Petro Zwarych

b. 24 March 1877, d. 30 June 1966
Peter Svarich in about 1920. This picture comes from his memoirs, Spomyny.
Petro Zwarych, a.k.a. Peter Svarich, son of Iwan Zwarych and Maria Dolyniuk, was born on 24 March 1877 at Tulova, Ukraine.1

At the age of seven Petro began school. Iwan had arranged with the teacher that Petro would be taught at noon and after regular school hours so that he could tend the cattle and do other farm work during the summer months. Petro would bring food to the teacher for his troubles. During the winter Petro attended regular classes. The village school had three grades with each grade taking two years to complete.2

When Petro finished third grade, at the age of 12, he quit school so that he could work on his parent's farm. Petro wanted to return to school, but his parent's refused. He was needed at home. After several attempts to convince his parent, Petro ran away to attend school at Sniatyn. Iwan and Maria finally agreed that Petro could continue with school.2

Petro completed the next three years of lower grades at Sniatyn in 1892. He then went on to the Ruthenian High School in nearby Kolomyia. Petro completed his fifth year there in 1897.2

Normally, Petro would have gone on to three more years of school, but he was approaching the age of twenty when he would be required to join the army. He decided that instead of attending school he would study on his own. Petro studied very hard for about ten months and then wrote his exams, called Intelligenzprüfung, over three days in May 1898.

Later that year Petro joined the Austro-Hungarian army in the Landwehr (Military Home Service) as a one-year officer candidate and was stationed in L'viv, which was called Lemberg at the time.2

Shortly after completing his year in the army, near the end of 1899, Petro resolved to move to Canada.2

Petro, his parents and siblings, and several other families left Ukraine to settle in Canada, sailing from Hamburg, Germany, on 4 April 1900 on the S. S. Arcadia3 arriving at Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 18 April 1900. For more details of the journey from Tulova to Alberta, see the Zwarycz and Kostaszczuk Emigration.4

Petro did not stay on the farm very long. Over the next few years he held various jobs in Edmonton, worked at a mine in Rossland, BC, and even joined the Klondike gold rush in Alaska.5

Petro married Mary Fedorkiw on 2 February 1904 at Star, Alberta.2

Petro was employed as Postmaster by the Post Office Department of Canada on 1 September 1904 at Kolomea, Alberta, until his resignation on 27 May 1907.6

Petro died on 30 June 1966 at Vegreville, Alberta, at age 89.2

Children of Petro Zwarych and Mary Fedorkiw

Citations

  1. Peter Svarich, Memoirs 1877- 1904, translated by William Kostash. (Edmonton: Ukrainian Pioneers' Association of Alberta Huculak Chair of Ukrainian Culture and Ethnography, 1999), p. 1.
  2. Peter Svarich, Memoirs 1877- 1904, translated by William Kostash. (Edmonton: Ukrainian Pioneers' Association of Alberta Huculak Chair of Ukrainian Culture and Ethnography, 1999),.
  3. Iwan Zwarycz and family, S. S. Arcadia, 4 April 1900, Hamburg Passenger Lists - Direct Lists, Bd. 109; FHL microfilm 472,955,.
  4. Iwan Zwarycz and family, S.S. Arcadia, 18 April 1900, p. 4, ships passenger lists for Halifax, Nova Scotia; LAC microfilm T-494, North York Public Library, Toronto, Ontario.
  5. Unknown author (likely William and Harry Kostash), Svarich family biographies (unpublished, likely material that was not included in "Ukrainians In Alberta", published 1975), privately held by John Kostash, Hamilton, Ontario.
  6. Peter Svarich, employment as Postmaster, Kolomea, Alberta, 1904; online database, Post Offices and Postmasters, Library and Archives Canada (http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/ : accessed 22 September 2012); citing R169-91-0-E.