The Leonenko Family Story

Who We Are

We are the descendants of German woodsmen from the Black Forest, Norwegian fishermen from the fjords of Vest-Agder, Irish immigrants in the tenements of Brooklyn, Russian nobility from Tula Province, Ukrainian families displaced by war, and Polish villagers from the borderlands of empires. Our ancestors survived revolutions, two world wars, concentration camps, forced labor, displacement, and ocean crossings — and built new lives in America and Australia.

This document is the family’s source of truth: everything we know, where it comes from, and what we still hope to discover.

The Family at a Glance

Andrew’s brother: Matthew Alexander Leonenko (b. 1987) • Wife: Stephanie Halifa Ragman • Son: Greyson Leonenko (b. 2023)
Aunt: Anna Leonenko Wittke (b. 1954)

Greyson Leonenko’s Heritage

Part IThe German Branch

The Haas Family of Forbach, Black Forest (c. 1650 – present)

Andrew’s mother’s father’s line

The deepest roots in our family tree reach into the village of Forbach, nestled in the northern Black Forest of Baden, Germany. Here, in the hills above the Murg River, our ancestors lived for over two hundred years.

The Founding Families of Forbach

The earliest traceable ancestor is [Karcher] (b. c. 1650, Forbach; d. 1712), who married Anna Kraemer (b. 29 Apr 1654; d. 10 Jan 1716) on 22 November 1676. Their descendants married into the other old Forbach families — the Wunsches, the Grossmanns, the Schillingers, the Goetzes — weaving a web of relationships across the village over generations.

The Karcher-Wunsch Line:

Johannes Michael Wunsch was the son of Johann Martin Wunsch (b. 11 Nov 1719; d. 1794) and Anna Maria Grossmann (b. 10 May 1716), both of Forbach.

The Haas Line from Friedenweiler:

Johannes Nepomuk and Maria Elisabetha’s children (all born in Forbach):

The Wunsch-Haas Marriage

Aloysius Haas (b. 1801, Forbach) married Maria Anna Wunsch (b. 1792, Forbach), joining the two great Forbach families. Their children:

Maximilian A.F. Haas married Maria Anna Kraemer (b. 28 Sep 1833, Forbach) on 24 November 1859.

Alois Haas: The Emigrant (1862–1931)

Maximilian and Maria Anna’s son Alois Haas was born 20 July 1862 in Forbach. Around 1881, at age nineteen, he sailed for America.

In New York, on 28 January 1894, at the Church of St. Boniface (2nd Avenue and 47th Street, Manhattan), he married Anna Maria Nebel (b. 11 April 1873; d. 29 June 1962). He became a naturalized US citizen on 23 September 1918. He died 4 April 1931 in the Bronx.

Anna Maria Nebel’s family (from Bavaria): Father Balthasar Nebel (b. 14 Apr 1843, Miltenberg; arrived USA 1883), mother Elisabeth Oberle (b. Feb 1842; d. 14 Jul 1901, New York), grandfather Jacob Nebel (b. 6 Aug 1808, Ebersbach; d. 15 Oct 1842).

The German Line to Long Island

2026 Research Findings

The 1940 US Federal Census confirms Aloysius C. Haas, age 25, living in Sunnyside, Queens, New York with his wife Dorothy. Given that the family patriarch was named Aloysius (b. 1801) and the family had deep roots in Queens, this is very likely a direct descendant — the name “Aloysius” persisting across four generations from the Black Forest to New York. The Baden Emigration Index (Collection 4610) on Ancestry catalogues departures from the Baden region where Forbach is located, and may contain Alois Haas’s original emigration record from the 1880s. St. Boniface Church in Queens, where the Haas family likely worshipped, was demolished in 1950 — parish records may have been transferred to the Archdiocese of New York.

The Nebel family connection has deepened: a Heinrich Anton Nebel from Soden bei Miltenberg died in Queens, confirming the Nebels settled in the same New York borough as the Haases. The Wunsch family (Maria Anna Wunsch, who married Aloysius Haas in 1801) has also been traced to the Murg valley in Baden — the same valley where Forbach sits. All the founding families — Haas, Wunsch, Karcher, Kraemer — lived within walking distance of each other.

Part IIThe Norwegian Branch

The Solberg Family of Vest-Agder (c. 1724 – present)

Andrew’s mother’s mother’s line

On the other side of Andrew’s mother’s family, the story begins along the rocky southern coast of Norway, in the region of Vest-Agder, among the fjords and fishing villages near Flekkefjord.

Steve Siversten Solberg first emigrated around 1875, at just fifteen. He returned to Norway, then departed again from Christiania (Oslo), arriving in New York on 22 August 1904. He settled in Brooklyn. His son Albert Oden Solberg was born in Oslo in 1905 and brought to America at age six.

2026 Research Findings

Find a Grave records show Maren Anette Solberg (born 10 October 1864; died 1 August 1941) and Pedora Solberg (d. 1941) buried in adjacent plots — FOR-9-A-34AB and FOR-9-A-34AA — at Cedar Grove Cemetery, Queens, New York. Maren Anette’s birth year (1864) places her in the same generation as Steve (b. 1860) — almost certainly his sister. That both Solbergs died in the same year and are buried side by side in Queens, where Albert and Harriet raised their family, confirms the Norwegian branch put down deep roots in that borough. Ancestry shows 5 records for Maren Anette Solberg, and immigration data suggests she emigrated to the United States between 1900 and 1910 — around the same time Steve made his final crossing in 1904.

