Kasian (in the original cyrillic script: "КАСІЯН"; also recorded in romanized form in Canadian documentation as Kassian, Cassian, Kasijan, Kovian, Rossian, etc.) came to Canada in 1900 ahead of his wife Anastasia. Papers from the Manitoba archives show his country as Austria, district of Galicia. Austria was the ruling power in the region at that time.
The family name, originally Ukrainian and represented in the Cyrillic alphabet, as seen on his marker, as "ЩМИГЕЛСКІ", is recorded in a wide collection of romanized latin alphabet variations through the years; e.g., Shmigelski, Symygalski, Szmygalski, Smygolsky, Shinigalsky, etc.
References for his birth are to the town of Kudryńce in the province of Galicia in the then Austrian Empire. This was also in the administrative district of Borschiv. His wife, Anastasia Dmytryk, was from the same area.
Modern maps represent this place as Kudryntsi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine 48750 (48.619433, 26.287879). The neighbouring town named then as "Dzviniachka", a nearby village located just across the Zubruch River (48.5848546, 26.2477721), also appears in some records (modern reference: Dzvynyachka, Ternopil, Ukraine [48.5813759, 26.2412942]).
Shortly after their marriage in early 1899, the couple had their first child, Michalina, and chose to migrate to Canada. The outbound manifest of September 27, 1900, for the ship "Tunisian" includes the names of all three family members. However, the names of Anastasia and Michalina are crossed off. They did not make the trip on that crossing, staying behind for what are assumed to be health-related issues (quarantine).
Kasian went on ahead, alone, and arrived in Quebec on October 6, 1900, headed to "Winnipeg" with $12 and his bags.
Kasian applied for entry of the property known as NE-16-17-02-E1 (50.4503192, -97.2760982) in 1910, although he had been there since 1901. The land had a lot of timber (white poplar) and the government refused to let settlers onto the land until they could sell the timber. A Homestead Inspector claimed the timber would cut into 10,000 cords of wood.
Three other people wished to settle on the land and were refused. I am assuming by 1901 a fair bit of timber had been cut and Kasian was able to homestead there.
In 1908, Kasian sold two acres of land to the school district. The McMillan School No. 1109 building, relocated that year from it's original placement on NE-21-17-02-E1, was thenceforth next door to the homestead. The family understands his future son-in-law, Michael Russin, taught there at some time early in his career.
Kasian was unable to read or write English and this may have been why he almost lost the farm in 1921. He should have applied for patent after five years and failed to do so.
He was able to prove to the Homestead Inspector that he had been fulfilling all of the requirements of the government in cultivating the land. There were no liens or debts and they granted his patent even though it was six years after the due date.
Apparently, at one point, Kasian froze his feet so badly he was unable to work the land properly for three years. He had an accident loading cord wood onto a sled which tipped over pinning him underneath. I was told he got gangrene and was forced to chop off his foot. I have no idea if this is true or not.
The condition of the land made it difficult to make much progress. The inspector suggested no action be taken against Kasian for late entry and this was accepted. The following was taken from the inspector's report:
The soil was gritty loam 4-8" in depth and underneath was clay and small stones. Cultivating one acre of that land was equivalent to cultivating 8 acres of prairie. Some of the land was swampy but required no drainage.
The censuses from 1916 and 1921 showed they had 10 cattle in 1916, 12 in 1917, 9 in 1918, 11 in 1919, 13 in 1920, 12 in 1921; 2 hogs in each of these years as well as two horses in 1918 and 1919, 3 horses in 1920 and 1921. Machinery included: Binder, breaker, plows, hay cutter, 2 barrows, spring harrow, potato hoes, wagon, sleigh, 2 road scrapers and a hay rake. The house was valued at $1,000, stable $300, Storehouses $30, fence around farm $150.
He was a pioneer member of the St. Stephen Greek Orthodox Church in Pleasant Home, Manitoba, between Komarno and Teulon. There is a cairn at the entrance to the cemetery by the church. At one time, it bore a plaque listing all the pioneers from 1899-1954 and "Kasian Smygolsky" was one of them. That plaque was stolen and mutilated beyond repair for the purpose of sale as scrap metal, though the theft was reported by the potential buyer to the police prior to completion of the transaction. It has yet to be replaced (2022).
His wife, Anastazia (nee Dmytryk) remarried after his death.
