Postcard #75
According to the inscription, written in Armenian, the image is “Nshan Kirikian, interpreter for the British Army from Malatya.” The woman in the photograph is his wife Araxie Chilingirian
Name/Title
Postcard #75Description
Nishan Kerekian was born on March 15, 1896, in Malatya to Nazli Kerekian (1872–1957). He initially emigrated to the United States as a teenager, arriving at the Port of New York on October 30, 1912, aboard the ship Alice following a departure from Patras, Greece. By June 1917, during the First World War, Kerekian registered for the military draft in Meriden, Connecticut. At the time of his registration, he was twenty-one years old, single, and living at 63 North Street in Meriden. He was employed as a buffer for the International Silver Company at Factory H in Meriden, and noted on his registration card that he was a "declarant" for citizenship who provided sole financial support for his mother and sister. Physical descriptions from this period record him as tall with a medium build, dark brown hair, and brown eyes. Following his initial period in Connecticut, Kerekian traveled back to Cilicia to join the French Armenian Legion (Légion Arménienne), participating in the regional conflict during the Battle of Marash. After Turkish nationalist forces took control of Marash and French military forces withdrew in early 1920, Kerekian retreated from the area and made his way back to Europe. He stayed briefly in Marseilles, France, before securing return passage to the United States from the port of Le Havre. He arrived back at the Port of New York on November 27, 1920, aboard a manifest that recorded him as a twenty-four-year-old single laborer, listing his final destination as New Britain, Connecticut. He subsequently filed a naturalization petition in Hartford County in May 1922 to formalize his legal status. Following his permanent return to Connecticut, Kerekian transition into public service, securing employment with the United States Post Office where he worked for several decades as a city postal carrier. He married Araxie Chilingirian (1904–1996), a native of Erzurum, and the couple established their long-term family residence at 48 Woodlawn Street in New Britain, Connecticut. They had two children, Edward Kerekian and Mary Kerekian. In April 1942, at the age of forty-six, Kerekian registered for the World War II "Old Man's" Draft while continuing his employment with the U.S. Post Office in New Britain. By 1950, federal census records indicate he headed a multi-generational household at the Woodlawn Street address. The household consisted of his wife Araxie; his son Edward, who was employed as a postal clerk; his daughter Mary, working as a state college stenographer; his son-in-law Vartkes Atashian, employed as a railway postal clerk; and his eighty-year-old mother, Nazli. Their son, Edward Kerekian (born May 25, 1923), was a veteran of World War II, having served as a Private First Class in the United States Army Air Forces, before pursuing his career with the postal service. Kerekian died in October 1973 at the age of seventy-seven. His obituary was published in the Hartford Courant on October 12, 1973. He is buried in Connecticut under a shared family headstone alongside his mother Nazli, his wife Araxie, and his daughter Mary Kerekian Atashian (1926–2011). His son, Edward Kerekian, lived to the age of ninety-eight and passed away on October 6, 2021; he is buried nearby in Fairview Cemetery in New Britain, Connecticut.Category
Postcards