The Loge farm name has been confirmed as Farm #71 in Nes Parish, Flekkefjord municipality — a named hill farm in the historic Nes bygd (rural district). In Norwegian naming conventions, farm names functioned as surnames: “Tonnes Jonsen Loge” meant “Tonnes, son of Jon, of the Loge farm.” The Loge farm can be traced in church records and farm censuses back to at least the mid-1700s.

Part IIIThe Irish-American Branch

The Welsh, Kirkman, Wright, and Pfiefer Families

Through Andrew’s maternal grandmother’s mother

Sarah Anna Welch (b. 1892, New York) came from established New York families. Her father Edward Francis Welch Sr. (b. 25 Nov 1862, Brooklyn) was the son of James Welsh (b. 1820, New York) and Alice Kirkman (b. c. 1820) — the Welsh surname strongly suggests Irish ancestry from the great wave of immigration to Brooklyn in the 1840s–50s.

Her mother Harriett Amy Wright (b. 9 Aug 1870; d. 7 Jun 1944, Queens) was the daughter of William Wright and Henrietta Pfiefer — adding another German thread.

Part IVThe Russian Branch

The Rickman Family: Moscow to Tula to Yugoslavia to Adelaide (1794–1967)

Andrew’s father’s mother’s line — the most dramatic branch

The Imperial Rickmans (1794–1912)

The Rickman family were members of the Russian gentry and civil/military service class, rooted in Tula Province, about 200 km south of Moscow.

The Avtomonov Connection

Anna Vasilievna Avtomonova connects us to the Avtomonov family of Varvarino, near Belev, in Tula Province — and to a distant cousin in Sweden (4th cousin once removed).

Konstantin Rickman: Revolution and Exile

Konstantin had two sons: Georg (Yuri) (b. 1907/1908, Moscow) and Igor (b. 27 January 1909). The family fled Russia during the Revolution and Civil War, eventually reaching Yugoslavia. Konstantin’s last years were spent in DP Camp Ried im Innkreis, Austria — a tuberculosis rehabilitation facility. He died around 1949.

Georg Rickman: Yugoslavia, War, and Displacement

Georg was a White Russian emigre in Yugoslavia. He joined the Russian Protective Corps (Russisches Schutzkorps) during WWII — a unit of anti-communist White Russians under German command. This wartime service would later split his family.

Georg married Irena Renda and they settled in the Banat region of Yugoslavia. Their daughter Sofia L. Rickman was born 17 August 1933 in Kovin.

The CM/1 Application (Arolsen Archives)

The Family Split (March–September 1950)

This is one of the central stories of our family history. Georg’s Russian Protective Corps service made him ineligible for US immigration under the Displaced Persons Act, Section 13. Australia accepted former Axis-aligned emigres.

• 17 March 1950: Georg and Irena departed Munich for Australia.
• 2 September 1950: Sofia (age 17) departed Bremerhaven alone aboard the USNS General W. C. Langfitt, arriving in New York on 14 September 1950.

Sofia was likely sponsored by the Tolstoy Foundation — founded by Countess Alexandra Tolstoy, it settled over 42,000 Russian refugees in America.

Georg’s Second Family — The Solodky Discovery

Helene Rickmann, née SOLODKY (b. 21 May 1921, Aleximas; d. 2015). The Arolsen Archives reveal her entire family:

Olga’s maiden name SKORODUMOWA raises a striking question: General Mikhail Skorodumov (1892–1963) was the founder of the Russian Protective Corps in Belgrade — the very same unit Georg served in. Was Olga related to the General?

Wladimir Rickmann (b. 12 July 1941, Belgrade) emigrated in 1949 with Helene. Evidence strongly suggests he became Georg’s son in America — Andrew’s half-great-uncle.

Natalia Filimonoff — Russian Nobility Confirmed

Natalia Rickmann née FILIMONOFF (b. 1890, Kaluga) is almost certainly Konstantin’s wife — Andrew’s great-great-grandmother. The Filimonov family was confirmed Russian nobility, registered in the Noble Genealogical Book of Moscow Province, with four documented noble branches traced to the 13th century.

Part VThe Polish-Ukrainian Borderlands

Irena Renda and the Podkowinski Connection (1908–1982)

Andrew’s paternal grandmother’s mother

Irena Renda was born 19 April 1908 in Turkowice, Hrubieszow County, in what is now eastern Poland. In 1908 it was under Russian Imperial administration — a historically Ukrainian village with an Orthodox monastery supported by Tsar Nicholas II. On 10 March 1944, as part of the same military operation as the Sahryń massacre, Polish Home Army (AK) and Peasant Battalions (BCh) units attacked Turkowice: 80 Ukrainian villagers were murdered and 150 houses destroyed — a “reprisal” for the Massacres of Poles in Volhynia. Other villages attacked that day included Sahryń, Szychowice, Modryń, and Terebyń. In 1947, the remaining Ukrainian population was deported during Operation Vistula — a forced relocation of approximately 141,000–150,000 Ukrainians, Lemkos, and Rusyns from southeastern Poland, carried out by six divisions of the Polish army beginning 28 April 1947.

Irena’s father is recorded only as “/Renda/” — no first name. The most likely way to find it would be to request the 1908 birth record from the Lublin State Archive, Chelm branch. The surname Renda is primarily Italian (from Calabria and Sicily), with approximately 14,563 bearers worldwide — but 180 people in Poland and 44 in Ukraine carry the name, possibly descended from Italian artisans or settlers who came to Galicia during the Austrian period. The name does not appear in the Dictionary of Lemko Surnames.

