I am researching the life of an immigrant to America who is listed in some documentation (in the early 1900s) as being from Opale, Russia. It is likely that he was born 1880s to 1900, so Opale would have been a place name at that time.

I see other Ellis Island documents refelecting this same origin, but I cannot find any modern-day references to a place named Opale in Russia. It's possible that this is another region/town/city whose name was changed in the Soviet era, or that it has simply ceased to exist in these modern times.

Does anyone know where Opale, Russia, was or is? Or anything about it?

Ron Franscell
franscellr(at)aol.com
Ron Franscell's Author Website

there is an Opalevo, Russia and several variations on spelling in Poland - Opaleniec, Oplaeniska, Opalenica, Opalenie...

Another possibility: Opole in Poland, which was within the so-called "Pale of Settlement" where Russian Jews were isolated into the early 1900s. Many of them came to America to escape persecution in the late 1800s and early 1900s. At times part of Byelorussia, might someone from Opole have claimed to be born in a place that sounds like "Opale, Russia"?

I would post this on the forum for Poland as well as this one for Russia.

As there was no Poland in the early 1900's, all the documents reflect somewhere else such as Russia or Galacia.

"Opole" would sound something like O-pol-ay.

"OPALE definition of OPALE in the Free Online Encyclopedia.
Colored iridescent opals are used as decorative stones; precious opal is a gemstone. Opal deposits in the USSR are found in the Ukraine and Kazakhstan, and ... "

Could havae been a region that mined opals?

Opale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Opale is a small settlement in the hills southeast of Žiri in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.[2] It is made up of three dispersed hamlets: Log, Opale, and Laznar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opale

The Slovenian Opale is a possibility, as is the Polish Opole. But neither was ever considered to be in Russia, so a Russian professor tells me it would have been unlikely for someone born in either place to claim to have been born in Russia.

"Opale, Russia" actually pops up on several different Ellis Island entries in different years and written by different immigration clerks, so it is unlikely to appear in error.

It's probably not a reference to the so-called "Pale of Settlement" region where Russian Jews were allowed to live, albeit under difficult circumstances. If it were, there would be many, many more references to this place name in Ellis Island records than there are. More than a million Russian Jews emigrated from Russia to the USA in the late 1800s/early 1900s, fleeing persecution and many were from the Pale of Settlement.

For me, the modern-day Russian town known as Opalevo is a very good possibility, too ... but so far, this is completely guesswork. I have no doubt such a place existed at one time, or it wouldn't have popped up in different years' entries at Ellis Island. I've been unable to get a very good, reliable, take-it-to-the-bank answer to the question: Where is (or was) Opale, Russia?

(Thank you all for your ideas on this! Keep 'em coming!)

Here's an updated narrative, with a few more clues about PFC JOE GRAIPER (or perhaps GRAPIER) and his possible Polish roots, his 1917 enlistment town of Ironwood MI, and his parents names:

http://www.findagraveforums.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2133753#Post2133753

A new wrinkle: The 1/27/1920 edition of the Ironwood (MI) Daily Globe carries a small story about certificates to be awarded to the next-of-kin of local soldiers who died in war. Among them was Nicholas Grapier. (This is the surname spelling the newspaper uses.)

I presume Nicholas to be Joe's brother. A 1919 story in the local paper noted that Joe had been killed and the military had notified his unnamed brother (presumably local) because "his father Stanley Grapier is living in Opale, Russia."

So brother Nicholas might have his own family tree where we'll find modern-day relatives.

CORRECTION!! Upon a closer reading, the 1/27/1920 newspaper reference to Nicholas Grapier appears to be a typographical error. As such, NO NAME has been associated with Pfc. Joseph Grapier's brother. The story states that certificates were to be awarded to the next of kin of the men on the list, which had Pfc. Grapier listed as "Nicholas," not Joseph.

BUT ... the story still suggests that a certificate was prepared to be presented to one of Pfc. Graiper's family. Just no name listed. "Nicholas Grapier" might well be a dead-end. Sorry if this sent any of you searching down that rabbit trail.