I have been trying to find my grandparents arrival to US from Croatia,there's no info on ellis island site!

Question

I know that they came here at different times, right around the turn of the century. They were both from Austria and were Croation, but there is no information on the Ellis Island Website, I've tried several different spellings of their names to no avail.My grandmothers name was Louise Zorich (Americanized) and my grandfather's name was Alex Bogovich. I believed that he arrived first and then she.From family stories, she came here with her younger brother/brothers and one of them died onboard and was buried at sea, not uncommon unfortunately.I long for information, especially as I grow older.I'm 50 now and they are long gone. He passed away before I was born and she in 1968.They married and settled in Chicago and had several children, my dad for one.My question is, is there any other way they could have arrived other than Ellis Island or Philadelpia, since I've already checked the websites of both of those ports? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Patty Bogovich/Howard

Answer 1

If they arrived in the 1880s it would have been Castle Garden they arrived at in NY. But there were several ports including Boston and Detroit.

I'd recommend going to the library and using Ancestry to look for your relatives in their immigration database. First I'd suggest getting their marriage cert & church info, and seeing if he naturalized, and if her father did. That would be easier to find near where they settled, and would point to the port they arrived at.

Get a copy of one of the newer Chicago Ancestor books from your library or local bookstore - it will help focus you on some of the great sources of info there (Newberry Library & National Archives Branch).

Also keep in mind stories can just be stories. My family had a story that my grandma's maternal grandparents married in Ireland and then hopped on the next ship to America. It was totally false - her and his families came over right after the civil war here and married in the same church my grandma married my grandpa at!

Check out the Illinois Online Databases it can help you narrow down when he died (getting his death cert & obit is also a must).
http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases.html

Answer 2

I found them listed on the ONE WORLD TREE.
Alexander "Alec" Bogovich born 1875 in Austria and died in Chicago, IL. no date given.

Louise Zorich was born 9/02/1886 in Austria and died 06/15/1986 in Chicago, IL. She was daughter of unknown.

There is listed children and birth dates.

A descendant listed for further information is
[e-mail]

This person listed will have additional information for you and probably is related to you.

I hope you find all you are looking for. Good luck !

Answer 3

I believe I found your Alexander Bogovich.

I found the following:
Alexander Bozovic - it's Bozovic in the index but when you look at the actual document it is clearly Bogovic.

He immigrated to the U.S. 3/3/1903 thru Rainy River, Ontario, Canada
His age was 37
He was single
His occupation is listed as laborer
Nationality is Austria
Race: Slovenian

I found this on Ancestry.com.

Answer 4

www.rootsweb.com
Alexander "Alec" BOGOVICH
Birth: 1875 in Austria
Death: in Chicago, IL
(NOTE: Alexander is Croatian descent and according to the 1920 census he was a laborer and rented a home at 2819 E. 95th Street, Chicago, IL. The family is listed in the 1920 census under Illinois, Cook County, Chicago, ED#517 page 4 of 5. Alec says that he came to the USA in 1900 and could read and write English. )

Marriage Louise ZORICH b: 08/02/1886 in Austria
Children:
Anna Marie BOGOVICH-- b: 04/19/1917 in Chicago, IL
John BOGOVICH-- b: 1909 in Chicago, IL
James BOGOVICH-- b: 1911 in Chicago, IL
Alexander "Alec" BOGOVICH, JR.-- b: 1915 in Chicago, IL
Paulina "Marie" BOGOVICH --b: 02/10/1919 in Chicago, IL

Louise ZORICH
Birth: 08/02/1886 in Austria
Death: 06/15/1968 in Chicago, IL

(NOTE-- The 1920 census indicates that Loiuse went by Eliza, was 31 years old--which means she was born in 1889 not 1886 accourding to the social security administration--and entered the USA in 1906. She could read and write English. Louise is also of Croatian descent.)

www.ancestry.com--1920 Federal Census:
Name: Alee Bozovich
[Alee Bogovich]
Home in 1920: Chicago Ward 8, Cook (Chicago), Illinois
Age: 48 years
Estimated birth year: abt 1872
Birthplace: Austria
Relation to Head of House: Head
Spouse's name: Eliza
Father's Birth Place: Austria
Mother's Birth Place: Austria
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Sex: Male
Home owned: Rent
Year of Immigration: 1900
Able to read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Image: 17
Household Members: Name-- Age (Misspellings due to transcriber perhaps??)
Alee Bozovich --48
Eliza Bozovich --31
John Bozovich-- 11
James Bozovich-- 9
Alee Bozovich-- 5
Annie Bozovich-- 2
Paulina Bozovich --10/12 (10 months old, maybe??)

www.ancestry.com
Baltimore Passenger Lists, 1820-1948 had this listing:
EPSLEIN ZORICH, b. 1897 (age 9)--male
Left: Bremen, Germany
Arrived: Baltimore, Maryland on JULY 20, 1906
Could he be the brother you mentioned??

www.ancestry.com--Canada Border Crossing mentioned by user above:

Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1956
Name: Alexander Bozovic
Arrival Date: May 1906
Age: 37
Birth Date: abt 1869
Gender: Male
Port of Arrival: Rainy River, Ontario, Canada
(NOTE: on original view, at 75%, it said he could NOT read or write English; and that his last residence had been in WINNEPEG, MANITOBA)