I was struck by some unusual coincidences with my wife's Croatian ancestors. I hope I can explain this without getting too complicated... ==================== In the early 1800's one of the Belobrajdic clan living in the Lokve area (near Slovenia) started a new branch in Grubisno Polje (near Slavonia). During the very early 1900's, both branches contributed emigrants to the tide seeking better economic conditions in the US. Some of the Lokve clan settled in the Upper Penninsula of Michegan, and part of those went west to the mines of Butte and Red Lodge, Montana. A young member of the Grubisno Polje clan emigrated, settling in the Akron, Ohio area, married and had three children. Unfortunately, the third birth resulted in childbirth fever, triggering the onset of a mental condition for the mother, which further resulted in her permanent hospitalization and the three small children becoming wards of the state in an Ohio orphanage. The three children grew up, not really knowing anything about their heritage, probably not even knowing they were Croatian. Because of certain circumstances, the three children grew up apart and not very close, especially the brother and the youngest sister. Two of the children used the spelling "Belobraidic", the youngest girl used "Belbradick". In Red Lodge, Montana one of the Lokve clan moved to the ftatlands of eastern Montana, buying a ranch and working in town (Miles City) for the railroad (at a maintenance facility) until retirement. In Ohio, when the boy orphan reached manhood he joined the military and was stationed in Lead, South Dakota (which must have had at least a small Croatian contingent, I've seen it as the destination of a non-related Croatian in one passenger list). There, he had two children, the boy eventually joining the Air Force and becoming stationed in Miles City, Montana where he married. After marriage, he briefly rejoined his father who had moved to Redding, California, had three children in quick succession, and then moved to Washington state and then back to Montana, living in Billings, Colstrip and then Miles City again. In Miles City, his youngest daughter, met a local and married. This local man (me) had a strange hobby (genealogy) and his idea of a good time was to stroll around in the local cemetary, making notes for the benefit of other genealogists. During one of these sessions, the wife came along and found herself standing by the gravestone of "John and Mary Belobraidich". This was the first time that the two branches knowingly crossed paths since they divirged almost 200 years ago in Croatia. Of course we didn't know the background at the time, it's taken about 15 years to come to this realization. We later found and met the daughter of John and Mary Belobraidich, and when she saw my wife, she claimed without doubt that my wife "was a Belobraidich", meaning she had the (her) family features. We discounted that at the time, since her ancestor came from a different part of Croatia. Now we've discovered that her branch originated in Lokve. Another interesting "coincidence" involves the deaths of the three children from Ohio. The boy orphan never got along his his youngest sister in adult life (nor his estranged father). After living in California, he moved to Washingtons state near his daughter, but returned to California after the death of his first wife. The older sister lived most of her life in Ohio and the younger sister disappeared. None of the three knew the whereabouts of the other two in later life. We have recently found the death record for this younger sister, she died about an hour's drive south of where her brother lived in his final years, in the Napa area, certainly neither of them knowing how close they had been living to each other. And, finally, we note that all three siblings died within 6 months of each other, in late 1992 to mid 1993. ================== In a passenger list of a Belobrajdic of unknown relationship, the place of birth/origin was written in three places as "Belobrajdici, Croatia". I can't find any evidence of such a place. Should I attribute this to confusion by the Italian scribe, between Name and Birth Place? wrote him as "xxxx Belobrajdic from Belobrajdici, Croatia", so perhaps he couldn't get him to understand his second question and they answered "Belobrajdic" to both questions. The scribe also entered (for the answer to "Name of nearest relative in place of origin") the bizarre entry of "husband Karja Belobrajdic, Belobrajdic, Croatia", when the passenger was a married MAN. Confused in Dallas, and still walking in cemeteries, James