Ivan Pylypow

Ivan Hawrylowych Pylypow (1869-1936)

and

Maria Vasylevna Pylypow (born Luniw) (1864-1942)

Ivan may be spelt Ioan, Ioann, Iwan, John.

Pylypow may be spelt Pylypov, Pylypiw, Pylypiwsky, Pylypiv, Filipov.

Galicia may be spelt Halychyna, Halychina.

Tyt may be spelt Titus.

Early life of Ivan Hawrylowych Pylypow

On 28 September, 1859, Ivan Hawrylowych Pylypow was born to Hawrylo Pylypiwsky and Maria Pylypiwsky (born Kulka) in the village of Nebyliv in Kalush county ("powiat" in Polish) in Galicia, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 2019, this is Rozhniativ Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine. Because of where he was born and raised, it is most likely that Ivan grew up within the Greek Catholic Church. It is apparent from later records of family members, that this was the case. In the territory of both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom, there were not many who were not Greek Catholics. Since the Union of Brest in 1596, the majority of Orthodox Christians living in Lithuanian and Polish territories were forced into the eastern-rite Greek Catholic Church under the Pope of Rome.

The eldest son of Hawrylo and Maria Pylypiwsky, Ivan Hawrylowych spent most of his early years in Nebyliv, working on the family's farm (there were 7 children altogether). It is known that the great-grandfather or grandfather and uncle of Hawrylo had originally arrived in this region of Western Ukraine from somewhere in the Poltava Governorate, on the east side of the Dniepr River. Not much more is known or has been recorded concretely about Ivan's youth in Ukraine.

However, according to the research of M A Nay, Ivan was educated first in his home village (under the direct tutelage of the parish priest, since the village lacked a school), and then in the gymnasium (high school) in Stanislaviw. He did not perform in school in proportion to his intelligence, but in the course of his studies, besides his native dialect of Ukrainian, he learnt to speak some German, Polish, Russian and English. Greek and Latin would also have been taught, since this was the case throughout Western Europe. It is said that his penmanship was excellent.

In the course of his early life, the time for marriage arrived, when he was in some way able to begin to provide for a family.

Marriage, 1882

In 1882, Ivan Pylypow was married to Maria Vasylevna Luniw. She had grown up in the village of Perehinsk, which is situated directly across the river from Nebyliv.

At the beginning, they lived together in the Luniw family household (not an uncommon practice in those days in that region). As would be usual, he began to farm on his own. When his wife inherited property, the farming became more demanding and more productive. During these years, Ivan would regularly be required to travel to Hungary for some supplies. On one occasion, he had to travel as far as Vienna, Austria for a particular machine.

In the course of time, they received from the Lord several children : Wasyl, Iurko, Nicholas John, Anna, Michael, Margaret (the last 2 children were born in Canada).

Ivan's son Wasyl (William) later described his father as being "a fearless and venturesome man, not afraid to try something new and different". He said also that his father was "a kind, considerate, and very fair and honest person [...] always willing to help".

Difficult times in Galicia

Ivan had a talent for businesses, and he once owned a mercantile store for a time. This enterprise was, however, crushed by competitors. He attempted other enterprises as well. Soon, logging became his main business interest, and he sometimes had many employees.

However, when he fell on hard times, he began to consider trying to find a better life abroad, as many other Galicians of the time were doing. At that time, as historian Radomir Bilash explained, the future looked bleak in that part of the empire for these peasant farmers :

 It was getting harder and harder in the 1890s to eke out a living.  By the end of the 1890s, in sectors of 
 Bukovyna the inflation rate was already double-digited yearly.  So the people were looking for an out.

Besides this fact, his son Wasyl reported that his father had been thinking about trying to find a better place to farm. Although the Carpathian Mountains were good for work related to forestry, the soil was poor for growing grain and vegetables.

Hope in Canada ; exploring, 1891

Ivan had heard about the availability of free lands in Canada from German-speaking neighbours. After corresponding with his former classmate Johan Krebs, who had initially settled near Medicine Hat, North-West Territories, he decided to set off for Canada with his brother-in-law Iurko Panischak (diasporiana.org p. 74) and his friend Wasyl Eleniak in the autumn of 1891.