Before Georg, Irena was married to a Podkowinski. Their sons Jurij (b. 1932, Volhynia) and Eugen (b. 1934) vanish after the DP period. An Arthur Podkowinski in Victoria, Australia may be a descendant. The Arolsen Archives contain records for multiple Josef Podkowinski entries at Majdanek concentration camp, though the exact connection remains unconfirmed. The State Museum at Majdanek maintains a searchable database of 56,000 prisoners.

2026 Research Findings — The Hrysak Surname

Gertrude’s maiden name Hrysak appears in the Dictionary of Lemko Surnames (based on the 1787 Austrian Cadastral Census) in four villages: Hańczowa, Klymkiwka, Radocyna (all in Gorlice County), and Kostariwci (listed as “Hryszak”) — all in the heart of the Lemko region in the Low Beskid mountains. This places the Hrysak family squarely in the historic Lemko heartland, though the specific village “Shelechiw” near Tarnow mentioned in the Arolsen records has not been independently located in any online gazetteer.

Find a Grave reveals three distinct clusters of Hrysak burials. In Manitoba, Canada, a large family group — founded by patriarch Prokip Hrycak — includes Wasyl (1889–1973), Mary (1890–1968), John (1909–1978), and others, buried at Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox cemeteries near Oakburn, representing an earlier immigration wave from the Lemko region. In Vienna, Austria, three Hrysaks — Franz (d. 27 March 1946), Julie (d. 11 February 1959), and Philomena (d. 9 October 1953) — are buried at Friedhof Baumgarten. Franz’s death on 27 March 1946, less than a year after liberation, strongly suggests a displaced person or forced laborer who died in Austria — the same country where Gertrude’s siblings were documented in forced labor camps. If Franz and Julie were Gertrude’s parents, the Friedhöfe Wien burial search could provide their birth dates and exact grave locations. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a Stanley Hrysak died in 1965 at age 76 (b. ~1889) — an American Hrysak whose age places him in the same generation as the Manitoba and Vienna clusters, suggesting yet another branch of the family that settled in the Eastern US.

Part VIThe Leonenko-Petrenko Line

From Vinnytsia to Long Island (1890s–1995)

Andrew’s paternal grandfather’s line

Sergej and Odarka

Sergej Leonenko (b. ~1895) married Odarka Petrenko (b. 17 September 1891). The GEDCOM listed them as “Serges” and “Dora” — but the DP card reveals the proper Ukrainian forms: Sergej and Odarka (a Ukrainian name from Greek Theodora). They were from the Vinnytsia region of central-western Ukraine. The surname Leonenko is extremely rare in the United States — only 14 bearers nationwide (per Forebears.io) — meaning virtually any American Leonenko record is likely connected to this family.

Sasha “Alexander” Leonenko Sr. (1920–1995)

Born 5 July 1920 in Vinnytsia (Winniza), Ukraine — NOT “Russia” as previously believed.

The DP Card — The Rosetta Stone of Our Family

Sasha’s A.E.F. D.P. Registration Card (DocID 68019560, Registration No. 081183) has been found and read in the Arolsen Archives. Dated 18 June 1947, it is the single most important document in our family research.

View Front of Card → View Back of Card →

Field	What the Card Says
Full Name	Leonenko, Aleksander
Birthdate	5.7.1920
Birthplace	Winniza (Vinnytsia), Ukraine
Nationality	Stateless
Marital Status	Single (as of 1947)
Father’s Full Name	Leonenko, Sergej
Mother’s Full Maiden Name	Petrenko, Odarka
Desired Destination	Argentina
Last Residence Jan 1, 1939	Bisinok, Czecho-Slovakia
Occupation	Teacher
Other Trades	Lock-smith
Languages (in order)	Ukrainian, Russian, Slovak, German
Camp	Camp Haunstetten, Augsburg — “Colony of Baltic Nations”
Arrival at Camp	22 July 1945
Emigration	“To U.S.A. in 27.5.49”
Signature	A. Leonenko (in his own hand)

What this card changes:

1. He was Ukrainian, not Russian. Ukrainian was his first language. Born in Vinnytsia.
2. His mother’s name was ODARKA — “Dora” was a nickname.
3. He lived in Czechoslovakia in 1939 — explaining his fluent Slovak.
4. He was a teacher — not the carpenter he later became in America.
5. He originally wanted to go to Argentina — something changed.
6. He arrived at camp on 22 July 1945 — six weeks after the war ended.
7. He emigrated to the USA on 27 May 1949.

The Voyage to America (May–June 1949)

The date “27.5.49” on Sasha’s DP card most likely records his departure from Camp Haunstetten, not from Germany itself. The standard IRO processing route was: DP camp → Camp Grohn (the IRO staging center in Bremen, where émigrés received vaccinations, medical exams, and two-day orientation sessions about American life) → train to Bremerhaven port → board ship. This transit typically took several days.

The most likely vessel was the USAT General W. G. Haan (AP-158), a military transport ship that was scheduled to depart Bremerhaven on 31 May 1949 bound for New York with displaced persons. The Atlantic crossing typically took 8–10 days, placing arrival around early June 1949.

Emigrating alongside Sasha was Gertrude Leonenko, née HRYSAK (b. 7 July 1925, Weyer) — apparently his wife. She came from a Lemko Ukrainian family from Shelechiw/Tarnow in Galicia. What happened to their marriage before he married Sofia in October 1951 remains a mystery.

He found work as a carpenter and married Sofia Rickman on 18 October 1951 in Brooklyn.

