By Florence Goodman

I recently received an email from a woman whose dad's family had a farm in Wolcott where he grew up. I had missed this farm when I was researching farms in town, so I was very excited to get this information. Her dad had written two small books about his family emigrating from Galicia to our area and then buying a farm in Wolcott. This was great news for me because the Wolcott Historical Society decided to display farm items and farm history in their booth at the Lion's Country Fair this past August, so I now had one new farm to add to my list!

The two books that were sent to the Society were written first by Thomas Rozdilski and then edited and sent to Amazon for publishing by his daughter, Jill Chanapai; they are "The Story of Eva Shkymba and John Rozdilski From Galicia To Wolcott," and "Life on the Farm in Wolcott." Eva and John's families were from a historical geographical region of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth which later became Poland and the Ukraine. The first book tells the history of family life in their homeland and how the families came to the United States. It is filled with beautiful old photos that Tom and Eva's families had saved. The second book tells the story of life on the farm on Wolcott Road and again is filled with wonderful old photographs of these early days of farm life in our town. I remember when Tom's sister, Mary, who was an active member of the Society would attend our monthly meetings; she always brought old photos with her and shared the history of each. When Mary passed away, I had hoped that the Society would receive these photos, sadly, we did not, but I have to say, I'm much happier with the donation of these two beautiful books that are filled with family histories and photos.

Tom Rozdilski's mother, Eva Shkymba was born on June 20, 1897, in Galicia and when she was fourteen years of age she left her family and homeland and sailed to America with her seventeen-year-old brother. She could not speak the language and had no skills to get a job, but she did have two brothers who were already in America who would guide her. The trip took eight days, arriving in New York Harbor on June 11, 1912. Her brothers and their families were living in Brooklyn, so Eva lived with them. She worked in a jute mill for 10-hours a day, five and a half days per week. After three years, Eva took a train to Waterbury, Connecticut to live with another brother and his wife where she worked in a factory there as well.

Tom's father, John Rozdilski was born on June 15, 1895, in the village of Czarne, Galicia. His early life was spent working on their farm doing strenuous work there. In 1911 at age 16, John left his homeland for America. It took nine days to get to New York where John met his Uncle Wassil Rozdilsky who brought him back to his home in Waterbury. He lived with him for a year, but decided he could make more money working in the coal mines in Pennsylvania. Working in the mines was hard and dangerous work so in 1915 John returned to Waterbury. It was there that he met Eva in that same year. They married on February 19, 1916; John was 20 and Eva was 18. They lived in rents in Waterbury for eight years. It wasn't until April 1924 that they were able to purchase a 22-acre farm in Wolcott on 197 Wolcott Road for $3200 from Frank Moroz; it included the land, a house and barn. Eva cried when she first saw the inside of the house, which had been used as a barn, but it quickly was turned into their home for them and their seven children. This cape-style house had a large kitchen with a pantry and two other rooms on the first floor; the upstairs was unfinished and wide open. There was a front porch and at the end of the house with an open storage area and the cellar door. There was no indoor plumbing or electricity, but the kitchen sink had a drain that was piped to the outside. The old well pump delivered tasty, cold water and it never ran dry. The outhouse was located behind the barn that proved to be quite a trip in the dark or in the cold of winter. The barn was large and had an attached garage for a wagon or car and had an attached chicken coop. There were two cow stalls and a hay loft above and the back had another stall attached for a horse.

It's obvious that Wolcott land is filled with rock so early farmers worked tirelessly to till the soil and remove them, hence all the stone walls around town. The front portion of the Rozdilski's farm had fertile topsoil which provided a perfect area for their garden and the rest of the land which bordered Grilley Road to the southwest was forestland. The trees were cut and used for firewood and the open fields allowed the farm animals a place to graze. There was also Old Tannery Brook that ran through the property and crossed under Wolcott Road. This was the perfect place for the Rozdilski's seven children to grow-up.

As mentioned in the beginning of this article, Joe and Eva Rozdilski purchased their farm from Frank Moroz also spelled Morozuk. Frank Moroz's property consisted of the farm he sold to Rozdilski and the land north of that up to Norton Road. He sold the rest of his property later to the Clifford Herbst. The pond that is located on Wolcott Road and today is part of the Lion's Fair grounds was used as an ice pond and Frank Moroz also had an icehouse near the pond where he stored his ice.

One hundred years ago, Wolcott's farms served so many families in this town. Most of these farmers worked in the factories in Waterbury but came home each evening to work on their farm. Every family member had responsibilities on the farm. Children usually helped after school and throughout the summer. These farms provided food and extra money for the families in a time when it was greatly needed.

(Information for this article was taken from two books written by Tom Rozdilski and donated to the Wolcott Historical Society by his daughter, Jill Chanapai. The books are for sale on Amazon and are titled The Story of Eva Shkymba and John Rozdilski From Galicia To Wolcott and Life on the Farm in Wolcott; information about Frank Moroz was given to me by Betty Thurber in 2014)

The Rozdilski House at 197 Wolcott Road, circa 1934.

John and Eva Rozdilski and their children.

A later photo of the house and garages at the house and garages at the Rozdilski farm.

Cows and a horse grazing in the fields.

Eva Rozdilski and her children in the garden.

This photo was taken by Mary Rozdilski in May circa 1930s.

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