It is a remarkable phenomenon that the Armenian and Protestant (Prot) communities from the Christian nation of the Ottoman Empire went to America as fugitive immigrants from the last quarter of the nineteenth century. One of the significant centers of these migrations is the Çemişgezek district, which has hosted different beliefs and cultures. Many people from various neighborhoods of Çemişgezek (such as Çukur, Hamam-ı Atik, Moğosor, Uçbek, etc.) and villages (such as Oskiğ, Hazari, Mamsa, Moruşka, Toma Mezraa, etc.) immigrated to America as fugitives between the years 1874 and 1907, and these migrations generally took place towards cities such as Lorensa, New York, Boston, California, and San Francisco. The Ottoman Empire’s Registry of Population Commission Register Dated 1907 included updated information about the residence information of the individuals who escaped and the places where they went. In the escapes specific to Çemişgezek, adult men generally set off first and then took their families (father, mother, wife, children, etc.) with them, and sometimes they migrated directly with their families. There were also people who established new lives in the cities they went to. It was recorded that a total of three hundred and three people from the Armenian and Protestant communities escaped from the Çemişgezek district between the years 1874 and 1907. Two hundred and eighty-two of this population were men (zikur), and twenty-one were women (inas). The aim of this study is to verify the individuals belonging to the Armenian and Protestant communities who escaped from Çemişgezek to America, on the basis of official records.
Çemişgezek district, Armenian-Protestant Community, Desertion, America, Sultan Abdulhamid II.