Ozerna/Jezeirna: Ancestral Home of the Koshuba Family

Ozerna is located 13 miles west of Ternopil" and 9 miles west of Zbirov

Ternopil' in relation to Ukraine and surrounding countries

The Kociuba family emigrated from the town of Ozerna, Ukraine, to the United States in the beginning of the 20th century.  They Americanized their surname, Kociuba to Koshuba when they settled in the United States. When they lived in Ozerna, it was part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and was known as Jezierna.
Ozerna is on the Vysuska River and Lake Vysuska.  The Vysuska is a tributary of the Strypa River, which flows into the Dniester, and eventually into the Black Sea. The population is about 3,000 today, but when the Koshubas lived there, around 1900 it was almost 5,000 people. Although I know quite a bit about the Koshuba family in Minnesota, I know very little about their life in Europe.  Feodor and Maria Koshuba had five children, three boys and two girls. Of the boys, the oldest was Joseph, born in 1885, John, born in 1891 and Stephen, born in 1899.  The girls included Tecla, the oldest child, born in 1883 and Anna, born in 1897.  Tecla married Peter Wons in 1903 in Ozerna. My grandmother told me that that there was another son, Michaylo, but I have found no information about him.

The Koshuba Family. Tecla, Maria, Anna, Joseph, Feodor, and John. This was probably taken around 1898, since Stephen, born in 1899 is not in the picture. Photo: collection of Ed Wons.

The town's strategic location, on a river and surrounded by mountains made it an attractive place for Polish lords to settle.  In 1545, Jan Tarnowski,  founder of Ternopil' took over the village located where Ozerna is today.  In 1615, it was purchased by Yakob Sobieski, father  of the future king of Poland, Jan Sobieski.  He built a castle on a mountain overlooking the town and in 1636, built a Roman Catholic Church.  In 1667, the Tartars destroyed the town, but it was rebuilt and thrived. Many members of the Sobieski family continued to lived there.

 I n 1772, Ozerna became part of the Austrian Empire in the first partition of Poland. It remained part of the Empire until 1918, when the Austrian Empire collapsed in 1919 after World War One.  The Western Ukrainian Republic ruled for a short time, and Ozerna became part of the new Republic of Poland in 1920, after the Polish-Ukrainian War, and the Polish-Soviet War.

During the 19th century, Ozerna was a transfer point.  Not only was it located on a river, it also was on the Ternopil'-Lviv railroad line and the Ternopil'-Lviv highway, near the intersection of the Kaiser-Strasse, a main highway.  There was a toll-gate at the entrance of the town, on the Ternopil (east) side of the  Vysuska River bridge, and all who crossed had to pay a toll before entering town.  This practice ended when World War One began.

The people living outside the town were farmers, growing grain potatoes, beets, flax, honey;  raising chickens and eggs, cattle, horses and pigs.  There were several grain mills and oil presses in town.  Most of the businesses in the town including the mills, were owned by Jews. The mills were located on tributaries of the River Vysuska.  In earlier times, the mills used a system called "own strength." The farmers brought in their grain, ground it themselves, and paid the miller for the use of his equipment. Later, hand work was replaced by machinery.  The oil presses extracted oil from hemp and flax seeds, both grown by local farmers.
Business men in town bought farm products from the peasants, resold them to major dealers, who consolidated the products and shipped them by train to the grain exchange in Lviv.  The streets around the train station were lined with warehouses. Ozerna had several markets; a general market, as well as horse, cattle and pig markets.

The town square was lined with retail businesses, small shops that sold everything, and larger ones that specialized in clothing, hats or shoes, dry and household goods. There were two bakeries with modern equipment to provide bread and baked goods to the population.  There was a Roman Catholic Church, a Greek(Ukrainian) Catholic Church and a synagogue. Since the Austrian government encouraged education,  there were two public elementary schools; one for the Jewish children, the Baron Hirsch School, and the other for the rest of the children in the community.  If students wanted to continue their education and attend high school, they traveled to Ternopil' by train, stayed there for the week and returned for the weekend.   In addition to public schools there were private and religious schools.  Four inns  provided food, drink and a place to stay the night.   The Brandy Inn was the place for the wealthy to meet.

