Cojocari, Ion

Ion’s life

Born

Ion was born September 22, 1888, in Liteni, Suceava, Romania, Ion “John” was the second-born son of Timofti Cojocari and Elisaveta “Elizabeth” (Cosmachuk).

What’s in a name

The given name ‘Ion’ is a boy’s name of Greek origin meaning “to go” or “going.” In Romanian, the name is equivalent to John or Johnathan.

We know that Ion’s parents were members of the Romanian Orthodox Church and chose his name by either naming him in someone’s memory or following the tradition of selecting given names from the Bible. The English name John traces back to the Hebrew Bible name Johanan. Another variant is Ioan, the Romanian name for John the Baptist (Ioan Botezătorul).

The surname ‘Cojocari’ is derived from Slavic kožuh(ar), from the root of kožuh, meaning ‘fur’. It is a Romanian/Moldovan surname generally meaning someone with the occupation of furrier (animal skins and pelts) and more specifically someone who makes heavy winter coats or vests which are called ‘cojoc’. Cojoc are typically made of fur or sheepskin.

Trouble with the law

By the time Ion was about seventeen he had already been in trouble with the police in his village.  We don’t know anything about what he may have been accused of but the local policeman Saudarie Ceasarwe in Liteni was apparently familiar with Ion and his older brother Nicolai.

Turmoil in Bukovina

In about 1906 Ion’s older brother Nicolai likely decided, like many young people in that region of Romania, to escape the turmoil in Romania and travel to Canada to make a new life.  Nicolai probably left his parents home in January 1907.  The first months of 1907 saw a peasant revolt begin in the Suceava region of Romania flare and then be put down by the army.  Ion may have been looking for a more prosperous life, avoiding conscription into the army or a bit of both.

Wedding (1906)

In about 1906 John Cojocari married Maranda Tehulka in the village of Liteni, Suceava, Romania (then Bucovina).  John was about 18 when he married.  There are some questions about Maranda’s age however.

It is possible that Maranda had been married once before and that they were trying not to draw anyones attention to that.  Geana Berar in her family history research noted that Mary Fluter (not sure which one) had said that Maranda had indeed been married before she married John.  This would explain some of the differences in age, and given the times, the reasons why dates might have been adjusted as multiple marriages were looked down upon.

There are some questions about the real ages of John and Maranda.  On the 1916 Western Canada Census John gave his age as twenty-seven (27), born abt 1889, and Maranda as thirty-one (31), born abt 1885.  It is unusual that Maranda was older than her husband.  Usually the husband was older than the bride in those days.  It’s possible that the dates we have are wrong of course.  By the time they had their grave marker made however John had become about four years older than Maranda.  On their headstone John was born in 1887 and Maranda 1883.  Why would there have been this adjustment of birth years?

Leaving Romania (1907)

Shortly after they were married John and Maranda made plans to follow his brother Nick across the ocean.  John Cojocar came from Romania to Canada in 1907.  He was about 19 years old when he arrived in North America in May 1907 through the port of New York, USA.

We have’t found his arrival records yet so we don’t know the exact date or what his initial destination was (Ie. Montreal or Regina).

Montreal (1907)

We don’t know if John stayed in Montreal with his brother Nick while earning money to send for his wife Maranda the following year. Maybe he did. Maybe he travelled onward to Saskatchewan and that is where she would reunite with him. Do you know?

John’s wife Maranda immigrated to Canada the next year in 1908.

First to Saskatchewan (1908)

While Nick stayed in Montreal for another year, John and Maranda migrated to Saskatchewan in 1908.

John worked as a labourer on the new Saskatchewan Legislature building which had just begun construction by the time he arrived.

John and Maranda lived in a house on 1500 block Wallace St. in Regina and Maranda walked every day at noon to take him his lunch.  John has presumably used some of the money he earned to purchase a quarter-section homestead southwest of Truax, Saskatchewan.

Homestead (1909)

John and Maranda’s homestead at NE-02-10-23-W2 was purchased in 1909 and became the centre around which John and his brothers would also farm.  Nick would eventually homestead the land directly to the east.  Coston just to the NW.  They had to dig the stones and break the land and build a shack to live in.  Their closest town was Rouleau (43km/27mi distance) and it usually took two days in the winter to come and go with a sleigh to bring home coal and a few groceries.

Joined by Brother Constantine (1909)

At some point in 1909 nineteen year-old Constantine “Costan”, the third son of Timofti and Elisaveta, joined his brothers to make a new life in Canada.  We might assume that he stayed with his brother Nick in Montreal for a time or perhaps he travelled to join his brother John who was already in Saskatchewan but we do not know for certain.

First Born Baby (1910)

John and Maranda had welcomed their first child, Wesley on January 1, 1910.

