First job in two years has fatal result for immigrant
Michael Onyschuk boarded the Montnairn in Southampton in 1928, bound for a new life in Canada.
It would be two more years before he would be reunited with his wife and four children. They stayed behind in Ukraine until there was enough money to send for them. He arrived at Halifax on Aug. 1, 1928; four years later, on Aug. 1, 1932, Onyschuk’s funeral would take place.
Steady jobs were difficult to find for the new immigrant. For a while he was employed at Steel Radiation Co. on Berryman Avenue in St. Catharines, and also did occasional work on a farm. The couple also took in boarders to help make ends meet. By 1932, their family had grown to six children with the addition of two more sons who were born in Canada.
Despite the hard times, the Onyschuks still found the means to make Christmas special for their young family. Years later, their daughter Anne recalled a burlap sack with some toys being magically left at the front door by Santa Claus at Christmas time.
On the morning of July 30, 1932, one of their boarders wasn't feeling well so it was suggested Onyschuk go in as his replacement. Near Allanburg they were felling trees that were too close to the Welland Ship Canal. The canal was scheduled to be officially opened in another seven days.
The first tree was cut but started falling the wrong way. Some men ran and jumped into the canal to escape injury, but Onyschuk could not get out of the way in time. His injuries from the falling tree were severe — a fractured spine, a broken leg, internal injuries and severe shock.
Onyschuk had been on the job for one hour.
He was rushed to St. Catharines General Hospital. Just as his wife Julianna arrived, the battered Onyschuk expired. Julianna was left in a foreign land with no money, unable to speak English, and with six children to care for ranging in age from 4½ months to 10 years.
This is but one example of the families left behind who had to carry on despite the hardships — they were the second victims of these horrible accidents.
Julia got a job at a canning factory on Lake Street, and then a second job. She rose every day at 4 a.m. to prepare that day’s lunch and supper, then headed off to work. She walked in order to save on the streetcar fare because after a week, that would add up to enough to buy a pair of socks or some other item needed for one of the children. She also planted a large garden to provide a bit of extra food.
She would have received a monthly cheque from Workmen’s Compensation, but that was hardly enough to make ends meet. The children — Mary, John, Anne, Michael, Steve, Bill — were all expected to pitch in. Everyone had a daily schedule of chores and responsibilities and that’s one of the reasons they were able to stay together as a family. Their story is one of the surviving members of a singleparent family after the canal work had claimed a husband and father.
Twenty-six years after the death of her husband, and long after her children were grown adults, Julianna Onyschuk remarried.
The family history information for this article was provided by Anne Connon, one of the six children of Michael and Julianna Onyschuk. She was born in 1927, was five at the time of her father’s death, and was 86 at the time of this interview. She died Feb. 21, 2017, nine months before the unveiling of the memorial to her father and 136 other workers who died in building the Welland Ship Canal.
To learn more visit www.stcatharines.ca/ canalworke rsmemorial.