Hi Steve :) I don't know if you ever visit this website anymore, but I hope you will. I've been trying to trace our family tree also and I have been coming up to some dead ends. Basically, I have searched the ship passenger lists and the 1921 census for every conceivable spelling variation of Stefan, Stephan, Stjipan, Stepan, Stjepan, Stef, Steven, Stevan, Steve, Kasm, Kashn, Kasun, Kashun, Kushan, Kusan, Kucan, and so on and so forth into infinity, and I can't find the evidence of our great grandfather immigrating to Canada or settling in Canada! Very strange, since we know he did in fact end up here. I'm starting to consider the possibility that maybe he came here illegally. I read in a book that Croatian men used to stow away on ships and about two weeks into the journey they would present themselves as a stowaway to the crew and then offer to work for the ship or the dock in order to pay off the cost of the voyage.

Furthermore, I also read that sometimes fake paperwork was used to facilitate immigration; apparently you could get a passport for a cow if you were transporting livestock between Croatia and Germany, and Croatian men would sometimes use these "cow passports" as their own on arrival in North America.

The reason for all of this was, of course, that no one had any money. The men would sneak here first, work, and then use that money to legally bring their wife over. Since we know our great Deda came here a decade before our great Baba, maybe this was the case.

I am curious to know if you have found any documentation for them. My theories could be way off base and I'd welcome any information.

As for documents on Ancestry, this is the closest possible match to our ancestor, but I can't say for sure that it is him, because the match is not a perfect match.

http://search.ancestry.ca/cgi-bin/sse.dll?ti=5543&indiv=...

You'll see that a Stefan Kucan arrived from Hungary in 1910. He was born approximately 1886 and is listed as Croatian. The name, ethnicity, arrival and birth dates are close to what I think I know of our family history, but where it all screws up is that it says his wife is Baka Kucan. Then again, Baka could have been "grandmother" and the person transcribing in the ship manifest didn't realise this.

Another possible close match is this Stef Kosanovic who came to Niagara Falls from Austria in 1907. He is listed as Croatian and having a birth date of about 1884. His father is listed as Nicola.

I had found another record that was a possible match, but I can't find it now. The name was similar, the birth and arrival dates were about right - but his wife was listed as someone named Nelly!

The search continues....