Khachadour Paul Garabedian ( hy, Խաչատուր Կարապետեան; August 25, 1836 – August 25, 1881) was an American officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, considered the only soldier of Armenian heritage to have served in combat during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. During the Civil War, he held the rank of officer and served aboard two ships which blockaded against the ports of the Confederacy for the Union. His first task was to go along the Atlantic Coast and reach the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

. In 1865 he was discharged from the Navy and settled in Philadelphia where he is believed to be the first citizen of Armenian ancestry.

Life

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

descent, Khachadour Paul Garabedian was born near

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

in Rodosto (today Tekirdağ),

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

on August 25, 1836. In the 1850s Garabedian emigrated to the United States and settled in Lowell,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. Garabedian worked as a machinist at the Massachusetts Mills and eventually became a naturalized United States citizen. It is noted that in 1868, Garabedian filed for a patent with the US Commissioner of Patents for a Pipe Coupling. On June 18, 1871, Garabedian married Hannah Matilda "Tillie" Wynkoop in Philadelphia at the Church of the Messiah. They had no children. Garabedian died of tuberculosis at the age of 45 on August 25, 1881, and is buried in the Fernwood Cemetery near Philadelphia.

American Civil War

On August 6, 1864, at the age of 28, Garabedian enlisted in the

Union Navy ), (official) , colors = Blue and gold , colors_label = Colors , march = , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label ...

and served on two ships as a Third Assistant Engineer and held officer rank. A local newspaper article states that Khachadour Garabedian enlisted in the USS ''Home''. However, it is only recorded that he served on the USS ''Grand Gulf'' and the USS ''Geranium''. These ships were mainly used to blockade Southern Navy ports off the Carolina coast and in Gulf of Mexico as part of the

South Atlantic Blockading Squadron The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlantic ...

. Garabedian was discharged from his services on August 19, 1865.

Legacy

Khachadour Garabedian was rediscovered in a flea market by

Armenian American Armenian Americans ( hy, ամերիկահայեր, ''amerikahayer'') are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians in ...

Gary Koltookian, when stumbling upon an advertisement on a newspaper from 1855 regarding an Armenian cabinetmaker named Menas Garabed. The discovery of Menas Garabed, who is believed to be Khachadour Garabedian's brother, eventually led to the discovery of Khachadour Garabedian himself. Koltookian eventually gathered more information regarding Khachadour Garabedian through local newspapers, directories, National Archives, and records from Union Navy Officers. It was later discovered that Garabedian's gravestone at the Fernwood Cemetery outside Philadelphia had deteriorated and was removed, leaving the grave unmarked. A restoration campaign led by the Philadelphia Armenian-American Veterans Association was launched in 2005 which aimed to restore the deteriorating gravestone. Donations were solicited from the community, notably a $10,000 donation by Avedis Kevorkian, and money was also received from people throughout the United States. The new gravestone was inaugurated on October 1, 2011 in a grave blessing ceremony led by the heads of the five Philadelphia Armenian churches. The ceremony included an Armenian requiem service and letters read from Lowell mayor James Milinazzo and U.S. Congressman

Pat Meehan Patrick Leo Meehan (born October 20, 1955) is a former American Republican Party politician and federal prosecutor from Pennsylvania who represented parts of Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, Berks, and Lancaster counties in the United States Ho ...

. The gravestone was designed by Leo Hanian, an ethnic Armenian who fled persecution from Azerbaijan. The gravestone is designed in an Armenian khachkar style and is made out of Indian

black granite In the construction industry, black rocks that share the hardness and strength of granitic rocks are known as black granite. In geological terms, black granite might be gabbro, diabase, basalt, diorite, norite, or anorthosite Anorthosite () i ...

with a depiction of an ornate Cross. The gravestone carries Garabedian's name and dates of birth and death along with two images of the Independence Hall of Philadelphia and the Cathedral of Holy

Etchmiadzin Vagharshapat ( hy, Վաղարշապատ ) is the 4th-largest city in Armenia and the most populous municipal community of Armavir Province, located about west of the capital Yerevan, and north of the closed Turkish-Armenian border. It is comm ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

. The lower part of the tombstone describes his life in detail with an image of the USS ''Grand Gulf'' and a 35-star

U.S. flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

References

External links

*
Inauguration of the Khachadour Garabedian Memorial at the Fernwood Cemetery (Vimeo)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garabenian, Khachadour Paul People from Tekirdağ 1836 births 1881 deaths Armenian-American culture American people of Armenian descent Military personnel from Philadelphia People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Union Navy officers