According to my mother, the Koshuba family lived in the town, not outside on a farm. I do not know how the Koshuba family made their living in Ozerna.   They were comfortable enough to be able to afford family photographs.  Of all my Ukrainian ancestors, only the Koshubas could afford to have family portraits made in Europe. They also could afford to have their children attend school.  All the Koshuba children attended the public school, and were able to read and write when they came to the United States, according to immigration and census records. Tecla, Joseph and John completed the eighth grade of elementary school, Anna and Stephen completed 6th grade.

The Koshuba family, probably in 1903.  Standing from left: John, Anna, Joseph, Tecla, Stephen.  Seated from left: Maria, unknown girl, Feodor, Peter Wons.  Photo: collection of Ed. Wons. The boys are wearing embroidered Ukrainian shirts.

During the last years of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th, the population of Ozerna began to decline.  This was because many of the residents were immigrating to the United States or Canada.  The Koshuba  family was one of the families that decided to send their children to the United States.  Joseph left in 1904 at the age of 19. Tecla and Peter Wons left in 1906 with their two sons and settled in Massachussets. In 1908, John, 17,  joined them  in Massachusetts.   Anna and Stephen came together in 1914 and joined the family, now living in St Paul, Minnesota.  Moving to the United States worked out well for the Koshuba family.  The sons started their own businesses, their children were educated and several graduated university and became professionals. The daughters were successful, both married and their children were educated and successful as well.

A note on my sources:  I had a difficult time finding information about Ozerna.  Finally, on Jewish-Gen, a genealogy website, I found a Yizkor book from Ozerna,  This book was a compilation of memoirs from the Jewish people who lived in Ozerna who survived the Holocaust.  The book is called The Memorial Book of Jezierna, published in 1971. I found detailed descriptions of the town,  and how the people lived.

Who are They?

I am the inheritor of many boxes of old family pictures.  My mother and I tried to identify the people on the pictures while she was alive, but in the oldest pictures, even she couldn't identify all of them.
There are several people  in these pictures that I think I may know, but I am not sure.
This man, for instance:  He appears in several old Koshuba and Rychly family pictures, usually weddings.  I think that he is either Peter Wons, my grandfather John Rychly's brother-in-law or Dmytro Popko, my grandmother's uncle.  
The photo below is of Joseph and John Koshuba, and Peter Wons. I have enlarged the picture to feature Peter Wons.  It was taken about 1915, and shows them in the uniforms of a fraternal organization that they belonged to.  I am sure that the Wons family was in St Paul at that time but I am not not sure about the Popko family.

This is the oldest photo, from about 1915.

The next picture was  taken at the wedding of my grandparents, Pauline Rychly and John Koshuba in November 1916.  The man in question could be either Peter Wons or Dymtro Popko. 
The third picture is from the wedding of Anna Koshuba to Joseph Graskow, which was probably sometime in 1917-1918.
Anna Koshuba was my grandfather John Koshuba's youngest sister.  Other than my grandmother, there doesn't appear to be any Rychly family members in the picture, so I am fairly sure that it is Peter Wons.
The next photo is from the wedding of Stephen Koshuba, my  grandfather's youngest brother to Helen Rychly, my grandmother's sister, in 1924.  The man could be either Peter Wons or Dmytro Popko. 
The last picture is from the wedding of Stephen Koshuba and Sally Popko.  Sally was my grandmother's first cousin.  Stephen and Helen divorced, and his second marriage was sometime after 1930.   The man in question is either Dmytro Popko, Sally's father, or Peter Wons, Stephen's brother-in-law. The man in question is  behind and between the bride, Sally, and one of the bridesmaids.  My guess is that this Dymtro Popko, Sally's father.
What do you, my readers think?  Please comment and let me know your thoughts.

November 1916

Peter Wons 1917-1918.

 

This could be either Peter
Wons of Dmytro Popko, 1924.

Wedding of Stephen Koshuba and Sally Popko. About 1930-31

THE KOSHUBA BROTHERS

Unlike many immigrants from Eastern Europe in the early 20th century, my grandfather John Koshuba,  and great uncles, Joseph and Stephen Koshuba, were businessmen.  Born in the village of Ouzurnaya, Galicia, Austria, they were the sons of Feodor Koshuba and Maria Kleviak.  I have no idea what Feodor did for a living, but I have heard family stories that they were a town family.  

