John Kasich: A Carpatho-Rusyn Pennsylvanian

While Governor John Kasich has been involved in Ohio state politics since 1983, he was born and raised in Pennsylvania.

He also describes himself as

the son of a postal worker and the grandson of a coal miner. His grandfather was so poor, Mr. Kasich recently told voters in New Hampshire, that he would bring home scraps of his lunch to share with his children. “They would even be able to taste the coal mine in that lunch,” Mr. Kasich said. “Some of you can relate to that.”
("John Kasich Balances His Blue-Collar Roots and Ties to Wall Street," New York Times, Aug. 24, 2015)

Wikipedia currently describes his background and ancestry as follows:

Kasich was born in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, an industrial town near Pittsburgh. He is the son of Anne (Vukovich) and John Kasich, who worked as a mail carrier. Kasich's father was of Czech descent, while his mother was of Croatian ancestry. Both his father and mother were children of immigrants and were practicing Roman Catholics. He has described himself as "a Croatian and a Czech". ("John Kasich," Wikipedia, accessed March 8, 2016)

We know that Czech immigrants in Pennsylvania were few and far between. Is Gov. Kasich really, as he has said, of Czech ancestry?

His parents, who both died in August 1987 as a result of an automobile accident, are buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery in McKees Rocks:

(Photo: R. Custer)

Press Coverage: Eastern Catholic Life, January 2016

As I continue trying to place articles on my book & blog in some print publications read by Americans of Rusyn background, the latest is in the Eastern Catholic Life, the newspaper of the Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Passaic.

While there's no new ground here for those who have already been reading the blog, here it is for your interest. Thanks to ECL editor Father James Badeaux for publishing the article, and for devoting an entire page to it.

Original material is © by the author, Richard D. Custer; all rights reserved.

Press Coverage of October 2015 Presentation in Pittston, Pa.

"The steady morning rain on Saturday, October 3rd did not stop those wishing to learn about their ancestry from attending a very special program hosted by St. Michael’s Byzantine Catholic Church, 205 N. Main Street, Pittston. In fact, quite a few participants made the journey from neighboring states in spite of the weather, including from New Jersey, Maryland, New York, and even Florida. Many came from other parts of Pennsylvania for the program that was held 9 am to 3 pm in the church hall.

Entitled “Celebrating the Present/Understanding the Past”, three speakers were featured. They were sponsored by the Eastern PA Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society: Rich Custer, Dr. Michele Parvensky, and Dr. Peter Yasenchak. All three captivated those in attendance with their expertise of Carpatho-Rusyn history. But they also entertained with their lively presentations."

The Eastern Catholic Life newspaper of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic included a detailed writeup of the program, including some information about yours truly's presentation. (The presentation will be published in online form on this blog in the near future.)

Click to display the complete article.

Original material is © by the author, Richard D. Custer; all rights reserved.

Johnstown Slavic Festival Presentation: “From the Carpathians to the Alleghenies: Carpatho-Rusyn Immigrants in the Greater Johnstown Area”

The first Johnstown Simply Slavic Festival was held Saturday, September 19, 2015 at the Heritage Discovery Center in Johnstown, Pa. The Carpatho-Rusyn Society provided a Rusyn genealogy/culture display and sales table.

The festival included a speaker program as follows:

• Connie Martin: Genealogical Research in Slavic Countries;
• Dr. Michael Kopanic: The History of Slovakia;
• Susan Kalcik: Kroje Slovenska: Folk Dress and Slovak Identity in the Old and New Worlds;
• Bob Rychlik: Demonstration of the Fujara Flute;
• Bob Dvorchak: Mike and Annie: A Family History;
• Steve Purich: My Experience as a Serbian Immigrant to Johnstown;
• Richard Custer: From the Carpathians to the Alleghenies: Carpatho-Rusyn Immigrants in the Greater Johnstown Area.

My presentation was primarily visual, numbering over 180 slides used to tell the story of the development of Carpatho-Rusyn community institutions in the area of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, including northern Cambria County, Somerset County, and parts of Indiana County. Here I present a synopsis of the presentation, and of necessity only a selection of the slides, briefly annotated for the online viewer's aid in following the presentation without my original verbal explanation.

Synopsis:
Carpatho-Rusyns first settled the Johnstown area in 1887 and began to establish their own churches and other institutions. Other Rusyn immigrant centers quickly developed: Barnesboro, Patton, Windber, South Fork, Conemaugh, Portage, and beyond, with thousands of Rusyn immigrants making this area their home, and making up a strong part of the workforce of the local steel mills and coal mines.

