Kos – GenealogyAtHeart.com

Croatian Family Stories – An Update

Lori Samuelson and Dr. Nikolina Antonić in front of Turopolje Manor

Today’s blog is the last in my Croatian series and it adds to the family stories I have previously written about. My maternal grandmother, Mary Koss, was a dramatic storyteller. As a child, I loved her tales of the old country. As I aged, I wondered about the content and began researching for facts. Boots on the ground enabled me to check out the truth in ways I could never do online.

The picture above is of a typical Croatian nobleman house from the beginning of the 19th century. This one was built in 1806. The family business was housed on the first floor with the family living on the second floor. The homes typically were furnished with artwork, porcelain collections, a stove for heating, and a piano. We always had a piano which my mother hated taking lessons, porcelain knickknacks, and art. I never thought of my family as owning those items in the old country as nothing was brought with them to the U.S. The families entertained often and a sign noted that guests of this home, constructed by Petar Modić, were the Kusević and Pogledić families. Those names were of interest to me as my grandparents had friends in the U.S. with those surnames and I knew they had been from nearby villages in Croatia. And yes, my grandparents entertained often. I had no idea, that all these families had been considered noblemen nor that the families had been acquainted for more than a hundred years before their emigration. I was also surprised to learn how much land those titled people, known as PL, owned. Dr. Antonić’s dissertation was on land deeds from the 1200s in the area so our next visit was to the castle my grandmother recalled our family protecting.

Due to earthquake damage, we couldn’t get up close to Castle Turopolje. I was astounded to discover how close the site was to my ancestor’s villages. Running downhill from their homes through the woods would not have taken more than ten minutes. Like in my grandmother’s story, the castle had a moat which you can see is now weed-filled. This castle is a replica, built in the 1900s, of the one that stood in the same location where my relatives defended against the Turks. You can read my blog about the original event here.

Another surprise was the discovery that not only my Kos line but my Grdenić line was also titled PL. How I missed that information as a kid is beyond me! Unfortunately, the volume with the Kos information was missing from the Croatian National Archive and I’m awaiting a copy from another organization.

My grandmother’s paternal side, the Kos family, originated in Dubranec. You can see the forest area where they were granted privilege by the king to hunt for their bravery in defending the castle. Just around the bend, the village of 99 homes begins.

Mary Koss’ Birthplace in Dubranec, Croatia. Photo by Google Maps

I’m using a Google Maps photo of my maternal side’s ancestral home, built before 1861 as noted in that census. For privacy reasons, I am not showing a current photo as the house has had some changes. I had no family pictures of it and in my mind, I had always thought it would have been a wooden structure, much like Turopolje Manor. I have no idea when the stucco was added over the original wood but many homes began that custom by the mid-1800s. The residences to the right and left had been bricked. My grandmother had her home in Gary, Indiana bricked during the Depression; perhaps she did that because the neighbors had done so in Croatia. All three homes, along with a parking lot and a medical facility, were once the Kos family farm. The family-owned much more land and as the family grew over the years, lots became subdivided to include more dwellings. This I discovered at the Croatian State Archives. My family always had a kitchen garden when I was growing up so I wasn’t surprised to see that there was space for one. My grandmother had mentioned a garden, too. The building is no longer in the family. It had been turned into a tavern but the owner recently died so we could not go inside to visit. There are no Kos’ left in Dubranec according to the neighbor on the left side and Mr. Hrvoj, a distant cousin of mine, who happened to walk down the street.

Around several more turns up the mountain, we found ourselves in my maternal great-grandmother’s ancestral home, the Grdenić’s. The village is small and consists of a few farms. It looks as I thought a village from the 1800s would:

Anna Grdenić’s Ancestral Home, Jerebic, Croatia

There are no Grdenić’s left in Jerebic according to the farmer who came out to see who was visiting. It is a working farm with roosters walking freely. Although the house now has electricity, running water, and plumbing, it did not when my great-grandmother lived there. The well is no longer used but I can imagine my two times great grandmother drawing water from it:

Lori Samuelson in Front of the Grdenić Family Well

My grandmother’s middle name was Violet and I was surprised to see all the wild violets that grew around the house.

Records in the archive stated that the family was known for their fine vineyard. I should have known the family grew grapes as I have blogged about their winemaking during Prohibition yet I never thought about that custom coming with them to the new country. I have the family recipes and one of my kids still follows them. Sometimes the hints are right in front of us yet we fail to recognize them. My husband and I laughed when we heard about the vineyards as we have always had a grape arbor and we had just planted grapes a few days before we left for Croatia.

Next, we went back down the mountain to Dubranec to visit Our Lady of the Snows Roman Catholic Church which is a 5-minute walk from my Kos’ family home:

The Earthquake Damaged Church of Our Lady of the Snows, Dubranec, Croatia

The church was badly damaged in the 2020 earthquake and is off-limits. The priest lives in the village but we were unable to locate him. Here is my original family legend about Our Lady of the Snows.

I was hoping to find gravestones for the missing vital information that former leader Josip Tito had destroyed but unfortunately, the cemetery only contains newer graves. Dr. Antonić explained that the Croatian custom is to pay annually for the grave upkeep and if payment is not made, after some time, the remains are removed and stored in a combined gravesite. I couldn’t find that location and will have to contact the parish priest for more details.