(Adapted from notes by Eleanore [Shmigelski / Smiley] Chopp, grand-daughter, with material from the Manitoba Historical Society, other sources, and other additions)
Further:
MB Death Registration #1929,050173 as "John Koshien Shmiegelski"; estimated age at death: 61 years (RM of Rockwood)
The family name, originally Ukrainian and represented in the Cyrillic alphabet, as seen on his marker, as "ЩМИГЕЛСКІ", is recorded in a wide collection of romanized latin alphabet variations through the years; e.g., Shmigelski, Symygalski, Szmygalski, Smygolsky, Shinigalsky, etc.
References for his birth are to the town of Kudryńce in the province of Galicia in the then Austrian Empire. This was also in the administrative district of Borschiv. His wife, Anastasia Dmytryk, was from the same area.
Modern maps represent this place as Kudryntsi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine 48750 (48.619433, 26.287879). The neighbouring town named then as "Dzviniachka", a nearby village located just across the Zubruch River (48.5848546, 26.2477721), also appears in some records (modern reference: Dzvynyachka, Ternopil, Ukraine [48.5813759, 26.2412942]).
Shortly after their marriage in early 1899, the couple had their first child, Michalina, and chose to migrate to Canada. The outbound manifest of September 27, 1900, for the ship "Tunisian" includes the names of all three family members. However, the names of Anastasia and Michalina are crossed off. They did not make the trip on that crossing, staying behind for what are assumed to be health-related issues (quarantine).
Kasian went on ahead, alone, and arrived in Quebec on October 6, 1900, headed to "Winnipeg" with $12 and his bags.
Kasian applied for entry of the property known as NE-16-17-02-E1 (50.4503192, -97.2760982) in 1910, although he had been there since 1901. The land had a lot of timber (white poplar) and the government refused to let settlers onto the land until they could sell the timber. A Homestead Inspector claimed the timber would cut into 10,000 cords of wood.
Three other people wished to settle on the land and were refused. I am assuming by 1901 a fair bit of timber had been cut and Kasian was able to homestead there.
In 1908, Kasian sold two acres of land to the school district. The McMillan School No. 1109 building, relocated that year from it's original placement on NE-21-17-02-E1, was thenceforth next door to the homestead. The family understands his future son-in-law, Michael Russin, taught there at some time early in his career.
Kasian was unable to read or write English and this may have been why he almost lost the farm in 1921. He should have applied for patent after five years and failed to do so.
He was able to prove to the Homestead Inspector that he had been fulfilling all of the requirements of the government in cultivating the land. There were no liens or debts and they granted his patent even though it was six years after the due date.
Apparently, at one point, Kasian froze his feet so badly he was unable to work the land properly for three years. He had an accident loading cord wood onto a sled which tipped over pinning him underneath. I was told he got gangrene and was forced to chop off his foot. I have no idea if this is true or not.
The condition of the land made it difficult to make much progress. The inspector suggested no action be taken against Kasian for late entry and this was accepted. The following was taken from the inspector's report:
The soil was gritty loam 4-8" in depth and underneath was clay and small stones. Cultivating one acre of that land was equivalent to cultivating 8 acres of prairie. Some of the land was swampy but required no drainage.
The censuses from 1916 and 1921 showed they had 10 cattle in 1916, 12 in 1917, 9 in 1918, 11 in 1919, 13 in 1920, 12 in 1921; 2 hogs in each of these years as well as two horses in 1918 and 1919, 3 horses in 1920 and 1921. Machinery included: Binder, breaker, plows, hay cutter, 2 barrows, spring harrow, potato hoes, wagon, sleigh, 2 road scrapers and a hay rake. The house was valued at $1,000, stable $300, Storehouses $30, fence around farm $150.
He was a pioneer member of the St. Stephen Greek Orthodox Church in Pleasant Home, Manitoba, between Komarno and Teulon. There is a cairn at the entrance to the cemetery by the church. At one time, it bore a plaque listing all the pioneers from 1899-1954 and "Kasian Smygolsky" was one of them. That plaque was stolen and mutilated beyond repair for the purpose of sale as scrap metal, though the theft was reported by the potential buyer to the police prior to completion of the transaction. It has yet to be replaced (2022).
His wife, Anastazia (nee Dmytryk) remarried after his death.
(Adapted from notes by Eleanore [Shmigelski / Smiley] Chopp, grand-daughter, with material from the Manitoba Historical Society, other sources, and other additions)
Further:
MB Death Registration #1929,050173 as "John Koshien Shmiegelski"; estimated age at death: 61 years (RM of Rockwood)
Kasian (in the original cyrillic script: "КАСІЯН"; also recorded in romanized form in Canadian documentation as Kassian, Cassian, Kasijan, Kovian, Rossian, etc.) came to Canada in 1900 ahead of his wife Anastasia. Papers from the Manitoba archives show his country as Austria, district of Galicia. Austria was the ruling power in the region at that time.
