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Hello I am an American looking on information about my grandmother's family. I have the US census records for 1920, 1930 and what I believe to be a passenger list of them coming here to america. We were always told they were from Serbia which was part Yugoslavia when I was young. The census record for 1920 said the family spoke Servian but were born in Austria. The 1930 census said they spoke Hungarian and were born in Austria. I know for a fact they spoke Serbian because my grandmother could speak it and she always told us they were Serbian
The passenger list I believe is them, says if I am reading it right, is they were from Ruma Hungary in 1910(it is hard to read). I know borders changed alot around that time especially WW1 but not sure if Ruma was part of Hungary then in 1910.
My questions:
Is if the name surname Savin would of been in Serbia from 1880 to 1914 and would they be from Serbian or Austrian or Hungarian origins?
For my great grandfather I have spellings for his first name being, Seater, Cveta, Swettta and for his last name Savin, Sovern and Sovern. Do any of these names sound Serbian? Also the names Kovica, Paulena Cvosta if you have time.
Posted : 31/07/2012 9:23 pm
Welcome to Rodoslovlje 
Never ever ever try to base your research on what the name or a surname sounds like based on any document or spelling from ship manifests or US censuses. 
For many ethnic Serbian immigrants, who in most cases did not actually come from Serbia but from Austria-Hungary like your ancestors,, it is very common that they will have wrong ethnicity listed ( Hungarian, Croatian,.... or even Austrian), and that they will have wrongly identified their country of origin as *Serbia* .
Please either post the documents you have or post the links where we can view them and review them.
SAVIN is the original surname you are researching, and that surname was in the second half of the XIX century localized in the Vojvodina province and mostly in Kikinda area.
Your ancestors were ethnic Serbs and they were Eastern Orthodox and belonged to the Serbian Orthodox Church.
For original church vital records you need to contact the Serbian Orthodox Church.
For any copies of the church vital records and other records you need to contact the state historical archives in Serbia.
Family SAVIN still lives in Ruma area today.
Also I suggest you read the articles on research of Serbian ancestors :
A Guide for Researching Ethnic Serbian Ancestors from Austria - Hungary
Naming Customs Among Ethnic Serbs XIX century
Slava - Patron Saint of the Family
and the one on Serbian Trade association "Privrednik" especially, since SAVIN family members are found in it.:
Serbian Trade Association "Privrednik" ("The Merchant") Database
Posted : 01/08/2012 2:57 pm
Topic starter
Thank you very much for the response and for the information. I have been trying to find good information on Serbia for awhile now without much luck.
As for the documents I got them off ancestry.com but I can tell you the source info. Also these links are from Familysearch.org a free site but you have to register.
1920 US census:
Year: 1920; Census Place: Baltimore Ward 19, Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland; Roll: T625_666; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 325; Image: 192.
or try this link:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M6QW-JJF
1930 US Census:
Year: 1930; Census Place: Baltimore, Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland; Roll: 864; Page: 15B; Enumeration District: 345; Image: 538.0; FHL microfilm: 2340599.
or try this link:
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X34M-K7M
as for the ship manifest they are passenger line 9 and 10 on these links. I am not completely sure this is my great grandmother and great aunt but the the ages are close and the address of destination seems close. But this record I am still unsure of.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-29169-16662-8?cc=2018318&wc=MMR4-31S:n612394874
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-29169-15893-4?cc=2018318&wc=MMR4-31S:n612394874
Posted : 01/08/2012 6:13 pm
Topic starter
Also how can I contact the serbian orthodox church. I think I found there website but it looks like just American congregations?
Posted : 01/08/2012 7:05 pm
- these people are not from Ruma but from Kumane village:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumane
That coincides with other records like Privrednik database where SAVIN are found to be living in the same region of Banat.
Do you have naturalization statements and do you know which temple in US they attended after emigrating?
For Serbian Orthodox Church contact the central information service in Belgrade who will be able to direct you to how to obtain information from the church vital records in their posession, but that you can only do after you know the exact place of origin of your ancestors and the parish that they belonged to:
Posted : 01/08/2012 7:14 pm
Topic starter
I don't know the church. I know my grandmother didn't go to church and never met my great grandfather.
I can't find a naturalization record either.
I am still not sure the Manifest is them since the dates and age of the wife is different as well as her name but that may have been americanized from Kovica to Katherine.
I will keep digging. Thank you so much for the help you helped me a great deal.
Posted : 01/08/2012 7:32 pm