Died: 29 May 1995, St. Petersburg, Florida
Buried: Royal Palm South Cemetery, St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida (Find a Grave Memorial #12013283). In 2015, a visitor identified only as “R.C.” left a virtual flower with the inscription “Vecnaja Pamjat’!” (“Вечная Память” — “Eternal Memory” in Russian/Ukrainian transliteration) — confirming that someone in the Slavic community still remembered him twenty years after his death. His US Social Security records (Applications and Claims Index 1936–2007, Florida Death Index, SSDI) are available on Ancestry and may reveal his immigration details.

Note: Find a Grave records his birth as 5 July 1920, while his DP card states 29 August 1920. The discrepancy may reflect the difference between the Julian calendar (still used in parts of Ukraine at the time) and the Gregorian calendar, or a simple clerical variation across decades of documents.

Nickolay “Filimonowitsch” Leonenko (1925–2001)

A second Leonenko has emerged from the archives. The Arolsen Archives “Index to Tracing and Documentation Files” (1947) contains an entry for “Filimonowitsch Leonenko”, identified as Nikolai Leonenko, born 1 June 1925 (Case #2165883, Catalog 6.3.3.2, Reference #117536207). The patronymic “Filimonowitsch” is a German transliteration of the Slavic Filimonovich, meaning his father was Filimon Leonenko.

Since Sasha’s father was Sergej, Nickolay was not Sasha’s brother — but quite possibly a cousin from the same Vinnytsia-region Leonenko clan. Both men were Ukrainian displaced persons cataloged in the Arolsen tracing system in 1947, both in their twenties, both adrift in postwar Europe. That two Leonenkos from the same generation ended up in the same DP bureaucracy strongly suggests a shared origin — perhaps the same village or extended family network.

After the war, Nickolay emigrated to Canada rather than the United States. Canadian phone directories place him at 309 W Killaly Street, Port Colborne, Ontario (postal code L3K 3M7) continuously from 1995 to 2002. A Ukrainian Orthodox church stands at 55 Charlotte Street, Port Colborne (phone: 905-834-3184) under the Eastern Eparchy — almost certainly Nickolay’s parish, and a potential source of marriage, baptism, and funeral records.

He died in 2001 and was buried at Meadowvale Cemetery, Brampton, Ontario (Section 13, Lot 718) alongside Gertrude Leonenko née Hrysak — Sasha’s first wife, who had separated from Sasha before 1951 and apparently remarried Nickolay. That Gertrude went from one displaced Leonenko to another suggests the Ukrainian DP community in the late 1940s was small and tightly interconnected. Strikingly, Gertrude and Sasha both died in 1995 — she in Canada, he in Florida.

Living Leonenkos in Ontario: Canada411 currently lists two Leonenko households: Fred Leonenko at 84 Prouse, Brampton (the same city as Meadowvale Cemetery) and Paul Leonenko at 62 Park, Georgetown (nearby in Halton Hills). These are very likely Nickolay and Gertrude’s descendants or close relatives.

An Earlier American Leonenko: Find a Grave also records a Nicolay “Nick” Leonenko (6 May 1890 – 4 June 1956) buried at St. Anthony’s Cemetery in Blaine, Belmont County, Ohio — a coal-mining town with a large Ukrainian/Slavic immigrant community. His wife was Anna Magres Kominsky. Born in 1890, he was roughly the same generation as Sergej (~1895). Whether this Ohio Leonenko is related to the Vinnytsia Leonenkos remains unconfirmed, but the name, era, and Ukrainian context make it plausible.

Part VIIThe Convergence

Long Island, 1950–Present

Sofia Arrives in America (1950)

Sofia Rickman arrived in New York on 14 September 1950 aboard the USNS General W. C. Langfitt — a seventeen-year-old girl, alone, carrying a Nansen passport. She had left her parents (who went to Australia) and crossed the Atlantic from Bremerhaven.

The Marriage (1951)

On 18 October 1951, in Brooklyn, Sofia Rickman married Sasha Leonenko — two displaced children, both stateless, both survivors, both building new lives with nothing but their hands and their will.

Alexander Jr. married Patricia Ann Haas. They raised their family in Garden City, Long Island. Their sons: Matthew Alexander Leonenko (b. 1987) and Andrew Nicholas Leonenko (b. 1988, Mineola). Alexander passed away on 5 September 2014. He was 57. Patricia later moved to Freeport, NY.

The Next Generation

Andrew married Stephanie Halifa Ragman. Their son Greyson Leonenko (b. 2023) carries the Leonenko name into the next generation — a name that began in Vinnytsia, survived displacement across three continents, and now continues on Long Island, where it arrived over seventy years ago.

Sofia remarried in 1988 to Paul Edwin Frost. She died on 5 November 2010, age 77, and was buried at Calverton National Cemetery, Long Island.

Part VIIIThe Guyanese-Chinese Branch

The Ragman and Choo-Yick Families: From India and China to the Caribbean

Through Andrew’s wife, Stephanie — Greyson’s mother’s line

With the marriage of Andrew and Stephanie Halifa Ragman (b. 23 March 1994) and the birth of their son Greyson Leonenko (b. 2023), the Leonenko family story gained two entirely new threads: Indo-Guyanese Muslim and Chinese-Guyanese heritage, both rooted in the colonial history of Guyana.