Our Lady of the Snows Roman Catholic Church Cemetery, Dubranec, Croatia

The former article mentioned a mysterious pilgrimage site that was identified by genealogist Lidija Sambunjak. We were on our way to Marija Bistrica:

My great-grandmother Anna Grdenić Koss, according to my Great Aunt Barbara, went on a pilgrimage to this site. I had a postcard that was written to my mother when my Aunt Anne Marie and Aunt Barbara visited Croatia in the 1980s. Unfortunately, the name of the site wasn’t written on the postcard. I blogged about solving the mystery recently. I believe Anna made the pilgrimage after losing her first two children at birth. I have records for one of the two, one may have been a miscarriage. I suspect Anna was praying for a child to survive and that occurred after the pilgrimage with my grandmother, Mary. Anna would go on to have three more children, Joseph and Barbara, who survived to adulthood, and Dorothea, who I can find no record of that died as a child. The distance to this church from the villages is an hour by car over steep mountain roads. I know that my female ancestors were strong women but this journey would not have been easy. We did see pilgrims hiking to the church and it reminded me that once, long ago, Anna was one of them. Like most of Croatia due to the earthquake, the church is under construction but we were able to go inside.

Boots on the ground research enabled me to walk in my ancestor’s footsteps. It was an emotional journey that added richness to the family stories that were told to me as a child. I am fortunate to have connected with such knowledgeable women in Croatia who helped me gain insight into my family’s history. This was a trip of a lifetime that I will carry with me forever.

All About Surname, aka One Name Studies

Several times a month, I’m contacted by someone who is interested in the findings of my surname studies. If you haven’t embarked on a surname project or want more information on what a one name project is all about, today’s blog is for you.

A Surname or One-Name study is a research project recording ALL individuals with the same surname. That differs from the intent of a typical genealogy project of identifying the parents of someone with a particular surname. The results of a surname project may provide relationships but the main purpose is not to determine descendancy or pedigree. The purpose of a surname project is to identify everyone with the shared surname.

So you’re thinking, I can’t even identify my 3^rd time great grandmother’s maiden name, why would I focus on researching unrelated people of one particular surname? A surname study might help you discover relationships since, back in the day, people tended to marry distantly related family members or siblings frequently wed the neighbor’s siblings. Embarking on a surname study to discover a maiden name would be a waste of time, though, as the results are hit or miss.

People begin surname studies for a variety of reasons. My first surname study was identifying all the Leininger surname in the U.S. My interest was because it is my maiden name and I didn’t know much about my father’s family. In middle school, I discovered another Leininger family living in my community and I asked my mom how they were related to us. Her reply, “They’re the rich ones.” clearly didn’t answer my question. When I pressed for more information she said my dad had asked them and a common ancestor could not be identified. This was long before DNA. Fast forward to relocating 1200 miles away and discovering another Leininger, this one a priest who was the spitting image of my father. When my mother asked him about the relationship he had no interest in a discussion. My surname project to record every Leininger in the US resulted from these two situations. If a connection was found, great, and if not, that was okay, too. I was more interested in identifying everyone with this uncommon surname.

Before you begin, let’s review surnames. Typically, surnames are derived from the family’s place of origin. Although Kos is not a common surname in the U.S., it is well used in Croatia. Kos translates into blackbird or crow. Croatians call themselves “Cro’s.” See the connection?

Besides place of origin, surnames may also denote a historical occupation, like Smith or Baker, or historical title, like the [House of] Leiningen, a title for Princes of the Holy Roman Empire.

Sometimes they are derived from a location, such as Harbaugh. The family was thought to have originated in Denmark or Switzerland but most likely the name is derived from the German words, har for master and bach for brook as the original spelling was Harbach. Their origin appears to be in a small village outside of Kaiserslautern and you guessed it, the farm was located alongside a stream. My Hollin[g]shead family lived by the “head” of the hollin bushes. Hollin is middle English for holly.

Surnames are sometimes descriptive, such as Small or Shortt. That description might not hold true today as it once did!

Sometimes a surname will change with each generation. The ancient Nordic practice of patronymics, adding “son” or “dotter” to the father’s first name resulted in each generation having a different surname. Jon’s son, Carl, had a last name of Jonson. When Carl had a son, that son’s last name became Carlson.

Keep in mind surnames evolve for other reasons, as well. My maternal Kos became Koss because it looked more Anglocized. Herbach became Harbaugh possibly because a teacher insisted that was the correct spelling, as the family story goes, or because the dialect changed once the family relocated.

Sometimes a surname is made up, think Elton John whose given name was Reginald Kenneth Dwight. I have two cousins who legally changed their surnames, one to make it more Anglicized and the other make it more ethnic.

Children who were adopted also have a surname change.

If you are thinking about beginning a surname project, UNCOMMON is the key to selection! You would not do a surname project on a common surname hoping to find relationships. Sure, all homo sapiens are related but trying to record every Johnson or Williams would be so time consuming you would never finish.

Once you’ve identified an uncommon surname you are interested in researching, do an internet search to see if others have already begun a surname study group. If they have, you can join and begin sharing your acquired information. If there isn’t one, you can create one. With DNA now available, you can make many more connections than I could have when I did my studies in the early 2000’s.

