Aghajan Shalelengian lived in Sivas, Turkey and was the son of Krikor Shalelengian and Marguerite Ounanian Shalelengian. His birth date was said to be the one listed above, however he made himself younger when he came to America, usually using 1893 but also 1895 at times. There he had gone to school and studied under a professor named Krikor Setian. He also attended a boarding school at some point, perhaps in Constantinople. His World War I draft registration says that he spent two years in the military in Turkey, but it is unknown if this is true. In fact, he left for the United States in 1913 like many other Armenian young men at the time because Armenians were no longer exempt from the Ottoman military and were being drafted to fight in the Balkan War. This ended up saving him from the Armenian Genocide which happened back in Turkey, in which his entire family were killed, died, or disappeared. The ship arrived at Ellis Island on July 5, 1913 and the manifest said he was going to join a friend in Worcester, Massachusetts, but plans seemed to have changed at the last minute as it was crossed out and 220 East 25th Street in New York City was penciled in. It is said he studied to be a baker and at in 1918 he was an ice cream man at the Waldorf=Astoria. The next year he either moved to or was visiting Atlantic City, New Jersey, when by chance on the boardwalk he happened to see his old teacher Krikor Setian, who was very surprised and happy to see him. Krikor brought him home to meet his family, where he spied Krikor's daughter Arousiag standing in a doorway and was smitten. He soon asked his former teacher for her hand in marriage. The engagement was agreed to and planned. By Armenian traditions the families of the betrothed meet to give their blessing, and Aghajan had only one known surviving relative, an aunt who lived in New York. She came to the Setian home in Philadelphia but was put off by the Setian family's impoverished condition, which was sealed when she sat on a chair and a lose nail tore her skirt. She did not agree to the marriage, but Aghajan rejected her rejection and married Arousiag anyway on October 26, 1919 in Philadelphia. They had two children, Martin and Marguerite, and another son who was stillborn. They lived in Philadelphia, and then in Atlantic City, before settling at 226 South Millick Street in West Philadelphia. Aghajan worked in bakeries and Arousiag was a housewife. Aghajan also was a deacon, first at Saint Sahag's Armenian Apostolic Church and then at Saint Gregory's Armenian Apostolic Church. He was a good singer and enjoyed singing Armenian religious songs, whether in church or from the porch of his West Philadelphia home. He is remembered as a loving grandfather of five who would often bring cakes and pies home from work for his family and neighbors. He died of a myocardial infarction due to arteriosclorosis which was complicated by diabetes.