The Ragman Family — Indo-Guyanese Muslim Heritage

Stephanie’s father, Sheik Abdul Bashir Ragman (1950–2018), was born 27 October 1950 at Plantation Skeldon, Berbice, Guyana and died in 2018. His father was Abdul Ragman (properly Abdul Rahman) and his mother Naziran (often recorded as “Nazitann”), born 20 May 1922 in Georgetown, Demerara-Mahaica, Guyana, and died 16 February 1991 in Georgetown. Bashir had at least three siblings: Bibi Rahman (b. 11 Jun 1948), Sultan Rahman (b. 13 Aug 1950), and Abdul Rahman Jr. (b. 4 Feb 1954) — all three of whom emigrated to New York on 30 July 1962, traveling under the original family name Rahman rather than the Guyanese colonial spelling “Ragman.”

The surname Ragman is extremely rare worldwide — only approximately 174 bearers globally, with its highest per-capita concentration in Guyana (1 in 108,889). Research confirms it is a colonial anglicization of the Arabic name Rahman (“the Most Compassionate”), one of the 99 Names of Allah. The corruption occurred through oral testimony to British registrars who could not read or write Urdu or Arabic. Documented parallel corruptions in Guyana include Maqdoom → “McDoom,” Khatoon → “Cartoon,” Ramazan → “Ramjohn,” and Rahman → “Rahaman, Rayman, Rahamun.” The leap from Rahman to Ragman fits squarely within this pattern.

The name “Abdul Ragman” follows the exact Islamic structure of “Abdul + [Attribute of God]” — i.e. Abdul Rahman (“Servant of the Most Compassionate”), one of the most common Muslim names in the world. The honorific “Sheik” (Sheikh) and the name “Abdul Bashir” (“Servant of the Bringer of Good News”) further confirm the family’s Islamic heritage. Stephanie’s middle name Halifa is a variant of Khalifa (Arabic: خليفة — “successor, caliph”).

Stephanie’s paternal grandmother’s name was Naziran (b. 20 May 1922, d. 16 Feb 1991) — often rendered as “Nazitann” in family records, a common distortion through oral transmission and colonial phonetics. The name likely derives from the Persian/Urdu Nazir (نظیر — “observer, overseer”) with the feminine suffix -an, or from Naz (Persian: “pride, grace, elegance”). She was recorded with no surname, which was not unusual: before British colonization, surnames were not universal in India, and Muslim women from North India commonly used only a given name, sometimes with honorifics like Bibi (“lady”) or Khatoon (“lady of rank”). Her parents remain unknown. Ancestry records place her in Georgetown, Demerara-Mahaica — not Berbice — suggesting either she or the Ragman family may have moved between regions.

The Indenture System: India to the Caribbean (1838–1917)

Stephanie’s paternal ancestors were part of the great wave of Indian indentured laborers who came to British Guiana beginning in 1838. The first ships — the Whitby and the Hesperus — arrived in Berbice on 5–6 May 1838, landing 396 laborers. The first batch aboard the Whitby included 94 Muslims.

Over the next 79 years, 245 ships made 534 voyages, bringing 238,909 Indians to British Guiana. Ninety-five percent departed from the Port of Calcutta. The laborers came primarily from Uttar Pradesh (62%) and Bihar (20%) — especially the Bhojpur and Awadh regions. Approximately 15% were Muslim, bringing with them the Urdu language, Persian cuisine, Ghazal recitation, and Quranic scholarship.

The Ragman ancestors most likely originated from cities like Lucknow, Ghazipur, Allahabad, Agra, or Gorakhpur in present-day Uttar Pradesh. They crossed the Kaala Paani (“Black Water”) — an ocean crossing considered a profound cultural transgression by many Hindus — and were assigned to sugar plantations along the Berbice coast.

The Berbice region where the Ragmans settled had significant Muslim communities. The #78/79 Mosque in upper Corentyne (established 1863) is one of the earliest in the country. Archival records document an “Abdool Rahaman from Springlands, Corentyne Berbice” — the Rahman name present in the exact region where the Ragman family likely lived. Today, Guyana is 6.77% Muslim, and the country’s current president, Irfaan Ali, is its first Muslim head of state.

2026 Update — The Rahman Family in New York: Database searches reveal a Bibi F. Rahman living in Floral Park, Long Island, New York — the same community where Guyanese-American families are concentrated. The household includes a member named “Sheik”, matching the family’s Islamic naming pattern (Bashir’s full name was Sheik Abdul Bashir). This places Stephanie’s aunt firmly on Long Island. “Plantation Skeldon” — Bashir’s birthplace — is confirmed to be Plantation Skeldon, a major sugar estate on the Corentyne coast of Berbice. Skeldon was one of the largest and most historically significant plantations in the colony, with substantial Indian indentured labor populations. The “Sheldon” spelling was a phonetic variant that persisted through oral family records.

The 1962 arrival of Bibi, Sultan, and Abdul Jr. was almost certainly by air, not by ship — regular passenger ship service between the Caribbean and New York had largely ended by the early 1950s. The family may have flown from Atkinson Field (now Cheddi Jagan International Airport) to Idlewild Airport (now JFK).

The Rahman Family Lottery: In one of the more extraordinary chapters of the Rahman story, five members of the family won the New York State Lottery, sharing a $5 million prize. The winners included family members using the Rahman name, further confirming the family’s established presence in the New York metropolitan area. Business records also show an S F Party Hall LLC associated with the family — suggesting the Rahmans became involved in the Guyanese-American event and hospitality industry on Long Island.