The family name, originally Ukrainian and represented in the Cyrillic alphabet, as seen on his marker, as "ЩМИГЕЛСКІ", is recorded in a wide collection of romanized latin alphabet variations through the years; e.g., Shmigelski, Symygalski, Szmygalski, Smygolsky, Shinigalsky, etc.
References for his birth are to the town of Kudryńce in the province of Galicia in the then Austrian Empire. This was also in the administrative district of Borschiv. His wife, Anastasia Dmytryk, was from the same area.
Modern maps represent this place as Kudryntsi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine 48750 (48.619433, 26.287879). The neighbouring town named then as "Dzviniachka", a nearby village located just across the Zubruch River (48.5848546, 26.2477721), also appears in some records (modern reference: Dzvynyachka, Ternopil, Ukraine [48.5813759, 26.2412942]).
Shortly after their marriage in early 1899, the couple had their first child, Michalina, and chose to migrate to Canada. The outbound manifest of September 27, 1900, for the ship "Tunisian" includes the names of all three family members. However, the names of Anastasia and Michalina are crossed off. They did not make the trip on that crossing, staying behind for what are assumed to be health-related issues (quarantine).
Kasian went on ahead, alone, and arrived in Quebec on October 6, 1900, headed to "Winnipeg" with $12 and his bags.
Kasian applied for entry of the property known as NE-16-17-02-E1 (50.4503192, -97.2760982) in 1910, although he had been there since 1901. The land had a lot of timber (white poplar) and the government refused to let settlers onto the land until they could sell the timber. A Homestead Inspector claimed the timber would cut into 10,000 cords of wood.
Three other people wished to settle on the land and were refused. I am assuming by 1901 a fair bit of timber had been cut and Kasian was able to homestead there.
In 1908, Kasian sold two acres of land to the school district. The McMillan School No. 1109 building, relocated that year from it's original placement on NE-21-17-02-E1, was thenceforth next door to the homestead. The family understands his future son-in-law, Michael Russin, taught there at some time early in his career.
Kasian was unable to read or write English and this may have been why he almost lost the farm in 1921. He should have applied for patent after five years and failed to do so.
He was able to prove to the Homestead Inspector that he had been fulfilling all of the requirements of the government in cultivating the land. There were no liens or debts and they granted his patent even though it was six years after the due date.
Apparently, at one point, Kasian froze his feet so badly he was unable to work the land properly for three years. He had an accident loading cord wood onto a sled which tipped over pinning him underneath. I was told he got gangrene and was forced to chop off his foot. I have no idea if this is true or not.
The condition of the land made it difficult to make much progress. The inspector suggested no action be taken against Kasian for late entry and this was accepted. The following was taken from the inspector's report:
The soil was gritty loam 4-8" in depth and underneath was clay and small stones. Cultivating one acre of that land was equivalent to cultivating 8 acres of prairie. Some of the land was swampy but required no drainage.
The censuses from 1916 and 1921 showed they had 10 cattle in 1916, 12 in 1917, 9 in 1918, 11 in 1919, 13 in 1920, 12 in 1921; 2 hogs in each of these years as well as two horses in 1918 and 1919, 3 horses in 1920 and 1921. Machinery included: Binder, breaker, plows, hay cutter, 2 barrows, spring harrow, potato hoes, wagon, sleigh, 2 road scrapers and a hay rake. The house was valued at $1,000, stable $300, Storehouses $30, fence around farm $150.
He was a pioneer member of the St. Stephen Greek Orthodox Church in Pleasant Home, Manitoba, between Komarno and Teulon. There is a cairn at the entrance to the cemetery by the church. At one time, it bore a plaque listing all the pioneers from 1899-1954 and "Kasian Smygolsky" was one of them. That plaque was stolen and mutilated beyond repair for the purpose of sale as scrap metal, though the theft was reported by the potential buyer to the police prior to completion of the transaction. It has yet to be replaced (2022).
His wife, Anastazia (nee Dmytryk) remarried after his death.
(Adapted from notes by Eleanore [Shmigelski / Smiley] Chopp, grand-daughter, with material from the Manitoba Historical Society, other sources, and other additions)
Further:
MB Death Registration #1929,050173 as "John Koshien Shmiegelski"; estimated age at death: 61 years (RM of Rockwood)
The family name, originally Ukrainian and represented in the Cyrillic alphabet, as seen on his marker, as "ЩМИГЕЛСКІ", is recorded in a wide collection of romanized latin alphabet variations through the years; e.g., Shmigelski, Symygalski, Szmygalski, Smygolsky, Shinigalsky, etc.
