Manzoians, Aslanians, Najarians from Keserig, Kharput

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Lindsay
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I am looking for information on these three families (Manzoian/Menzoian, Aslanian, and Najarians) from the town Keserig, outside of the city of Kharput, Turkey.

Here's verified information I have:

Boghos Manzoian (born 1860s), my g-g-grandfather, married Anna Najarian (born 1860s?) in Keserig and they had at least one child (but we doubt he was an only child): Ohannes Manzoian, born 1886/7.

Boghos had a sister, Altoon, who married Stephen Surabian (born 1860) and they had 7 children. Stephen and five of his children made it to America and settled in Worcester, Massachusetts (where they all live to this day). His wife Altoon also perished in the genocide. Stephen married a Tartay later in life and died in around the 1930s-40s in Worcester.

Ohannas Manzoian married Aghavnie Aslanian (born 1889) in 1907 and they had twins in 1908. Ohannas emigrated to America in 1909 and went and stayed with his uncle Stephen Surabian. Aghavnie followed him in 1912 (and somewhere between 1909 and 1912 the twins both died). On Aghavnie's Ellis Island record it states that she had a sister, Anna Aslanian, who was still living in Kharput. We do not know if Anna survived or not.

Ohannas and Aghavnie lived in New Britain, Connecticut in 1912, until moving to Worcester sometime before 1918. They had three children: Anna (born 1 Oct 1918), Helen (born 5 Mar 1923) and Boghos/Paul (born 27 Sep 1925). They moved to Providence, Rhode Island around 1921-22, where Ohannas/John owned a grocery and meat shop on Harrison Street.

Aghavnie/Ida died in 1936 at the age of 47 of a sudden heart attack. Two of her children (Helen and Paul) would also die around the age of 50 of a sudden heart attack without symptoms. After the death of his wife, at one point he went and lived on a farm in Hudson, Massachusetts with two other Armenian men. According to my cousin, she thinks the Surabians were part-owners.

Ohannas died in 1972 in Fresno California. He went out to California after the death of his daughter Helen in 1975 to be with "other relatives". We think we have an idea who these relatives are now: George Menzoian and his family (who could be Ohannas nephew).

Anna lived in Providence her whole life, married (and divorced shortly after), and had a daughter Diane in 1947. She died in 2008. Helen never married and died in 1975 at the age of 52 in Providence. Paul joined the service and fought in WWII in the Navy at the age of 17, and afterwards settled in Cleveland, Ohio with his best friend. Paul married and had 2 children: Rosemary (my mother), and John. Paul died in 1977 at the age of 51 in Cleveland.

*******************************
Here are some leads, but I need more information to verify the connections:

I think I have found a possible sibling of Ohannas (that he never told anyone about?). Simon Kevork Menzoian was born about 1887 in Keserig and emigrated to America in 1916. He lived in Hartford, Connecticut and worked as a shoemaker. He had a wife and two children who lived in Cherbourg, France. He was drafted into WWI and granted citizenship after returning. His wife Marian (but no children) came over in 1927. At that point they were supposedly living with my g-grandfather, Ohannas in Providence. Simon and Marian moved to California and he died in 1946 in Fresno. I believe they had at least one child in America: George Menzoian, born 1928.

My mother remembers going to visit some of her grandmother's (Aghavnie Aslanian) relatives in Binghamtom, New York in the 1950s. They owned a boarding house. Unsure who these relatives were, if one was possibly Anna, Aghavnie's sister.

The Aslanians apparently have a gene which my g-grandmother carried and passed to two of her children, of sudden heart attacks. Aghavnie also had to be a carrier of the color-blind gene, as my grandfather Paul was completely color-blind. It's also possible that light eyes ran in the Aslanian family, since both my mother and uncle have blue eyes, and all of their children have blue eyes.


I am really looking to fill in the gaps with the Aslanian and Najarian families, which we have very little information on.


I would greatly appreciate any information!!

Thanks,
Lindsay
Alicia Petrakis
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Hello Lindsay,
My name is Alicia Menzoian Petrakis and I am the only grandchild of Simon and Mary Menzoian. My Father is living. His name is George Menzoian, he is 82 and lives in Mountain View, California. He has one sister Angie (Menzoian) Berberian. She lives in Fresno and just turned 79 years old last week. She has every intimate detail of the family and its history logged into her brain. I am planning on going to Fresno in the next month or two and spending a couple of days with her to just get the history recorded so that I can put it into writing for my two sons and myself. You are correct Simon died in 1946 and my grandmother died in 1981. If you have specific questions that I can ask my aunt, let me know. She amazes me with her level of detail that she is able to recall. Youc an reach me on my email at astariacatering@hotmail.com or cell 650-759-1206
dmuradian
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Hi Lindsay,

I don't know if this helps, but my great grandmother was named Anna Aslanian and I believe she was born in 1894 in Harpoot, Armenia. She married my great grandfather, Setrag Muradian. I think they came to the US in the early 1900's and lived in Bronx, NY. They had 3 sons - Murad (my grandfather - born in 1918), Harry, and Jerry.
Lindsay
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Hi dmuradian,

Unfortunately I do not think it is the same Anna Aslanian. I have found the connection of Anna Aslanian since that post - she married a Chilpigian and ended up in Lowell MA and had a son named Kevork - the Chilpigians all now live in Fresno and San Mateo CA. She was older than my g-grandmother, so there is actually an entire generation difference in the cousins (Anna's g-grandchildren are actually my mother's age). I had previously been under the impression that these cousins were on the other side of the family, mainly due to my grandmother and cousin thought the cousins that had lived in Lowell were Manzoians!

Anyways, I will keep my eyes peeled if I see any other Anna Aslanians from Harput.


Lindsay
zena ezechiels
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Re Meaning of Name Menzo
Meaning of Menzo means
MIDDLE IN SILICILIAN .. HOWEVER IT COULD BE FROM THE EAST. I AM LOOKING FOR A MENZO MYSELF RE GENEOLOGY.
Italian: from a feminine form of Menzo, from Sicilian menzo ‘middle’, possibly in the sense ‘middle son’, presumably applied to the older of twin boys who have an older brother, or possibly a nickname for someone of small stature, from the same word in the sense ‘half’.

http://genealogy.familyeducation.com/su ... igin/menza


Menzo Lankhurst Ezechiels
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