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Hello,
I am looking to learn more about my Serbian heritage and, if possible, find relatives. My grandmother was born in Pennsylvania to Serbian immigrants. I was told the following, but without documentation:
My great-grandmother's name was Milka Škorić. She was born January 14, 1892 in Šturlić. She immigrated to the US in 1910. Supposedly she was something like a mail-order bride. She had a brother Lazo Škorić. My great-grandfather was Eli Borovitz (Borović), born 1880.
I was able to track down their marriage license:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4qgeqvvkzmxcmfv/BorovicMarriageLicense.pdf
For some reason the ages listed don't quite match up with the birth years I was given. Also, the way Eli signs his name is weird, it looks like Borarnicr instead of Borovich. I wasn't sure where to go with this, so I signed up for the trial on Ancestry.com. There I found a Baltimore passenger list from 1906 for an Ilija Boroevic, traveling with his cousin Rade to meet his brother Gligo in Pennsylvania. The passenger list said that Ilija was from Dvor, which is near Šturlić. I also found a WWI draft registration for an Eli Borovich which lists birth date May 14, 1880 and a brother Gligo. These records appear to corroborate.
I visited Dvor and Šturlić when I was traveling in ex-YU last month, but I wasn't able to find any records. However, I speak very little of the language and I was only in the area for a day. I've been told that I'm unlikely to find any records, but I'm not ready to give up yet. If anyone has any advice on how to proceed, I would be glad to hear it.
Also, should I cross-post to the Bosnia, Croatia, or Looking for Family sub-forums?
Thanks,
Jordan
Posted : 21/10/2012 11:12 pm
Topic starter
Forgot to mention: the marriage license lists Milka's parents names as Johan and Stanna and Eli's parents names as George and Milica. Though I'm guessing the correct spellings would be Jovan, Stana, Đorđe.
Posted : 21/10/2012 11:20 pm
Topic starter
Also, I visited the graveyard in Dvor and there were Borojević gravestones there. I know this is a common surname. Do you think it is likely that there is some relation?
Posted : 21/10/2012 11:47 pm
Any mention of the Family Saint?
We created a new family tree system on our site. This makes it easier to communicate and collaborate. The names and places are correct, no need to cross reference. Perhaps Jugoslava (yugaya), can assist.
Regards,
Sergej
Posted : 22/10/2012 7:13 pm
Topic starter
Sergej: No mention of the family saint, unfortunately. I did find a digital copy of Prezimena Srba u Bosni. I don't know how accurate it is... but it lists the slava for еach family name by parish. How can I find out the parish that served Dvor and Šturlić in the late 19th century?
Posted : 25/10/2012 3:37 pm
Topic starter
Also, regarding the family tree system, should I list females by their maiden name?
Posted : 25/10/2012 10:00 pm
Topic starter
I found this entry in the Privrednik database which I believe matches my great-grandfather as described above:
| ID | Godina | Prezime | Ime | Skrbnik | Mjesto | Povjerenik | Poslodavac |
| 248 | 1889 | Borojević | Ilija | Stanin | 26 Sočanice, Dvor | Bandur G. Mihailo, uč. | Kangrga Kosta, trgovac Gospić |
Can someone help me understand this? Skrbnik means caretaker, but this is not the same as the father's name I have from the marriage license (George). Maybe it is possible the man and woman's parents were written out of order (the lines are adjacent), and Ilija's mother was Stanna instead of Milica? Or perhaps he had another caretaker? I don't really know anything about his parents.
Is 26 Sočanice a street address in the town of Dvor or does this refer to the town Šocanica in the municipality of Dvor? If so, what does the number refer to?
Does uč. stand for učitelj?
Posted : 27/10/2012 5:29 am
- "Stanin" means "the son of Stana" (female first name). In privrednik database, if caretaker is listed as anyone else but father that means that the father of the child is deceased. So Stana is the name of his mother.
- The address in the records is the household number and the village - that is also the way the residence was entered into the vital records and the household number is vital info to distinguish between sometimes many families who carried same surname and lived in the same village .
- uč. is an abbreviation for word učitelj, teacher. most of the mentors were teachers and parish priests (paroh)
Village is Sočanica. There is a very big Serbian online community on facebook for Dvor and Banija ( groups - search for *Dvor* or * Banija Banijska sela* ), people from there can help you too:
https://www.facebook.com/banijska?ref=ts&fref=ts
You need to contact NENAD MENIĆANIN, one of the most respected Serbian genealogy researchers from that area, who has posted on his research of Borojević surname from Dvor area.
here is his web page in Serbian and extensive research on BOROJEVIĆ surname - contact him and you will be able to communicate with him directly in English:
https://sites.google.com/site/menicanin/borojevi%C4%87
his email:
I believe you also posted a question on hte availablity of vital records from Dvor area - these are only available to be researched in the Dvor town municipal office and researches I tried to arrange into ethnic Serbian ancestry there were not welcome. At all. I think that you ought to contact Sisak regional state archive and attempt to arrange a lookup through them if possible.
Posted : 30/10/2012 2:16 pm