The Kubek Project & the first West End Walking Tour of Mahanoy City

A new website is the home of The Emil Kubek Project, "a scholarly resource dedicated to researching and publishing the history of the Slavic and Eastern European communities in Pennsylvania’s Coal Region. ...The project is named in honor of Father Emil Kubek (1857-1940), a resident of Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, who was an amateur agronomist, accomplished lexicographer, beloved priest, and prolific writer of journalism, poetry, short stories, and the first Carpatho-Rusyn novel... As a prominent cultural and spiritual leader of the Carpatho-Rusyn community in Mahanoy City, Father Kubek exemplified the qualities of a humanist in every sense of the word. As such, the Emil Kubek Project embodies the spirit of its namesake by providing insight into the art, economics, history, literature, and religion of the Coal Region’s Slavic and Eastern European immigrant communities and their enduring legacy today."

The Kubek Project invites the public to join them on November 22, 2015 for the first ever West End Walking Tour of Mahanoy City:

Original material is © by the author, Richard D. Custer; all rights reserved.

"Independent" Rusyn Cemeteries

On a seasonal theme... (Happy Halloween!)
Rusyn cemeteries provide some of the most lasting and informative evidence of the characteristics and personalities of a given Rusyn immigrant settlement. In Pennsylvania, the large majority of Rusyn churches have their own cemeteries. In urban areas like Philadelphia, Erie, and Johnstown, large Catholic or nonsectarian cemeteries serve alongside or instead of parish cemeteries as the final resting place of many Rusyn immigrants. And parish histories typically describe the establishment of a cemetery, or at least the year the land was purchased.

However, there is a third category of Rusyn cemetery whose history can be difficult to document. These are "independent" cemeteries founded by Rusyn immigrants and/or their children, usually in rural areas not directly served by a Rusyn church, but not exclusively so.

(this section updated 10/20/15)
I'm aware of at least 7 independent Rusyn (/Russian/Ukrainian) cemeteries that exist apart from any church, in Pennsylvania:

1. Ss. Peter & Paul Cemetery in Duryea, Luzerne Co.
   (chartered as St. Peters Russian Greek Catholic Cemetery Association of Duryea in 1914)
2. Ss. Peter & Paul Eastern Greek Catholic Cemetery in Freeland, Luzerne Co.
   (chartered as St. Peter & St. Paul Eastern Greek Catholic Cemetery of Freeland in 1935)
3. St. Nicholas Russian Greek Catholic Cemetery in Nicholson (Starkville), Wyoming Co.
4. St. Mary's Russian Orthodox Cemetery in Pittsfield, Warren Co. (mainly Ukrainians are buried there, though)
5. Carpathian Russian Greek Orthodox Cemetery in Pleasant Mount, Susquehanna Co.
6. St. Mary's Russian Cemetery in Thompson, Susquehanna Co.
7. Saints Cyril & Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery of the Postupack Families Association in Weatherly, Carbon Co.

Also in Edwardsville (Luzerne Co.) and Catasauqua (Lehigh Co.), there were de facto Russian Orthodox parish cemeteries actually owned by fraternal lodges, not the parish, that were eventually sold to the local parish. When ownership was transferred, the name of the Edwardsville cemetery (located in Pringle) was actually changed -- from St. Nicholas (the name of the society that owned it) to St. John the Baptist (the name of the parish).

Despite dwindling attendance, area Ukrainian Catholic churches vibrant (news story)

Despite dwindling attendance, area Ukrainian Catholic churches vibrant
By Paul Golias, Correspondent
Citizens Voice (Wilkes-Barre, PA), October 5, 2015

At 8 a.m. every Sunday, Mickey Kmietowicz of Glen Lyon unlocks the doors to St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, nestled at the base of a mountain at the entrance of the Glen Lyon section of Newport Township.

Parishioners begin to trickle in and soon the pastor, the Rev. John Seniw, arrives following a drive from Berwick where he also serves as pastor of SS. Cyril and Methodius Ukrainian Catholic Church.

By 8:30, Kmietowicz has lighted the candles and some 45 parishioners celebrate the Divine Liturgy. A choir of four people sings a cappella. As per Ukrainian tradition, there is no organ.

Within minutes of the service ending, the collection is tallied in the church hall. The pastor meets briefly with a few parishioners. By 10, the church is closed and it will remain closed until the following Sunday, barring a church event or a funeral.

This is life in a small Eastern rite parish. These churches remain viable and even vibrant with diminished numbers because the faithful refuse to quit.

“The church has been our whole life. As we grew up, it was all based on that,” Kmietowicz said.