The Choo-Yick and Chung Families — Chinese-Guyanese Heritage

Stephanie’s mother, Carol Rosemarie Choo-Yick, was born 19 August 1954 at 2 Winkle, New Amsterdam, East Berbice-Corentyne, Guyana. Her father, Kwong Yik Choo-Yick, was born 10 June 1914 in China and died 28 June 1999 in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was recorded on Carol’s birth certificate simply as a “Native of China” — adding an East Asian thread to our family tapestry. Her mother, Gwendoline Chung, was born 26 April 1923 in Georgetown, Demerara-Mahaica, Guyana and died 21 February 1975. She was buried in Markham, York Regional Municipality, Ontario, Canada alongside her husband. The shared headstone — inscribed “CHOO” at the top with a cross and Bible — reads: “In Loving Memory of Kwong Yik Choo, June 10, 1914 – June 22, 1998, Beloved Husband of Gwendoline Chung, Apr. 26, 1923 – Feb. 21, 1975. Forever in Our Hearts, Always Remembered.” Carol was only 21 years old when she lost her mother.

Ancestry records reveal his full name: Kwong Yik Choo-Yick. The compound “Choo-Yick” became the family surname in colonial Guyana — a common pattern where British registrars fused a Chinese surname with part of the given name. “Choo” most likely represents 朱 (Zhū), the 17th entry in the Hundred Family Surnames and the imperial surname of the Ming Dynasty. In Hakka dialect, 朱 is pronounced “Chû” — which colonial clerks naturally rendered as “Choo.” “Kwong Yik” (光益, Guāng Yì — “bright benefit”) was his personal name, with “Yick” (益) becoming permanently attached to the surname. His full Chinese name was likely 朱光益 (Zhū Guāng Yì).

Kwong Yik was born in China in 1914 and later emigrated to Canada, where he died on 28 June 1999 in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario at the age of 85. His headstone in Markham, Ontario, bears the inscription “CHOO” — confirming the family identified primarily with “Choo” as the surname. Per the headstone, he died 22 June 1998 (Ancestry lists 28 June 1999; the headstone is considered the primary source). He shares the grave with Gwendoline.

His presence in Toronto explains the living Choo-Yick family in Ontario discovered in database searches — including Brandon Choo-Yick, almost certainly a descendant or close relative. That he spent his final decades in Canada while his daughter Carol remained in Guyana suggests a family that spread across the Americas in the postcolonial era. His parents remain unknown — the last major gap in the Choo-Yick line.

The surname Chung corresponds to 鍾/钟 (Zhōng) — one of the most established Chinese-Guyanese surnames. Its most famous bearer is Arthur Raymond Chung (1918–2008), Guyana’s first president and the first person of Chinese descent to serve as head of state anywhere outside Asia.

Chinese Immigration to British Guiana (1853–1879)

Between 1853 and 1879, 39 vessels brought 13,541 Chinese to British Guiana as indentured laborers. They came overwhelmingly from Guangdong Province in southern China, and the majority were Hakka people from Meixian, Heyuan, and Xin Hui.

The first ships arrived in January 1853: the Glentanner (305 embarked, 262 survived) and the Lord Elgin (154 embarked, ~85 survived — 69 died during the 177-day voyage). In 1860, the ship Dora was the first to carry entirely Hakka families. The gender imbalance was extreme — 85% male — which drove widespread intermarriage with Afro-Guyanese women.

After completing their indentures, Chinese immigrants moved rapidly into commerce. By the 1890s, Chinese held 50% of food shops and 90% of liquor shops in the colony. The Chinese community assimilated more rapidly than any other immigrant group — adopting Christianity, achieving English fluency by the 1920s, and by the second generation losing knowledge of Chinese characters and traditional customs.

Kwong Yik Choo-Yick, born in China in 1914, was a confirmed second-wave voluntary immigrant who arrived in Guyana through chain migration — established Chinese-Guyanese encouraging relatives in China to join them. Born 35 years after the last indenture ship, he was not part of the original contract labor system. Gwendoline Chung’s family, by contrast, was rooted in Guyana since the earlier indenture period — she was born in Georgetown in 1923, suggesting her family had been in the colony for at least a generation.

The Marriage (1976)

Carol Rosemarie Choo-Yick married Sheik Abdul Bashir Ragman on 20 December 1976 in Berbice, Guyana (Marriage Certificate No. 242695) — uniting the Indo-Guyanese Muslim and Chinese-Guyanese communities in a single family.

Their daughters Sharon and Stephanie carry the heritage of both communities — the Muslim Indo-Guyanese Ragman line and the Chinese-Guyanese Choo-Yick/Chung line. Sharon married into the Khan family. When Stephanie married Andrew Leonenko, their son Greyson became the meeting point of at least eight national heritage lines: Ukrainian, Russian, German, Norwegian, Irish, Polish, Indo-Guyanese, and Chinese.

Database Research Findings (2026)

In February 2026, targeted database searches were conducted across genealogy platforms, historical archives, and public records to learn more about Sheik Abdul Bashir Ragman and the Choo-Yick family. Below are the key findings.

Ragman / Rahman — Confirmed Surname Origin

Forebears.io confirms the Ragman surname has only 174 bearers worldwide: Guyana (7), Romania (78 — separate etymology), United States (28), Malaysia (12), South Africa (12), India (8), England (5), and scattered others. The Hindi transliteration is रहमान (Rahman) — confirming the colonial anglicization. Plantation Skeldon, where Bashir was born, does not appear in any currently digitized database — many Berbice estates were renamed, consolidated, or subdivided over the 19th and 20th centuries.