It was not easy to get permission for a permanent departure, since the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not encourage emigration. This venture into Canada was to be exploratory. Their departure was through Germany, for which they had to pay for work-permits. Entry to that empire required being able to show a sufficient amount of money upon entry.

Iurko Panischak was turned back at the Austrian-German border (because of lack of money) ; but Ivan Pylypow and Wasyl Eleniak were able to continue. They travelled from Europe to Canada on the S S Oregon, and they landed at Montréal Québec, on 7 September, 1891.

These 2 men were not the very first to arrive from Galicia or Bukovina. Several had arrived before them, but they had disappeared into the general Canadian population without a record of their existence after arrival. Ivan and Wasyl were truly the "avant-garde" of the future immigration from their homeland and their home regions, and they are generally considered to be the 2 very first Ukrainians to immigrate to Canada.

S S Oregon

In 1947, Vera Lysenko wrote a book "Men in Sheepskin Coats", about Ukrainian immigration, including the arrival of Ivan and Wasyl, and the fact that upon arrival (and for long afterwards) they were wearing sheepskin coats. These coats were very common in Galicia and in Bukovina, and they were of various shapes and styles, depending upon the region of origin. They were reputed to be very warm in the winter, and cooling in the summer. Pierre Berton also wrote a book about the subject of westward immigration : "The Promised Land : Settling the West 1896-1914".

From there, they travelled by rail through to Winnipeg, Manitoba, where they met several ethnic German loggers who had worked for Ivan Pylypow in Nebyliv. They visited the loggers' homesteads near Langenburg, North-West Territories (now Saskatchewan), and they went as far west as Calgary (now in Alberta).

They were not favourably impressed with the available land near the Canadian Pacific Railway in that region, and they went back to Manitoba, where a visit to a Mennonite settlement at Gretna convinced Ivan Pylypow that Canada was a viable destination, although he did not yet know precisely where he would settle. Wasyl Eleniak, out of money, stayed to work for the winter, while Ivan Pylypow returned to Galicia in order to bring over his family before settling in Canada permanently.

Wasyl Eleniak later returned to Galicia, and he took his family in emigration to Canada. This family ultimately settled in 1894 near Chipman, Northwest Territories (Alberta).

Return to the homeland

When he arrived back in Austria-Hungary, Ivan’s account of vast, unsettled lands prompted both excitement and skepticism. However, when some learnt that Ivan expected to receive a commission from a Hamburg steamship company and accused him of swindling, he and Tyt Ziniak were arrested for sedition, soliciting emigration, and fraud. After awaiting trial for 3 months in jail, on 12 May, 1892, he was sentenced to another month. Because of the shortness of the incarceration, it is clear that Ivan had not been found guilty of sedition.

Although Ivan's efforts at promoting emigration had been frustrated, his arrest and trial had generated publicity ; and as a consequence, 7 families, led by Anton Paish and Mykola Tychkovsky, set off for the Canadian Prairies. A few of them stopped to work briefly with Wasyl Eleniak in Gretna, Manitoba, and then they continued on to meet the rest in the District of Alberta. With the help of Johan Krebs, the families found homesteads 12 miles (19 km) east of the Galician German settlement of Josephburg, northeast of Edmonton.

Final departure for Canada, 1893

Ivan Pylypow was finally able to leave Galicia with his family in 1893. This family group included his sister Anna, his wife Maria, and their 4 children. They arrived on 8 May, 1893, at the Port of Québec City, on the S S Laurentian. Their final stop was at the Port of Montréal. They had arrived with Wasyl (8), Yurko and Nikola (3), and the infant Anna. From there, they travelled westwards across the country to Calgary by the Pacific Railway (CPR).

