Stefan Crusnitchi's wife Ecaterina Gabor

After living in Baudette, Minnesota, for a little over a year, Ruthenian immigrant STEFAN CRUSNITCHI (1883-1965) married on 3 June 1911 in Baudette to a fellow immigrant from Bucovina named ECATERINA GABOR, born 1888 probably in Tereblecea, District of Siret, Bucovina, Austria-Hungary, died 29 June 1937 in Baudette, Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota, daughter of (NN) and Marianna Gabor. While Stefan was baptised in the Romanian Orthodox Church, Ecaterina belonged to a family of Greek Catholics, south of Tereblecea, so she and her family do not appear in the Orthodox parish registers of Tereblecea. The marriage of Stefan and Ecaterina is recorded in Beltrami County Marriage Book D on page 182, which shows that "Steve Kransnicki" and "Katarine Guber" applied for a marriage license on 18 May 1911 and then were married the following month by Father August Beyne, a Catholic priest. The record shows that Stefan had signed the application with an "X" -- he is known to have been unable to read or write. Also, while Stefan was Orthodox, the fact that Ecaterina was Greek Catholic, coupled with the probability that an Orthodox priest was unavailable in so remote a settlement as Baudette, led to their having a Catholic priest preside at their marriage. Afterwards, Stefan, Ecaterina, and their children continued to affiliate with the local Latin Rite Catholic parish. The marriage record also says the marriage was witnessed by "Averanti Gabor" and "Maria Lantek." The surname "Lantek" is evidently an error for "Svantek," an immigrant family known to have settled in Baudette about this time. As for "Averanti Gabor," he is none other than Ecaterina's brother LAURENTIE GABOR, also called "Lavrenti" or "Lawrence." Ecaterina had been preceded to Canada and Minnesota by her brother, who appears in a 10 April 1910 border crossing document as "Loranti Gabor," a 30-year-old married laborer who was traveling from Montreal, Canada, to Baudette, Minnesota. The document says "Loranti" had come to Canada on the S.S. Montrose, landing at St. John, Canada, in April 1908, that he was ethnically "Roumanian" from Austria, and that he was born in "Treblesti" (Tereblestie or Tereblecea), Austria.

Even if Ecaterina did not come from Tereblecea, it is almost certain she knew Stefan before coming to Baudette, Minnesota, since they married almost immediately after her arrival. She left Bucovina in 1911, coming to Canada on the S.S. Lake Michigan and landing at Quebec City on 3 May 1911, just 15 days before she and Stefan applied for their marriage license. The S.S. Lake Michigan's ship passenger list identifies her as "Catherine Gabor," age 20, a domestic servant born in "Austria" of "Ruthenian" nationality. The passenger list also says she was carrying only $25 on her person, that her destination was Montreal, and says her reason for coming to Canada was "to Join parents." She did not settle in Montreal, however, but instead proceeded to Baudette, Minnesota, as shown by a May 1911 Canada/U.S. border crossing document from the Port of Montreal. According to that document, on 4 May 1911, "Catherina Gabor," age 23, a domestic servant of "Roumanian" nationality, carrying only $17 on her person, had an immigration examination for the purposes of determining her fitness to enter the United States. The document says she was born in "Seret, Austria" (Siret), but since her brother said he was born in Tereblecea, "Seret" probably means the District of Siret in which Tereblecea was located, rather than the town of Siret. In this document, Ecaterina says her nearest living relative in her country of birth was her "Mother Maryanna Gabor, Seret, Buckavina, Aus.," which would mean that her mother could not have already been in Canada, contradicting the ship passenger list which says she had come to Canada to join her parents. Instead, in this document Ecaterina says she planned to join her "'Brother', Lawrence Gabor Baudette, Minn." Traveling to Baudette with Ecaterina was a fellow immigrant from "Seret, Buckavina, Aus." named AGRIPINA BULIGA, age 20, who like Ecaterina was a domestic servant of "Roumanian" nationality. The surnames Gabor and Buliga both appear frequently in the old parish registers of Tereblecea, which was located in the District of Siret.

Following are images and abstracts of the S.S. Lake Michigan's information about Ecaterina, who is shown on line 24 of the ship passenger list and on line 6 of the border crossing document. First will be shown the image and information from the ship's manifest, after which will be shown the images and abstracts of the list of "alien passengers applying for admission to the United States from foreign contiguous territory." The ship's manifest includes less information than the list of alien passengers.

Sailed from Antwerp, Belgium Arrived at Quebec on May 3d 1911

No. on S.S. Contract Ticket:                       05622
Amount of Cash in $:                               $25
Name in Full:                                      CATHERINE GABOR
Age of Adults -- Male:                             20
Married, Single, or Widowed:                       s
Have you ever been in Canada before:               no
                                                   to Join parents
Do you intend to permanently reside in Canada:     yes
Are you able to read:                              no
Are you able to write:                             no
Country of Birth:                                  Austria
Race of People:                                    Ruthenian
Destination (Post Office, Province):               Montreal, Que.
What was your occupation:                          Farmer lab
What is your intended occupation:                  Domestic
Have you ever worked as farmer, farm labourer:     Yes
If so, which, how long, when:                      Farm, always
Religious Denomination:                            Gr. Cath
Travelled Inland On:                               C.P.R.

*********

6. Name in Full (Family Name, Given Name):         GABOR, CATHERINA
Age (Yrs., Mos.):                                  23
Sex:                                               Female
Married or Single:                                 Single
Calling or Occupation:                             Domestic
Able to read:                                      Yes
Able to write:                                     Yes
Nationality (country of which citizen              Austria
or subject):
Race or People:                                    Roumanian
Last Permanent Residence (country, city            Austria, Seret
or town):
The name and complete address of nearest           Mother MARYANNA GABOR,
relative or friend in country from whence               Seret, Buckavina, Aus.
alien came:
Final destination (state, city or town):           Minn., Baudette
Whether having a ticket to such final              No
destination:
By whom was passage paid:                          Self
Whether in possession of $50, and if               $17
less how much:
Whether ever before in the United States:          No
Whether going to join a relative or friend,        "Brother," LAWRENCE GABOR
and if so, name of relative or friend and               Baudette Minn.
his complete address:
Condition of health, mental and physical:          good
Deformed or Crippled:                              No
Height:                                            5 ft. 5 in.
Complexion:                                        Fair
Color of hair:                                     Brown
Color of eyes:                                     Brown
Marks of Identification:                           140 (lbs.)
Place of Birth (country, city or town):            Austria, Seret
Seaport of Landing:                                Quebec
Date of Landing:                                   3 May 1911
Name of S.S. (ship):                               Lake Michigan
Date of Examination:                               4 [i.e. 4 May 1911]

Taken together, the ship's manifest and the border crossing document provide a good deal of information about Ecaterina, but they have a few contradictions. Not only is there a contradiction regarding her age -- 20 vs. 23 -- the ship's manifest also says she was coming to Canada to join her parents, but the border crossing document says her mother was then living in Bucovina and she was going to Canada to join her brother. In addition, the manifest says she had $25 on her person, but the border crossing document says she had only $17 -- but she probably have had to spend some money to buy her train ticket to Baudette. Another interesting contradiction is that the manifest says she was illiterate, but the border crossing document says she could read and write. These kinds of contradictions are not uncommon in old immigration documents, partly due to the immigrant choosing not to tell the truth (or the whole truth), and partly due to difficulty communicating with someone who couldn't speak English (or at least couldn't speak it very well).

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