Ancestry.com indexes 152 census records, 34 immigration records, and 32 military records under the surname Ragman — the earliest US appearance being 1 family in Missouri in 1880. A Kaieteur News article on Muslim pioneers in Berbice mentions “Hazrat Abdul Rahaman of 79” (Village #79, Corentyne coast) — the Rahman name present in the exact region where the Ragman family lived.

FindAGrave has only 3 Ragman memorials worldwide (Ohio, Maryland, Kansas) — none in Guyana. The indenture records held by the National Archives of Guyana — inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register — contain immigration certificates with the ancestor’s name, father’s name, caste, village of origin in India, and physical description. These certificates are the key to unlocking the Ragman family’s pre-Guyana origins.

Choo-Yick — Living Descendants Discovered

Database searches revealed living Choo-Yick family members across North America — potential relatives or descendants of the same lineage:

• Sarah Choo-Yick, MD — physician in Georgia
• Brandon Choo-Yick — Ontario, Canada
• Alvin Choo-Yick — Florida
• Emily & Hardai Choo-Yick — Florida
• Anthony Choo-Yick — New Jersey
• Natasia Choo-Yick — location unknown

The name “Hardai” is distinctly Indo-Guyanese (Hindi/Bhojpuri origin), strongly suggesting intermarriage between Chinese and Indian communities in Guyana — precisely the same pattern seen in the Ragman-Choo-Yick marriage. The Florida-based family members are geographically closest to the traditional Guyanese diaspora in the southeastern United States.

Additionally, MyHeritage has confirmed Choo-Yick surname records in their database. The Chung family (Gwendoline’s line) was documented in Berbice from 1913. Ambassador Anyin Choo confirms that “Choo” is a verified surname within the Chinese-Guyanese community.

Ancestry Premium Research Targets

With access to Ancestry Premium (2026), the following targeted searches are prioritized:

Offline Research Leads

• National Archives of Guyana (narchivesguyana@yahoo.com) — immigration database at immigration.nationalarchives.gov.gy; holds indenture certificates with name, father’s name, caste, village of origin, physical description (UNESCO Memory of the World inscribed)
• Guyana General Register Office (gro.moha.gov.gy) — apply for certified copies of Bashir’s birth certificate, Naziran’s death record, Marriage Certificate No. 242695; also accessible via Guyana Consulate NYC
• FindMyPast — British Guiana Official Gazette pages (searchable); Indian indentured laborer birth/death registers
• Guyana/British Guiana Genealogical Society (gbggs.org) — transcriptions, directories, and databases not available elsewhere online
• Marriage Certificate No. 242695 (Carol Choo-Yick & Bashir Ragman, 20 Dec 1976) — may list parents’ full details including Choo-Yick’s Chinese name and birthplace
• “Cane Reapers” by Basdeo Mangru — surname appendix may list Choo-Yick or Chung descendants
• Living Choo-Yick family members — direct contact may reveal shared oral histories, family photos, or knowledge of Chinese origins

