For the past few weeks I’ve been elbows-deep in Croatian genealogy documents as I try to write the next chapter in my Hull Street series. This week, my planned research got rerouted by an idea, and then an error, and now I’m wondering when I’ll ever finish.
The Idea
Since the last chapter was about my great grandmother Rose, the next chapter needs to be about her husband/my great grandfather Zvonimir. He died before anyone now living got to know him, so his past is a bit of a mystery. It really only comes into focus once he and his siblings come to America.
Zvonimir was the fourth child of five, and the last of his family to emigrate here. Except for Mary, who appears to have arrived first, each person had siblings they listed on emigration documents, and could live with when they arrived. People who like to complain about “chain migration” ignore the fact that it’s exactly how most immigrants, of every color, are able to establish a foothold in this country. It’s practical, not shameful.
I understand that Mary arrived first, and settled at least briefly in New York. What I don’t yet understand is how they all ended up in the Chicago/Gary area.
Arrivals:
- Mary, February 1905; Lists a friend as her home here in the US; is in Chicago by 1912
- Fanny, November 1905; Arrives with Mary, and they’re going to live with a cousin in NYC; in Chicago by 1915
- Frank, 1906 or possibly 1911; Goes to live with Mary, in NYC; in Chicago by 1910*
- Cecelia (their mother), April 1907; Goes to live with Mary, in NYC; dies in Chicago in 1913
- Emanuel, December 1909; Goes to live with Cecelia, in NYC; is in Chicago by 1910
- Zvonimir, December 1912; Incoming immigration records say he’s going to live with an aunt in NYC, but in fact he goes to live with Emanuel, in Chicago
The Error
In the process of trying to untangle all this, I was giving my old records on Ancestry a second look. These are facts I’ve had set down for 10 years or more, so surely I could rely on them. And then I spotted:
- Emanuel: born Feb 1883
- Mary: born April 1883
That is not usually how siblings work. So this morning I spent another hour trying to pin down when exactly each of them was born—a not-at-all frustrating use of my morning.
Emanuel has better records, and they consistently put him in 1883, except for one in 1884. Mary might have been born anywhere between 1882 and 1885. And I’m also keeping in my head those possible genealogical gotchas—surprise twins, the child born to a parent who died, the child born out of wedlock, the child who arrives as part of an affair—any of which can throw off the usual progression of “baby every two years.”
As far as I know, Mary wasn’t a gotcha or a twin. It’s also not critical that I get a firm answer in order to tell her brother’s story. But any missed fact feels like an error that you owe to the past. Mary’s life was not an easy one; I would like to get this right for her. ☗
*Anything involving a Frank Brovet is iffy at best. As we all might remember.
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