The Carpatho-Russians were part of the immigrant stream of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They came from the Galacian region of the eastern Czechoslovakian mountains to work in the mines and mills of Pennsylvania and Ohio. As they settled, churches and beneficial societies reflecting the homeland were established.

In Ambridge, the Bowan, Evans, Holovach, Blishak, and Towcimak families formed the founding core of the Holy Ghost Russian Orthodox Church. After meeting in homes, temporary quarters, and the basement of the present church, they completed this structure at Second and Maplewood in 1914.

The children of the immigrants did not stray far from home. William Bowan, the son of John Bowan, a church founder, married Mary Capp in 1929.

John's funeral (1932) gives us some sense of the closeness of the group ties in early Ambridge. We know there are people in attendance from from the church and from Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and surrounding towns who knew him or his family.

The suits and ties worn by the men and young boys were required by custom. We were fitted with "proper" clothing before first grade.