or relatives that i know of. thanks again for sharing these!”
I had not given it much thought that I would ever receive a response. But, today proved me wrong.
Here is the email that I received from her:
Date: Saturday Oct 1, 2011
subject: Сообщение из профиля / Your grandfather is from Sabadash
Dear Karen, Sorry my silence to your request for a long time (in fact - a comment to picture). Concerning Sabadash village: We are not natives of this village. We bought a house there in 1988. But over these years we have got to know someone, especially my mother. She talked with older people in the village and gathered information about your relatives. Your grandfather Prokofiy Lysenyuk went to America before the Revolution of 1917. His brothers and sisters remained in the village. He maintained contact with relatives and sent them money for some time. Then communications broke down. At this moment, Vera Nikitichna Gumenyuk, a daughter of your grandfather’s sister Lida, lives in Sabadash. She is very old and unhealthy person. She has two daughters, Anna and Olena, and three grandchildren. Anna’s – son Andriy and daughter Lesya; Olena’s – daughter Julia. If you wish to contact anyone of them, please do not hesitate to reply me in so far. I will pass everything to recipient. Best regards, Olga KatsoThis was my Saturday surprise.
The best part of this email was the fact that I found out that my grandfather had a sister and her name was Lida. This was something, I believe, no one knew in the family. So, her daughter Vera must be of the same generation as my remaining aunt and uncle and thus, first cousins.
I wrote her back and this is a part of what I said recapping what she said in bold:
Your grandfather Prokofiy Lysenyuk went to America before the Revolution of 1917.Since receiving her reply today, I have gone back to her online album and added these from her post.
my understanding is that he emigrated in 1914 a year after his half-brother Vasily left in 1913. they both first went to canada, then the united states.
His brothers and sisters remained in the village.
i only recall a story that he sent ribbons to his sisters for their hair.
question 1: can i get the names and dates of all his siblings? both full and half-brother and sisters along with names and dates of his parents?
i only know of his half-brother vasily (william) who was older...and i think born in 1891.there was also a cousin gyorgi (george) who also emigrated. he disappeared from the family in the USA during the 1930s.
He maintained contact with relatives and sent them money for some time. Then communications broke down
my understanding is that our grandfather stopped sending letters because he was told that the rest of his family had been killed/died in the early 1930s. i think this is also why he never spoke about them...because it made him sad.
question 2: is it true that many family members died during that time?
question 3: is it also true that his parents (my great-grandparents) died during the revolution from being chased from their home into the wet marshes along the river and then, died from pneumonia? this is a story my aunt told me.
I do hope to hear either back from her or one of the relatives…which one? I do not know.
Researching my ancestry is much like finding the right one to share your life…once you find them, you don’t let go.
Hoping this is the first of many exchanges between both Olga and my relatives in Sabadash.
All photographs from Sabadash courtesy of Olga Katso.