S S Laurentian

As did all the others, these Ukrainian immigrants destined for the Edna-Star colony got off the train from Calgary, Northwest Territories (Alberta), at Strathcona (now part of Edmonton), which was the northern terminus of the Calgary and Edmonton Railway (now the CPR) at that time. Since this settlement was on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River, the homesteaders approaching the settlement from Strathcona followed the South Victoria Trail. They trekked along this trail northeastwards (now approximately the route of Highway #14 as it leaves Edmonton, but turning northwards soon thereafter). They travelled past present-day Clover Bar, Josephburg, and Scotford. It was at Bruderheim that Ivan filed his application for a homestead, which was to be near Scotford. However, he soon cancelled the application in favour of a new site, across Beaverhill Creek, about 8 km (5 mi) north of present-day Lamont, and near the Edna-Star settlement. His new application for a homestead at Edna was filed on 31 September, 1894. They were allowed occupancy in 1895, and the final grant was given on 8 August, 1899. On 20 June, 1896, Ivan and his family were naturalised as citizens. That is where Ivan established his family homestead, and where he lived out the rest of his life.

In 1893, Stefan Chichak, his wife and 4 children, and Iurko Panishchak, his wife and 2 children followed a similar pattern of arrival and settlement.

From that time on, Ivan Pylypow worked hard to develop his farm and to support his family, and he and his wife received 2 more children. Ivan is listed amongst the founders of the Holy Transfiguration Russo-Orthodox Temple at Star, which was founded as a congregation in the year of his arrival. His home was situated near the Temple which was constructed later.

Holy Transfiguration Temple, Star

Ivan prospered as a farmer, and he also became very active in the farm co-operative movement.

Ivan and Maria Pylypow in front of their daughter Anna Pechanec's home in Edmonton

Repose of Ivan, 1936

Ivan Pylypow fell asleep in the Lord on 10 October, 1936, as a consequence of an accident. He was 67 years old. He had attended the wedding of his 2 daughters at North Bank (Warspite). It was hot in the room, and someone opened the windows. For some reason Ivan leaned over too far in the window, lost his balance and fell to the ground below. People rushed out to give him assistance, but they found that he had already reposed.

The Funeral Services for the Burial of a Layman were served for him at the Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church at Star, Alberta.

After the funeral services, his body was interred in the Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Cemetery, on the same property as the Temple.

Grave-Cross of Ivan Pylypow

Repose of Maria, 1942

Maria (Luniw) Pylypow fell asleep in the Lord on 2 February, 1942.

The Funeral Services for the Burial of a Lay-person were served for her at the Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church at Star, Alberta.

After the funeral services, her body was interred in the Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Cemetery, on the same property as the Temple.

Grave-Cross of Maria Pylypow

Reflections

Ivan Pylypow and Wasyl Eleniak helped to initiate the first wave of major Ukrainian immigration to Canada, and they were the first to register a homestead. This was at Langenburg (now in Saskatchewan). However, they did not remain there. Rather, they continued on to Medicine Hat (now in Alberta). However, after further consultation with an old friend near that town, they later decided to settle in the Alberta District, in the region near Edmonton.

Stefan Chichak, his wife and 4 children and Iurko Panishchak, his wife and 2 children followed the essential details of the path Ivan and Wasyl.

However, they travelled by railway to Calgary and then north to Edmonton, and on to the Edna-Star Colony.

The true pioneering work in the Edna-Star Settlement and to the west of Edmonton was initiated by Ivan Pylypow and many others like him and with him (such as Wasyl Eleniak) at about the same time, in the early 1890s. They were amongst the very first to arrive. Their labours were undertaken and accomplished on their own before the aggressive advertising campaign in Europe for homesteaders that was undertaken by the Minister of the Interior, Sir Clifford Sifton, in 1896. It was because of this policy that Joseph Oleskiw had begun to attract people from Galicia and Bukovina to Canada. The work of Joseph Oleskiw was followed by a major emigration from Galicia and Bukovina to Canada.

Wasyl Eleniak

As can be seen from the details provided, although settlement in Canada was advertised in Galicia, when the pioneers from there arrived, they received no financial support from the Canadian Government (unlike the Mennonites, the Icelanders, the Dukhobors. For most of those who arrived from Eastern Europe, the government simply dumped trainloads of the Slavs of Galicia and Romanians of Bukovina on the prairies or in the forests of the parkland to the north. They were expected to fend for themselves and to survive as they might. However, 40% of the infants under 2 years of age did not survive. Ukrainians were not alone amongst the unsubsidised newcomers.

The last farmhouse in which Ivan Pylypow lived, the third one he built in the Edna-Star area, is now a part of the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, located 50 k, (32 mi) east of Edmonton, Alberta.

