Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Richard Andreyo
ENG 102
Final Draft
6 Nov. 2017
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
Northampton, PA. They conceived my grandfather, Richard John Andreyo, on March 18, 1939
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
Andreyo 2
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
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
Andreyo 3
come to America on one condition; that he was allow to be married. The priest came to New
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
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
Andreyo 4
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).