References for his birth are to the town of Kudryńce in the province of Galicia in the then Austrian Empire. This was also in the administrative district of Borschiv. His wife, Anastasia Dmytryk, was from the same area.
Modern maps represent this place as Kudryntsi, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine 48750 (48.619433, 26.287879). The neighbouring town named then as "Dzviniachka", a nearby village located just across the Zubruch River (48.5848546, 26.2477721), also appears in some records (modern reference: Dzvynyachka, Ternopil, Ukraine [48.5813759, 26.2412942]).
Shortly after their marriage in early 1899, the couple had their first child, Michalina, and chose to migrate to Canada. The outbound manifest of September 27, 1900, for the ship "Tunisian" includes the names of all three family members. However, the names of Anastasia and Michalina are crossed off. They did not make the trip on that crossing, staying behind for what are assumed to be health-related issues (quarantine).
Kasian went on ahead, alone, and arrived in Quebec on October 6, 1900, headed to "Winnipeg" with $12 and his bags.
Kasian applied for entry of the property known as NE-16-17-02-E1 (50.4503192, -97.2760982) in 1910, although he had been there since 1901. The land had a lot of timber (white poplar) and the government refused to let settlers onto the land until they could sell the timber. A Homestead Inspector claimed the timber would cut into 10,000 cords of wood.
Three other people wished to settle on the land and were refused. I am assuming by 1901 a fair bit of timber had been cut and Kasian was able to homestead there.
In 1908, Kasian sold two acres of land to the school district. The McMillan School No. 1109 building, relocated that year from it's original placement on NE-21-17-02-E1, was thenceforth next door to the homestead. The family understands his future son-in-law, Michael Russin, taught there at some time early in his career.
Kasian was unable to read or write English and this may have been why he almost lost the farm in 1921. He should have applied for patent after five years and failed to do so.
He was able to prove to the Homestead Inspector that he had been fulfilling all of the requirements of the government in cultivating the land. There were no liens or debts and they granted his patent even though it was six years after the due date.
Apparently, at one point, Kasian froze his feet so badly he was unable to work the land properly for three years. He had an accident loading cord wood onto a sled which tipped over pinning him underneath. I was told he got gangrene and was forced to chop off his foot. I have no idea if this is true or not.
The condition of the land made it difficult to make much progress. The inspector suggested no action be taken against Kasian for late entry and this was accepted. The following was taken from the inspector's report:
The soil was gritty loam 4-8" in depth and underneath was clay and small stones. Cultivating one acre of that land was equivalent to cultivating 8 acres of prairie. Some of the land was swampy but required no drainage.
The censuses from 1916 and 1921 showed they had 10 cattle in 1916, 12 in 1917, 9 in 1918, 11 in 1919, 13 in 1920, 12 in 1921; 2 hogs in each of these years as well as two horses in 1918 and 1919, 3 horses in 1920 and 1921. Machinery included: Binder, breaker, plows, hay cutter, 2 barrows, spring harrow, potato hoes, wagon, sleigh, 2 road scrapers and a hay rake. The house was valued at $1,000, stable $300, Storehouses $30, fence around farm $150.
He was a pioneer member of the St. Stephen Greek Orthodox Church in Pleasant Home, Manitoba, between Komarno and Teulon. There is a cairn at the entrance to the cemetery by the church. At one time, it bore a plaque listing all the pioneers from 1899-1954 and "Kasian Smygolsky" was one of them. That plaque was stolen and mutilated beyond repair for the purpose of sale as scrap metal, though the theft was reported by the potential buyer to the police prior to completion of the transaction. It has yet to be replaced (2022).
His wife, Anastazia (nee Dmytryk) remarried after his death.
(Adapted from notes by Eleanore [Shmigelski / Smiley] Chopp, grand-daughter, with material from the Manitoba Historical Society, other sources, and other additions)
Further:
MB Death Registration #1929,050173 as "John Koshien Shmiegelski"; estimated age at death: 61 years (RM of Rockwood)
Family Members
Children
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Michalina Shmigelski
1899–1905
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Stefania Shmigelski Kwasnicki
1901–1993
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![]()
John Shmigelski Smiley
1902–1963
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![]()
Pawlina "Pauline" Shmigelski "Szmigielski" Russin
1906–1985
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![]()
Mary Shmigelski Watowich
1910–2009
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![]()
Anne Shmigelski Smotrycki
1912–1987
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![]()
Warrant Officer Class II Peter Shmigelsky
1919–1943
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![]()
Rose "Rosie" Shmigelski
1920–1922
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