Cleveland (area) has had one of the largest influx of Slavic people from Central and Eastern Europe of any city in the US. Up into the 1960s immigration of peoples from that region continued at a slowed but still repectable pace, with many leaving their communist run homelands and some escaping as political prisoners. With improved economic conditions all over Europe in the 1960s many went to Germany and other free countries. The fall (mostly due to internal reasons) of communism left many economies in shambles and also opened the doors to the west. Europeans continue to be our largest immigrant group (with many coming from Russia (both Christian and Jewish) and Bosnian-Croats fleeing there centuries old Croatian homeland in Bosnia. Approximately 50,000 people in NE Ohio are either from Croatia/Bosnia or are descendants of immigrants from those nations. Some folks are not aware of their Croatian heritage! Many believe they are "Yugoslav" (an ethnic group that is non-existant!), Hungarian, Austrian or Italian. The major reason for this may be that prior to 1918 the King/Queens of the Habsburg Empire (aka Austria-Hungary) were also King/Queen of Croatia and after 1918 Croatia was placed into the newly founded Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and then in 1929 it would be offically called Yugoslavia. Surnames in Croatia typically follow the 7 categories of surnames as do most European countries; 1) occupational (ie KOVAC = smith) , 2) patronymic (ie Ivanic = johnson), 3) matronymic KATIC (ie Kateson) , 4) locative (ie Bosanac = someone from Bosnia), 5) from nature (ie Hren = son of horse radish_ , 6) from foreign words (HARAMIJA = a turish warrior), 7) invented If someone is researching Croatian (inc Serb ethnicity) or Bosnian families please feel free to contact me if you need help. Robert Jerin Croatian Heritage Museum Cleveland Ohio

Well, Robert, you did ask ;=) My paternal grandmother and grandfather came here to Ohio prior to 1913. But not very much prior. My grandfather died in the 1920's. My grandmother died in the 1970's. My father died in 1949 (age 36). His one sister moved to Oregon and another brother and sister moved to Florida. I believe they are all deceased. I think I might have my grandfather's death certificate, but it only states that he and his wife were born in Europe. My grandfather's name was Joseph Sabolovich and my grandmother's name was Katarina either Posovec or Posovad. Is there any hope of ever finding ancestors? Where do I go? I tried to obtain my father's baptismal record from a lady that looks them up for the Catholic Churches. I wasn't certain if he was baptised at St. Jerome or St. Monica. The lady I corresponded with seemed to believe it was more than likely St. Jerome. I have never heard back from her. If you have any suggestions as to how to proceed, I would be very greatful, indeed. Thank you for your time. Roberta Sabol Chapin ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Jerin" <rjerin26@yahoo.com> To: <OHCUYAHO-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 7:15 AM Subject: [OHCUYAHO] Central and East Europeans in Cleveland > Cleveland (area) has had one of the largest influx of Slavic people from Central and Eastern Europe of any city in the US. Up into the 1960s immigration of peoples from that region continued at a slowed but still repectable pace, with many leaving their communist run homelands and some escaping as political prisoners. With improved economic conditions all over Europe in the 1960s many went to Germany and other free countries. The fall (mostly due to internal reasons) of communism left many economies in shambles and also opened the doors to the west. Europeans continue to be our largest immigrant group (with many coming from Russia (both Christian and Jewish) and Bosnian-Croats fleeing there centuries old Croatian homeland in Bosnia. Approximately 50,000 people in NE Ohio are either from Croatia/Bosnia or are descendants of immigrants from those nations. Some folks are not aware of their Croatian heritage! Many believe they are "Yugoslav" (an ethnic group that is > non-existant!), Hungarian, Austrian or Italian. The major reason for this may be that prior to 1918 the King/Queens of the Habsburg Empire (aka Austria-Hungary) were also King/Queen of Croatia and after 1918 Croatia was placed into the newly founded Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and then in 1929 it would be offically called Yugoslavia. > > Surnames in Croatia typically follow the 7 categories of surnames as do most European countries; 1) occupational (ie KOVAC = smith) , 2) patronymic (ie Ivanic = johnson), 3) matronymic KATIC (ie Kateson) , 4) locative (ie Bosanac = someone from Bosnia), 5) from nature (ie Hren = son of horse radish_ , 6) from foreign words (HARAMIJA = a turish warrior), 7) invented > > If someone is researching Croatian (inc Serb ethnicity) or Bosnian families please feel free to contact me if you need help. > > Robert Jerin > Croatian Heritage Museum > Cleveland Ohio > > > ==== OHCUYAHO Mailing List ==== > Please remember to change your subject lines to correspond with your message and capitalize all surnames. > > ============================== > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx >