Kay: First thing you really need to do it obtain Joseph's (1) Declaration of Intention and (2) Petition for Naturalization and (3) Naturalization Certificate. Generally three documents were filed at separate intervals. The Petition for Naturalization is the document with facts you will need for ship he traveled to America on, which port he departed from and port entered and the dates. These papers should be filed at the county courthouse in the county in which he lived. Under the law his wife and children would have received citizenship on the same document as his even though not named. They will most likely be named on the Petition for Naturalization though. You can then File Form NAFT 81 Order for Copies of Passenger Arrival Records. The copy I received for my grandfather was difficult to read. Also these lists were prepared by the Shipping Line (and not any American Official) and many names will be spelled incorrectly or with a German Script. You may be fortunate to find other family members traveling on the same ship. The copy I received showed several men from the same town with the same American destination (Waukegan). Our family names are not strictly Slovene but I wouldn't have said that to my grandparents. French and Italian names are common as are German surnames. We must remember who was running Slovenia and intermarrying with the ladies. The ship he came over on could have been Italian or German. Second, check the 1900 census for Joseph and any other family member who he may be living with. That year requests year of immigration, number of years in US and if naturalized. The 1920 census asks essentially the same questions. Getting the year will help you to locate where he may have filed his papers. When the question of language is asked some of the census takers wrote in whatever they chose. If you were from Austria you must speak German. Yeah!!! Also look very carefully for misspelling of names. I found one of my family named Rostan under the name of Rosman. Fortunately the first name gave me the clue that this was a misspelling in a neighborhood of Slovenes. I cannot help you with death certificates filed in Pennsylvania. Again, it may be filed under a misspelled name or a maiden name. You do not know who provided the information at that stressful time and they may have mixed things up or spoken with an accent that the official couldn't understand completely. All of this is rather like breaking codes in spy books. Third: You might also find the parish church they attended and obtain a copy Slovene society books, etc. The newspapers of the community are probably on microfilm and a history of the Slovene community may have been published. Fourth: You might post your letter on Genforum on the Slovenia board. Also are you a member of the Slovenia Genealogical Society? If not, the small annual fee of $10.00 is well worth it and you will find gobs of support from the membership. The SGS has a webpage and also there is a large site for the genealogy society in Slovenia where you can surf all over the place and post your requests. Further comments: Also Slovak is the language of what is now the country of Slovakia the former Czechoslovakia. Slovene is our language. Can anyone else out there in Slovene NetLand help this lady with her problem? Perhaps one of you are related to this family. Poldi Tonin TONIN, ROSTAN, PAVLIC, KOVACIC, HUMAR, PESTOTNIK just as a start. <A HREF=" http://www.sloveniangenealogy.org/MembershipInvitation.htm ">Join us! An Invitation to join the Slovenian Genealogy Society</A> ++++++++++++++++++= [email protected] wrote: > I have the proverbial brick wall with my husband's grandparents. > Gr-fthr. was Joseph Santa. 1910 census shows him as arriving in US > 1895-98 (can't read it very well). He settled in a small town outside of > Pittsburgh, PA. named Glenfield. He was 41 yrs old in 1910 and it shows > his birthplace as Austria-Slovenia. He had a wife named Mary who came > from same place and was 38 in 1910. They had two children born in > Austria Slovenia Mike (Michael) born in 1891 and Mary, born 1899. > They had a female child whose name is unknown to us that they left > in Europe because she was involved with a fiance there and didn't want to > leave him. She was said to have the voice of an angel and sang in all the > great churches in her homeland. Joseph worked on the steam railroad and > where he settled in Glenfield, there were a lot of other people from his > homeland one of which was Peter Santa who lived next door to Joseph & > Mary. Joseph died in a train accident on August 28, 1920 in the Woods Run > section of Pittsburgh where he moved after Mary's death sometime between > 1911 and 1920. She also left another child who was born in the US in 1906 > and her name was Ann. Joseph's death cert. shows his mother as Anna Gripp > also born in Austria. Slovenian & Slovak friends claim Gripp is not a > Slovenian or Slovak name but husband's cousin who is 82 says they all > spoke Slovak, not Slovenian?? Can't find the boats they came on; can't > find from where they came?? Can't find Mary's death cert. nor can I find > who raised Ann after her mother died when she was so young; she is not > with older siblings or father on the 1920 census. I know as recently as > 5 years ago she was living in New Jersey, somewhere around Cape May > and she was the widow of Siegfred (Fred) Magis and also had a son who > lived nearby named Erston Magis. So many bricks, so many walls, but > thanks for listening. I am sending this same letter to the Slovenia site > and thanks for reminding to do that. Kay Santa

Kay: maybe I can offer some help on the surnames. Santa - this surname is found in Slovenia but pronounced "shanta". Also, in case there was a misspeling as suggested by Poldi, you might want to search unter Sente. Gripp - is not a Slovene last name. It is definitely of German origin, there are no Gripps listed in the Slovene telephone directory. You should try searching in Slovakia. A good page to start would be: http://www.slovensko.com/forum/list.php3?num=3 Good luck with the search! Lea