The house was constructed with logs, but both the exterior and interior of this log structure were covered with milled lumber in 1917.

Second house of Ivan Pylypow

Third house of the Pylypow family

The "Pylypow Industrial" subdivision of Edmonton, and Pylypow Lake in northern Saskatchewan are named after Ivan.

Ivan Pylypow

References

Wikipedia biography

Canadian Encyclopaedia article about Ukrainian Canadians, First Section “Immigration History and Settlement”

Internet Encyclopaedia of Ukraine biography

“The Russian Mission in North America”

Tarasar, Constance J, ed., “Orthodox America 1794-1976 : Development of The Orthodox Church in America” (Syosset, NY : The Orthodox Church in America Department of History and Archives, 1975). ASIN : B000ZLZAUE.

Additional information :

Berton, Pierre, “The Promised Land : Settling the West 1896-1914” (Toronto : Anchor Canada, 2002). ISBN 10 : 0385659296. ISBN 13 : 978-0385659291.

......, “The Men in Sheepskin Coats” (Toronto : McClelland & Stewart, 1992). ISBN 10 : 0771014384. ISBN 13 : 978-0771014383.

Czumer, W A, “Recollections about the Life of the First Ukrainian Settlers in Canada”, translated by L T Laychuk (Edmonton : Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies, 1981). ISBN 10 : 0920862101. ISBN 13 : 978-0920862100.

“Dictionary of Ukrainian Canadian Biography of Pioneer Settlers of Alberta, 1891-1900”, ed. Vladimir J Kaye (Edmonton, AB : The Ukrainian Pioneer's Association of Alberta, 1984).] ASIN : B002CBX4TE. (Wasyl Eleniak pp. 74-75 ; Ivan Pylypow pp. 229-230 ; Stefan Chichak pp. 58-59 ; Michael & Wasyl Pullishy, pp. 228-229)

Gagnon, Erica, ‘Settling the West : Immigration to the Prairies from 1867 to 1914’ in “Pier21.ca“

Hall, D J, ‘Clifford Sifton’ in “The Settlement of the West”, ed. Howard Palmer (Calgary, AB : Comprint Publishing Co., 1977)

Kaye, Vladimir J, “Early Ukrainian Settlements in Canada, 1894-1900” (Toronto, ON : University of Toronto Press, 1964).

Lysenko, Vera, “Men in Sheepskin Coats : A Study in Assimilation” (Toronto : Ryerson Press, 1947). ASIN : B001RWAGCC.

MacGregor, J G, “Vilni Zemli (Free Lands) : The Ukrainian Settlement of Alberta” (Toronto : McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 1969), pp. 7-57.

Martynowych, Orest, “Ukrainians in Canada : The formative Period, 1891-1924” (Edmonton : Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, 1991), pp. 60-61. ISBN : 0-920862-76-4.

McAra, Marilin, “Seeds in Their Pockets : Real-time Borshch and Chichky at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village”, March/April, 2002

Nay, Marshall A, “Trailblazers of Ukrainian Emigration to Canada : Wasyl Eleniak and Ivan Pylypow” (Edmonton, Alberta : Brightest Pebble Pub Co, 1997). ISBN : 0-9699669-6-2.

Subtelny, Orest, “Ukraine : A History” (Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 1988), p. 546. ISBN : 0-8020-5808-6.

Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta : "Ukrainians in Alberta, Early History"

‘Iwan Pylypiw’ in “Dictionary of Ukrainian Canadian Biography of Pioneer Settlers of Alberta”, pp. 229-230.

'Sir Clifford Sifton' in “Dictionary of Canadian Biography”

‘Olesków, Jósef’ in “Dictionary of Canadian Biography”

‘Alberta’ in the “Encyclopedia of Ukraine”

Encyclopaedia of Ukraine article about Wasyl Eleniak

Alberta Heritage article about Wasyl Eleniak

Toronto Ukrainian Heritage Group “History of Ukrainians in Canada” (photo of Wasyl Eleniak by Yousuf Karsh)

Toronto University Genealogy Group (TUGG) : History of Ukrainians in Canada

Wikipedia article about the Edna-Star Colony

Ukrainian-Library and Archives Canada