Harootunian (Horsigian)/Russian
Dicran Harootiun Horsigian was born in the village of Ashfan, in the kaza of Kharpert, on March 15, 1895. Dicran at 3 years old witnessed his father being shot in the head and killed by a Turkish soldier, leaving Dicran and an older sister alone with their mother. At the age of 17 his mother made the difficult decision to save her son, sewing coins into his jacket and sending him to a new life in America. Dicran would later learn that his mother and sister, along with 40 of his relatives were killed in the Armenian Genocide.
Dicran arrived in the port of New York in 1912. He found his way to Binghamton and lived in that part of New York, moved to Troy, New York, before heading to Massachusetts. Dicran lived for a while in Newton (Upper Falls) and then Worcester before arriving in Whitinsville where he started work at the Whitin Machine Works in the 1930’s. When he reported to work in the foundry there, the foreman asked him for his name. He answered “Dicran Harooutiun” without providing his last name. When Dicran was asked how to spell his name, he could not speak English. That foundry foreman told him his new name would be Dick Harry at work. Outside of work, he was known as Dicran Harootunian. At the time, Dicran lived on Brook Street, in Varo’s house. Dicran had a cousin Toros Norazian who lived on Johnston Ave. in Whitinsville. He also had a cousin Nishan Nishanian who lived on June St. in Worcester. And a cousin, Lousintak, Nishan’s sister, who lived in Providence, RI.
Azadouhi Russian was born in the village of Sursuri a kaza of Kharpert, in 1909, to Bedros and Anna (Aharonian) Russian. Azadouhi was the youngest of five children, with three brothers (Asadour, Hrant, and Missak) and a sister named Zabel. Azadouhi’s mother Anna died when Azadouhi was 8 years old. As Anna’s illness progressed, she asked Hrant to keep the family together, as the oldest son, Asadoor, born in 1891 had already left for America.
Without a mother at home, Azadouhi was responsible for chores from a very early age of 8. A funny story was shared about how one of Azadouhi’s chores was to prepare lunch so that Zabel her sister could take it to her brother Hrant who was working the fields (they were a farming family). As Azadouhi had not previously prepared bulgur pilaf before, she asked how to know when it was ready to eat. She was told that the pot was ready when the spoon would stand up by itself in the cooked bulgur pilaf. Azadouhi tried her best to determine when it was done, but the spoon always fell to one side. She fell asleep as the bulgur pilaf kept boiling away. When Azad woke up, she saw the chickens had eaten the burnt bulgur pilaf and were walking around bobbing and stretching their necks up and down! Lunch was spoiled.
By the time Azadouhi reached her teens, her other siblings had left the old country. Hrant, now known as Henry, had barely escaped with his life to America in 1923 after he survived a Turkish bullet fired at his head (a cap he was wearing deflected much of the force of the bullet but left a telltale scar). Missak and Zabel had gone on to France. Zabel married Garabed Goorigian in 1928 in Marseille, France. Also, in 1928, Zabel and Misak came to the U.S. But, because of problems with his eyes, Missak could not stay in America. He went to Cuba and stayed there many years, eventually arriving in Pawtucket in 1959.
Heeding his mother’s wishes to keep the family together, Henry arranged for Azad’s emigration through Nerses Goorigian who sponsored her journey to America in 1925 as a “sister”. Azadouhi Goorigian traveled on the S.S. America sailing from Cherbourg, France, arriving in New York on July 17, 1925, with her ultimate destination of Pawtucket, RI. As she had provided the U.S. passport number from someone listed as her “father”, who was also listed as payor, she was registered as a U.S. citizen on the ship. After her arrival, she traveled on to Cambridge to join her brother Henry who had a grocery store there. Azadouhi worked for her brother in the store and lived with him until he married in 1934. She moved in with her sister Zabel who had moved from France with her husband to Pawtucket. While she was living with Zabel, Azadouhi worked in a silk manufacturing textile factory. Zabel knew people in Whitinsville and arranged the introduction of her sister Azadouhi to Dicran Harootunian.
Dicran married Azadouhi in Providence on December 10, 1939; the officiant was Sion V. Manougian. The newlyweds lived in Whitinsville, first living in Varo’s house on Brook Street and having the first of two daughters, Yeghsa (Eliazabeth) born in 1940. The next year, they moved to Church Street, living in the Mooradian building. In 1945, they had moved to the Oskanian house at 94 East Street. In 1946, their second daughter, Anna (Ann) was born, named after Azadouhi’s mother Anna. Dicran was injured working at the foundry of the Whitin Machine Works in 1948 when he fell and injured his back. It was a long recovery and Dicran was house bound. He left the house only for essential appointments until 1961 when he started leaving the house on his own again, walking with the assistance of a cane. During Dicran’s long recovery from his accident, they moved in 1953 to 87½ East Street (the Tashjian building). In 1970, the family moved to Fletcher Street (where Ann now lives). Dicran died in 1979; Azadouhi died in 2002; both are buried in Pine Grove Cemetery.
Yeghsa (Elizabeth) was born in 1940. The Worcester town clerk translated Yeghsa as “Eliza” on her original birth certificate. After her teenage years, she went to court to officially change her name to Elizabeth, the English language name she had been using in school. Elizabeth attended Worchester State College and received her degree in Education after graduating from Northbridge High School. She married Jirair Telian, visiting from Beirut, in 1963. They lived in Jamacia Plain, MA and had three children, Vartan, Aram, and Simon.
Anna (Ann) was born in 1946. She attended Boston State College and received her degree in Education after finishing high school at Northbridge. She married Abraham Samkiranian in 1974 and lived in Whitinsville. They had 2 children, Lusiya and Raffi.