Did you know there is a society called the Guild of One-Name Studies that has resources and education available? Their website has a surname index of their members’ surname studies.

Before I explain how I did my study – a word of caution! A study group is different than simply Googling a surname. A study group is composed of those interested in genealogy and research. They differ from the many websites that offer questionable information about surnames for a price.

I’m not suggesting to not do a simple internet query of a surname. The information can provide you hints but be aware that the information may not be relevant. Remember – correlation doesn’t equate with causation! In the case of Harbaugh, Google states it is one of the oldest Anglo-Saxon names in Britain and was derived from herebeorg, an Old English word for a person who ran a lodging house. It does not state that the word is probably older and derived from the Teutonic dweller at a shelter. Perhaps the English line of Habaugh’s originated with the man named Harbo who purportedly accompanied William the Conqueror to Britain or an earlier Viking (in Scandinavian, baugh means poor). None of that applies to the U.S. gateways of the surname I wished to research. The majority came from the Palatinate region. I have found one Harbaughs from Great Britain emigrating to the U.S.

Like Google, Wikipedia often lists names of unrelated individuals under a surname but beware of the name’s description which is often not cited. Sure it’s interesting but not necessarily relevant or connected to your surname of interest.

When I decided to do my Leininger surname study I looked for surname projects but didn’t find any as the internet was still young. I then took genealogy books I found that listed Leiningers and Harbaugh and entered that information into my tree.

All of the information is public in my Main Tree on Ancestry and MyHeritage. You can add people without connecting them to others in your tree. To do that, enter the name and information under anyone, then under “Facts” click “Edit” on the upper right. Next click “Edit Relationships” and click the X next to the father and mother’s names. You will now have the individual in your tree but not connected to anyone. You will then research their line as you would your own. If you find they are connect to your line, you will add them to wherever they belong by selecting “Select someone in your tree” option. If you never find a connection, no worries! They are still visible and you can easily find them by using the search feature.

To help identify what I call my “loose lines,” I maintain a table housed under Gallery of all the gateways with that surname. If I’m contacted by someone inquiring how we are related and I do not see a notation on the heading under the individual’s death (such as 3^rd great-grandfather showing in the above picture), I know that the inquiry is regarding a loose line.

Since completing my Leininger study, I’ve identified 27 Leininger/Lininger gateway individuals born between 1742-1830, who emigrated from the Palatine and settled in Pennsylvania or Ohio. I am unable to connect them to my line. DNA has shown that 3 of the gateways were distantly related to me but the key to discovering a common ancestor for probably all of these lines lies in Europe at least 500 years ago.

Of the Harbaugh/Herbach/Hurbach study, I have 13 individuals I cannot determine a connection to my husband’s line. I have not reached out to descendants for DNA but perhaps will in the future.

Surname studies are an investment in time but the energy is worth it if you are interested in stretching your genealogy skills and leaving a legacy of research that provides a bigger picture of a family surname.

DNA Ethnicity Surprises

Ancestry.com has again updated their DNA Results Summary. Sure, it’s only as accurate as the number of people who have tested. What my latest results tell me is that Ancestry has had a whole lot more Swedish, German and Slavs testing and not many Balkans.

I know this because the updated results show I am 42% Eastern European and Russian and 41% Germanic Europe.

In Ancestry’s last update, I was considered French; today I am of German ancestry.

My paternal line would not have thought much of that finding; with a name like Leininger they would have accepted the Germanic Europe as fact. The truth is more complex – the ancestors that were forgotten most likely would have been livid with the designation as they considered themselves French. My two times great grandmother was christened as Marie Marguerite not the Germanic Maria Margarette. Her spouse was christened Jean Leininger and not Johan. They resided in the Palatinate, the region that flipped several time between what is now Germany and France. They wisely spoke both French and German. Funny that the land has stopped switching but the ethnicity indicators haven’t. Ancestry would be smart to have a Palatine region noted instead of moving ethnicity results every update.

Interestingly, the results do include 5% of an ethnicity estimate as French and the region is the Riviera, where my Lamphere’s (Landfairs) did reside in the 1600’s prior to fleeing France for London and then Ireland and then Virginia. It appears they intermarried with relatives and others who fled with them and that is somewhat supported in that I now have no Irish identified. Well, that’s not quite true, either…

My Irish is encompassed under my Scottish designation.

I also find it interesting that I have Welsh separated from England (which encompasses Northwestern Europe now). I am most definitely Welsh with my people moving to Cheshire for a time. That is shown in the map, along with the northwest section of France. That is also correct as I have some William the Conqueror folks originating in that French region.

My maternal line, though, would have my grandmother in requesting her money back.

Family stories shared by my grandmother say her side moved to the what is now the outskirts of Zagreb, Croatia around the time of Christ because of overpopulation on the island to the south where they once resided. That would most likely have been Kos Island, part of Greece today. The now defunct National Geographic project did route my ancestry on that trail. Grandma said my grandfather’s people had already been in the Zagreb region when her people arrived and they had been Gypsies. National Geographic’s results showed that, too. Using records, I can show that my maternal line was in the Zagreb region as far back as the 1600’s. Based on a title the family was awarded, I can show some were in the region as early as the 1100’s. For 900 years, they resided in a small area in what is now known as Croatia. According to Ancestry, I’m 3% Balkan.

