By Jared L. Olar
September 2009
During the period from 1909 to 1911, my grandfather Alex Olar and his older brother Michael were living in Canada, specifically Montreal, where my Uncle John was born in Dec. 1910 and where Michael is known to have been living in Jan. 1911. Another brother, Jacob, apparently was living in Montreal around May 1912, based on information found in the 15 May 1912 ship passenger list of the S.S. Oceania, which had arrived at New York City on that date. Many of the Oceania's passengers disembarked in New York, while others continued on to Canada. Jacob Olar is probably the Iakob Olar who is named in one of the copies of the Oceania's passenger list as a "cousin" of FILIP OLAR. Shown immediately above Filip on the list is ILIE OLAR. The relationship of Ilie and Filip is not mentioned in the passenger list, but the parish records of Tereblecea show that they were brothers. Ilie was born 28 Oct. 1883 in Tereblecea, the son of "Ioan a Gavril Olari" and "Domnica nascuta Bodor," and Filip was born 8 Oct. 1892 in Tereblecea, the son of "Ioan a lui Gavriil Olariu" and "Domnica nascuta Bodor." Their grandfather Gavril was almost certainly a brother of my great-grandfather Ioan Olar, which would make them the first cousins once removed of my grandfather Alex Olar.
Following are abstracts of the S.S. Oceania's information about Ilie and Filip, who are shown on lines 3 and 4 of the relevant pages of Oceania's passenger list copies. First will be shown the information from the ship's manifest, after which will be shown the list of "alien passengers for the United States immigration officer at port of arrival." The ship's manifest includes less personal information than the list of alien passengers.
S.S. Oceania Line: Austro-American
Sailed from Trieste on April 27 1912 Arrived at New York on May 15 1912
No. on S.S. Contract Ticket: 3 Amount of Cash in $: $25 Name in Full: OLAR ILIE Age of Adults -- Male: 28 Married, Single, or Widowed: m Have you ever been in Canada before: no Do you intend to permanently reside in Canada: yes Are you able to read: yes Are you able to write: yes Country of Birth: Austria Race of People: Rumanian Destination (Post Office, Province): Wilk, Can. What was your occupation: farm lab What is your intended occupation: farm lab Have you ever worked as farmer, farm labourer: Yes If so, which, how long, when: farm lab, always Religious Denominations: R. Cath
No. on S.S. Contract Ticket: 4 Amount of Cash in $: $26 Name in Full: OLAR FILIP Age of Adults -- Male: 17 Married, Single, or Widowed: s Have you ever been in Canada before: no Do you intend to permanently reside in Canada: yes Are you able to read: yes Are you able to write: yes Country of Birth: Austria Race of People: Rumanian Destination (Post Office, Province): Wilk, Can. What was your occupation: farm lab What is your intended occupation: farm lab Have you ever worked as farmer, farm labourer: Yes If so, which, how long, when: farm lab, always Religious Denominations: R. Cath
*********
LIST OR MANIFEST OF ALIEN PASSENGERS FOR THE UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION OFFICER AT PORT OF ARRIVAL
S.S. Oceania sailing from Trieste 27 Apr 1912
3. Name in Full (Family Name, Given Name): OLAR, ILIE Age (Yrs., Mos.): 28 Sex: Male Married or Single: Married Calling or Occupation: Farm laborer Able to read: Yes Able to write: Yes Nationality (country of which citizen Austria or subject): Race or People: Ruman Last Permanent Residence (country, city Austria, Tereblostin or town): The name and complete address of nearest wife, ZINOFIA OLAR, relative or friend in country from whence Tereblostin - Austria alien came: Final destination (state, city or town): Can., Wilk Whether having a ticket to such final Yes destination: By whom was passage paid: Self Whether in possession of $50, and if $25 less how much: Whether ever before in the United States: No Whether going to join a relative or friend, Friend, ONUFRY ROTAR, Wilk, Can. and if so, name of relative or friend and St. Pire No. 70 his complete address: Condition of health, mental and physical: good Deformed or Crippled: No Height: 5 ft. 7 in. Complexion: Fair Color of hair: Brown Color of eyes: Brown Marks of Identification: none Place of Birth (country, city or town): Austria, Tereblestin
4. Name in Full (Family Name, Given Name): OLAR, FILIP Age (Yrs., Mos.): 17 Sex: Male Married or Single: Single Calling or Occupation: Farm laborer Able to read: Yes Able to write: Yes Nationality (country of which citizen Austria or subject): Race or People: Ruman Last Permanent Residence (country, city Austria, Tereblostin or town): The name and complete address of nearest father, OLAR IUAN, (or Olar Iuon) relative or friend in country from whence Tereblostin - Austria alien came: Final destination (state, city or town): Can., Montreal Whether having a ticket to such final Yes destination: By whom was passage paid: Self Whether in possession of $50, and if $30 less how much: Whether ever before in the United States: No Whether going to join a relative or friend, Cousin, IAKOB OLAR and if so, name of relative or friend and Charles Brouet, Montreal 70 his complete address: Condition of health, mental and physical: good Deformed or Crippled: No Height: 5 ft. 2 in. Complexion: Fair Color of hair: Brown Color of eyes: Brown Marks of Identification: none Place of Birth (country, city or town): Austria, Tereblestin
Both Ilie and Filip (and many other people on that ship) were natives and residents of Tereblecea, like my grandfather Alex. The passenger lists say Ilie, age 28 (which agrees with his known date of birth, 28 Oct. 1883), and Filip, age 17 (which is incorrect, since he was born in 1892, not 1895) were farm laborers, which also was my grandfather's occupation in Bucovina. Even if we did not know Ilie and Filip were brothers, simply judging from their ages and from the fact that they were traveling together would suggest it. Very significantly, Filip was heading for Montreal so he could visit a "cousin" named Iakob Olar, most likely my grandfather Alex's older brother Jacob. Another important detail is that Filip was the son of OLAR IUAN (or "Iuon"), who was then living in Tereblecea. "Olar Iuan" is IOAN OLARI, resident of house no. 489, and "Iuan" and "Iuon" are Romanian forms of the names "Ivan" and "John."
