Andreyo 1

Richard Andreyo

ENG 102

Final Draft

6 Nov. 2017

My Andreyo Family Culture

The most interesting part of my genealogical history came from my great great-

grandparents on my fathers side. The paternal surname of Andreyo was originally Andrejov. My

great great-grandfather was John Andrejov born in Austria-Hungary on February 24, 1886. He

became an American citizen on May 5, 1915. The reason for the name change is still a mystery

in the family. He married Mary Oslevich who was born on March 24, 1894. They owned a

General (Mom and Pop) food store for forty years in Freemansburg, Pennsylvania. The

interesting fact about the store was raising chickens behind the store in coops for selling fresh

eggs and chicken at customers request. Their son, John George Andreyo, was born on February

24, 1913, in Freemansburg, PA. My great grandfather John G. Andreyo was a meat butcher in

New Jersey. He married my great grandmother Catherine Cedar on October 8, 1938 in

Northampton, PA. They conceived my grandfather, Richard John Andreyo, on March 18, 1939

in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (R. Andreyo).

The paternal surname of Cedar was originally Sedor. The name was changed because

people were unable to pronounce or spell their last name. My great great-grandmother was Mary

Cedar and she came from Ukraine at the age of 14 years old to the United States. She married at

the age of 16 years old to Ivan Cedar. There was no family records found on Ivan Cedar. Ivan
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Cedar work at a cement factory in Pennsylvania. Their daughter, Catherine Cedar was born on

March 15, 1913 in North Hampton, Pennsylvania. My great grandmother Catherine Cedar

worked at a sewing factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She married my great grandfather

John G. Andreyo (C. Andreyo).

The Sedor (aka Cedar family) were rich in culture, religion and history. The Sedor

migrated from Ukraine to the United States around 1910 due to the persecution from Russians

and Polish. Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe situated between Russia and Poland with the

Black Sea border. Ukraine was subject to numerous invasions and domination by foreign powers

(Leontovich 1). The Polish were mean towards the Ukrainians making them speak only Polish.

In western Ukraine, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian state, the education for Ukrainians

was scarce. Under the Russia rule, schools forced to teach Russian language (Tate 219). These

stories from Mary Cedar were handed down over the generations that many Ukrainians were

tortured by Russians; many women breasts were cut off by Russians during invasions (C.

Andreyo).

The Cedar family religion was Greek Orthodox. The females wore head coverings in

church. The Cedars celebrated Christmas on January seventh rather than December twenty-fifth.

They followed the true Greek Orthodox religion calendar instead of the Roman Catholic. The

greatest important holiday is Easter, followed by Christmas Day (Yurash 443). They did not

exchange gifts but celebrated by having a large meal with family gathering. On New Years Day,

the Ukrainians decorate a spruce tree and exchange presents (Burton 399). Due to the shortage of

Greek Orthodox priest for the New Jersey area, my great-grandmother Catherine Cedar/Andreyo

church requested a priest from Greece. According to the stories passed down, the priest would
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come to America on one condition; that he was allow to be married. The priest came to New

Jersey and found a bride (C. Andreyo).

The Cedar females in the family were known for their Ukrainian cooking especially great

grandmother Catherine Andreyo. She would bake fresh strudels, handmade pierogis, potato

varenyky (potato dumplings), cabbage borshch (soup), kulesh (potato soup), puhkeniki

(doughnuts), babke (bread), kolach (braided bread), and the famous pashkha (Easter bread).

Pashkha was not eaten until it has been blessed in church with other Easter foods during the

Easter service. The holiday meals consisted of twelve meatless dishes to symbolize the twelve

apostles from the Last Supper (Masterovoy 383). Kolach is braided bread served with Sunday

meals and family holidays. (Shally-Jensen 519).

Great grandmother Catherine Andreyo/Cedar was famous in the community for her

pysanka painted eggs. These are Ukrainian Easter eggs decorated using traditional Ukrainian

folk designs using a wax-resist method. The designs are written with beeswax. My dad has some

handed down to him as family heirlooms. Great grandmother was known for speaking in

Ukrainian when she was mad at you. At my parents wedding, the priest wore a three piece suit

instead of a religious vest and great grandmother Catherine was swearing at him in the Ukrainian

language. The priest was asking for translation and everyone was saying it was best to be

ignorant at that moment. She was a sharp minded female and did not have a problem in sharing

her opinion or ideas. She was a strong family oriented maternal leader and no one ever disrespect

my great grandmother. She passed away in September, 2006 at the age of 93 (R. Andreyo).

My great great-grandfather John Andrejov (aka Andreyo) born during the Habsburg

Monarchy with Franz Josef ruled as emperor in Austria and king in Hungary. The Habsburg
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Empire had no clear ethnic majority; Germans, Hungarians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Romanians,

Ruthenes, Serbes, Croats, Jews, Italians, and Slovens each made up significant percentages of the

population. The only official languages were German and Hungarian. The national divisions

within the empire exacerbated an increasing disparity between agricultural regions were largely

Slavic and the industrial areas largely German (du Quenoy 30). Between 1900 and the start of

World War I in 1914, east-central and southeastern Europeans, mainly from Austria-Hungary

and Russia, poured into the United States in unprecedented numbers, dominating the overall

immigrant flow and contributing to the largest per capita influx yet recorded in U.S. history, with

1907 being the peak year (Radzilowski 309). Our great great-grandparents spoke Hungarian and

German. My grandfather arrived to the United States during the collapse of the Austro-

Hungarian Empire before World War I started in 1914.When my great great-grandmother Mary

Oselvich was alive, she never learned to speak English. My grandfather, Richard John Andreyo,

stated no one actually practices religion on his side of the family. The Cedar family promoted the

Ukrainian religious and family traditions to be carried on to the next generation (R. Andreyo).