Ignatius Gula Marries his Sister's Widow - History Repeats Itself

In a previous post, Two Gula Brothers Marry the Same Woman - Mary Smey, I recorded the situation where Steve Gula was married his brother's widow, Mary Smey (Smij). 

 Living in Scottdale, PA, Steve and Mary had five kids: 

• John Gula (1906-1969)
• Peter Gula (1913-1997)
• Joseph Gula (1915-1997)
• Michael Gula (1921- )
• Stephen Gula (1921 - 1997)

Steve died on December 6, 1921 (42 years old). Mary was only 37 at the time of Steve's death. I don't know the circumstances….did they fall in love, or was it a cultural tradition….but on November 24, 1923, Mary married Steve Gula's brother, Nat Gula.  

I had already uncovered and posted about this story. 

Recently, my distant cousin (Thanks, Ian!!) provided me new information about the family and a separate circumstance where a Gula brother married his brother's widow had happened at least once before. 

Back in the homeland in the Carpathian Mountains in the small village of Wolowiec, Peter Gula (1808-1847) married Anna Smij (1808-1885). 

Peter and Anna had the following children:

• Theodore 'Fedor' Gula (1836-1895)( My 2nd great-grandfather)

From what I can tell, village life was hard, and the population was impoverished. It is unclear if there was any school or public education. However, it does appear that many of the villagers hadn't learned to read or write. 

Peter died in 1847. I do not know the cause. Shortly after Peter's death, Anna married Peter's brother, Ignatius (Nat) Gula (1815-1888).  

Nat and Anna had the following children:

• Peter Gula (1853-?)

Considering that the marrying of brothers and their widows happened twice in one family, we can conclude that this wasn't taboo or rare in the Carpathian Rusyn culture.

I was joking with my two daughters for when they decide to get married, they look to see if their husband's brothers are marriage material because you just never know what may happen in the future. 

Treasure Chest Thursday - Gula Compiled Genealogy

When I run into a family genealogy roadblock, I always say, “There is someone out there or some document which has the answer, I just need to find it!”    Time and again, I have been proven right.  I have kept digging and either found a document or connected with someone (usually a distant relative)  who has the answer!

My blog has turned out to be a great source of finding relatives, too.   A little over a month ago, Kathy Kasich Gallagher, found my website and connected with me.   Kathy is my 2^nd cousin once removed (not even sure what that means), but it meant that I wasn’t aware of her existence (or she mine), prior to her finding my website.

I reached out to her and we started an email correspondence regarding our shared ancestors, Fedor Gula and Marina (Mary) Bybel Gula.  Kathy had recently visited the ancestral home of the Gula family, Wolowiec, Poland.

I am very lucky to have connected with Kathy.  She shared with me a Gula family genealogy that my great aunt, Rosella Gula Higgins Ficklin had compiled in 1995.  Rosella has since passed away, but not before sharing copies of her research with several family members.   

Based on this compiled genealogy I wanted to share information about Fedor and Marina Bybel Gula.

Fedor and Marina (Mary) Bybel Gula were born in the small village of Wolowiec, in present day southern Poland.   At that time there were only about 700 residents, there are much less today.  At the time of their birth, Wolowiec was  part of Austrian controlled Galicia.    The records suggest they were poor subsistence farmers.

Fedor and Mary Bybel had 9 children (3 died in infancy all born in Wolowiec  (The Russian spelled Wolowiec as Volovice):

• Rose (b. March 11, 1895 d. February 4, 1976 – Shelton, CT)
• Metro Haluschak m. 1913
• Anna (b. February 1,1874 d. May 5, 1925 – Hillsboro, IL)
• Dymtro Pregon m. June 6, 1903
• Andrew (died in infancy)
• Anastasia(No record of Anastasia)
• Peter (He came to the US, but returned to Europe and is believed to have died in WW I)
• George (b. March 18, 1889 d .May 21, 1967 – Scottdale, PA)
• Mary Korba m. July 31, 1915
• John (b. December 18, 1895 d. April 19, 1968 – Scottdale, PA)
• Mary Demnovich m. June 11,1924
• Rosalie (died in infancy)
• Mary (died in infancy)

Just the first of many future posts to come on the Gula family.   This is a picture of my great grandparents:  George Gula and Mary Korba Gula of Scottdale, PA.

Please email me if you are related to the Gula family.  


I am happy to share with you any info that I have on the family.