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The Kudrick Family
--Helen's Birth--
My Ruthenian Roots by Joseph R. Kudrick
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Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Helen Kudrick is born on March 16, 1901: Helen Kudrick, born on March 16, 1901, is the second child and the first girl born to parents Anna and Alex Kudrick. Helen like her brother Michael, born two years earlier in 1899, is also born in the village of Cranberry, Pennsylvania. Helen is baptized in St. Mary's Greek Catholic Church in Hazleton by Rev. Orestes Zlodsky. The godparents are family friends Andrew Velyki and Helen Stefan who also live in the patch town of Cranberry.
Growth of family: The Kudrick family has grown to include five children (three girls and two boys) and two parents for a total of seven. Anna, the mother, is 33 years old, Alex, the father and bread-winner, just turns 30 years of age while Anna Scšur II Bartko is the oldest child having reached the tender young age of 11.
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Over 90% of the work force in the local anthracite coal mines are from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and neighboring Slavic countries.
The Pardee Family of the Cranberry Mines have a thriving Company Store which does a "bang-up" business using a captive mining clientele.
Houses in Cranberry, owned by the Pardee Family, rent for $1 per month per room payable at the Cranberry Mine office on each payday.
Nearly all the taxable sources in Hazle Township, where Cranberry is located, are in the hands of the coal companies. Miners are not taxable property owners in the anthracite coal fields.
The Kudrick living room is referred to as "the parlor" and the furniture in "the parlor" is called "the parlor suit."
The West Hazleton School District purchases land on Monroe Avenue for a high school which will be used by most of the Kudrick grandchildren in subsequent years.
The New York State Baseball League is formed; the league later becomes the New York Penn League and then the Eastern League featuring teams and games to be played at the yet to be built Cranberry Ball Park.
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Stocking The Coal Bin For Winter: My grandparents, along with other immigrant families living in Cranberry, spend less than $5 per year on coal. Although illegal to do so, typical miner's wives (photo above) with the help of their children supplement the purchased coal by bringing home "hard" coal picked from nearby coal fields and coal banks. Although hard work, the Kudrick family is able to save money on their yearly fuel bill. When Anna and her older children find coal lying on the ground, they crack it into smaller pieces, pack it into burlap bags or cans and load the coal onto wagons or wheelbarrows. Following the collection process, they transport the coal home and "dump" it in the coal bin to supplement the coal they purchased from Alex's employer at the Cranberry Mines.
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A major strike hits the anthracite coal fields leaving 147,000 miners and 357 collieries idle for 151 days. Clarence Darrow, representing the miners, refers to John Markle, a Hazleton coal baron, as a "fiendishly cruel man" in his treatment of the local miners. During the strike the miners rely on store owners giving them credit, i.e., allowing purchase of items "on the book."
Miners bomb Gilberton and Minersville company homes in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, south of Cranberry.
Ten thousand soldiers and National Guard troops are sent to Hazleton to keep the peace during the coal strike.
Ninty-six percent of all anthracite coal lands are controlled by the railroads who have a seven-year agreement with local operators Pardee (Cranberry) and Markle (Jeddo) to purchase their coal at attractive prices.
Greek Catholic churches account for approximately 13% of all the Catholic Churches in the anthracite coal fields.
Stephen Michalek is born in Nanticoke to Andrew Michalek and Mary Scšur, my grandmother's sister. This is the third child in the Michalek family.
A 12-minute epic called "The Great Train Robbery" is the first truly suspenseful movie shown in theaters.
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Coal Strike of 1902: Anna has her "hands full" with her five children ranging in ages of 12, 10, 8, 3 and 1 with Helen being the youngest. On top of that, Alex and the other miner's in the area vote to strike. This specific strike turns out to be the greatest strike in the Middle Eastern Coal Field history. The historic vote is cast at the Grand Opera House on Broad Street in Hazleton. Ten thousand soldiers and National Guard troops (some shown above) descend on the coal fields to keep the peace. Finally, arbitration is set up by the federal government, the strike is settled and the miners return to work. The aggregate strike loss is set at $140 million, but Alex looses ½ years pay.
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