Forum
Notifications
Clear all
Topic starter
I am currently researching my family. On my dad's side, his grandmother was named Julia Olar. She had a brother John. Her mom was named Persa and her father was named Zsiva. They came over from Austria-Hungary, but always listed their race as Serbian. On many Serbian based forums, I can not find the surname Olar. I have a neighbor who is from Serbia and he said the name doesn't sound like a Serbian name. On the ship manifests (Zsiva came over in 1905, the rest of the family came over in 1907, returned to Serbia in 1910, then came back to the US in 1914) it says they lived in Dobricza, Torontal, Hungary. It shows place of birth as Kevedobra and Cserepalja. Are Kevedobra and Dobricza the same place? Also, Julia's name was listed as Fulka on the 1907 manifest, and John was listed as Vukasin. They changed their first names when they settled in St. Joseph, Missouri. One last thing, when Julia died (she died very young as a result of food poisoning) the maiden name of her mother, Persa, was listed as Murti. I have not had success finding information on this surname either. Is Murti a Serbian surname?
I am obviously very new to Serbian genealogy, and would greatly appreciate any help to point me in the right direction where I can research. I have spent a lot of time trying to find answers using the Internet, but haven't found much, which makes me think I'm looking in the wrong places for answers.
Thank you.
Cheryl Odette
Posted : 30/04/2009 2:29 pm
Cheryl,
Olar is a Romanian surname that can be found in the north of Serbia; there is a small Romanian minority.
So you should look in that direction but otherwise use the normal steps any would follow for genealogical research in Serbia.
Regards,
Sergej
Posted : 02/05/2009 8:27 pm
Topic starter
Sergej,
Thank you for your helpful response. But I have a question. Since Olar is a Romanian surname, could my family have considered themselves Serbian as opposed to Romanian? On the ship manifests and US census records, they always listed the country they came from as either Austria, Hungary, or Yugoslavia, depending on what the country was called at the time, but they always listed their nationality, race, and language as Serbian. I noticed that other families (not mine) on these records who came from Austria/Hungary/Yugoslavia would call themselves Romanian, so any insight as to why my family would very strongly consider themselves Serbs? I'm sorry if this seems like a silly question, but I really am confused.
Also, I know Dobricza is currently in what is considered Serbia. I think Kevedobra references the same city (Dobricza) just with a different name, but am not positive. And I've been able to determine that Cserepalja is (or was) located in Torontal County, so I'm thinking it might not be too far away from Dobricza. Do you (or anyone else) have any insight into this?
Again, thank you for your assistance. I greatly appreciate it.
Cheryl Odette
Posted : 03/05/2009 1:34 pm
No its possible that they considered themselves Serbs, this is possible when they still have e.g. a Romanian surname but lost touch with that part of their heritage. A lot of Romanian families in Serbia are mixed.
THere is a thing you should know about the north of Serbia, Vojvodina. They use three languages there, Serbian, Hungarian and German. So some place names have different names in Serbian. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Magyarized_geographical_names
Regards,
Sergej
Posted : 05/05/2009 9:43 pm
visit this page, it deals with Serbs immigrated to Serbia from Austria-Hungary https://www.facebook.com/share/g/YdNxgZwerQu9EuSP/
Posted : 08/10/2024 9:52 am