By Dave Labonte, Franklin Oddfellows

I joined the Franklin Odd Fellows fraternal organization in 1978 when Harry Bedirian had already been a member for over 42 years. I remember Harry as a quiet and reserved gentleman.  You would never hear an angry word from Harry, about anybody or anything - and he always had a smile on his face. I’m sorry I didn’t get to know him better while I had the opportunity.  Harry should be remembered and his story is worth reading - - - 

Harry (Haroutune) Bedirian was born in Kayseri, Turkey in 1895 and was part of the minority population of poor farming Armenians.  At the beginning of World War I in 1913, the Russian Armenians were forced to side with Great Britain, France & Russia and this split caused fear and suspicion among the majority Ottoman society in Turkey.  Many basic rights were taken away from the Armenians. When they tried to organize and demonstrate, the Ottoman “Young Turks” in power brought troops in and several massacres followed. No longer was there anyplace safe to live in Turkey and Harry had to flee the country. The persecution and mass killings of 1913 & 1914 in Turkey turned into a full genocide in 1915 during WWI.  Indeed, one of Harry’s cousins, Zachios Tozian, at the young age of 14, was killed by the Turks during the height of the genocide.  

Harry travelled with his Uncle Khachig and they had many harrowing experiences including a train ride fleeing central Turkey and heading west toward Istanbul. Harry and others were desperate to get on an already overloaded train and had to ride on the roof through the biting cold night air, and a man near Harry froze to death. From Istanbul, Harry and Khachig crossed the Aegean Sea and landed in Athens, Greece for a while and then went on to Barcelona, Spain.  They worked for funds for passage across the Atlantic to New York City.  

An interesting fact about Harry’s Atlantic crossing is that his Naturalization paper notes that his passage was on the Carpathia Passenger Steamship. In April 1912, the Carpathia became famous for rescuing 705 survivors of the rival White Star Line’s RMS Titanic after it struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic.  

From New York City, Harry made his way to Quincy, Mass where he lived for a time and found work in the shipyards as a riveter.  Parinaz Ouzounian came to America in 1921 and, after an arranged meeting, they married on March 31st of that same year. Harry & Parinaz moved to Franklin and started a poultry farm on West Central St. in Franklin with 7 acres of land.  In the early days of Garelick Farms Dairy, they used to pasture some of their cows on Harry’s land to take advantage of a lower tax rate.

In January of 1936, Harry joined the Franklin Odd Fellows lodge and soon realized that the lodge was a great place to hold public suppers as his chicken farm business was perfect as the supplier of the main dish. Harry quickly mastered the art of cooking dozens of chicken halves over charcoal briquettes and turning them over all at the same time so he could serve large numbers of people. Harry also joined the Aleppo Shriners and the Montgomery Lodge of the Masons and found himself in big demand for these outings. Despite having no formal education, Harry was a good supporter to his wife and four daughters and numerous nieces and nephews and grandchildren. Harry died peacefully at the age of 91 surrounded by his family on Christmas Eve in 1986.

Many thanks to Zabel (Beatrice) Postian of Ardsley, NY and Lucy Semerjian of Franklin, MA for their significant contributions to this article. Beatrice and Lucy are cousins and Lucy is the only surviving daughter of the four daughters that Harry fathered. Also, thanks to Jeff Lovell of Milford for providing genealogy information on the Bederian and Tozian families. In 1976 & 1977, I worked for Archie Tozian at the Franklin DPW and, as it turns out, Archie and Harry were first cousins. Small world!