For some reason I am unable to get an email to Larry and so am posting this message on the list in the hope that he will get to see it. ------------------ Hi Larry, Very nice to hear from you. Your family certainly has stayed within the Vrbovsko community despite the many years of being away from that small part of the world. Cindrich, or as it is originally was spelt, Cindric is also a name somewhat common in Vrbovsko. Unfortunately despite the fact that Stefanac is a popular name in Vrbovsko I've had very little success in finding out more about my family partly because our ancestors seem to have been quite a fertile bunch and travelled a lot. There are Stefanac's now all over the place. I have often said that in Vrbovsko you will be, were or are a Stefanac. A quick tour of the local cemetary confirms that philosophy. ;) These days I live in Singapore but originally I am from Melbourne, Australia where there are a number of Stefanac's, none of them related. In fact I remember having a bit of a laugh one time as I was checking onto a flight. The person checking me was a lady by the name of Stefanac. I have been to Vrbovsko a number of times and have enjoyed it there very much. If ever you get the chance please do make the trip. It is a small place by our standards but a very beautiful place just the same. My father (also called Anton) immigrated there back in 1958 after escaping from communist controlled Yugoslavia as it was then called. I have some feelers out with 2 of my cousins back in Croatia who are trying to get more details for me on our ancestors but am still waiting for them to give me the information I need. Unfortunately my father is of little help these days as he is suffering from Multiple Sclerosis and so his memory has faded with time. This is what I have been able to obtain so far but am not sure if it is of any help to you. My father, Anton STEFANAC was born in Vrbovsko in 1937/1938 (I can't remember). He imigrated to Australia in 1958 and is married to my mother Ana (POLIC) STEFANAC who was born in Mrkopalj. Dad's parents were Ivan STEFANAC (born early 1900's and died in late1960's) and Ivanka BIZALJ (born early 1900's and died mid 1950s). Ivan STEFANAC had a number of siblings. I have scant information on them . They were as follows. Misko(Mishko) - married to Filipina Tomo - died in WW1 but had a son who went to the US and is believed to have died in Korean war Franjo - remained in Vrbovsko Drago - married to Anka and lived in Vrbovsko Jure - lived in Ogulin Pilika - married someone with the surname BOZIC and lived in Vrbovsko Mica - lived in Zagreb Once I do hear from my cousins, I will be sure to share whatever information I have. As a matter of interest, our Stefanac name may have once been spelt, Stephanatz. But this is several hundred years ago. Please do stay in touch ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Cc: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2005 2:10 PM Subject: Stefanac Family Histoy > John Stefanac, > > Your email sent to Mike Stefanac in North Carolina, USA was sent to me to > so that I could also explore the possibility of our family relationships. > > My mother Antonia Stafanac was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 13 June > 1913. She was only five months old when her family was naturalised as USA > Citizens on 3 Dec 1913. They had to reside in Pennsylvania for at least > five years before they could qualify for citizenship. > > Her father is Anton Stefanac who was born in Vrbovsko, Croatia on 2 Jun > 1866 and immigrated to the USA. On 19 May 1900 they arrived aboard the > steamship Rhein that docked in Baltimore, Maryland. This is one of my > sources of information about when they arrived. I learned just recently > that the steamship Rhein left Bremen Germany on 19 May 1900. > > On Mar 15 2005, I located the Ship Manifests for the Port of Baltimore > which covers ship arrivals between starting date 31 Jul 1900 through > ending date 31 May 1900. There were 323 documents recorded and it is > signed by Robert E. Sharkey who worked for the Carrier H. H. Meier. Film > reel no. 0,830,484. There were no Stefanac names found during my search of > those manifests records. This is something I will recheck at the LDS > Church Family History Library as time goes on. > > Mike Stefanac who sent me your email, indicates that his grandfather > Stefan (Steven) immigrated through Ellis Island in 1911 with his father > Anton. I believe Mike could be right because I looked over the Steamship > Rhein's manifest, as I indicated above, and found that there were no > Stefanacs listed who arrived on the 19th day of May 1900 in Baltimore. > > I am e-mailing this letter to Mike in hopes that he could provide me with > more information about the Ellis Island entry port. Also this way of > communicating helps to expand our knowledge of the genealogy work in which > we are engaged. > > There was a document produced by my cousin Nick Knezevich and his wife > Lavonne called "Cousins" in which they say that Anton and his wife Marija > "had many more children, however only five of the children born in the USA > survived. Maybe your father or his father were related in some way. As > Mike stated in his email, Vrbovsko must have been a relatively small > village years ago. Even today as I scout the web sites from Vrbovsko I > fine that there is very little industry and commerce, but lots of farming > and camping sites for tourists. I will continue to upgrade my knowledge > about Vrbovsko as time goes by to truly know what is there and who among > the people there are our relatives and progenitors. > > We must keep in mind that Vrbovsko was a part of the Austria /Hungary > empire and not a town in Croatia in the late 1800s. > > Strangely enough, as I searched through a bunch of ships manifests, I > discovered my great grandfathers name on my fathers side of our family was > listed on the Steamship S.S. Roland that left Bremen Germany on > 26 Apr 1900. His name was Joso Cindric or Joseph Cindrich as it is > Americanised. He was 40 years old, married and indicated that his last > residence was Valissclo. He arrived at the seaport of Baltimore, His > destination was Pittsburgh. Janko Brozivic, age 20 was listed below his > name on the roster. > > My father is Miko Cindric or Nicholas Joseph Cindrich of Pittsburgh > Pennsylvania, His father is Mate Cindric. They lived in Ogulin, Croatia > and immigrated in 1913. > > Sorry for getting long winded, hope to hear from you soon. > > Lawrence A. Cindrich > > or better known as Larry > > __________________________________________________________________ > Switch to Netscape Internet Service. > As low as $9.95 a month -- Sign up today at > http://isp.netscape.com/register > > Netscape. Just the Net You Need. > > New! Netscape Toolbar for Internet Explorer > Search from anywhere on the Web and block those annoying pop-ups. > Download now at http://channels.netscape.com/ns/search/install.jsp >