Joined by Brother Nick (1910)

Nick and Garafira with their first-born baby left Montreal in 1910 and travelled west to Regina, Saskatchewan to join John.  Much had changed since the brothers had last seen either other with Nick’s marriage to Garafira possibly happening after John had left Montreal and both brothers having new babies.

Nick joined into the labour on the Legislature as well. 

Shortly after, Nick was able to purchase a quarter-section homestead right beside his brother John on NW-02-10-23-W2 and then later a second quarter-section beside that on NE-03-10-23-W2.  Owning land was something they would never have been able to do in Romania as all land was owned by aristocrats and only leased back to peasants.  They must have been very proud to be land owners.

Brother Costan was able to secure a homestead just down the road (SW-10-10-23-W2) from his brothers.

Joined by Sister Rachela (1911)

Around the year 1911 Nick’s sister Rachela “Rachel”, the sixth born child of Timofti and Elisaveta, left Romania to join her brothers.  She made the journey to escape a marriage to a much older man that had been arranged for her.  She fled with the blessing of her father. 

We will assume that for a time she lived with her brothers and their families in Saskatchewan.

Accused of Manslaughter (1913)

In 1913 during the evening of August 28 John, his older brother Nick and a friend named Mordari Puscar were charged with manslaughter and accused with causing the death of a neighbour, John Paicu.  The three were tried twice for the crime and each time the charges were dismissed.  It was revealed in the court documents that Nick and John were leaders of a criminal element in the region and that people were afraid to give testimony against them in the opinion of the RNWMP who investigated.  What criminal activity they were rumoured to be responsible for was not documented. (Read more in Manslaughter in the Death of John Paicu)

John and his brother Nick stood over six feet tall which was a very imposing height for the day.  Nick and John were also built with generous frames.  In old photos they very clearly towered over people of the day.  Life was rougher in the beginning of the 1900’s and their land could still be considered a new frontier away from the law and civility of city life.  Perhaps they did take advantage.

Following the final trial on August 11, 1914 we hope that John followed a straighter path.  Certainly he seemed to develop into a better citizen.  When the charges were dropped John was a father of three with a fourth on the way! (Read more in Manslaughter in the Death of John Paicu)

Death of Father (1918)

John would have received a letter from home in 1918 telling him that his father Timofti had passed away at the age of fifty-eight. We do not know if John was ever able to travel back to see the family that remained in Romania.  Certainly that would have been an expensive undertaking and with World War I raging (1914-1918) possibly dangerous as well.  It is likely that when John said goodbye to his family ten years earlier that he suspected he might not see them again.

Brother Costan Moves to Michigan (1923)

John’s brother Costan must have thought that his fortunes lay elsewhere as he, in about 1923 moved to Detroit, Michigan, USA likely to seek work in the factories.  In February 1924 his wife Cleofira and seven children joined him.  Over the coming years John would travel to visit his brother in Michigan.  This reveals a close sibling relationship.

Brother Nick Moves to Better Land

In the early 1930’s Nick and Garafira’s home burnt down and they decided to move to a farm two miles north of Kayville.  John and Maranda surely missed having Nick and Garafira as neighbours after that.

Death of Mother (1933)

Fifteen years earlier John received word of the death of his Father, in 1933 it would be news of the death of his mother Elisaveta at the age of sixty-eight.  Again, we do not know if John ever returned home again.  Certainly by this point he could probably have afforded it but with so many children yet to raise he would have likely made the journey on his own and it would have been for a small number of months.  It’s doubtful for a man with so many responsibilities to make that decision easily.

Sister Rachela Moves East

At some point by the mid-thirties Nick’s sister Rachela had married Gregory Creotor (“Taylor”) and had moved to Kirkland Lake, Ontario.  She would eventually move to Detroit, Michigan, USA alone.  This would leave Nick and John in the west and Costan and Rachela in the east.

The Great Depression

By the late 1930’s the Great Depression combined with a prolonged drought was making the economics of farming very difficult.  A majority of Nick and Garafira’s children moved to Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan as did many of his own children.

As bad as the economy was overall, it must have been just a little bit better to the east.  At least brother Costan had lived there for the previous decade and could provide solid advice on what life was like there. 

Most of the people who moved east ended up staying there.  It must have been hard for John and Maranda to see them go knowing that they might be separated forever.

Retirement

With their ten adult children now on their own, Nick and Garafira retired and moved into the village of Kayville in 1946.  John and Maranda followed suit shortly after and they lived very close to Nick and Garafira in town.

John passed away in 1960 at the age of seventy-two leaving Maranda his wife of fifty-four years, nine surviving children and sixteen grandchildren.  Ion “John” was preceded in death by one son, Dan Cojocar and three grandchildren, Lee Cojocar, Marie Lucille Gagnon and Barry Ross Cojocar.  He is buried in the modern cemetery of the Saint Peter and Paul Romanian Orthodox Church in the town of Kayville, Saskatchewan.