It is interesting, and somewhat surprising, that Ilie and Filip are said to have been Roman Catholics. The baptisms of Ilie and Filip, and Ilie's married to Zenovia Daniliuc, are recorded in the Romanian Orthodox parish registers of Tereblecea, but it is possible that they had changed religions. More likely, the immigration official made a mistake. Ilie and Filip appear on the very first page of the ship's manifest, and most of the people on that page were from Tereblecea. It may be significant that everyone on that page is identified as a Roman Catholic, even though most of the names are Romanian or Ukrainian and thus would be expected to be Eastern Orthodox or Greek Catholic, not Roman Catholic. Further on in the manifest, however, individuals are identified as Greek Catholics of "Oriental" Orthodox, so the immigration official evidently was aware of the difference between Catholic and Orthodox Christians.
Apart from these ship passenger lists and a Romanian passport (see below), I have found no further trace of Filip Olar anywhere in Canada or the U.S. It is unknown at this time whether or not Filip remained in the New World, or rather decided to go back to Bucovina. We also don't know if Ilie Olar ever made it to his destination of "Wilk" (which is probably "Wilkie," Saskatchewan, where a large number of Rusyns or Ukrainians settled, including Ilie's friend Onufry Rotar). However, we know that by Sept. 1918 Ilie had come to the U.S., because at that time he was sharing the same address as my grandfather in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Those facts are confirmed by my grandfather's World War I draft card. Here is an abstract of the information on his draft card:
Serial Number: 2661
First name: ALEXA
Middle name:
Last name: OLAR
Permanent Home Address: 3247 2nd st No., Henn, Min
Age in Years: 36
Date of Birth: March 17, 1883
Race: White
Alien: Non-declarant
If not a citizen of the U.S., of what
nation are you a citizen or a subject? Austria
Present Occupation: Labor
Employer's Name: The Creamettes Co.
Place of Employment or Business: 428 1st No., Henn, Min
Nearest Relative -- Name: ILICA OLAR
-- Address: 3247 2nd St No.
I affirm that I have verified above
answers that that they are true: Alexa Olar
Description of Registrant -- Height: Medium
-- Build: Medium
-- Color of Eyes: Blue
-- Color of Hair: Brown
Signature of Registrar: John J Marlings
Date of Registration: Sept. 12, 1918
Draft Board: Local Board for Division No. 10,
City of Minneapolis,
State of Minnesota
"Ilica" is a diminutive form of "Ilie," which is the Romanian spelling of "Elijah" or "Eli." In 1912, Ilie's wife "Zinofia" (Zenovia) was back in Bucovina, and we don't know if she ever joined Ilie in America later. We do know, however, that by the time of the U.S. Census in Jan. 1920, Ilie was no longer living with my grandparents. The 1920 U.S. Census lists my grandparents as "Alexie Olru" and "Rose Olru" ("Olru" is a mistake for "Olaru" or "Olariu"), with a son "John," and two daughters "Merriam" and "Florence" (which is a hilarious mistake of the census-taker: those "daughters" were actually my uncles Marion and Lawrence!). At that time, they were living at 5007 Newton Ave. North, Minneapolis, but Ilie/Ilica is not listed as a member of their household, nor does he appear anywhere in Minnesota in the 1920 census. Perhaps Ilie decided to return to Tereblecea.
It is probable that our cousins Ilie and Filip appear on a list of Romanian passports from 1919-20. The list shows that an "ILIE GLAR" (no. 62, certainly an error for "Ilie Olar") from Tereblecea applied for a Romanian passport on 15 Nov. 1919, and a "PHILIP OLAR" (no. 65) from Tereblecea applied for a Romanian passport on 15 Dec. 1919. After the end of World War I in 1918, Bucovina became a part of Romania and the people of Bucovina living overseas would need to obtain Romanian passports. Perhaps Ilie and Philip applied for Romanian passports because they intended to travel back to Bucovina. Or perhaps they had already gone back to Bucovina and wanted to get passports so they could go to Canada or the U.S.
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