My Family History Research

Charles is not a Ukrainian name.

My DNA cousin, MK, was the granddaughter of Earle Krause. I wrote about the Krause DNA Cousins in Chicago, but MK did not know as much about her grandmother’s family, and wanted to learn more. Earle had married Olga Donchak Laadt in Chicago in 1949. MK heard of Olga‘s mother, Anna, speaking only Ukrainian and attending Orthodox church her whole life. When she died, Anna had an Orthodox funeral. Anna brought an embroidered dress (vyshyvanka) with her when she emigrated from Ukraine. Anna passed the embroidery to her daughter Olga. When Olga passed, MK‘s mother held it for safe-keeping. The embroidery is now a treasured heirloom in the Krause family.

Olga Donchek‘s Social Security record showed she was born in Chicago, Illinois, on 20 Aug 1918 to Charles Donchek and Anna Trush.

Name Olga Donchek
Gender Female
Race White
Birth Date 20 Aug 1918
Birth Place Chicago, Illinois
Death Date 30 Apr 2000
Father Charles Donchek
Mother Anna Trush
SSN 321019383

United States Social Security abstract, Olga Donchek

MK knew her grandmother’s sister Lucy was a bit older and had been born in the old country. MK also knew that Olga‘s brother Henry, like Olga, had been born in Chicago. MK had been looking for more information about her family’s origins in Ukraine, but had not found them.

She had found some clues. The 1930 census showed MK‘s grandmother Olga with her parents Charles and Anna and brother Henry.

Charles Donchek was listed as “PA.” He had declared his intention to become an American citizen, and filed “first papers.” We went looking for his declaration of intention and found he filed in 1929 as Kiril Donchek.

Kiril Donczyk

The Ukrainian given name Кирило is of Greek origin. Although in Ukrainian, Кирило is Kyrylo, the Russian name is Kirill and Kiril in Bulgarian and Macedonian. I recognized the name because my youngest grandson’s middle name is Cyrille, from his dad’s French-American grandfather Cyrille, who was called Cyril in English. Wikipedia has pages for the names Kiril and Cyril.

In order to become naturalized, Kiril had to show when he entered the country, so he needed a “certificate of arrival.” When they looked it up on the passenger manifest, they marked a court code on the manifest. It ties the ship manifest and the naturalization record together.

Kiril left behind his wife Anna Donczyk in Pawolocz (Kiev) Russia.

On 6 March 1936 Kiril Donchek petitioned for naturalization in the United States District Court in Chicago, Illinois.

On 10 November 1936 Kiril Donchek took the Oath of Allegiance. He renounced his affiliation with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and became an United States citizen.

Children

Kiril and Anna had these children:

• Пелагея, Pelaheya, born 10 March 1908, in Russia; Lucille “Lucy” (Donchek) Widuch died 13 March 2002.
• Ольга, Olga, born 14 Jan 1915, died 10 Feb 1915, in Chicago, Illinois; buried in Elmwood Cemetery, River Grove, Cook, Illinois.
• Ананій (Ananiy), Annany, born 10 October 1916, in Chicago, Illinois; Private Henry C. Donchek died 16 October 1944 and was buried in Liège, Belgium.
• Ольга (listen), Olga, born 20 August 1918, in Chicago, Illinois; Olga Anna Donchek Laadt Krause died 30 Apr 2000.

Anna and Pelagia Donczenko

Anna and Pelagia Donczenko left Libau, Russia, on 13 March 1914 on the ship Czar. Now known as Liepāja, the city is a Baltic port in western Latvia. Their timing was fortuitous. In June 1914, Austro-Hungarian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, which precipitated the Great War (World War I) in July 1914. Almost all shipping and immigration was curtailed. Anna and Pelagia left behind Anna’s father, Maxim Trush (Максим Труш) in Kiev gubernia of Russia with a destination of Chicago, Illinois.

Anna and Pelagia Donczenko arrived at the port of New York on 27 March 1914. The manifest said they were going to Anna‘s husband O. Donczenko at 1144 Des Plaines Street, Chicago, Illinois.