Explaining to my grandmother how Ancestry obtains their results would have been maddening. I’m sure some of you are going to have to try with an older relative. I send you good thoughts in doing that!

I am quite impressed, though, with Ancestry and their Swedish results. Look above as I have shown how Southern Sweden is shown by region. I have worked very hard to get most of my husband’s Swedish lines identified and they are from the area Ancestry identified. I’m looking forward to someday seeing a trend like this for my other ethnicities.

Ancestry has also released a section called StoryScout. It’s housed under DNA and includes information that you may have provided in a tree. I didn’t spend much time on this but I did take a look and it reminded me of something that is important to do and I honestly fail at it.

The section is based on census and military records from the 20th century. Sure, I’ve saved those records to my ancestors 20 plus years ago. I know where they lived, who they lived with, blah blah blah. What gave me pause, however, was that it correctly showed my maternal grandfather and noted that his income was nearly twice that of an average man at the time. He made $1400.00 per year when the average was in the mid $700.00’s. Wow. This explained to me why my immigrant family could afford a car in the 1920’s, a phone in the 1930’s, travel to California in the 1940’s and to Europe in the ’60’s. Now I understand why grandma, when babysitting me, would drag me to the nice stores and dress shops and had her hair done each week. Duh! They never flaunted their wealth and dutifully shipped supplies several times a year back to the old country. Thanks, Ancestry, for taking one small data point in the census and giving me an insight I hadn’t he thought about. Try it, it might work for you, too.

Synchronocity and my Roots

It’s been a rainy, windy week in my area with Tropical Storm Cristobal passing off shore. I spent my free time catching up on two books I’ve always had on my “To Read” list but never got around to checking out – Henry Z. Jones’ Psychic Roots and More Psychic Roots.
If you’ve followed my blog for some time, you know I occasionally write about the unexplainable and downright weird things that happen to me when I am deep into a genealogical research problem. I get a hunch, am driven to reach out to follow through on that thought and voila, a long lost photo or document or knowledgeable individual miraculously provides me what I am seeking.
Several years ago, one of my blog posts was selected by a major organization to be featured in their newsletter. One of my dear readers and the editor of the newsletter both suggested I ready the books but I was so involved with other projects, I didn’t have time. I finally made time when I saw that both titles were available through genealogical.com which I subscribed to for 3 months during the pandemic.
Does reading about coincidences increase them?! It seemed to work for me this week. Perhaps it’s like opening a communication link. You have internet access, however, if you don’t go on you’ll never be connected to the wealth of information out there. That’s my take on how this all works and you’ll see why in a moment.
I really enjoyed reading the events that others experienced, especially when I have met some and others are my followers. One of my husband’s distant ancestors was also mentioned, Thomas Harbaugh and his wife, Polly. Thomas’ story always was one of my favorite Harbaugh recollections so I wasn’t surprised that his descendants would have a strange event when they sought information on him.
Just like the author cannot explain his passion for Palatine research, I can’t explain mine for the Harbaughs. I’m not one, bloodwise. Some have married into some of my related lines but the connection hasn’t been close. The Harbaughs’ are my husband’s maternal line. I was never close to my mother-in-law and his grandfather had passed before I met him. Why did I take the time to enter every bit of Harbaugh data into our family tree? Beats me but I was (and am) obsessed. I would work late into the night entering information and trying to connect all the Harbaughs in the US since the 1947 Cooprider & Cooprider book on Harbaugh History was published.
I’m a quick reader so I finished both Jones’ books in three days. Each night, I had a genealogical related dream. The first night I dreamt that the Gateway Ancestor for the Harbaugh’s was not Yost but Jost and if I looked for records for Jost I would find them. I told my husband the next morning and he laughed, pointing out in German that was probably correct. I don’t know German and my husband and I have been a couple since our high school days. He knows that renown Harbaugh historians have puzzled over the oddness of a Swiss first name of Yost. Did my husband ever mention that the name wasn’t odd at all in German? Nope. Later that day I was reading a different book on genealogical.com and sure enough, it explained German names. Everyone assumes that the Harbaughs emigrated from Switzerland so no one looks at the surname as being of German origin. In the German book I looked at later in the day, Harbaugh is recorded as meaning being near a brook (baugh). I’ve read that before but somehow it never sunk in. The family lived for a time in Kaiserslautern, in the Palatine region of what is now Germany. How did I miss the obvious all these years? How did everyone else researching this family? I don’t know! This helpful hint from beyond will be useful going forward.
