More on the Starcevich line

The other day I was looking for old pictures at my grandma's house, and came across my grandfather's death certificate. It lists Minnesota as his place of birth, and his father as PHILLIP DENNIS STARCEVICH and his mother as LUCY ZUPAN. I jotted this information down in hopes that this could further my research. Dead ends. Then I got to thinking... While searching the records on Ancestry.com, I realized that even though most of the people from this region are immigrants, they all had English names, like Mary, William, Tony, John, etc. I wondered if the names had been "Americanized". I found a database of names which tells the history of a name, and began researching the names Lucy, Phillip, Dennis, and Zupan. I found out that the Croatian/Yugoslavian version of Lucy is Lucia, Phillip is Filip/Felip, Dennis is Denis, and verified that Zupan is indeed from this region. Armed with that info, I then searched Ancestry again, and this time found a Filip Starcevic in the New York Passenger Lists, and a Blaz Starcevic (with an alternate name of Felip) in the Baltimore Passenger Lists.

I have been extensively searching Census records, too. I have 3 or 4 families with a John Starcevich in them, born about 1916, but only one living in Minnesota. One is in Washington, one is in Ohio, and the other is in New Mexico. I am thinking that the New Mexico one is out, and the Ohio one is probably not his family either, but the Minnesota family and the Washington family are promising. Many Starcevic/Starcevich families that were in Minnesota in the early 1900's did in fact migrate to Washington State for work in the coal mines and logging industry. If in fact I find Filip Starcevich in the passenger lists, I will know what age to look for in the census. I did not, however, find a Denis or Filip in the censuses. Something of note, though, is that many immigrants, in an effort to become 'Americanized' changed their names to something that they thought would be more American. Filip/Felip could have become a John or Tony.

11/9/09...
I have had a couple of breakthroughs on my brick wall... First, I found a website for the Minnesota Historical Society, and they have a searchable online database of births for the time period of when my grandfather was born. I did a 'fuzzy' search, and lo and behold, I found his birth record! Yipee! His last name was misspelled (STARCOVIC) so I am thinking that is why I could not locate it on Ancestry. Anyhow, I now have to order a copy of it to see what other juicy information it may have on it to help in my search.

My other breakthrough is kinda funny... I play a game on Facebook that requires you to have lots of friends, and the people that play this game will friend each other for the sole purpose of gaining players. One lady that I became friends with has a last name similar to Starcevic - so I sent her a message asking if she was from the region I am researching. She is! I told her what I am researching, what I have found out, and my theories. She told me interesting things, but most important, she told me that the last name is most likely spelled STARCEVIC and the father's name is most likely FILIP and his mother's name is most likely LUCIJA ZUPAN. This helps tremendously. I now think that the FILIP STARCEVIC I found on the New York passenger lists may be my great grandfather.

So, I have been researching my Great-Grandfather, Charles Bigler. I have learned that he moved to Goodland in 1932 and bought the newspaper there and turned it into a daily newspaper. He was one of 8 children, and it would appear that his mother died when he was very young. He and his wife, Mabel Garrison Bigler, had three children; my Grandfather, Myron Garrison Bigler, and twin daughers, Doris Marie and Dorothy Mae. Doris died in infancy, from complications of pneumonia. In the Goodland Cemetery, she is buried with Charles and Mabel, and her sister Dorothy who passed away in 2004. (See photos on past post)

I discovered that Charles' father was Lewis John Bigler. Lewis was born in 1850 in Ohio, and his parents, John and Mary, were from Switzerland. I found Lewis in the 1880 Census, living in Kansas with a brother and sister. In the 1900 Census, he is listed as head of household with 8 children, but no wife. In another publication I found on Sherman County, KS I know that his wife's first name is Louisa. Upon further research, I found a reference to them in the IGI on the LDS website. IGI is information submitted by members of the Mormon church, so I can't verify the validity of the information, but in it I discovered that her full name may have been Louisa Frances Blair. I also theorized that their date of marriage had to be late 1880, because the 1880 Census was taken in June, and Lewis was listed as living with siblings. Lewis' first child was born in September 1881, per the 1900 Census, so I was figuring that they married November or December 1880. In the IGI it also listed the date of marriage as December 22, 1880 - right in line with what I suspected. Their youngest child was born in November 1897, so I theorize that she died between then (possibly in childbirth?) and June 1900, when the census was taken and she is not mentioned. Another interesting tidbit, from 1881 to 1897, they had a child every two years, except between 1891 & 1895 - could she have been ill?

I did learn that there was an influx of immigrants from Germany and Switzerland to the mid-west and west between about 1820-1870, but many of the people who died during this time were buried in unmarked graves. I may or may not be able to find Louisa. I have an idea of what cemetery she is in if she was buried in a cemetery, but there is not an online index or photographs of the headstones, so a dead end for now.

Visit to Goodland, KS - Continued

Went to Goodland's cemetery today. We walked around for quite a while, trying to find the graves on our own. After searching for about an hour, I headed to the funeral home that we had passed on our way to the cemetery, to see if they had a record of who was buried where. When I walked into the office, the lady there was more than happy to look it up for me. When I told I was looking for Charles Bigler, she told me that she knew him. He was a member of the Rotary Club, and she remembers him well. She invited me to a Rotary Club meeting, said that I could come and hear lots of stories about him. They meet on Fridays, and we are heading home on Thursday. I will have to do that sometime, but not this trip.
After the cemetery, we went to the local library. I asked for their Genealogy area, and the librarian led me to a small room with lots and lots of old books. She showed me the books that pertained to local history. I found lots of good stuff, and can't wait to go home and really look through everything I found.

Visit to Goodland, KS

I am visiting Goodland, Kansas. My step-dad's family, the Biglers, are from here. I really consider them my family, as I am not really very close with my biological father. Anyhow, here I am in Goodland, Kansas in the summertime. Hot and humid. My (step) Great-Grandparents, Charles and Mabel Bigler, lived here for a long time. He ran the newspaper here in town, and they lived in a small apartment over what used to be the bank. I met a gentleman today, as I was taking pictures of Main Street. His name is John Golden, and he actually knew my Grandpa, Myron Bigler. Seems my grandpa, Myron, shot John's cousin in the butt. I wish I could have talked with him longer, to see if he had any other stories. Maybe I will run into him again tomorrow. I am going to Goodland's cemetery to take photos of their gravestones.

The Stone Family Line

This family line, my husband's biological maternal line, has given me fits.  James' mother is Marcella Ann Stone, but she left when he was 4 and we have very little information about her.  While Searching Rootsweb earlier this week, I found a family tree for Jacob Stone, Sr. which had Marcella Ann Stone listed in it, along with her father's name, Dendle E. Stone.  I contacted the author of this tree, Bob Walton, and he sent me a pdf file of what he had on that branch of the tree.  Researching this side of the tree has two purposes; one is obviously to complete the tree, but also we hope to finally locate Marcella.  I now have new information to go on, names of her uncles, which may lead to new contacts.  We can only hope.

Sullivan Family Line

The Sullivan surname is my father's line. This Sullivan family line is from the Shullsburg, Wisconsin area. This line has been traced back to Patrick Sullivan, b. March 17, 1792 in Ireland, d. January 21, 1858 in Elk Grove Township, Wisconsin. His wife was Julia Ann Gosse, b. March, 1795 in Switzerland, d. December 29, 1857 in Wisconsin as well. Both are in the Old St. Matthew's Cemetary in Shullsburg, Wisconsin.