Anna and Pelagia were detained at Ellis Island while a telegram for money (tel $) was sent to Anna‘s husband Kyril at 1144 Des Plaines Street, Chicago, Illinois. Anna and Pelagia were released 29 March 1914, after eating 4 breakfasts, 2 dinners, and 4 suppers, which were charged to the shipping line.

The ship manifest was marked when Pelagea petitioned for naturalization in 1942. By that time she was married to Peter Dargis and using the name Lucy Marie. There is no code for Anna, so she probably never naturalized.

Pelagea Darges, also known as Lucy Marie Dargis, petitioned for naturalization in the United States District Court in Chicago, Illinois, on 27 February 1942.

Pelagea Darges swore an oath of allegiance and became an United States citizen on 1 April 1942.

As they assimilated in America, Kiril became Charles or Carl, and Pelagia became Lucy Marie. It is remarkable that these naturalization papers are available online, because they tell a family story back to the old country.

Pavoloch, Паволоч, Ukraine

While Pelagia‘s naturalization petition lists Kiev Pavlich as her place of birth; her father’s naturalization record specifies the village of Pavoloch. In Ukrainian, it is Паволоч.

Wikipedia says:

Pavoloch, also known as Pavolitsh in Yiddish, Pawolotsch in German, and Pawołocz in Polish, is a selo in Popilnia Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine. It was a town of the Cossack Hetmanate and an administrative seat of Pavoloch Regiment (province).

…Pavoloch is 100 km. southwest of Kiev, in the Zhytomyrska oblast.

…Pavoloch’s geography is fairly flat, with forested plains. It is on the Rostovista River, also known as the Dnieper Basin.

Pavoloch Wikipedia entry

The Orthodox Church records (births, marriages, deaths) for the Pokrovskai︠a︡ Church in Pavoloch, Skvira, Kiev, Russia; later Pavoloch, Popil′ni︠a︡, Z︠H︡ytomr, Ukraine are online at https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1429067, but they are in Russian/Ukrainian, and I cannot read them.

Sources

• Wikipedia contributors, “Ukrainian name,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ukrainian_name&oldid=1011492385 (accessed April 11, 2021).
• Wikipedia contributors, “Ukrainian surnames,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ukrainian_surnames&oldid=1008180993 (accessed April 11, 2021).
• Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File
• Year: 1930; Census Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 2628; FHL microfilm: 2340190
• Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois, U.S., Deaths Index, 1878-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
• Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois, U.S., Birth Certificates Index, 1871-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
• Ancestry.com. Global, Find a Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
• Year: 1910; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 14; Page Number: 197
• Year: 1914; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 4; Page Number: 150
• National Archives at Chicago; Chicago, Illinois; ARC Title: Petitions for Naturalization, 1906-1991; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: RG 21
• National Archives at Chicago; Chicago, Illinois; ARC Title: Petitions for Naturalization for the United States District and Circuit Courts, Northern District of Illinois and Immigration and Naturalization Service District 9, 1840-1950; NAI Number: M1285; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; Record Group Number: RG 85
• National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Soundex Index to Naturalization Petitions for the United States District and Circuit Courts, Northern District of Illinois and Immigration and Naturalization Service District 9, 1840-1950 (M1285); Microfilm Serial: M1285; Microfilm Roll: 47
• Wikipedia contributors, “Liepāja,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Liep%C4%81ja&oldid=1014180191 (accessed April 11, 2021).
• Wikipedia contributors, “Pavoloch,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pavoloch&oldid=932036401 (accessed April 11, 2021).
• PAWOŁOCZ Town Hall. View of the square with one-story residential buildings and a one-story town hall with arcaded arcades and a dormer topped with a triangular gable; on the right, in the background, the facade of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; on the left is the helmet of the belfry. Inscription: Pavoloch, Ukraine; Pavoloch ; the inscription on the background: G. Kijowska Pawołocz, – the town square. http://www.pinakoteka.zascianek.pl/Orda/Orda_Ukraina_R1.htm 1870-1874. Pencil drawing painted with watercolor. 19.9 x 27.5 cm. National Museum, Krakow. III-ra 2862. (Teka Ukraine).