I’ve been working on finding proof for one of my Gateway ancestors, Daniel Hollingshead for a lineage application I submitted. He is not listed in any of the typical texts that show emigration so I’m required to document more fully. He left Saxelby, England for Barbados in the early 1700’s, possibly indentured (according to family tales). He married in 1710 (have the record), wife, Ann from whom I descended died in 1714 (record) and he remarried in 1716 (record). The family relocated to New Jersey via Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) about 1720 (land and tax records). One of his children from his second marriage even moved back to Barbados with her husband. The rest of the family remained together in the colonies. I can prove he left Barbados and lived in what is now the US but I can’t prove how he got to Barbados. My second night’s dream had me standing in front of a mirror but the reflection was not mine, it was blurred, like a computer screen without my glasses. A male voice told me to look in the mirror and to look “smaller.” What the heck did that mean?! I shared that dream with hubby, too. He laughed and said he thought it meant the information was in front of me but I wasn’t seeing it all. Hmm. We’ll come back to how this played out.
After finishing the second book, the third night I dreamt my deceased maternal aunt was taking me to her new home. We entered the back door into a kitchen and I saw my grandmother and mother. Everyone was glad to see me and I was taken to the kitchen counter where a box was being unpacked. It contained the most beautiful clear glass plates I’ve ever seen. My aunt asked me to help unwrap them and put them into the cabinet. I thought we should wash them first but she said they were fine. The bowls were exquisite and I remarked I wished I could find a set like this (on my side of the universe). I then said they wouldn’t work for me because I don’t have a wooden table but a glass one where they wouldn’t show up well on it. When I awoke I instantly knew one of my family members will be dying soon and the “move to a bigger house” was to prepare for their “homecoming.” I don’t know who that will be but I have a hunch between 3 individuals. None are ill. I’m keeping my mouth shut to see how this turns out. In the meantime, my second dream’s meaning surfaced…
Thursday afternoon I got an idea out of the blue to contact a local woman who does British research. I searched for her email address, which I know I have as I distinctly remember writing it down a few years ago after she gave a lecture. I couldn’t find it but I did clean up my office! I decided that evening to email the former president of my local society who I thought would surely have her email. I hate asking someone to give me a phone or email address without the individual’s permission so I requested he forward the email I would have sent to her. Three hours later he responded that he had tried but the email bounced back as undeliverable. He had used it recently and was surprised. He gave me her phone number and suggested I call. It was late in the evening and I told him I would follow up the next day and let him know if we connected. I then sent the email, which didn’t come back as undelivered. I decided to give her a day or two to respond before I called (since the weather is inclement and knowing our power would be up and down for the next few days). Knowing that my power would be out is also weird, as you’ll see in a minute.
While writing the email to her I had rechecked several sources I had used to try to find emigration, census and indentured records online. Typically, I close out any work I’m doing on the computer when I stop for the day to insure I don’t lose anything. I thought I had done that but perhaps I hadn’t.
On Friday morning our doorbell rang and an employee of our power company informed us that we were scheduled to get a new meter installed so he was requesting we turn off all appliances, televisions, computers and the air conditioner while he installs the new device. I distinctly remember walking into our office and turning off my and my husband’s computers, then turning off the A/C.
The new meter was installed quickly but I was reading on my Kindle so I had no reason to immediately turn the office computers back on. Later that afternoon I decided to restart mine but I walked away before it was fully up.
I can’t recall what the reason was that made me go back to my desktop Friday evening because what happened next totally threw me. I sat down at my desk and saw that the Google was already up on my right screen. I thought my husband must have used my system for some quick need since his computer hadn’t been restarted. I clicked and what was displayed was a page from the National Archives of England (shown at the top of this blog). I remember thinking that was odd since there is no reason my husband would ever have gone to that site. Something caught my eye on the bottom right corner so I scrolled down and what did I discover? A link to Caribbean Connections! I clicked and discovered that an online lecture will be held on June 19th at 2 PM London time. I immediately signed up for the class.