John Koshuba and Family, Stephen and Helen Koshuba (standing)1925

Joseph Koshuba 1916

John was born in 1880, Joseph in 1885 and Stephen in 1899.  There were three other children, Teckla, Anna and Michael, but that is story for another time.
Joseph came to the United States first, according to the 1910 census, in 1904.  John came next, possibly in 1908 (1910 census) and Stephen in 1914 (immigration records). 
The first records I could find of the older brothers were the 1910 US Census.  John was living in Peabody, MA, with this sister and brother-in-law, Teckla and Peter Wons, their two children, and was employed as a baker.
Joseph was in St Paul, Minnesota, living in a rooming house and was doing general work. Family stories said that John also lived in Grand Rapids Michigan, and was apprenticed to a tailor.
The next mention I find of Joseph and John was in 1912, in the St Paul City Directory.  Joseph was the manager of the National Window Cleaning Company, located on 408 St. Peter St, St Paul; John was also employed there as a foreman. 
Joseph married Florence Holmberg in 1913.  In the 1914 St Paul Directory,  Joseph and Florence were living at 491 Topping St, St Paul. John was still working for Joseph.
In 1915, Joseph was the owner and manager of two companies, National Window Cleaning Company and  National Sanitary While Washing Company, both located at 314 People's Bank Building.  He was doing well enough to have two advertisements in the Directory, a telephone, and stated in the ad that whitewashing could be done by either brush or machine.
In 1916, John is listed as a saloon keeper,  located at 751 Wabasha St, St Paul. In the St Paul City Council minutes,  there was a transfer of a licence to sell liquor to Joseph, recorded on June 12, 1916.  However, on October 21, 1916, the license is transferred again, from Joseph to Onefec Blalys.  In November, 1916, John married my grandmother, Pauline Rychly. 
In 1918, when he registered for the World War I draft,  John was in business for himself.  He started the Expert Window Cleaning Company at 458 Jackson St, St Paul, in competition with his brother Joseph.   At that time, Stephen was working for Joseph as a window cleaner. 
Joseph died suddenly of heart disease in January 1919, at the age of 33.  His business was sold, although his family continued to live at 886 Central, for the next 10 years.

 In 1923, Stephen was working at the Union News Agency and continued to live on Curtice St. He married Helen Rychly (yes, she was my grandmother's sister) in 1924, and moved to 152 Charles St.  He was back in the window washing business, working for John.

John and Stephen went into business together in 1934, and started Stephen's Buffet on Robert Street in downtown St Paul.  Although they sold the restaurant in 1939, it continued in business until the 1960's, under several different names.  It had a bar in the front, and a restaurant behind the bar.  According to my grandmother, the one thing that John didn't know when he started the business, was that she planned to work there.  On the first day she showed up with her apron and went to work in the kitchen, waited on tables and tended the bar, if necessary.  Since the restaurant was in downtown St Paul it served businessmen and people working in the retails stores nearby. I had lunch there in the 1960's with my mother and grandmother, and was surprised  that one of the waitresses who had worked for them in the 30's was still working there!  John sold Expert Window Washing Company  to National Window Washing Company, his brother's old business, when he went into the restaurant business.  Stephen continued to work for them as a window cleaner. 

In 1937, Stephen went into business with Victor Schlaff , and started Stephen's Bar, at 425 Jackson Street in St Paul.  They also owned a hotel that served mainly men working on the railroad. He continued to work as a partner at Stephen's Buffet for the next few years.
In 1939, the brothers sold Stephens's Buffet and Stephen and John ended their partnership.  John was at a loss without his business, and he committed suicide in March of 1940.
Stephen stayed in the bar and hotel business, and sold life insurance on the side.  He continued as a successful businessman in the Twin Cities  until he moved to Colorado in the 1970's.  He purchased a liquor store in Golden, Colorado, which he owned until he retired.  He died in 1982.

These tokens were issued to John Koshuba, which gave him a license to sell liquor. I noticed that the address was 751 Wabasha, which is interesting since the restaurant and bar was on Robert Street.

Saint Paul, Minnesota (Ramsey County), U.S.A.

	A S12 26	JOHN KOSHUBA, / 751 / WABASHA / ST. / ST. PAUL, MINN. 2½ TC-151414 *** Koshuba Bros. Restaurant & Tavern 1934-1939
Contributed by: wlrotz