John Lepak

Like most of the Lepak kin that came from Europe, John was born in Petna, Austria (aka Galicia and Poland). His son, Joseph, described his father as "a peach," a nice man. John went by various names in the records. Immigration information seems to indicate he came over to the USA at least 4 times. He (Ivan) came to Ellis Island in March of 1888 with no indication of where he was headed. He (Iwan) also entered at Ellis Island in June of 1898 and headed for Elmira, NY. That record indicates that he lived in New Jersey (Schala?) from 1890 to 1893. He entered Canada at Halifax, NS, in early March 1902, and headed for North Tonawanda, NY. That record indicates that he lived in North Tonawanda from 1897 to 1899. A further record shows that he entered the USA at Baltimore, MD, in November 1911. He was headed to Auburn, NY, to see an acquaintance (Wasyl Bazarnyk) and he left his wife (Anna Behuniak Lepak) in Petna. This same record indicates that he lived in Auburn from 1900 to 1909, although, the Auburn directories show no Lepak families until 1914 at the earliest. In June, 1913, Mary Molson Lepak and infant son Wanio (Joseph’s wife and first son John) entered Ellis Island and indicated they were going to see John Lepak (and son Joseph) at Perth Amboy, NJ. Census records show that Joseph and his father John Lepoch (Lepock) were living in Charlotte, NY, where they worked at a blast furnace at an iron works.