You can see for yourself from the top picture above what I saw when I clicked on my Google browser. I had to scroll down to see the map on the right (shown directly above). If not, I would have missed it.
Even odder, how did that website show on my computer when it had been shut down for the installation of a new meter? I got the eebie jeebie feeling for sure! I told my husband that the strangest thing had just happened and asked if he had used my computer. No, he replied. I then told him his explanation of my dream was correct. The information was in front of me but I wasn’t seeing it because I was only seeing a small part of it.
I can’t wait to attend the lecture and I’m hopeful I will be finding the information I am seeking soon. I love these strange experiences and hope they keep coming. I hope you find all that you are seeking, too.

Useful Research Reminders

Sometimes, it takes a village to solve a genealogy mystery. Thanks to all for sharing their ideas regarding identifying my mystery man, Anton “Tony” Kos, who is buried next to my great grandfather Josip “Joseph” Kos in Gary, Indiana. An extra special thanks to research librarian Marilyn in Lake County, Indiana, who went above and beyond my request for Tony’s obit.

Since the rainy season has officially begun in Florida this morning, I’m planning on spending the weekend further researching Tony and Joseph’s relationship, if any.

Here’s some great ideas that genealogists recommended:

People did not always stay in one place for long. That’s especially true for laborers who went wherever work was available. Joseph arrived in New York, traveled to Detroit, Michigan where he got a job with the railroads, relocated to Pennsylvania and followed the lines to California and then back to Chicago, Illinois where he lived in Pullman housing with his wife and children he sent for years later. When the work ended in digging ditches, he moved to Gary, Indiana to work for U.S. Steel. My Tony could be anywhere in the US at any time.
Linda reminded me that immigration was not a one way route – people came and went across the pond. My grandparents ended up married because they crossed paths in Chicago. Grandpa Ivan “John” Kos was a second cousin to Joseph Kos. John emigrated with his brother, Stephen. Stephen had a wife and child remaining in Austria-Hungary and had come previously to work but returned to the old country. When money became tight again, he opted to return and brought John with him. When the railroad job ended in California, Stephen decided to return to Austria-Hungary while John took work in Chicago. This means that Tony may have moved back and forth, too.
Marilyn pointed out that people often relocated together. I know that’s a duh but rechecking immigration lists might be helpful in determining other’s with the same surname or surnames of related families I’ve previously identified. For example, when Joseph emigrated he came with a Franjs and Embro. Embro went with Joseph to Detroit while Franjs went to Pennsylvania. I’m not sure who Embro and Franjs were in relation to Joseph other than they were listed together and all came from Austria-Hungary in January 1910. Tracing Franjs and Embro may be beneficial in determining Joseph and Tony’s relationship.
City Directory dates are not the date the data was accumulated. Back in the day, the information for a City Directory was compiled by workers going door to door across the city. Then it was published, perhaps the following year. So the 1918 City Directory most likely had entries that were from 1917. Since there is no way to know the exact date when a particular entry was recorded, there’s no way to be certain in years between censuses when a family actually resided at the listed residence.
Sometimes the answer is not where you think so I may just need to broaden the search back to the old country. Unfortunately, Familysearch.org does not have the Roman Catholic parish records for the village by people came from so I may need to contact a genealogist in Croatia to shed light on the family.

Next week, I’ll be on the road so there will be no blog post. Happy Hunting!

Using back door techniques to solve a genealogy mystery

I’ve been researching a mystery man, Anton “Tony” Kos, who was buried in 1934 next to my great grandfather, Joseph Koss, in Oak Hill Cemetery in Gary, Indiana. You can see from the above pic I took in December 2001 how close the stones are compared to the next stone to the right. Looks to me like the plot was one.

I never got a straight answer regarding how Tony and Joseph are related, if at all. I’d love to find out if they were related, which I strongly think is possible, and why my mother and grandmother refused to verify that.

Here’s what I know…I used to accompany my mom and grandma to the family cemetery around Memorial Day to tend to the graves. We’d always go to the old part of the cemetery first, to clip the grass around the gravestone of my great grandfather, Joseph Kos[s] who died in 1919 during the Spanish flu pandemic. When I was old enough to read, I noticed that next to his grave was an Anton Kos. I knew the family name was originally spelled with one “s” but I had never heard of Anton so I asked how he was related and never got an answer. I recall my mother just looking at my grandmother and my grandmother looking down and continuing to tidy up her father’s grave. So, as only a small child will do, I asked again. I never got a straight answer. I tried several other times over the years and got various answers; that Kos is a very common Croatian name like Smith is in Great Britain. That didn’t tell me if Tony was related. It also didn’t explain why I never saw another grave in the cemetery with the original spelling of the surname. When I asked about that, I got, “I don’t know why.” as a response. (There actually is another Kos, John, who died in 1934 buried in the cemetery but as a child, I had never seen that grave.)

I tentatively placed Anton as a sibling of my great grandfather Joseph. Joseph was born in 1875 and Anton, in 1879. I had called the cemetery in 2012 to ask who purchased Anton’s plot and was told that no one did because the cemetery records don’t have an Anton Kos. I told the clerk I knew where he was buried, immediately south of my great grandfather. They insisted no one was buried there. Looking at the records, I understand what happened. Anton is listed as Tony in cemetery records, even though Anton is chiseled on his tombstone. Tony was what was recorded on his death certificate and the cemetery must have listed him under that name. My great grandfather’s tombstone has his Americanized name, Joseph Kos and not his birth name, Josip Kos so there was another possible clue that my family was involved. These folks Americanized as soon as they arrived in 1910.

As an adult, I can see another family trait that gives credence to a relationship; my family plans for their deaths. I could see that they would have purchased two plots when my great grandfather died in 1919 expecting that his wife would be buried next to him. But she lived on until 1966. I’m thinking when a family member who was in need of the plot died, the family buried him instead. My family always helped out a relative in need, be it sending care packages back across the pond, fronting them money or taking them into their home for awhile. My grandparents had purchased a larger plot in the newer section of the cemetery that was the intended burial site for them and my great grandmother. It is also where I buried my mother’s cremains.

After we tidied the old section (but we never touched Anton’s stone, which is interesting), we’d move to the new section to trim the grass around the Koss stone. No one was yet buried there but my forward thinking grandparents had enough sense to purchase the stone while they were still employed. (And thanks, mom, for taking care of your end of life stuff prior to your death. Hope our kids appreciate we did the same – yes, you can already find me on Find-A-Grave.)

So getting no where with the cemetery, I decided to try to research Anton Anthony Tony to find a connection.

From Ancestry.com, you can see his death certificate below:

No help with his parents info but it does say he was born in “Yugo Slavia” just like Joseph Koss. He also died of lung issues, just like Joseph. Joseph’s whole family had lung issues, hmm. Not a smoking gun but certainly gives one pause to consider a relationship as they all died young. He also was a laborer in a steel mill, though not the same one where Joseph worked. Granted, most immigrants at the time were laborers and steel mills offered good wages.

