Birth
There is some confusion regarding Lucy Azarian's names, both first and last.
Her first name is listed in various records as: Egisabet (Elizabeth), Lucy, Louisa,
and Lotizika. Family traditions suggest that her maiden name was either Hagopian or
Arevian. Unfortunately, the records of her marriage and the baptisms of her children
in the Armenian Catholic Church in Istanbul only add confusion to the discrepancy.
According to a compilation of records Lucy Hagopian was born on January 15, 1875/76
in Perkinik, Turkey the daughter of Hagop and Annik Hagopian. Her siblings were
Hagop, Baptist, Hovaness, Christine, and Nazareth.
The names of Lucy's siblings were compiled by Lucille Guadelli in the 1950s with
information supplied by her aunt, Christine Azarian Pace and from new information
that has come to light via Haniel Riviere-Allen, the granddaughter of a known
Arevian/Hagopian relative, Hagop, in January 2005
The information on Lucy's date of birth was taken from her immigration information
and her death record.
The information on the place of Lucy's birth is taken from
family history and the information she supplied at the time of her immigration to the
United States in 1921.
Her mother's name was taken from family information.
Her father's name was taken from family information and the marriage record of
Lucy and Abraham.
The marriage record listed Lucy's maiden name as Hagopian. The baptismal records of
her children listed her six times as Hagopian and two times as Arevian.
See Children of Abram and Lucy Azarian under Abram.
At the marriage of her daughters, Christine in 1929 and Alice in 1941, her maiden name
was given as Arevian.
Lucille Iorio Gaudelli told me on August 12, 2000 that her mother said that
Lucy Arevian was an orphan. If this was true, it could account for some of the
confusion about her name. It is possible that her father died and her mother remarried.
In this scenario, I would suggest that her father's surname was Hagopian and after
his death her mother married an Arevian. This would allow for the use of both names and
would allow a connection to full siblings named Hagopian and half siblings named Arevian.
This is a theory.
The information on Lucy's death certificate listed her parents as Melcon and
Catherine Agopian. This information was provided by Abraham and was clearly in error.
Lucy and Abram's son, Mike Azarian, provided the same names "Melcon Azarian and
Catherine Hagopian" as Abram's parents names on his death certificate.
Undoubtedly, Lucy and/or Abraham had associations with both the Hagopian and
Arevian families as baptismal sponsors of their children include both Hagopians
and Arevians.
The immigration information for both Melcon Azarian in 1920 and Lucy Azarian in
1921 listed Batist Arevian as the next of kin in Turkey. At the time of his immigration
in 1920, Lucy's son, Melcon, listed "Baptist" Arevian as his "cousin". A year
later at the time of her own immigration, Lucy listed "Patiste" Arevian as a
"brother-in-law". If Batist/Patiste was two different people he could have been
Melcon's cousin and Lucy's brother-in-law. However, it is more likely that "Baptist"
and "Patiste" were one and the same person. The true relationship of Melcon and
Lucy to Baptist/Patiste is unknown. Immigration information for Abraham Azarian
and Mike Azarian used the same confusing term "brother-in-law" in cases where it
clearly did not apply. See the immigration information on
Abraham and Mike.
In Armenia, A Historical Atlas, by Robert H Hewsen, published in 2001,
Pirkenik (Prkink) is shown on the map of villayet of Sivas as a village just
north of the town of Sivas (Sebastia).
Hewsen says,
and that "The village of Perkinik, one hour from Sivas, was a Roman Catholic Center".
Tom and I visited Perkinik in May 2008. For information on Perkinik and
for images of the village go to
Perkinik now or at the bottom of the page.
Marriage
Abraham Azarian, the son of Melkoni (Melkon) Azarian, married Ezisabet Hagopian, daughter
of Hagovpas (Hagop) Hagopian, on May 25, 1895. The marriage was performed by Bishop
Abigian. The witness was, Matos Dezetsian, place of residence, Ho Prgiz.
The marriage record was taken from LDS microfilm # 1037106, records for Surp Savour, Armenian Catholic Church, Beyoghle,
Constantinople, Turkey.
See
Abram Azarian for more information on the marriage.
Immigration to the United States
Lotzika Azarian, a 45-year-old female, "housekeeper" (This was the common indication
for house wife), and her daughters, Annik, age 12, pupil, Heghine, age 7, pupil, and
Zabel, age 5, nil (meaning no occupation), arrived on May 15, 1921 on the S.S.
Calabria from Patras, Greece. The Calabria had sailed from Patras on April 24th, a
twenty-day voyage.
Lotzika was listed as able to read but not write Armenian.
Annik and Heghine were listed as able to read and write Armenian and Zabel was
listed as not able to do either.
Lotzika listed her next of kin in Turkey as her
"brother-in-law" Patiste Arevian of Constantinople. She was listed as having paid
the passage for herself and her daughters. Her relative in the US was her husband,
Apram Azarian, at 305 E. 21st St. New York.
There was a notation "spec med" for Lotzika and Zabel.
Lotzika was described as 5ft. 1in. tall,
dark, complexion, black hair and brown eyes, in good health, place of birth, Pirkenik,
Turkey.
Annik was described as 5 ft tall, dark complexion, black hair, brown eyes,
in good health, born in Sevastia.
Heghine was described a 4 ft tall, dark complexion,
black hair, brown eyes, in good health, born in Sevastia.
Zabel was not given a height; she was described as dark complexion, black hair,
brown eyes, in good health, born in Sevastia.
There were 786 passengers on the Calabria, 537 of them in steerage.
Lotzika Azarian and 3 children are listed as detained aliens in the record of
detained aliens at the end of the manifest. Theye were designated: group 10, number 4. The cause of detention is listed as
"to call".
US immigration laws prohibited women and children who were not accompanied by male
relatives from entering the country. Unescorted females where detained until a spouse,
father, or male family member came to retrieve them. If no one came to "call" for them
they were deported back to the country of origin. According to the Record of Detained
Aliens of the S.S. Calabria, Lotizika and children were released on May 18th at 3:25 to
their husband and father, Abraham, of 305 E. 21 St., New York. Basically they waited
three days for Abram to come and get them. Several of the women on the detained aliens
list with them were not "called for" until well into the first week of June.
The above information was taken from the passenger manifest of the S.S. Calabria
available on microfilm at the National Archives Records Administration, NYC Branch.