Portrait of an Ancestor in One Year

Here’s another ancestor portrait from the year 1918, contributed by Pam from our Genealogy Networking Group. I love how Pam took clues from other people in Fidor’s life and used them to guess at where Fidora was at the time. I also think it’s important to note that even when we don’t know every detail about an ancestor, we can still describe them and bring a little life to their timeline. In Pam’s profile, we see a young family on the move, perhaps in search of a better life, with friends dear enough to relocate with. When we look at Fidora’s photo, we see a young woman who is far away from her birth family but has a family of her own and close friends nearby, not unlike many other immigrants of the day.

Fidora Petrynich Litwinchuk
This year a century ago

In 1918 my Grandmother, Fidora (Dorothy) Petrynich Litwinchuk, was 32. She had been married for 11 years to Grigor Anthony Litwinchuk, and had 4 children, Zenaida,(Jen) 10, Fidora (Dorothy) 8,  Tovale (Mollie) 4, and Anthony 2. She was living either in Pennsylvania, near Lyndora, or had just moved to Chicago (Pullman), moving from place to place with her family and best friends, Max and Cho Cho Meade, with their son born 1917 in Pennsylvania, and daughter born 1919 Chicago.)  She was at least in Chicago on  2 December 1919, according to her daughter Jen’s school records.  If she was in Lyndora, her husband was working in a coal mine, if she was in Chicago, her husband was working for Pullman Train Car Co.  It is unknown if she was working outside the home.

In 1918 she had been living in the US for 6 years, having immigrated from the family farm in Antopol, Russian Federation, now Belarus. She had immigrated through Canada to New York

Within 3 years she had 2 more daughters, Hope ( Nadje) and Marie ( Manya)

She had been born with a twin, but the twin had died young.(?)  It is unclear if her parents were living in 1918 or where they were, but her mother was living in the Russian Federation in 1912. She had a brother who immigrated to Canada but it is unclear if he was alive in 1918. Her father’s name and other siblings are unknown.