I have never been able to find Tony in any census – having checked 1920-1940 under Anton, Anthony and Tony Kos, Koss and Ross (as my own people have been enumerated as).

There is another mystery – who was Steve Sesta who provided the death certificate info? I’ve never heard of him.

The death certificate gives me a clue to look at the address where Tony was living when he died, 35 East 39th Street, Gary, Indiana.

So here’s a tip – I want to use the 1940 census to find who was living at Tony’s address. It could take quite some time using Ancestry.com because I would need to click on every enumeration area and Gary was a large city so there are many. To save time, I used the National Archives site (just Google 1940 U.S. Federal Census enumeration map and you’ll be taken directly to it or use my link).

Since I grew up in the city, I know the layout of the street and avenue names, which saved me time. If you are researching an area you aren’t familiar with, simply use Google earth to get a better idea. In my case, I knew that streets ran north and south, avenues ran east and west. Street names west of Broadway used the president’s names in order (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, no repeat of Adams, etc.) and east of Broadway used states’ names, in no particular order. So, I was looking for 39th Street and could eliminate all of the western side of Broadway simply by identifying if the first page of the census had a presidents name or not.

After going through 3 enumeration areas, I found the address:

The address was divided into two housing units, front and rear. Steve, who had provided the death certificate info, lived in the rear. That means Tony was living in the front but he wasn’t there in 1940. It also explains why there is no parent information for Tony, neighbor Steve did not know that information. (I know, you’re thinking I should check property records to see who owned the residence but the problem is most of Gary’s records were “lost” according to the Lake County, Indiana property appraiser’s office. I suspect they’re somewhere in Gary and just weren’t turned over to the county when the law changed but I don’t live anywhere close to be able to hunt around for them so that’s a dead end for me.)

The death certificate did state Tony had worked for 1 year as a laborer for Illinois Steel. He may have only arrived in the area in 1942, during World War II.

I checked immigration records but there are many Anton Kos’ who emigrated from Austria-Hungary/Yugoslavia so I’m unable to pinpoint one of them as my mystery man.

I know, from a recent DNA match with another relative, that during World War II, my Cvetkovic relatives were displaced to another part of what is now Croatia, due to mayhem in the area where the family originally resided in Velika Gorica. It certainly is possible that Tony had left the area because of the war and came to the U.S. to a place where family already resided.

Tony was survived by a wife, Anna, who was born in 1878. Perhaps she remarried as she is not listed in cemetery records by the last name Kos or Koss or like Tony, she wasn’t entered in the cemetery database correctly. Unfortunately, only 30% of the cemetery is listed on Find-A-Grave. There’s nothing on Billion Graves either.

Somehow, I have a maiden name for her as Smolkovic but I have no idea where I got that info. I also have a marriage date, but no place, and two children residing in Rhode Island. That info was obtained years ago before I carefully sourced (shame on me!). This is an area I need to further research.

I checked City Directories and there is only one Anthony in Gary but he was married to a Mary living on Filmore Street in Gary in 1918. He never appears in any other directory. My Kos line doesn’t arrive in Gary until 1919 so I suspect he wasn’t the my Tony. There is no Tony or Anton ever in any City Directory for Gary. I got his obituary thanks to the Ask-A-Librarian link on the Lake County library site but it provides basically no information other than he had died after a long illness, which disputes the information on the death certificate. Or, maybe not. Perhaps he suffered from lung problems for years but the incident that caused his death had been short.

There is no one in my family much older than me left who would know – definitely no one who was alive in 1943 that would remember. Decided I’d try the cemetery again since it’s recently been sold and maybe the new owners have done an inventory of grave sites. Sent an email on Sunday and haven’t gotten a response so will follow up with a phone call this week.

If that falls through, I’m going to attempt to check Baptism records for Velika Gorica to see if I can link Anton to Joseph’s parents. Unfortunately, they aren’t on Familysearch.org so I’ll have to email a genealogist in Croatia to do some digging.

Connecting Tony and Joseph would be awesome but I’ll most likely never get the story of why he was not discussed since dead men tell no tales!

Solving Broken Connections by Connecting With the Living

Happy Memorial Weekend! Although I won’t be spending time caring for family members’ graves this weekend because no family member is buried close to where I currently reside, I have memories as a child of going to the grave sites of long dead relatives at this time of year. Grandma Koss would keep a small gardening kit in her car trunk so whenever she passed the cemetery during the warmer months of the year, she could tend to the graves. It contained gardening gloves, small grass clippers, a bakery paper bag to put weeds in, and a small spade to help dig up flowers and replant.

Last weekend I was reminded of a genealogical family mystery. My great grandfather, Josip “Joseph” Kos[s] died in 1919 in the Spanish flu epidemic. He was buried in the old part of Oak Hill Cemetery in Gary, Indiana. His gravestone, in Croatian, was next to a Tony Kos. I asked how we were related to Tony and I never got an answer.

Out of the blue last week, I received an email to my Ancestry account from a possible relative whose father had been orphaned in Pennsylvania in the 1930’s. Since both his parents died when he was young, the family has no stories. His father’s place of birth was in the same general area in Croatia that my Kos’ were from. I had placed him in my tree years ago in the hopes of locating a living relative who might have some knowledge. We’re awaiting DNA results to see if we match.