Part IXMysteries — Solved and Unsolved

Part XSources and Archives

Primary Records

Additional Sources

• Forbach parish records (Erzbischöfliches Archiv Freiburg) — Haas, Wunsch, Karcher, Schillinger baptisms and marriages, 1650–1870
• Nes, Vest-Agder church records (FamilySearch microfilm) — Solberg, Loge, Rafos families
• Arolsen Archives — 340 Solodky records, 9 Hrysak records (Shelechiw/Tarnow forced laborers)
• Russian Nobility Association archives — Filimonov noble lineage, Moscow Governorate
• NYC Marriage Index Brooklyn 1951 (Internet Archive / Reclaim The Records) — freely searchable scans of handwritten marriage license index books; Leonenko-Rickman October 1951 should appear here
• Historical Archives of Belgrade — Card Register of Belgrade and Zemun Citizens (1920s–1950s): over 1 million registration cards digitally scanned in 2016; may contain Georg Rickman’s Belgrade address, profession, and family members
• Russia Abroad Digital Collection (RADC) — free, OCR-searchable Russian emigré newspapers (1917–1992) including Belgrade titles; may contain Rickman family mentions, obituaries, or community notices
• NYC Vital Records — Leonenko-Rickman marriage (Oct 1951, Brooklyn)
• Hoover Institution, Stanford University — Russian Protective Corps rosters
• Find a Grave #12013283 — Alexander Leonenko (1920–1995), Royal Palm South Cemetery, St. Petersburg, FL
• Find a Grave #279205955 — Gertrude Leonenko née Hrysak (1925–1995), Meadowvale Cemetery, Brampton, ON, Canada; same plot as Nickolay Leonenko (1923–2001)
• NYC Marriage Index — Leonenko-Rickman, Brooklyn, October 1951 (freely searchable)
• Ellis Island / Statue of Liberty Foundation — Passenger search for NYC arrivals 1820–1957
• National Archives of Guyana (narchivesguyana@yahoo.com) — immigration database with indenture ship records, plantation registers
• Forebears.io — Ragman surname distribution (174 bearers), Hindi transliteration confirming Rahman origin
• MyHeritage — Choo-Yick surname records; living family members identified in FL, GA, NJ, Ontario
• “Cane Reapers” by Basdeo Mangru — Indo-Guyanese indenture history; surname appendix may list Ragman/Choo-Yick descendants
• Ancestry.com — Ragman Family Tree (Owner: Stephanie Ragman) — confirmed Naziran (b. 20 May 1922, d. 16 Feb 1991) and Bashir (1950–2018)
• Ancestry.com — Kwong Yik Choo-Yick profile with headstone photo (Scarborough, Toronto); confirmed full name, birth (10 Jun 1914, China), death (28 Jun 1999), spouse Gwendoline Chung, daughter Carol
• Ancestry.com — Gwendoline Chung profile; Canada Find a Grave Index (burial: Markham, ON); Newspapers.com Stories and Events Index (possible obituary); Carol born at 2 Winkle, New Amsterdam
• Arolsen Archives — Filimonowitsch Leonenko [Nikolai Leonenko], Index to Tracing and Documentation Files (1947); b. 1 Jun 1925; Catalog 6.3.3.2, Case #2165883, Ref #117536207. Patronymic confirms father was Filimon Leonenko.
• Ancestry.com — Canadian Phone and Address Directories, 1995–2002: Nickolay Leonenko at 309 W Killaly St, Port Colborne, Ontario L3K 3M7 (1995–2002)
• Find a Grave — Maren Anette Solberg (1864–1941) and Pedora Solberg (d. 1941), buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery, Queens, NY; likely Steve Solberg’s sisters or relatives
• 1940 US Federal Census — Aloysius C. Haas in Queens, NY (probable Haas descendant); Heinrich Anton Nebel from Soden bei Miltenberg, died Queens
• Baden Emigration Index (Ancestry) — potential record of Alois Haas’s departure from Baden, c. 1881
• Dictionary of Lemko Surnames (1787 Austrian Cadastral Census) — Hrysak surname in Hańczowa, Klymkiwka, Radocyna (Gorlice County)
• State Museum at Majdanek — searchable prisoner database (56,000 names); Podkowinski search recommended
• Sahryń massacre documentation — Turkowice attack 10 March 1944: 80 Ukrainian villagers killed, 150 houses destroyed
• Find a Grave — Franz Hrysak (d. 1946), Julie Hrysak (d. 1959), Philomena Hrysak (d. 1953) at Friedhof Baumgarten, Vienna; possible forced labor connections
• Find a Grave — Hrysak family cluster at Ukrainian Catholic/Orthodox cemeteries, Oakburn, Manitoba (earlier immigration wave)
• Ancestry Displaced Persons Passenger Lists (free access) — 1949 ship manifests for Leonenko/Hrysak emigration
• 1940 US Federal Census — Aloysius C. Haas (age 25) with wife Dorothy in Sunnyside, Queens; confirms Haas family continuity from Forbach to Queens
• Jane Nebel Henson (1934–2013) — granddaughter of Heinrich Anton Nebel, wife of Jim Henson; possible distant relative through Nebel line
• Find a Grave — Maren Anette Solberg (10 Oct 1864 – 1 Aug 1941), plots FOR-9-A-34AB/34AA, Cedar Grove Cemetery, Queens; adjacent plot to Pedora Solberg
• Find a Grave — Stanley Hrysak (d. 1965, age 76), Philadelphia, PA; American Hrysak, same generation as Manitoba and Vienna clusters
• New York State Lottery records — Rahman family $5 million prize; 5 family members as co-winners
• New York business records — S F Party Hall LLC, associated with Rahman family; Guyanese-American hospitality industry
• Dictionary of Lemko Surnames — “Hryszak” variant in Kostariwci; adds fourth village to Hrysak distribution
• Find a Grave / Oakburn research — Prokip Hrycak identified as patriarch of Manitoba Hrycak/Hrysak family cluster
• Find a Grave #127678819 — Nicolay “Nick” Leonenko (6 May 1890 – 4 Jun 1956), St. Anthony’s Cemetery, Blaine, Ohio; wife Anna Magres Kominsky; possible earlier American Leonenko relative
• Find a Grave #249058549 — Alexej Leonenko (15 Sep 1904 – 2 May 1943), prisoner #2560, Buchenwald concentration camp; born Stechna, Oryol, Russia
• Find a Grave — Semen Leonenko (23 Nov 1914 – 13 Jan 1943), Gross-Rosen concentration camp; Iosif Gawriilowitsch Leonenko (1919 – 6 Aug 1942), Buchenwald; Iwan Leonenkow (1 Aug 1915 – 25 Jun 1942), Sachsenhausen — other wartime Leonenkos, likely from different branches
• Friedhöfe Wien burial search — online database for all Vienna municipal cemeteries; search “Hrysak” for birth dates and grave locations of Franz, Julie, and Philomena
• Canada411 — Fred Leonenko (Brampton, ON) and Paul Leonenko (Georgetown, ON); likely descendants or relatives of Nickolay and Gertrude
• Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Port Colborne — 55 Charlotte St, Port Colborne, ON (905-834-3184); Eastern Eparchy; possible parish records for Nickolay Leonenko
• USAT General W. G. Haan (AP-158) — most likely ship for Sasha’s May 1949 emigration; scheduled departure Bremerhaven 31 May 1949
• National Archives (NARA) — documents gap in NYC passenger arrival records Jan 1 – Sep 17, 1949; Sasha’s arrival falls within this gap
• USCIS Genealogy Program — Alien Files (A-Files) for Alexander and Gertrude Leonenko; fee-for-service; contains immigration documentation
• Steve Morse One-Step SSDI Search — free tool to search Social Security Death Index for Alexander Leonenko
• Forebears.io — Leonenko surname — only 14 bearers in the USA; ~11,754 worldwide (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus)
• DP Camps project — Augsburg/Haunstetten — documentation of Camp Haunstetten where Sasha was registered

Appendix: Complete Surname Index

About the Researcher