Tag Archives: Tsintzina

Tsintzinians in America

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The valley of Sparta is surrounded by towering mountains which cradle countless villages. Winding through a myriad of summits, about one hour slightly northeast, one reaches the remote village of Tsintzina, known today as Polidroso.Nestled in a forest of fir trees in the heart of Mt. Parnon, Tsintzinia’s history dates back to at least the 12th century. There is an oral tradition that German soldiers participating in the Crusades visited the village and some intermarried with Tsintzinian women.

The villagers lived peacefully even during centuries of Ottoman rule. The earliest relocations to the Evrotas valley near Sparta began around 1777 after the Orlov Insurrection. Others followed after the 1821 Revolution. As people established permanent homes in the valley, they kept their mountain homes for summer residences.[1]

Polydroso, photo by Giannis Marougas, April 2019

Theodore Saloutos called the first wave of immigrants from Greece “Greek Pilgrims,” those who migrated from villages surrounding Sparta in the 1880s. Tsintzinians were given this name, as they were among the earliest Greeks to establish communities in America. Christos Chaconas (Tsakonas) came to the U.S. about 1873 and commenced the pattern of bringing a succession of young men  to America and providing them with jobs, as described in this National Herald article.

By 1887, enough Tsintzinian men had emigrated to Chicago to form “the first organization in America exclusively for Greeks and named it the Therapnean Society after the name of the township or demos in the old country.”[2] This photo, sent to me by JoAnn Pavlostathis, was taken in Chicago during the very early 1900’s. [click on photo to enlarge and see annotated numbers]

Tsintzinian Society, Chicago, Illinois, very early 1900s

Names Transcribed:
1. James J. Polites (Gioras)
2. Athanasios Farmakis (Colovos)
3. Constantinos Vouloumanos (Bogris)
4. Fraklis Trieris
5. Demetrios J. Vouloumanos (Moutsonas)
6. Panagiotes N. Georgetsos
7. Panagiotis J. Vouloumanos (Moutounas)
8. Elias Polites (Makris)
9. Elias Polites
10. James A. Vouloumanos (Snibas)
11. Panagiotis Grigoris Patrosis
12. Elias Economou (Fantaros)
13. James N. Chelekis
14. –
15. Michael G. Laskaris
16. Nicholas A. Gregoris
17. Haralambos Coumoutzis
18. James K. Poolos
19. Laskaris
20. Economakis (Magoula)
21. Panagiotes Polites
22. Demetrios P. Polites
23. Nick Caroumbas
24. –
25. John Polites (Kleftakis)
26. Nicholas G. Caravasios
27. –
28. Panagiotis Limberakis
29. Nick Vambalis (Karahalios)
30. Antonios Stathopoulos (Magoula)
31. Harry N. Constas
32. Demetrios J. Comuntzis
33. George J. Gregory
34. Nicholas P. Farmakis
35. Nick Gianios
36. Panagiotis Laskaris
37. Leonidas Serfelis
38. Anastasios Economakis (Klemizis)
39. John G. Papageorge
40. John Trieris
41. John Geracimos (Kotsaris)
42. John Chacona
43. James J. Nickles
44. George Duskas
45. Vasileios J. Lourpas
46. Baby John Nickles
47. Marcus Jmes Nickles
48. Baby of John Chacona

Nick G. Carvasios
813 Main Street
Wheeling, W.Va. 26003

Every July for the past 130 years, members of the Tsintzinian Heritage Society hold a reunion in Jamestown, New York to strengthen their bonds and maintain their traditions. The society has gathered a history of the families of the village, found here. Members continue to submit surname information (found here) which makes it easy to locate and connect with originating families from the village.

In addition, the Tsintzina website is filled with a myriad of information about the village:  its history, culture, photos, books, links, and even a phone directory of villagers!

For those with families from Tsintzina, there are many resources to learn the proud history of your roots.
________
[1] Peter Dickson to Carol Kostakos Petranek, 2016

[2] Dickson, Peter. General History, “Tzintzinian Heritage Society of America.”

 

Papagiannakos in Lakonia

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For the past month, I have been researching Papagiannakos records in preparation for a meeting with Father Eugene Pappas (Papagiannakos), priest at Three Hierarchs Church in Brooklyn, and a “cousin” to my mother. Both his family and mine descend from two different Nikolaos Papagiannakos’ from Agios Ioannis (born in the early 1800’s), but we have not yet been able to go back far enough to find our common ancestor.  Hurricane Sandy derailed my visit with Father Eugene as Brooklyn is now under water, but my research continues.

After extracting Papagiannakos names from villages around Sparta in Electoral Rolls of 1872, Mitroon Arrenon, and other documents, I found that prior to 1900 in Agios Ioannis, there were two Ioannis’ and at least five or possibly seven Nikolaos’. I also found Papagiannakos in Therapni, Tsintzina and Zoupena.

I plotted all these families on a Google map. I put purple pins in each of the villages where a Papagiannakos family lived. Click on the pin and you will see a pop-up window showing the families in that village: 

Here is a list of the families I have found so far:

AGIOS IOANNIS:  1815-1941

1815-1900: Families (fathers and sons)

1.  Ioannis 4 had 1 son, Georgios born either 1875 or 1880

2.  Ioannis 5 had 2 sons: Spyridon born 1890/91 and Evvagelos born 1895

Nikolaos – There were at least 5 and possibly 7 families with Nikolaos as father:

  1. Nikolaos 1 (may be same person as Nikolaos 4, as sons are 4 yrs apart). His son was Panagiotis born 1841 (this is my great-grandfather)
  2. Nikolaos 2, married to Georgia Piperis; they had 8  sons born 1889-1910  (this is Father Eugene’s ancestral family)
  3. Nikolaos 3, born 1815 (may be same person as Nikolaos 1, 6 or 7, as he is 20, 22, or 26 when the sons were born)
  4. Nikolaos 4 (may be same person as Nikolaos 1, as sons are 4 yrs apart); his son was Ioannis born 1845
  5. Nikolaos 5 had one son, Theodoros, born 1901
  6. Nikolaos 6 had one son, Ioannis 2, born 1837
  7. Nikolaos 7 had one son, Ioannis 1, born 1835

1901-1941: Families (fathers and sons)

  1. Andreas, with 6 children born 1931-1941
  2. Aristedes, with 4 children born 1929-1940
  3. Konstandinos, with 6 children born 1927-1935
  4. Christos, with 2 children born 1901-1904

THERAPNI: 1867

Father: no name, son Dimitrios b 1867 (source: School Archives)

TSINTZINA:  1830-1840

Dimitrios had 3 sons, Ioannis b 1830, Georgios b 1837, Panagiotis b 1840

ZOUPENA:  1886-1891

Father: G, had one son, Ilias b 1886

Father: P, had one son, Christofos b 1891

Although I am grateful for the records that exist and have allowed me to research to this point, I am anxiously awaiting more information. Using several sets of records allows me to compare and contrast dates, names and locations at different times. Church records would be the golden key that ties families together. Perhaps there will come a day when they will be readily available in Greece as they are in other countries.

Now that I have finished looking in the general area of Sparta, I will look farther south in Lakonia and perhaps into Messinia, into the Mani region, to see if, when and where the Papagiannakos name appears. I’m looking for migration patterns. Meanwhile, I will keep looking for additional records to help me sort out the Nikolaos’, and be able to go back another generation or two to find the common ancestor.

Then, I’ll start on another surname! This work is never done 🙂