We all have genealogy mysteries but the most vexing are those that are fairly recent. I don’t know about you, but I tend to jump to a dramatic conclusion – must have been an out of wedlock birth, an against the then norms of society situation or a major disagreement that makes the information remain secret. Never dawned on me it could have been as simple as two early deaths of parents that had moved from the area and family lost touch with the remaining children.

Hopefully, I’ll soon have an answer to how the mysterious Tony was related to me and why the Pennsylvania branch of the family was disconnected. Now if I could just discover someone who knows how the Massachusetts branch lost touch I’d hit the trifecta.

Take Care With Those Hints!

When I was a newbie genealogist I loved the hints that Ancestry.com provided. Now all of the online sites offer the same. I was surprised to recently hear that a colleague of mine still happily accepts every hint that is shown. Her reasoning was that she could always sort out later if something was amiss.

“Later” like in never is what I say. Here’s a perfect example of why you need to be careful of those hints:

The hint above flagged for my uncle, George Joseph Kos who did live in northern Indiana and was born in 1921. Family stories say that, although his attendance area high school was Lew Wallace in Gary, he somehow un-enrolled himself and re-enrolled in another high school at the urging of a football coach. Of course, his parents found out about it and my grandmother was livid with all parties – the zoned school who allowed a minor to remove himself, the new school and coach for enrolling him without permission and my uncle, well, for being my uncle. So, the hint looks legit.

My trusting colleague would have clicked “save” while I would have clicked “ignore” if I didn’t have time to check it out. Ignore is a way to really save the hint to look at later while getting the leaf to disappear.

Now I’m going to analyze if this is a correct document for my uncle so I click “Review” on the hint and this displays:

Wow, that does look legit. According to the family story, it was Roosevelt High School where he wanted to play football but he was 15 when that happened. I could rationalize that he was 15-16 years old during the 1936-1937 yearbook so the age is feasible. But Roosevelt High School was in Gary, not East Chicago, a nearby town. Could the towns boundaries have changed? We see that so often in genealogy. I’m still wary so I’d click view and this is what is displayed:

So, the Hint was really for a George KOSTIN not George Kos. This was not my uncle. Then I remember, there were two Roosevelt High Schools. Duh!

Hints are just that – hints – they are not guaranteed correct information. Use with caution.

The U.S. – A Nation of Immigrants

Although my family lore claimed I had Native American blood, DNA has proven that the legend was not true. I seldom (well, have never) written about current political issues as that is not the point of my blog. That changes today.

If you reside in the United States, you have an ancestor who once emigrated here. You’re probably also a mutt like me – that great melting pot permitting people to marry due to love and not by ethnicity alone has created a wonderful mix of blended cultures, customs and genetics.

I’m blessed that my family has been here awhile. My most recent immigrants were my maternal grandparents, John and Mary Kos[s] who naturalized in the 1940’s. My grandmother visited the Old Country nearly 50 years after she had emigrated here with her parents and was so thankful they had made the difficult journey in her childhood, she promptly kissed the soil when she arrived back in the states. My grandfather had no desire to return, even for a short visit.

Because of my Great Grandparents dream for a better life, they left behind family, friends and belongings to start over. Learning a new language, back breaking work where ever they could find it and facing discrimination because of their ethnicity, religion and acceptance of diversity, my ancestors looked at the positive this country had to offer and steadfastly remained so that their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren could have a better life.

I understand why people from all over the world still attempt to come here. Think back to your family and I’m sure you’ll agree, your forefather’s efforts were worth it.

Due to the present government stance new arrivals have experienced not just a perilous crossing but a breakdown in family structure. I applaud MyHeritage.com for stepping up to help reunify children with their separated families. To my knowledge, no other company has come forward to assist. MyHeritage is providing up to 5,000 free DNA kits to insure that the correct child is returned to the right family. You can read more about their efforts here. Kudos, MyHeritage.com!

DNA Has Changed My Habits…and not for the good, I’m afraid!

I just came to the realization that DNA has made me a lazy genealogist. Here’s why…

I have made public several trees that are quite large. The reason for their size is because I once did surname studies – I tried to link all of the Leiningers, Harbaughs, Duers, Kos[s]s, Landfairs and Kuhns in the U.S. from an identified gateway ancestor. I want contact from far flung relatives as I don’t know these folks personally and needing closer relatives input, I made the trees public.

Due to the many places I’ve placed the trees online, their size, and my weekly blog posts, I get over 500 comments weekly. Granted, many are spam, but quite a few are serious inquiries.

Before DNA, I would go to the tree mentioned, search for the name provided in the inquiry, review what citations I had and then respond.

Since DNA, I find myself instead responding with my own query – Have you had your DNA analyzed and if so, what provider did you use and what is your profile name?

Last evening, after sending the same question repeatedly, it hit me that this is a seriously lazy response to well meaning folks who’ve taken the time to contact me.

My intentions were never to be rude but I’m afraid that’s how it’s appearing. I’m not sure how I’d feel if I was the recipient and wasn’t into DNA. I queried colleagues in my local genealogical society and they think my response is acceptable but I’m not so sure. What do you think, readers?! Would you be offended if you emailed someone for more information and received a question in response?