Parchanj

Discussion about various cities in the old country

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gaghjayan
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Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2006 7:50 am

I have starting writing a short little article for our church newsletter where I give some information about a western Armenian village. I figured I would post them here as I write them.

George Aghjayan

The first village is Parchanj which was in the district of Kharpert. As we all know, many of our earliest Worcester Armenian families originate from the many villages of Kharpert. The exact location of the village is 38°37'00"N latitude 39°16'00"E longitude. The village was also known as Perchenj and is now called Akchakiraz. The village is just south of the town of Kharpert near the villages of Kesrig, Tadem and Shntil in the plain of Oul Ova. Prior to the Genocide, there were approximately 200 Armenian families and 300 Turkish families. The 1912/3 Armenian census enumerated 681 Armenians (470 Apostolic, 160 Protestant and 50 Catholic). Other sources put the number of Armenians as much higher. The Apostolic church was called S. Prgich (Holy Saviour Church) and had been rebuilt between 1840 and 1845.

Those whose families come from Parchanj are truly fortunate as one of the most detailed histories is available for this village in both Armenian and English translation [Village of Parchanj: General History (1600-1937) by Manoog Dzeron]. The book includes genealogies of the families of the village, as well as a map of the households and other interesting details.
mkgaroian
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Some info that's helpful when searching for a copy of the book for sale:
Booksellers often have a search by ISBN #.

ISBN 0-914330-68-3
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 84-61302

Title: "Village of Parchanj General History"
Author: Manoog B Dzeron

The first English edition was printed in 1984, published by:

Panorama West Books
2002 North Gateway, Suite 102
Fresno, Calif, 93727

*The 1938 Armenian edition was published in 1938 by: Baikar Press, Boston.

While you can try to search/Google for the book's title, this often returns entries which cite it. What you can try is doing a search/Google for booksellers, and then from there search for the book. A few years ago when I was searching I found that www.bookfinder.com found the copies that sellers had available.
yeghia
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Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:36 am

My father was from Parchanj. Our family has had the Book by M B Dzeron for many years but the book has sat on the shelf most of that time. That was until some one from France (we emigrated from france in 1960) with the same last name (same spelling) contacted us. Upon checking the pictures in the book, i was pleased to see that on Page 96 (Parchanjtsis of Marseille) my father #3 (Giragos Manaselian), my aunt #10 (Siroun Sahagian) her husband #9 (my godfather) Hovhannes Mhgd Sahagian, my other aunt 328 Aznive Manaselian is also in the group picture.
Do not know when it happened but our name evolved into Manasselian with 2 S's....and my uncle's family spells their name Sahakian with a K instead of a G.

I did notice other Sahagians in the picture and i assume they are related to my uncle Hovhannes. I do not recall meeting them in France but I probably just did not notice them. I was very young and we always had many visitors.

On page97 I see a Sarkis Melkon Manasselian #73. I dont think Ive heard of this relative before. They could be part of the family which we have lost contact with (family feud?).

In looking at the book i note that our name was probably MANASALENK...if anyone can clarify the name it would be appreciated.

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who can add more to my post about us..one never knows what may be learned.

Yeghia in Fresno,Ca
mpaloutz
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Location: Central California
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Hello,
Part of my family was from Parchanj as well; the Paloutzian and the Tatoian families. My family also has a copy of the Dzeron book, and it is amazing to have such a resource. We are also related to the Barton family of the Selma, CA area, as Mrs. Ogda Barton's mother was a Paloutzian. She married to Garabed Arisdages who changed his name to Charles Barton.
The Paloutzian family came to Parchanj from Palu.
Manoug Paloutzian was my great-great grandfather. He and his 3 brothers, and also a cousin and some others, brought their families to the United States between 1890 and 1905. I have a pretty thorough geneology recorded thanks to my great uncle Ernie. Manoug's brothers were Kachadoor, Hovhannes (John) and Bedros (Peter), who changed his last name to Thompson. Their cousins who also came were Toumas (Thomas), The wife and sons of Aroot (Bertha, Dick and Armen), and the above mentioned Barton family.
According to Dzeron, my great great grandfather Giragos Totoian was one the two last Tatoians (from Parchanj, I gather, as their are other Tatoians), the other being a cousin who settled in France. Giragos married and had 3 daughters, so although the family persists, the name does not.
All my Armenian family ended up in Fresno County, CA.
Peter Garabedian
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I'm a new member. Just joined. Relatives on my father's side (Bedoian, Garabedian) were from Parchanj. On my mother's side they were from Palou. My grandfather Krikor Der Simonian was from Palou. His first wife, don't know name, died in childbirth. But not before having four children, two boys and two girls. Boys' names were Hovaness and Vartan. They ended up in Buffalo, New York, where there is a large extended family of Simonians. The two sisters ended up in Detroit. Married surname of one of them was Mishakian.

Kirkor's second wife was my grandmother. Her Name was Hripsimeh Nalbandian. There were three more Simonian children from this marriage: Nishan, Yevnige, and Krikor. In 1900, my grandfather Krikor was arrested. Accused by the Turkls of being a revolutionary. They tortured him in jail, and finally murdered him. Nishan and my mother, Yevnige, were placed in the German Orphanage in Mezireh (now Elazig). My father's father, Rev. Bedros Garabedian, from Parchanj, worked for the German missionaries at the orphanage. Bedros married Altoun Zeronian, also of Parchanj. The Zeronians were an established family in Parchanj, and I'm related to Manoug Zeronian, the author of The Village of Parchanj.

Altoun's father was Boghos Effendi Zeronian, and is discussed at length in Manoug's book. Altoun and Bedros had a bunch of children, one of whom was my father, Yetvart. Yetvart married Yevnige, who fled with Garabedians from the orphanage to Erzerum. That was in 1916 when the Russian army occupied Erzerum, so it was safe for the Armenian genocide refugees. From Erzerum, they fled to Yerevan and it was there that my father, Yetvart, now living in Boston, went to Yerevan (he'd become a US citizen in 1915) to marry Yevnige, my mother. Lots more to the story, but I won't bore everyone with it.

For the person who is a Bedoian and who placed a post here, I can tell you that the Garabedians were, until sometime around 1860, changed their name to Garabedian. My great Grandfather, Garabed Bedoian, was converted by one of the Protestant American missionaries. They (the missionaries) had the habit of dropping the surname of the convert, and replace it with the first name (garabed) and add an 'ian' on it. So...my great grandfather's last name was changed from Bedoian to Garabedian.

I have a specific question for anyone who might have some information about Armenian refugees who fled from Eastern Turkey through Russian Siberia to Vladivostok, Russia's easternmost port. My great aunt, Yeghsa Zeronian Khatchdourian, was Altoun Zeronian Garabedian's older sister. She fled all the way to Vladivostok, then to Yokohama, and finally, in 1919, sailed to San Franbcisco, and settled in Fresno. I never met her. She died in 1930.

If anyone has information on this, especially how on earth she would have travelled thousands of miles to Vladivostok, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you on this board.
lizkapz
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Also looking for Garabedian - I am related to an Arakel Garabedian (b. 1884) I believe Arakel's father was Garabed Garabedian. They were from Bitles, Turkey (used to be Armenia). Any idea?
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