Kendal Svingalis (Žvingalis)
My grandparents, Jokubas and Agota (Baukus) Žvingilas emigrated from the Suvalkija gubernia of Lithuania in 1900 and 1902, respectively. They came from the villages of Alvitas and Paezerai. My grandfather followed a sister, Domicella, to Glasgow, Scotland, where he worked at the Glen Garnock Steel Works, outside of the city. My grandmother, Agota Baukus, emigrated to Glasgow in 1902 and moved in with her brother, Povilas (Paul). Jokubas became a boarder in their apartment in the Gorbals district. The two fell in love and were married on June 6, 1903. A daughter, Anne, was born on February 7, 1905. In May of 1905, they set sail from Glasgow on the S.S, Caledonia and arrived in New York City on May 27, 1905.
The Žvingilas family was taken in by Jacob’s sister, Domicella and her husband, John Dovydaitis, in a small house at 24 John Street in Waterbury, Connecticut, across the street from St. Joseph R.C. Church. A son, Francis (my father) was born on October 19, 1906. A second son, Vincent James, was born on September 20 at 29 James Street. Less than two weeks later, as the economy suffered a depression, they boarded trains for Gary, Indiana, where new steel mills were under construction, and arrived on October 4, 1908. It was a city some of us would call home for about 80 years. We were among the first Lithuanians in this new city, founded in 1906.
Five more children were born in Gary: Simonas (Sam) (1910); Petronella („Bessie“) (1912), Stephania (“Estelle”) (1914), Edwardus (Edward) (1916) and Algirdas (Albert) (1921). In 1910, Jacob and Paul, who had preceded them to Gary, built a small home at 1712Adams in the city’s „Patch,“ neighborhood where immigrants from dozens of countries settled. Jacob and Paul worked as unskilled labor building frames for pouring concrete foundations for steel mill buildings. In 1910, Jacob found a job outside the city at the Aetna Power Works, that manufactured explosives. He stayed there until it closed 1919, after which he returned to U.S. Steel.
The children all attended Froebel School, the second K-12 school built in Gary under the direction of William A. Wirt, one of the leading school superintendents in the United States. In 1922, the family acquired a three-story brick tenement at 1157 Jackson Street. As a condition, my father, Frank, left school at the age of 16 and began working at the Gary Screw and Bolt Works. Two years later, Vincent James left school and became a crane operator at the American Bridge Company. Together with my grandfather, they paid off the mortgage in six years, or just before the Depression hit.
Gary, Indiana was a springboard for the family’s economic success. All the men in the family worked there for some years. My father was a crane operator at the Sheet & Tin Mill for 42 years. Vincent, however, joined the Marion Order (Lithuanian) and became a printer for the Lithuanian newspaper, “Draugas,” in Chicago, where he set the record for the longest serving staff member (1933-1997). He was the only family member to retain the original spelling of the name Žvingilas. Sam worked in grocery stores for a time, then U.S, Steel, before opening a lamp store in Gary in 1955, which he operated until his retirement. Anne moved to Chicago and worked for Western Electric, assembling telephones. Stephanie (called “Estelle”) was the first high school graduate and worked as legal secretary in Gary, she married a Purdue graduate with roots in Suvalkija. Edward graduated from Purdue University in chemical engineering and went to work for Sinclair Oil Company. Algirdas (Albert) was a pipefitter and, later, pipe designer for a California concern. Petronella („Bessie“) died at the age of five from diphtheria.
Jacob Zwingalis died in 1941 of duodenal cancer at the age of 60. Agota died of a heart attack in 1965 at the age of 82.
My father, Frank, married Alvida Matheus, a girl with Swedish ancestry, in 1934. They had two boys: Cordell (1939-2012), and Kendall (1947- ). We both attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Cordell later earned his EdD at the University of Iowa and worked in the educational field for more than 30 years. I received my B.A. in English and M.A. in history from Purdue, and Master’s in Library Science from the University of Rhode Island. I was the Rhode Island State Law Librarian for 26 years, after which I started a legal publishing business. I have since written 30 books, including a history of Gary, Indiana, and two vocabulary building espionage novels, the second of which involves Lithuanian characters during WWII. I have also written articles for Lithuania publications, including Bridges and Lithuanian Heritage. Gary, Indiana: A Centennial Celebration,“ published in 2006, has been described as the „definitive history of Gary.“ My latest article is on the life of Madeleine Avietenaite (1892-1984), the most famous Lithuanian woman in the 20th century, who was my friend in her retirement years in East Putnam, Connecticut. I also featured Madeleine in my second espionage novel, The Great Emerson Art Heist.
Only two of my father’s siblings had children: Edward and Dorothy Lewis had a daughter, Nancy (1945-2020). Albert and Sophie Swing has two children: Rita (1949- ) and Kenneth (1955- ). There are now six grandchildren, and five great grandchildren. There are currently no family members living in Gary. They now live in Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, and California.
A word about the family name. The original Žvingilas spelling was changed to Zwingalis when Anne, the oldest, was enrolled at Froebel School. For some reason, my grandparents decoded to adopt that spelling. When they reached adulthood, however, all but Vincent changed their names to something else. My father changed his name to Svengalis, Sam changed it to Jackson (the street where we lived), Edward to Lewis, and Albert to Swing. It was part of the Americanization process at the time. My aunt Stephania (“Estelle”) married Charles Dobrowolsky, who changed his name to Darrell. And Anne married Anthony Petrauskas, who was killed in Lithuania during a visit.
The entire history of our family appears as the final chapter in my 455-page history of Gary. It is entitled: “A Lithuanian Pioneer Family in Gary.” Of the 50-odd nationalities that settled in Gary over its history, this case study of a Lithuanian family takes prominence. The current family members
My wife, Ellen, and I have been to Lithuania twice, once in 2017 and, again, in 2018 for Dainu Svente. In 2017, we had an emotional 115-year reunion with my grandmother’s family in Suvalkija, my grandmother having left in 1902. It was the first time any of my Lithuanian family had been reunited with their American cousins. We plan to return in June 2024 for the 100th anniversary of the first song festival.
Kendall Svengalis/Žvingilas
Guilford, Connecticut
