The history of our Kolovich family begins in Croatia, in the village of Plitvice,  Croatia has long
combined the cultures of its Diverse regions and ethnic groups to create a nation defined more by
its people than by its geographic boundaries.  The Croat people are one of the major ethnic groups
of the Balkan Peninsula.  The country's history is characterized by the emergence of a political
identity among the peoples of the Yugoslav territories, and by military strife which continues to
this day.  Croatia is more strongly associated with the western civilizations, while its neighbor
Serbia is linked with Byzantium.  The cultural differences inspired by this, coupled with the more
passionate chasm created by the division of religion - Croatia is predominantly Roman Catholic
and Serbia is predominantly Serbian Orthodox, have made the Baltic region almost without peace
throughout the past two centuries.

It is only possible to trace our history to the period just after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848-1849.   My grandfather's family name was Kralejevic and his people came from a small village in south central Croatia called Plitvice.  While certainly not wealthy by any definition, the family was not poor either.  By combining several homesteads, the family acted cooperatively and seemed to be quite large, with several generations all living within the same household  There were five sons in the first generation that I was able to learn of, however none of their names are available with the exception of two brothers:  my Great Great Grandfather JOHN KRALEJEVIC and his brother, MICHAEL KRALEJEVIC.  John was the eldest son and acted as head of the family.

The farmland on which the family settled was rich and bountiful and I gain the impression that the family seemed to do very well by the standards of a typical Croatian peasant.  The family farmed for survival, but they also marketed crops and livestock.  An interesting sideline was the making of wine as grapes grew particularly well in this region.

The younger brother, Michael Kralejevic, was somehow involved with government as a member of the Assembly.  My grandfather has told me that Michael left the family farm and went to live in the city of Zagreb.  It is my grandfather's belief that it was due to this political involvement that his grandparents were prompted to leave Croatia in 1881.  The trip was not intended to be
permanent

Upon arrival in the United States, by way of New York, John and Helen Kraljevic traveled south and west, and in 1882 they had a son, JOHN, Jr., my Great Grandfather.  John was born in
Cresson, Pennsylvania.  The family refers to this first trip to America as "a vacation" as shortly after the birth of John, they returned to Croatia.

When the family returned to Croatia, they returned to their farming.  When John, Jr. was eighteen, he married a woman from Plitvice named Barbara Blazic, the daughter of Joseph Blazic and Frances Sperich.  The couple soon expanded their family and two children were born within the first two years of marriage,  Michael and Mary.  The farms remained prosperous and the brother Michael Kralejevic continued his involvement in government affairs.  As the younger Michael grew into adulthood, he at some point left the farm and attended school in Zagreb where he lived with his uncle, Michael Kralejevic.  The second child, Mary, was born with some degree of mental illness and was sadly left as an outcast.

The family farms were subsidized by the government and great amounts of the crop yields as well as much livestock was assessed by the local government.  Even after peasant reform legislation, "tax" assessments to the family exceeded upwards to two-thirds of the annual yields.

At the same time, there seemed to be a great awareness within the family of the continued military strife of the country.  My grandmother told me that while it would be unthinkable here in the United States, the constant presence of war was taken for granted in Croatia.  Two of the elder brothers were "enlisted" to World War I, never to be seen or heard from again.  Due to the increasing hostilities in the area, John and Barbara Kralejevic made the decision to leave Croatia and come to the United States.  As John was a natural citizen, he was easily able to leave the country, but the rest of the family was denied exit visa;  therefore John came on ahead, established a home and property and then sent for the rest of the family.

In 1919, John Kralejevic came to the United States and he lived and worked for a time in
Indianola, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and also in Cresson, PA in the coal mines.  John then traveled further westward and settled in Newton Falls, Ohio, purchasing large amounts of property there.  John remained in America for almost one year and then returned to Croatia for his family.  The family farms were going to be left for the remaining extended family to work.  It soon became apparent that no authorization would come for either Michael or Mary, it was decided that Michael would assume responsibility for both his family's share of the farm and for his younger sister.  Young Michael was now heavily involved in politics, which is why it is thought he was denied exit.  Fearing that they too would be detained, John and Barbara decided to leave while they could, hoping to eventually send for their two eldest children.  This was a hope never to be realized.

In winter, 1921, John and Barbara KRALEJEVIC left for the United States.  John and Barbara KOLOVICH arrived in New York.  It happened that Barbara was now pregnant with the couple's third child, and their son, Frank Kolovich was born in Cresson, Allegheny County, PA on 9 March 1921.  Soon thereafter, the family arrived to their new hometown, Newton Falls.  While preparing their new home, they rented a house in what they were pleased to find was a large Slovak community. 

John went to work for Newton Steel, and made the transition from farmer to steelworker;  from this point on farming became a means to support his family in the way of sustenance and comfort alone as they did no commercial farming. 

In the following years, the family did well.  John and Barbara had three more sons and a daughter:  John,  Louis,  Vincent, and Helen.   

Although quite able to afford to modernize their home, Barbara refused for it to be allowed.  She would only cook on a kerosene stove, nor would she allow electricity to be installed for several years after it was common everywhere else.  As her children grew, more and more modern conveniences crept into the home.  It seemed that John and Barbara enjoyed the freedom of living in America, but they always wanted to keep close the old ways;  even restricting their social activities within the Slovak community.

The family had a great sense of "being" and were very superstitious.  While Roman Catholic, they family held to the old world way of seeing and looking for hidden meanings.  Everything, even the inanimate, had identities.  The family also relied strongly on folk remedies, and often shunned traditional medial aid.  Once, Barbara broke her leg.  Within one week of having a plaster cast applied, she had torn it off and applied herself wooden splints and poultices.  She never limped.

When, Frank Kolovich was ten years old, he entered the work force.  He began working for $1.00/day in the onion fields, and from that first day, worked nearly every day of his life until he retired at the age of 72.   In 1951, he married Bronislava Morritawski, the daughter of Anthony Morritawski  and Domitzcella Jakobouski and, they had two children, Joseph and Rose.  Newton Falls remained the home for all of John and Barbara's children.



Should you have further interest in the Kolovich family, please email me privately, or check the Burge Genealogical Database for a link-by-link way to review the family.  There were several family members left behind in Croatia, and it is believed that they have since either emigrated to other areas or, due to the military activities in the area, are either no longer living or have departed the area.  Unfortunately, it is doubtful that we will be able to include them in our family history.