Hello James,

There is a record at Ellis Is for Stojan ROKSANDIC age 29 arr 190 married wife's name Maria in Sasao (should be Saseva) Hungary Race of People listed as Croatian destination Steelton, PA 3rd St 640 to brother ???

The name would be spelled Vaso, as there is no W in the Croatian alphabet.

It appears that some there were several ROKSANDIC whose destination was Steelton, where many Croatians worked in the mills. And it appears that those were from an area SW of the capital of Zagreb in Sisak county from a village called Saseva which is not far from the town of Glina. Others are listed as coming from Gora and Glina, all of these towns are in close proximity. There are several listings for ROKSANDIC found in the phone in Saseva and surrounding towns.

There was no Yugoslavia until 1929 so you must be getting info that people were born in Croatia/Yugo from US docs or records. Also the one you have listed as being born in Austria was born in Croatia. Around 1100 the Croatian king died leaving no heir. At that time Croatian nobility voted to recognize the king of Hungary as King of Croatia. In 1526 the Croato-Hungarian army was defeated by the Turks. It was in the 1700s that Austrians defeated the occupying Turkish army. At that time the Kingdom of Croatia recognized the monarch of Austria as monarch of Croatia. That union (later known as the Habsburg Empire) lasted until the end of WW I, 1918. In that year the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was formed and inc Croatia. In 1929 the King declared a dictatorship, abolishing the name of Croatia along with most freedoms.

Does she know the village her family came from? Knowing this may help gain more info as the LDS Family History Center near you has access to 1,300 microfilms of Croatian churches, some dating back as far as 1500s most back to 1800s. In case Saseva is their place of origin I find no mention of a church there. The closest may the Orthodox church in Hajtic. Were they Orthodox religion? My guess is they were based on the names Vaso and Stojan.

Robert Jerin
Croatian Heritage Museum
Cleveland Ohio
http://www.croatia-in-english.com/rj/index.html