Hagopian/Oksuzian
Kaspar and Kohar Hagopian were natives of Pazmashen, a village near the city of Kharpert.. They were born in 1885 and 1887 respectively; he, the son of Hagop and Miriam, and she, the daughter of Ohannes and Yeghsapert Oksuzian.
Pazmashen was an all-Armenian village, with a number of schools and churches. Its people, who engaged primarily in agriculture, suffered a major disaster during the general massacres of Armenians in 1895 ordered by the Turkish sultan. Having received a timely warning brought by a friendly woman from a nearby Kurdish village, most of the Pazmashen population took refuge elsewhere before their village was invaded, so the causalities were few. However, the fanatic Muslim invaders did so much damage to the homes, schools and churches, and carried away so much property and livestock, that the recovery was still incomplete when tragedy struck again in 1915.
Kaspar and Kohar grew up during this period of recovery and reconstruction when, naturally, sustaining life itself was the primary concern. Consequently they, along with most of the other young people of their generation, did not receive any significant amount of formal education. It was in either 1903 or 1904 that Kaspar and Kohar were married. Their first two children were born in Pazmashen- Mary (Mariam) in 1905 and Eva (Varvar) in 1910. For economic reasons Kaspar left his family in 1906 and came to the United States to work for almost 3 years. He returned to Pazmashen in 1909 with enough saved from his wages earned at the Whitin Machine Works that he was able to help his father purchase additional land for their family farming activities.
Wiithin months after his return, two personal experiences convinced Kaspar that there was no future for the Armenians in their homeland as long as Turkish occupation and domination existed. First, he was arrested and imprisoned briefly in Mezreh, the area government center, for putting up a fight against four Turks who were stealing the produce he had taken to the open market to sell. Soon afterwards he was drafted into the Turkish army and was subjected, along with his fellow Armenian soldiers, to the harsh treatment by Muslim officers. On a particular occasion, he was severely punished for complaining that the Christian soldiers were being denied leave to attend church on Sundays; while in contrast Muslim soldiers were allowed absences on Fridays to go to their mosques. After his release from the army, upon payment to the government of a special tax, he began making preparations to again leave Pazmashen.
Kaspar returned to the United States in 1911 and settled in Whitinsville, Massachusetts, where he resumed employment in the foundry of the Whitin Machine Works. Now his savings were earmarked for the expenses of bringing his young family to this great land of freedom two years later. Had it not been for Kaspar's older brother Enoch, who had established and was carrying on a trading business using wagons for transporting merchandise to and from the interior and two or three Black Sea ports, the safe exit out of Turkey by Kohar and her two small daughters might not have been possible. As a sideline of his business travels Enoch, by probably paying bribes when necessary to officials along the way, was transporting emigrants from the Pazmashen region to northern seaports where they boarded European ships headed west. The many individuals receiving Enoch's help to get out of Turkey at that time certainly did not realize that they were escaping the coming Genocide of 1915, but no doubt felt great sorrow later upon learning that Enoch had become one of its many victims.
Kaspar's family arrived in the United States in 1913, settled permanently in Whitinsville, and by early 1920 four more children were born: Elizabeth, Helen, Jacob, and Liberty. As in other immigrant Armenian families of that period, the joy which the children brought to their parents was very often smothered by the sadness and grief over the fate of the rest of the extended family left behind in "Yergir" the old country.
Despite the lack of formal education, Kohar was a woman of great natural wisdom. Very often her guidance and advice was sought by friends, especially the new arrivals in Whitinsville. In the mid 1920's the Hagopian home was the frequent gathering place of the few Pazmashen young women survivors of the 1915 genocide. They felt compelled to recite to Kohar and to each other, with great anguish and tears, detailed accounts of the barbarisms and cruelties they witnessed and personally suffered at the hands of the Turks. From them it became known that Kaspar's younger brother, Michael, had been murdered by mutilation, and Enoch had been hanged on the gallows. The lives of all other family members had been destroyed in the deportation death marches.
Kohar Hagopian had only a very brief life in America. As a result of her physician's incorrect diagnosis, she died at the age of 50 in 1937. Kaspar Hagopian lived to the age of 73 and had the satisfaction of seeing his children and some of his grandchildren enjoying the life and liberty he had sought and found in this country, for himself and for them. But he had a high price to pay for it. Owing to his limited education, he was obliged to work over 40 years in the dust-polluted environment of the iron foundry where he developed a severe condition of silicosis. After his retirement, he had to be hospitalized for the last 4 years of his life. He passed away in 1958.
Their oldest child, Miriam(Mary)October 3, 1905-January 29, 1994, was married to Garabed Bedrosian(July 10, 1888-November 4, 1959) and they had two children. The older sister Polly, married Rochambeau (Rocky) Herosian of Worcester, MA. Rocky was a guard at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC for many years. They had two children, Ellie and Arthur. The younger sister was Grace, a graduate of Northbridge High School. She was married to Cabel Hatfield and had 3 children-Terry, Charles, and Mary.
Next born was Eva (Varvar)August 5,1910-May 11, 1940, who married Khachadoor (Archie) Malkasian (December 25, 1898-January 28, 1985). Archie was a shoemaker in Whitinsville for many years. They had one son, John, who after graduating from Northbridge High, moved to Sacramento, California.
Elizabeth(Betty) January 25, 1915- January 18, 2016, just short of her 101st birthday- was married to Jerry Janigian of Providence, RI.. They raised 2 children, Gerald and Lisa. Betty worked at the Whitinsvile Social Library and was the designer of the cover of the Northbridge High School Scribe for which she won a small prize. The family eventually settled in Fresno, California.
Helen(June 22, 1916-January 6, 2004) married Arthur Tashjian (July 29, 1911-November 25, 2003) of Providence, Rhode Island. They had 2 children Claire and James. Arthur served in World War II. He was 32 at the time and was drafted and sent to the front lines. He was with Patton's 3rd army- Red Diamond division. When he returned from the war, his brother Leo, in Sacramento, California, asked him to come out and work with him in the produce business.. The family left Providence in 1946 and remained in California until their deaths. Ironically, their daughter, Claire, married Enoch Malkasian and settled in Whitinsville, her mother's home town. James married Katherine Hillyard and remained in Sacramento.
Jacob(December 1917-November 17, 1998), their only son, married Margaret Arakelian (July 24, 1918-November 24, 2008) of East street and raised a family of 5 children, Eva, David, Ruth, Tina, and Jan in San Jose, California. Jacob was a graduate of WPI in Worcester, Mass with a master's degree in Electrical Engineering. He was also an instructor at the MIT naval radar training school during WWII. He retired from IBM in San Jose, CA.
Liberty (Libby) (November 15, 1919-January 8, 2003) the youngest child married Michael Ahmajan of Whitinsville. He was a career officer in the Army. The family was stationed in various countries during his time in the service. Libby retired from working for the State of California in Sacramento. They had one daughter, Barbara, who resides in San Francisco, California.
