Naively, I thought that immigrants who came to America wanted to stay here, but I learned differently this past year. My dad's niece, Marilyn, age 89, told me that many didn't come here to stay, or didn't like it enough to stay. They came here to work, and sent back money to their families in Europe. After awhile, they went back to Europe.
It's exciting, to me, that my family has been here for a whole century. There are families that trace their ancestors arriving in 1620, on the Mayflower. That's very wonderful, but it's OK with me that my ancestor came here when he did. The alternative is that I might not be here - and, I've had a good life in America.
Every year in grade school I studied the Pilgrims arrival, but knew nothing about MY family's arrival in America. The grandfather I'm writing about today died when my dad was a boy -- my grandfather was seldom mentioned. Most everyone is gone now. The earliest stories about their lives - well, many of the stories went with them.
For more than ten years, I've been trying to find those facts and stories, about the earlier years in America. When Ellis Island made immigration records available online, I searched for my grandparents' arrival documents, but never found any. I looked year after year, hoping they would emerge, become digitized, and added to the online lists. It has not yet happened.
There are a few documents on microfilm in Minnesota archives, where he brought his family to live, and where he had more children. I would like to find a ship log or manifest, as it would have recorded an original U.S. city destination, who he came with, or who he brought with him. It might help us to know if our grandmother and some children came with him, as their arrival documents have not yet be found.
So, what do I have? I have some mysteries solved of those early years through historical documents. My cousins, Barbara and Suzie, recently sent me old documents. I've also purchased a few documents from local or state courthouses in the past year. I hope there are more that will surface from family members.
I have many stories and facts to share. Otherwise, how will later relatives know things if they aren't shared somewhere? So, I'll tell the stories I know, here, each week. I will share documents, newspaper articles, pictures, and stories.
What is there to know? Well, there was a "first" family, as my grandfather had two wives. In the United States, they didn't live in a town or village, in a "location" which I never totally understood until recently. There is musical talent in the family, although I didn't inherit it. Some uncles changed their names to fit in, including my dad. Six uncles served in World War II at the same time. None of this is unlike other family history - maybe ours is even a bit ordinary.
Their customs, favorite recipes, marriages and children, the hard life and the good times will be here, relative to Crnkovich. There are unconfirmed and untrue stories to reveal! I hope other relatives will send along more stories.
Getting back to my grandfather's arrival in America... According to a "Certificate of Arrival", he arrived as Ivan Cznkovic, although his name was Ivan Crnkovic (The "z" should have been an "r"). Soon, he unofficially Americanized his name and became John Crnkovich. The ending "h" was added to Crnkovic so it could be pronounced correctly, as "SERN-kov-itch". The name continued to be misspelled in many documents, and often it is incorrectly pronounced.
I can hear celebrating in my neighborhood tonight, as fireworks are going off, in this last hour of 2010...100 years after my grandfather's arrival. There is a birthday celebration tomorrow, January 1, 2011....Happy Birthday to my Uncle Frank! He is the only child of John Crnkovich that is still living. Happy 89!
